Zion Lutheran Church, Twin Valley
Installation of Pastor Sarah
Dille
Epiphany 2/January 18, 2015
John 1:43-51
I don’t
know if Jesus had a “to do” list when he began his work on earth….but if he
did, I’m guessing that right at the top of said list was this notation: Get help fast!
And what
a strange thing that would be!
Here he
is, as we confess in the Nicene Creed:
“God of God’s, Lord of Lords, True God of True God”….but when Jesus
starts his work on earth the first thing he does is seek out helpers. Really!?
The One we call “Very God of Very God” needed helpers along his way?
I don’t
think Jesus needed helpers as
much as he wanted helpers—he required helpers in order to be true
to himself, in order live out his mission as the one and only
God-in-human-flesh.
This old
world is filled with all sorts of Unmoved Mover-type gods, self-sufficient gods
who need no help and want no help.
But
Jesus came among us to be God and to “do God” for us, with us, and never
without us. And for Jesus to do and be
all of that, for Jesus to get through to us in the only way God wants to reach
us, Jesus had to enlist followers, friends, disciples through whom Jesus would accomplish
his greatest work—bringing God’s unfathomable, unconditional forgiving love “home”
to human hearts.
Here’s
how the great missionary bishop of the 20th century, Lesslie
Newbigin, put it: “God’s purpose is
precisely to break open that shell of egotism in which you are imprisoned since
Adam first fell and to give you back the new nature which is content to owe the
debt of love to all [people]. And so God deals with us through one
another. [REPEAT] One is
chosen to be the bearer of the message to another, one people to be God’s
witnesses to all people. Each of us has
to hear the gospel from the lips of another or we cannot hear it at
all…Salvation comes to each of us not, so to say, straight down from heaven
through the skylight, but through a door that is opened by our neighbor.”[i]
All four
gospels spin that out in the way they tell us the story of Jesus. Jesus is baptized, commissioned, sent by his
Father….and right off the bat he calls others to join him, follow him, help
him.
And as
if that were not wild enough, it appears that Jesus was ready to go after just
about anybody he happened to meet.
So here
in this gospel text, Jesus puts the squeeze on Philip—and we aren’t even given
a little mini-bio on Philip—only that he came from the home-town of two other Jesus-helpers (whom Jesus had
already recruited).
“Quality
control” seems not to have been on Jesus’ mind as he started calling
helpers. In fact, he wasn’t even all
that picky about who did the inviting….because as soon as Jesus called Philip,
Philip turned around and found Nathanael (without even “clearing” him with
Jesus first). It’s as if Jesus came a
calling and those whom he called just felt that they could go out right away
and start doing their own calling!
Sounds a
little chaotic, doesn’t it? I can tell
you—and, if you were on the call committee here at Zion, you know--that we 21st
century Lutherans are much more “particular” about who gets called to represent
Jesus in our midst as a pastor!
But with
Jesus himself, it’s sort of a free-for-all:
it’s as if Jesus has a big vacuum cleaner that just sucks up whoever
crosses his path.
So Jesus
calls Philip and Philip calls Nathanael, about whom we know even less than we
know about Philip….
…..EXCEPT,
except that when Philip reaches out to Nathanael, it seems as though Nathanael
immediately raises an eyebrow in a skeptical fashion. Nathanael displays some “attitude” right off
the bat.
Not one
to hide his true colors, Nathanael’s first instinct is too call into question
Jesus’ credentials by besmirching the good name of Jesus’ hometown,
Nazareth. “Never heard of anything good coming out of THAT one-horse town!” Nathanael, it would seem, was going to
be one tough nut to crack!
And
isn’t that interesting…..Jesus calls this guy and that guy, and some of the
guys don’t seem all that interested in or attracted to Jesus, at first blush!
Jesus
starts his ministry seeking helpers….and he doesn’t limit himself to the “easy
marks.” Nathanael falls under the sway
of Jesus’ attractive powers, even though Nathanael’s going to need a little
persuading.
You and
I probably would shy away from a fellow like Nathanael. If we were on the visiting committee or the
evangelism committee, doling out names of folks to be visited—we might not
fight over who gets to see Nathanael!
We would
seek out more compliant, non-judgmental subjects…..we’d go after easier
targets…but Jesus’ big disciple-capturing vacuum cleaner just brings in a whole
motley crew, including folks who on the surface were hardly—hardly!—cut out to
be his helpers.
And so
it has always been in the movement Jesus initiated. Jesus comes a’calling, and there’s no telling
who will end up in his merry band of followers.
In fact, as the four gospels play it out, Jesus even seems to have a
special place in his heart for those who are most ill-suited to following him.
And
what’s that about?
I think
it’s about the fact that Jesus’ “personnel handbook” reads nothing like the policies
and procedures we follow when hiring workers or even calling pastors.
We tend
to put all the emphasis on being qualified.
But who, pray tell, will ever be qualified enough to follow Jesus let
alone to help Jesus?
One of
my former colleagues on the synod staff liked
to say that we may not be “qualified” but we certainly are “call-i-fied” by
Jesus![ii]
Which is
to say: when Jesus calls us, Jesus’
very call to us becomes the only credential we need to be numbered among his helpers. Jesus’ invitation itself—because it comes
from Jesus the Savior of lost causes, Jesus the forgiver of champion sinners,
Jesus the liberator par excellence--Jesus’ invitation MAKES us, fashions us,
transforms us into followers who are worthy of the One who calls us.
That
happens here at the end of this text:
despite his initial reluctance, Nathanael tags along with Philip to meet
Jesus who immediately tells Nathanael that he already reads him like a book—Jesus
knows Nathanael’s whole back-story….
And
Nathanael is so flabbergasted by Jesus’ instant “knowing” of him that he
impetuously blurts out one of the first bold confessions of faith that we hear
in the Gospel of John: "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are
the King of Israel!"
….to
which Jesus responds, in effect: “Nathanael, you ain’t seen nothing yet!”
So where
does this all land in our lives today, here at Zion, as we install Pastor
Sarah?
Well, I
can tell you this much: she certainly
is qualified to be your pastor! As you’re
already learning, Pastor Sarah is extremely knowledgeable, she knows how to
communicate, she’s good with people, and she has the heart of a pastor. Pastor Sarah is qualified and then some!
But here’s
something even better: Pastor Sarah is
also “call-i-fied.” Jesus has known
her for a long, long time. Jesus has
looked her in the eye, staked his claim upon her in her baptism, wrapped her up
in rhythm of his overflowing forgiveness,
nourished her at his Supper, wooed and won her for the sake of a lifelong
relationship marked by Jesus’ cross, illuminated by the light bursting forth from
Jesus’ empty tomb.
Pastor
Sarah knows this stuff, and more importantly, she believes it.
And she “gets
it”—that Jesus calls not just her but all of us to be the Christ-speakers and
Christ-bearers God has created us to be.
So here’s
the upshot, the payoff: Everything that
happens here at Zion—every baptism, every Holy Communion celebration, every announcement
of God’s forgiveness of our sin, every Bible study and Sunday School session
and confirmation class, every church council meeting, every pastoral visit by
Pastor Sarah, every caring conversation that you are part of whether with other
members of Zion or neighbors in the community—everything we do is designed to
pass on God’s calling, gathering and sending Word….from one person’s mouth to
the next person’s ear, bringing Christ home, helping Christ find a place in
every human heart.
In the
name of Jesus. Amen.
