Epiphany 2B

2nd Sunday after Epiphany, Year B

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

How do you read this word? (“UNIONIZED”)

If you are a factory worker, or a teacher, or you work in any number of trades… you pronounce this one way. But if you are a scientist or a chemist, it has a totally different meaning and pronunciation.

We each have our own paradigm in which we live and operate. It is our way of seeing the world. The man who developed the theory of paradigms, Thomas Kuhn, said it this way: “What we see depends upon what we’re looking for.” Very true. Another way of saying it might be: “when you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Ok, maybe not an exact translation…but you get the point.

As Epiphany is the season of the church year which celebrates the revealing of Christ to the world, I think it’s important to consider the paradigm of the people to whom Christ is revealed… and I think that’s something we need to consider as we read about Christ’s revelation in the Gospel text, but also as we reveal Him to the world around us today.

You can actually see evidence of one person’s paradigm (and how it is shifted) in our Gospel lesson. This is still the first chapter of John’s Gospel account, and Jesus has just begun to gather his apostles, calling each of them in-person. In the verses just before today’s reading, Andrew, John, and Peter join Jesus in Bethany and follow Him. In today’s reading, Jesus travels to Galilee, just to the West of Bethany and the Sea of Galilee, an area known as the “district of the Gentiles” [J. Carl Laney, “Galilee,” The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016)]. Seems like an odd place for the Messiah of the Hebrew people to look for disciples - in an area known to be more non-Hebrew than, say, Jerusalem? But, that’s typical of Jesus’ ministry - doing the unexpected.

So Jesus calls Philip to follow Him. This is different from the previous ones; they were already following John the Baptist. It was the Baptist who told them “‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.” [ESV, Jn 1:36–37] Jesus did call Peter shortly after that. And so now He calls Philip, who can’t wait to tell his friend Nathanael.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been a little bit curious and a little bit bothered by Nathanael’s response: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip has just told him that they’ve found the Messiah foretold by Moses and the Prophets - this is the fulfillment of their holiest of prophecies, the greatest of God’s promises, a man named Jesus from the town of Nazareth, which is in the middle of the district of the Gentiles. Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

What was Nathanael looking for? According to Luther, the Jews had a very specific idea of what this Messiah was supposed to be: “Their idea of the Messiah was comparable to our present one of an emperor, king, or other bigwig. The Jews supposed that the Messiah would be the sovereign of the world. In reality, He was to become the Savior of the world.” [Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 22, p. 187]. Nathanael, like every other Jew, expected that their leader would come from the seat of their nation, their culture, and their religion: Jerusalem. It was their holy city, and it would make sense that their Holy One would arrive there. But God has a habit of not following the customs of humanity. The first two kings of Israel were not great or holy men either. Saul was a mule keeper and a mill hand. David was a shepherd. God took these men of meager means and made them kings over His chosen people. So, perhaps a Messiah could come from a place like Nazareth.

I really appreciated Luther’s thoughts on this passage. It was not just that God has the will and the ability to make a king out of someone who comes from a poor background; more than that, “He studiously avoided the city of Jerusalem with its royal throne, the residence of the mightiest, richest, and wisest. He refrained from calling the high priests and rulers into His ranks. He gave the nation’s sovereign the cold shoulder, and He did not invite men of distinction. He journeyed through the wilderness, through hamlets and market towns, and selected the poorest and the most wretched beggars He could find, such as poor fishermen and good, simple, uncouth bumpkins… He wanted to establish a kingdom and initiated His kingdom with such absurd simplicity as was certain as a kingdom of grace, and in which nothing but God’s grace would have currency,… He wanted to drive home the truth that such a kingdom was not based on reason and human wisdom either… Christ is not greatly impressed by great kings or powerful lords, by the rich of this world, or by royal lineage and great pomp, which otherwise carry weight in the world. If He had chosen only distinguished, learned, and saintly men as His apostles, no one could persuade the world to believe that the poor also belong to the kingdom of God.” [Luther, 189-190]

Luther later says that Jesus “He wants it clearly and definitely understood that all who seek entry into His kingdom must seek it by nothing but grace… His is to be a kingdom of grace, belonging to those who are wretched and poor, whether they be men or women, rich or poor.” [Luther, 190–191]

My own cynical ears hear Nathanael’s response as sarcastic: “can anything good come out of a place like Nazareth?” But Luther insists that’s not what he’s saying. This is more a statement of joyful surprise, more like “Who would ever have expected something so wonderful and good to come from Nazareth!”

