January 14, 2018: "Can Anything Good Come From . . ."

THE WORD IN THE GOSPEL  John 1:43-51

The next day Jesus wanted to go into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and the Prophets: Jesus, Joseph’s son, from Nazareth.”

Nathanael responded, “Can anything from Nazareth be good?”

Philip said, “Come and see.”

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here is a genuine Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?”

Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are God’s Son. 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! I assure you that you will see heaven open and God’s angels going up to heaven and down to earth on the Human One.”

MESSAGE    

Most of you know by now that I prefer it when things are thoughtfully and meticulously planned out. Most weeks, I have my sermon written or at least planned out by Wednesday or Thursday. I usually spend Monday and Tuesday thinking about the scripture readings for the week and by mid-week, I have a good idea of where I’m going to go and what I think God wants me to say.

But every now and then, something will happen to upset that careful program of sermon and worship prep. Sometimes, after my sermon is all neatly wrapped up in a nice little package, ready to deliver on Sunday morning, there will be some kind of natural disaster or human tragedy – some kind of event that I feel I have to address, and so I shift gears late in the week.

That’s what happened this week. I had a nice little message about following Jesus all ready to share with you. But then, on Thursday, something happened that I cannot ignore, especially since today is Human Relations Sunday.

Yes, if you haven’t figured it out yet, today is Human Relations Day: a day that we United Methodists set aside to celebrate the fact that because God created each of us in God’s image, we all have potential to do great things. Today, we recognize the necessity of working together with our brothers and sisters around the world to provide opportunities for all people to reach their God-given potential. And those opportunities are available only when we also work to ensure that all people are treated with dignity and justice.

This past week, entire countries were labeled in a vulgar way, insinuating that the beloved children of God in these countries are nothing more than unwanted objects of scorn and disgust, who have no potential or opportunity.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus starts calling men to be his disciples. He finds Philip, and says, “Follow me.” Philip went and found Nathanael and said, “We have found him! The one Moses wrote about in the Law and the Prophets: Jesus, Joseph’s son, from Nazareth.”

Nathanael responded (and you can almost hear the disdain and disgust in his voice): “Can anything from Nazareth be good?”

Sound familiar?

Now, we can’t completely fault Nathanael. After all, in Jesus’ day, Nazareth was a little hick town in a backwater country that no one thought capable of producing anything or anyone of worth. But Nathanael was ready to write off the potential of Jesus simply because of where Jesus called home.

Thank goodness for Philip. He responds to Nathanael’s dismissive insult of Nazareth by saying, “Come and see!”

Once Nathanael meets Jesus, his opinion changes. He becomes convinced that Jesus is indeed the great Messiah they had been waiting for.

And that’s what Human Relations is about. In order to challenge the ways that some people would so easily write off or condemn others, even entire countries, we need to “come and see” who these people are and how they live. We need to learn about the sometimes extreme political, economic, and humanitarian challenges in their homelands. We need to be aware of the vast network of forces, both present and from the past, that have created and sustained those challenges.

We need to see that there is a lot of potential, a lot of hope, and a lot of faith in places that others would disparage.

For the past 12 years, I’ve been involved with the Haiti Partnership, which began as an outreach mission program with the former Wyoming Conference, and is now a joint project of the Upper New York and Susquehanna Conferences. Although I’ve never been to Haiti (traveling to another country has never been a part of my call to mission work), I have served as webmaster for the HP website, and as a chauffeur to transport mission teams to and from the airports. I’ve also create promotional materials for the HP, including posters and mailings.

Through all of this, I’ve learned a lot about the people of Haiti, and I’ve been quite surprised at what I’ve discovered. There’s a lot of talent, grace, and faithfulness among our Haitian brothers and sisters – a lot of potential that they are willing to discover for themselves.

