“Come and See”

Calvary Episcopal Church

Second Sunday after the Epiphany: 

15 January 2012

The Reverend  Matthew T.L. Corkern

This morning is about subtle invitations and calls into the presence of Jesus.

This weekend, the men and women of your Vestry went away on retreat to ponder where we are being called as a community.  They looked at the Vision documents compiled during the Parish Profile process and again concentrated on “hearing” your corporate response to “who we are and who we are called to be”.  This time together resulted in a mission statement being created and a goal-setting session to minister with each of you in this place at this time.

 It is an interesting time to be a member of Calvary Church as the months of transition finally draw to an end and the veil of uncertainty falls away to reveal a stronger and more vibrant community unified in purpose of moving into the future together with the new Rector.

 In transition the community, the household of God becomes stirred up.  Over the last twenty-four or so months, people talked about what they believed Calvary is or should be like, and what they thought the new rector should do.  In such transitions, which occur during any interim, it is a shock to discover that there are all kinds of opinions, expectations and dreams running rampant just beneath the surface.    

 With the arrival and incumbency of your rector, there is a certain pattern to the life of the community, which we come to know and expect.  But these initial days and months offer the opportunity for growth, for discerning direction.  This is a marvelous time of opportunity and adventure that calls each of us to be more conscious of our personal responsibility for looking out for the well being of the community as a whole and not just our own personal agenda.

 As we explore the direction to which God is calling us, it is as imperative to find language, which can be the medium of discussion and growth.  Language through which the Holy Spirit can enter our hearts and minds.

 It so happens that the readings from the book of Samuel and the Gospel of John are both concerned with the issue of call.  In the first, we hear of God reaching out to a young boy.  Samuel will grow up to be a great leader of his people, a man close to God, a man of courage and compassion.  But just now he is a little boy.  A confused little boy.  Confused by the voice in the night.  It is not Samuel who realizes what is going on, but the old and wise priest of the temple, Eli.  Though called directly by God, Samuel does not figure it out on his own.  Samuel, like us, is in community.  Samuel discovers his vocation by being open to the word of those who surround him, by being pointed in the right direction by the voice of the other. 

So it is with us.  We are often confused or bewildered by the voice of God.  But we are not islands separated from each other by great stretches of isolating water.  Instead, we are bound together by our death and resurrection in the water of Baptism.  Bound together to be the Body of Christ in worship, in education, in outreach.  Each of us is essential to the health of the Body and none of us can sustain our lives without the connections and experience of being in community with one another.  We need the voice of the other to name what is happening as Eli named it for Samuel.  This is not easy.  There are as many ideas out there as persons to help interpret the exact right way to proceed.  But we can hold fast to the insight that while we may disagree at times, we always have a common commitment to give glory to God through the love we bear for each other and for the world.

 That is what it means to be Christ-centered or, as Paul expresses it, to be clothed in Christ.  Every task of living (be that administration or helping someone in need) is an expression of the same love that Christ bears for us.  The same love that brought Jesus to the suffering of the cross because the world could not stand the sight of so much glory, so much love expressed.  To follow Jesus in each other’s company even is scary, even costly, which is precisely why we follow him together as a community

called to “Come and See.”

 In John’s Gospel the reading is focused on another call.  The call of the man Jesus echoing just as surely to us to follow him.  Philip rushes to Nathaniel to tell of his call to follow Jesus.  And Nathaniel’s first response is cynicism.  “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  Nazareth was a poor little hovel of a town in the north of this occupied-land.  Who ever heard of anyone special from that place?  It is so easy to decide where we think God is.  It is so easy to hear the word of God and discount it because it does not fit what we think is proper or right.  And yet, God’s world is a place where there are so many scenarios for each part of the human story that our heads spin if we start to think about it.  Our God is the God of Love and the God of eternal possibility.

 In fact, when Jesus sets eyes on Nathaniel, it is Jesus who names Nathaniel’s utter integrity as a human being.  Jesus sees through the shell of cynicism to Nathaniel’s loving core.  Jesus calls Nathaniel despite his hesitations to be part of the larger community built on simple trust and mutual respect. 

 “Stick around, Nathaniel,” says Jesus, “and you will see the greater things.”  “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

 “Stick around, people of Calvary,” says Jesus, “and God’s glory will be seen upon the earth as it is seen in heaven.”  God’s glory reflected in the love that Christ bears for each of us without discrimination or dissent.     

 Therefore, each of us is asked to respond to the call of God.  Despite our confusion and cynicism, the Savior – our brother and companion Jesus – has looked with compassion upon us and expects us to do the same.  

 We are called like Samuel, to move beyond confusion

to build and live within community.

 We are called like Philip, to be open 

and to invite others to “Come and See.”

 We are called like Nathaniel, to dare to reveal ourselves to be seen by the world through the living love of Jesus.