It’s a little bit ironic then, how Jesus greets Nathanael. Nathanael didn’t expect that God’s greatest promise could come from a man from Nazareth. So the Messiah subtly reminds Nathanael that simply being a Jew doesn’t mean automatic citizenship in the kingdom of God. This is a theme that runs throughout the Gospels. Those who think they know the letter of God’s Law but miss its intent are not as faithful to God as they think they are. God’s kingdom is a kingdom of grace, not of works. Not of greatness or fame. Only grace. Only God’s grace. Luther points out that these Jews thought they had God’s promise simply because they were children of Abraham and Isaac. But Isaac was not Abraham’s only son - let’s not forget Ishmael. And Jacob was not Isaac’s only son: there was also Esau. Ishmael and Esau both have the same claim to Abraham as any Jew… but they do not have the promise. They abandoned the God of Abraham and worshiped idols and false gods. They did not receive the promise, because they did not believe the promise. Abraham’s blood, it turns out, is not enough.

Jesus sees Nathanael as a true Israelite, one “in whom there is no deceit!” He is a Jewish man who does have Abraham’s blood, but also has Abraham’s faith. He trusts in God, believes the prophets. There were definitely Jews who could not make this claim. We see them throughout the Gospels, typically in the Pharisees who simply cannot hear what Jesus has to say. They are more concerned with their own wealth, status, and power than they are for God’s Will. They cannot admit that their understanding of the Scriptures could be as incorrect and corrupt as a mere Nazarene Carpenter says it is.

So, Jesus identifies Nathanael as a true Israelite. And as one of the 12, he would also be a true Christian. Does that mean there are false Christians, as there were false Jews? Unfortunately, yes. How do we identify them? Well, Luther tells us that they also make use of our practices: Baptism and Communion, they know the Scriptures… which means they probably also come to worship. But, he says “they are only outward and nominal Christians. They do not believe; and internally they are full of unbelief, envy, hatred, and vice. They live in adultery, [covetousness], malice, and in all the sins and vices in which the world is steeped now.” [Luther, 197]

True Christians do take part in the practices of our faith: we are baptized, hear the Gospel, read the Bible, partake in Holy Communion, and love their neighbor. Luther instructs us to not just be Christians on the outside, though. Of course, he’s simply repeating Jesus’ teaching. “It must be your concern to believe, to conduct yourself as a Christian should, to be upright inwardly in your heart and outwardly in your life, and to be able to take pride in the Lord Christ and in your faith. Otherwise you are a false Christian, just as many Israelites were false. For if the heart does not believe, all is illusion and darkness; your life is not upright. You are a Christian only outwardly, barren of good deeds, envious, spiteful, and coarse.” [Ibid.]

Nathanael and the other apostles were certainly blessed to have Christ revealed to them in the flesh and to hear Him speak face-to-face. We are blessed to have Christ revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures. It may not be His voice you’re hearing, but it is His Word. We may not be seeing His face, but we are blessed that each time we come to His Altar, we do receive His flesh - His Body broken for us and His Precious Blood shed for us. As He is revealed to us each time we encounter Him, I pray that He sees us as He saw Nathanael that day. Because make no mistake, He sees us at all times as He saw Nathanael under the fig tree before they met. And Jesus sees not just our outward appearance; He sees into our minds and our hearts.

But thanks be to God, just as He was well-pleased to find in Nathanael a true Israelite who eagerly awaited the promised Messiah, He is well-pleased to find us gathered in His House, listening to His Word, receiving His Holy Supper. He wants to bring us into His Kingdom, and He has sacrificed Himself so that He can do just that. It is appropriate for us to respond in faith: believing the promise given to Abraham, and living a life that demonstrates our belief: a life in which we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and we love our neighbor as ourselves. We are not as concerned with our own status, wealth, or power but are more concerned with God’s Will.

Before Christ was born, heaven seemed closed to God’s people. God seemed distant. But with His birth, heaven became open, and has been open ever since. This Messiah opened heaven for us, and He has given us our citizenship in heaven. “As St. Paul says, God dwells in us, and we see the gate of heaven standing open wherever there are Christians in the world. For wherever there are Christians, there we find God; and there heaven is open, with no door before it, but standing wide open.” [Luther, 208]

Brothers and sisters, when we share the Gospel promise that we have been given, we reveal that opening to heaven. That is why our life of faith outside these walls matters. Epiphany is the season of the revealing of Christ to the world. Green is the color of the season because green represents both new life and growth. We have new life because of this incarnate Son of God and the salvation He brings to us. And because of this, we grow in our faith, in our relationship to God. This is what this season is for.

How we grow is going to be different for each one of us, but we are called to grow. We do that by living out that faith. Do you think that makes a difference? I daresay it does. And I pray that each one of us will grow in a way that makes a difference to us, for us, and through us. And that makes for a wonderful start to this new year that God has given us.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.