Come and See
David C. Myers
January 18, 2009
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Human Relations Day
Baptism
Come and See
I Samuel 3:1 - 20
John 1:43 - 51
Text: "Come and see." ...John 1:46b
Many of us find it hard to perceive the voice of the Lord. I myself have a great affection for the Old Testament reading found in Samuel - "The word of the Lord was rare in those days, and there were no frequent visions." If you are like me, you are relieved to have confirmation that the word of the Lord is difficult to hear. And not only difficult to hear, but difficult to understand when we hear - or see it.
On my first trip to Egypt as part of my Holy Lands tour in 1988, we took an overnight train from Cairo to Aswan. Sometime during the middle of the night I awoke in my sleeping compartment to discover that the train had stopped. It was so dark and the windows so dusty that I couldn't see anything outside.
Then I saw it. Out in the hallway, there was a red light flashing. I couldn't read what the sign said, since I was a bit rusty on my Arabic; but, when I see a red light flashing, that usually means trouble! Furthermore, red usually means fire!
Instantly I sprang to my feet, thinking that the train was on fire. I quickly pulled on my pants, shirt, and shoes, grabbed my carry-on bag and started running out of my sleeper birth, only to run into a surprised porter. Seeing his calm, I asked him if he spoke English. He did. So I asked him, "What's wrong?"
"Wrong?" He seemed confused. I pointed wildly to the flashing red light at the end of the compartment, and sputtered, "What does that say?"
"Ah," the porter answered, trying to conceal his smile. "It says, 'Please do not use the toilets while the train is stopped.'"
Have you ever felt that someone was trying to send you an absolutely urgent message which you could not decipher? Young Samuel hears a voice in the night, a voice which seems to cut to his very soul with an urgent demand. But, somehow the message makes no sense. I think we can identify with the story of Eli and Samuel, maybe even find relief at the poignant rendering of our own secret dread: that although the word of the Lord is clear enough in fact, Samuel found it painful or difficult to keep listening. It is Eli who realizes that Samuel is hearing the voice of the Lord, Eli who tells Samuel how to open himself up to the word. It is Eli who pushes past Samuel's fear of what he has heard, and Eli who registers no surprise when he hears what the Lord has to say - even though what Samuel heard means that Eli's own house will be punished by God.
One might wonder why the lectionary confronts us with such a dread epiphany. Having survived the watchfulness and wakefulness of Advent, having arrived at the joy of the humble birth, and today in the early service we celebrate the Baptism's of three babies; must we immediately have to deal with the strenuous message of the prophets? Must we hear that we are hard of hearing and hard of heart, that the word of the Lord is rare, not because the Lord has withdrawn from us, but because out of our fear of what we will hear we have convinced ourselves that we hear nothing?
The Gospel of John also provides stories of people being called - in this case by Jesus. The disciples in John's Gospel are not the prototypes of later Christian leaders. They are the first Christian community, the forerunners of believers ever since.
Philip invites Nathanael with the words, "We have found Him about whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph of Nazareth."
Now, put yourself in Nathanael's shoes. Hearing such a claim can only foster disbelief. "Has my friend Philip gone berserk?" So Nathanael comments back, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" And Philip, supremely confident because he had been touched by Jesus' teachings the day before said, "Come and see."
It's a simple, yet wonderful, and at the same time, confident word of invitation. This word of invitation is so . . . well, inviting. It invites people to see for themselves. Don't believe me! Come and see! Andrew, having found what he has been asking, eagerly shares that with his brother.
Andrew and Philip begin by trying to convince their colleagues and friends with scriptural proofs. Given the fact that all the characters in this narrative are Jews, trusting the Torah, there might be some warrant for that. But, as David Bartlett wrote, "There is little warrant in our time for using Scripture to persuade secular folk that Jesus is the Messiah. . . . The first word is not an instructional: 'The Bible says . . .' but rather an invitational, 'Come and see.'"
"Come and see." And so Jesus chose His disciples; disciples that would so embody Christ that they represent God and pass God's Good News on to an ever-growing Body of Christ.
It is an awesome responsibility to represent Christ. The awesome responsibility of representing and speaking for God rests squarely on the church.
And how might we do that? The mantra of the Hebrews of Jesus' time was that without Messianic signs there was no Messiah. Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke reveals to us what those Messianic signs were - the ones the Hebrew people yearned for as they wait - still - for a Messiah. Jesus recites Isaiah in his call to ministry when he speaks at his hometown synagogue in Nazareth. "The Spirit of the lord is upon Me because God has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. God has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
We are told that "the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. Then He began to say to them, 'Today the Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'" In other words, come and see! Are the blind not given sight?" "Do I bring Good News to the poor." "Do I proclaim release to the captives, let the oppressed go free?" Come and see!
I think it is appropriate that we celebrate Baptism on the day that Jesus invited people to come and see the messianic signs. For Baptism signals our becoming a part of new family. Not a single human family, but the family of Christ with brothers and sisters from around the globe. This is a family of people who seek to follow Christ; to do the Messianic signs, to give vision to the visionless, to bring good news to the poor, to set the oppressed free, proclaiming that God is present in your midst!