This past Friday was the 8^th anniversary of the horrendous 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated parts of Haiti. The extent of suffering was beyond anything we could imagine. And yet, the HP and other mission and humanitarian organizations responded to the disaster, and found among the wreckage of homes and towns a perseverance and a hope that defies anyone’s labeling of Haiti as, well, something nasty and offensive.

I would like to share some photos taken by members of the HP that show the beauty, resilience, and kindness of the Haitian people. Come, and see, some of God’s beloved children who just happen to live in a country full of challenges.

Beautiful children of God, aren’t they?

I believe many of us are angry at the way this country full of these beautiful people has been denigrated. But what can we do? As people of faith, how can we respond?

By realizing – and by modeling – the truth that with freedom comes responsibility.

One of the founding principles of our country is the concept of freedom of speech. Within reason, and subject to some restrictions, people, even our political leaders, are free to express their opinions, even though those opinions may be offensive or distasteful.

But, our faith teaches us that with freedom comes responsibility.

Listen again to those words from the apostle Paul from his letter to the church in Galatia:

“You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only don’t let this freedom be an opportunity to indulge your selfish impulses, but serve each other through love . . . if you bite and devour each other, be careful that you don’t get eaten up by each other!”

Paul hit the nail on the head. He knew that with freedom—the freedom to think what we want, to believe what we want, and, within reason, to say what we want—comes the responsibility to practice the kind of self-control that keeps us from hurting, offending, or oppressing others.

But in our nation today, too many people accept cruel and oppressive speech as harmless. Far too many people have become immune to the pain that this causes certain people. And far too many people just don’t care if other people get offended or hurt.

As people who follow Jesus, we are in a difficult position. On the one hand, we are called to work for justice so all people have the freedom to think, believe, and say what they want. But on the other hand, we are challenged to call out those who abuse their freedom in order to purposely provoke, harm, or oppress others. Like Paul says, we need to recognize and confront those times when people use their freedom to “bite and devour each other” through their “selfish impulses.”

But of course, our challenge starts here, with ourselves.

Today, on Human Relations Sunday, we recognize the need for all people to live in freedom and with justice. And we recognize that we will experience the peace that we long for will only when we learn to relate to all people with love instead of with biting ridicule, scorn, and derision.

Again, Paul gives us an answer. He writes,

“I say be guided by the Spirit and you won’t carry out your selfish desires. [For] the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

The spirit of God—which is the spirit we see active in Jesus’ life—tells us that the ways we relate to other people must always be guided by unselfish acts of kindness, patience, gentleness. Self-control, and not self-gratification or selfishness, is our guiding principle. Balancing freedom with loving responsibility is our challenge.

When we take a good look at everything that happens in our world, it’s easy for us to become a little fatalistic and pessimistic. It can be very hard for us to imagine that the extreme brokenness of human relations that plays out in all these acts of violence will ever be healed.

But we need to remember that the struggle for justice for all people and for healthy human relations between all people will not be accomplished on a global scale, through the acts of national governments. Rather, it will happen when people learn to relate to one another with gentleness, kindness, compassion and understanding. Our work for human relations that are just and whole and healthy starts right here, as we strive to follow Jesus and embody the ways he that lived and loved.

When Philip and Nathanael go to Jesus, Jesus tells them, “I assure you that you will see heaven open and God’s angels going up to heaven and down to earth on the Human One.”

In other words, Jesus is saying that if they choose to follow Jesus and to model their own lives after his, they would experience God’s kingdom breaking in to the world.

We can experience the inbreaking of God’s kingdom, too. When we follow God’s spirit, when we practice self-control in all our relationships, and when we treat all people with kindness and gentleness, when we trust that they have potential, and when we value them as children of God, we will see the kingdom working to re-order human relations so that all people will come to know God’s love and justice and peace.

Good, faithful, and just human relations starts right here, when we live according to the spirit of God that was in Jesus. And whenever we hear anyone claim that some of our brothers and sisters have no worth, may that spirit lead us to respond firmly with the affirmation that every single person is a beloved child of God, full of potential and hope. Amen.