Meditation on John
1:43-51
***
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee.
He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Now Philip was from
Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said
to him, ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets
wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can
anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ When
Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an
Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you
come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip
called you.’ Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are
the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you
that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than
these.’ And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven
opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’
***
When I was living in York, Pennsylvania, and working as a journalist, I
met a lady named Orpha. Her aunt had given her the name, if you’re wondering. And
she probably meant to call her “Orpah,” from the book of Ruth. Orpah, a name
that means “back of the neck,” was Ruth’s sister-in-law. She was a Moabite and
a widow like Ruth, but unlike Ruth, Orpah decided to turn back and stay with
her people in Moab, rather than going with Naomi, her mother-in-law, who
decided to return to live with her kin in Bethlehem. This decision wasn’t just
a decision about where to live and who to live with. The decision was also a religious one. Ruth chose the
religion of her mother-in-law. She chose to worship the God of the Israelites.
While Orpah, in returning to live with her parents in Moab and perhaps find a
new husband, chose to worship the many gods--the idols--of the Moabites.
I always thought that my friend Orpha was misnamed--not just because
Orpah was spelled incorrectly, but because she was anything but a quitter. She
wasn’t the type to turn back in fear. She was the loyal kind, like Ruth, who,
as you know, became the great, grandmother of David.
Orpha made a decision for Christ as a teenager when she attended a
revival. Back then, churches would host revivals with guest speakers who
preached sometimes several days or nights in a row. At one point in the service, those who didn’t
know Jesus would be invited to come forward. And yes, Orpha was one of those.
And she never looked back.
After giving her life to Christ, Orpha, who had a beautiful voice and
loved to sing for the Lord, went to a Bible college in Florida where met a
fellow student, a young man, with evangelical gifts. They became good friends. Orpha
used to go with him, and a few other friends, to sing when he had preaching
gigs on the weekends. Billy would preach anywhere he could find a group that
would listen, including trailer parks. He only had a few sermons that he
preached, Orpha said, but he preached them well. He was very dramatic and used
to practice his facial expressions and hand motions in the mirror. Orpha and
her other friends used to tease him about it. But with every sermon, he always
gave an invitation for people who didn’t know Jesus to come forward, pray the
sinner’s prayer, and accept him as their Lord and Savior. This young man was
Billy Graham.
Years later, Orpha and her girlfriend were still traveling with Billy on
his preaching gigs to be his “back-up singers.” Only he wasn’t preaching in
trailer parks anymore. He was preaching to crowds in stadiums and concert halls
and other large venues. And sometimes hundreds of people came forward at the
end of his sermons to give their lives to Christ.
Orpha said she was always amazed when the crowds of people would come
forward to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It truly was a supernatural
work. That was the only way she could explain why people would come, tears
streaming down their faces, after hearing Billy preach. And although I am sure
some of the people who answered the invitation may not have had a true
conversion experience, many who came on the altar call that day made the
decision that forever changed their lives.
***
And this is what we read today in the gospel of John--the conversion
experience of Philip and Nathanial. Not as dramatic, perhaps, as a Billy Graham
Crusade and probably without backup singers. These early conversions were,
nonetheless, a supernatural happening--a work of the Spirit. That’s the only
way they can be explained--that two men would meet a stranger named Jesus who
would invite them to join Him for His Kingdom journey. To Philip he says only,
“Follow me.” But then Philip immediately goes and finds his friend and tells
him about Jesus--the one whom all Israel has waited, the one about whom the
prophets spoke.
And Phillip, when Nathanael wasn’t enthusiastic about meeting a man from
the small village of Nazareth, responded with the words Christ used the day
before when he invited Andrew and Simon Peter to be his disciples. He said, “Come
and see.”
What moves Nathanael to accept Christ’s
invitation was that Jesus knew him--really knew him--before they had even met,
face to face. Watching Nathanael approach him, Jesus declared, “Here is truly
an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”
Neither of these men could have possibly known that day, the day they
made the decision to follow Jesus, that they would follow him all the way to
the cross.
***
Friends, in the Presbyterian church we don’t have altar calls. We never
ask anyone to come forward or slip up their hand while everyone’s eyes are
closed and pray the sinner’s prayer if they don’t know Jesus. We just assume that everyone in church is a
believer and loves Jesus. But, brothers and sisters, there are people who have
not made a serious commitment to “Follow him” or even to “Come and see.” Some who
have come today may not be convinced that they would want to follow the One who
assures us that when we live out our faith, we will suffer for His sake. Some
may not want to give up what is comfortable--like Philip and Nathanael did-- to
seek His will for their lives. Some are not ready to trust Him and obey,
because that’s what being a Christian is all about.
But to be honest with you, before I was a
believer who had made a lifelong commitment to follow Christ, the story of
Philip and Nathanael’s conversion, alone, may not have persuaded me. What
persuaded me to “Come and see” and accept the plans that God had for me was
when I finally began to understand how much He loved me. And this wasn’t a
surface or conditional love. This was a God who knew me like no other.
What this passage doesn’t tell us is what the call of Christ really
is--what it means to “answer the call.” The call of Christ is a call to
love--to love God, first and foremost, and to love people. It’s simply a call
to surrender our lives to the Lord and seek to be what He wants us to be. In
this returning to God what He has given us to us, we will find our deep
contentment, our wholeness and completeness in Him.
Those of you who may be still on the fence and not ready to make a
commitment to the Lord, listen again to the words of Psalm 139. Hear of a love
you have never experienced if you haven’t accepted Christ’s work on the cross
for the forgiveness of all your sins, if you haven’t turned away from sin and
turned back to follow Him. Listen now and may the Spirit move you to make the
decision, like my friend Orpha did and like I did, that will forever change
your life.
“O Lord you have searched me and
known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts
from far away!... Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it
completely… In your book were written all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed. How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them. I try to count them--they are more than the sand.
I come to the end --I am still with you.”
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, thank you for your message to
us today, for assuring us that you know us, really know us, better than we know
ourselves. And that you have planned our lives before we yet existed. Thank you
for your promise to be with us always. Thank you for your forgiveness for all
our sins, and our reconciliation with you if only we trust in Jesus Christ and
his death for our sakes, his sacrifice on a cross. Lord, open our ears and our
hearts so that we may truly hear your invitation, your call to “Follow me,” and
“Come to See.” Help us to obey. Stir us to be your loyal servants who will
humbly journey with you, though it will mean suffering and persecution, though
the journey takes us all the way to the cross. Help us to surrender our wills
and walk faithfully with you each day. Teach us thy way. In Your Son’s name we
pray. Amen.
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