One of our family members we honor tomorrow as we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, and today we, as United Methodists celebrate Human Relations Day. The two go hand in hand. And it goes hand in hand with today's Scriptures about calls. But before I share with you some of my favorite readings from Martin Luther King, Jr., let's take a deep look at what Samuel's call entailed, and what Jesus calls all disciples to do.
Young Samuel received a call of God in the night. It was a call from God instructing him to pronounce judgment on his mentor, Eli. The word of God to Samuel was that Eli's house would be punished because Eli's sons were scoundrels, lived a life of debauchery and had no regard for the Lord. Let's hear again the story:
"Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son." He said, "Here I am." Eli said, "What was it that He told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me all that He told you." So Samuel told Eli everything and hid nothing from him. [When Eli heard these words,] then he said, "It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him." (I Samuel 3:15-18)
Do we want to hear the word of the Lord? Eli did - even if it meant that his house would be punished. Can we do the same?
While not as harsh, God's call is similar in John's Gospel in that it was an almost unbelievable message. Nathanael doubted that Phillip had seen and found "Him about who Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth," Phillip answered, with same words Jesus had invited him, "Come and See!" These words are important. Jesus offered no treatises as to his authenticity. He showed them no diplomas or press clippings, Jesus' invitation was simply "Come and see!" This would be proof, because in the Hebrew tradition the Messiah will not be revealed until there are signs of the Messiah. "Come and see!" is the invitation to see the Messianic signs.
What Messianic signs are there in our day? What did the prophet whose birthday we celebrate this week say? And even more, on Tuesday we celebrate a most historic moment when the first non-Caucasian American is inaugurated as President of this Country, fulfilling the words of Rev. King: I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." . . . I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!
In the March, 1986 issue of Sojourners magazine, Vicki Kemper wrote an interesting analysis of Martin Luther King. She writes:
"Celebrations of the establishment of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday - the first national holiday for a black American - were not only to remember what King accomplished, but also to renew the struggle for justice and nonviolence. It was a time not only to honor King, the dreamer, but also to resurrect King the prophet.
She continues, "Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, speaking at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, warned that the numerous commemorations of King were full of distortions. In life King 'called himself a drum major for justice,' Jackson said. "In death, however, he is projected as a dreamer . . . a non-threatening dreamer. That so-called 'I Have A Dream Speech' was not a speech about dreamers and dreaming. It was a speech describing nightmare conditions. Dr. King was not assassinated for dreaming,' Jackson said, noting King's organization of the 1968 Poor People's Campaign in the months preceding his death.
Kemper continues, "Jackson and other leaders called Americans to recommit themselves to King's vision of justice and equality, as well as to new struggles. . . . And, there is much work still to be done. Although the majority of blacks are doing much better economically than they were 20 years ago, they are still far behind whites. The nation's 28.6 million blacks make up 12% of the population, but one-third of them live below the poverty line. An 'underclass' of 2 - 3.5 million blacks is chronically poor and alienated from mainstream society - and still needs the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr." [Vicki Kemper, "King Honored as National Hero", Sojourners, March, 1986.]
This is no attempt to portray Martin Luther King, Jr. as a Christ figure, but rather one who like the disciple Phillip, issues the invitation to us: "Come and See!" And like the Eli, who told Samuel things he did not want to hear - that his house would be punished. King the prophet showed us things that we (still) find difficult to face. From "Where Do We Go from Here?", King's last address as president of the Southern leadership Conference in 1967:
"There are 40 million poor people here. And one day we must ask the question, "Why are there 40 million poor people here?
. . . You see my friends, when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question, "Who owns the oil?" You begin to ask the question, "Who owns the iron ore?" You begin to ask the question, "Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that is two-thirds water?" These are questions that must be asked.
Now, don't think you have me in a "bind" today. I'm not talking about communism.
What I'm saying to you this morning is that communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the Kingdom of brotherhood (sic) is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both."
So tomorrow we remember Martin Luther King, Jr. We remember him as prophet, but we also remember him as minister; a minister who followed the words of John Wesley, "The world is my parish." You see, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King once said, "Any religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men (sic), and is not concerned with the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a dry-as-dust religion."
Indeed, his prophetic voice still applies to our world today.
Tuesday we celebrate a part of his Martin Luther King's dream. And with the inauguration of President Obama, we celebrate at least two great things about our country: While the racial divide still exists, his election signifies enormous steps toward the equality of all; and secondly, as one of our own members put it at our Wednesday evening Prayer service 10 days ago - we pass power from one administration to another with a handshake and in a very civilized way - even when there are differences in political perspective.
So today we remember and honor this drum major who keeps a beat for us to keep on marching - for justice, for peace, for equality. He invited us to "come and see!" and we still see - that which conflicts with a vision of justice and equality that God's Word demands.
Kylie Jessica and Nicolas (second service Ian Thomas) you are about to expand your family. It is a family that yearns to hear, and to follow, the call of God.