In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hymns can be subjective, depending on who is listening to them, someone may think that a particular hymn is beautifully written, and someone else may feel that its dreadful. Choosing Hymns for worship is a minefield, will the congregation know the hymn, will they have a go at it if they don’t, will they find some meaning for them in the words.
It’s the eternal struggle to try to fit the hymns to the theme of the day, and come out the other side without someone complaining because they didn’t like that hymn.
Whenever I sit down to choose them, I work through the different recommendations and try to make choices which will allow everyone to come away from worship edified because of the praise that we have offered.
At the moment in church this is even more difficult because not only can they not be sung, but we may only have one or two during the administration of communion, and on the recorded services, more often than not we just have one at the end, due to the limited library of legally licenced ones that can be used.
But once in a while there is a hymn which splits me down the middle, and today is one of those days, because as I read through the scripture that is assigned to today, the hymn that came immediately to mind was will you come and follow me.
You see I love the words to the hymn, I find them challenging whilst at the same time encouraging, but if I am being honest I really don’t like the musical setting to it, you may agree or disagree, but at the end of the service you can make you own decision.
But why tell you all about the choice of music for today, well its because it helps us to consider some of the themes that this Gospel passage speaks about.
John is detailing the calling of two of the first disciples Phillip and Nathaniel, and before you start shouting at the screen and saying there wasn’t a disciple called Nathaniel, he was referred to in another way in the other three, Bartholomew.
Phillip and Nathaniel were friends, and so the beginning of this scripture is something that any of us would find very natural, one friend seeking out another to share exciting news with them. Of course, it’s all very formal here, but you can almost imagine how the conversation went, ‘Hey Nate we’ve found him’, who? The promised one, he comes from that town Nazareth, Phil what you talking about, Nazareth really? Your having a laugh, buddy if you don’t believe me come and see.
By this point the scene has been set, the challenge now is for Nathaniel to go and see if it’s all true.
As Jesus and Nathaniel meet, beginning of the encounter is replete with symbolic references, which allude to the fact that we see acknowledged when Nathaniel identifies Jesus as Son of God.
First we see that Jesus has already seen Nathaniel, and was able to identify him, demonstrates that Jesus is the good shepherd who knows his flock, The references to Israel, and the honour of that title, coupled with the reference to the fig tree, which is referred to in a variety of places in both the New and Old Testament refer to the stability of the Land, and also that there are traditions of Rabbi’s teaching under fig trees, very apt for the work that Nathaniel is being called to do as one of the first Disciples.
Then finally we see Jesus’ reference to the Jacobs Ladder all the way back in the book of Genesis, where God had promised to bring peace and prosperity to the land. This all took place at Bethel, which was know as the ‘House of God’
Here we see in Jesus’ reference to this that he is in communion with heaven at all times, and that the angels were now creating the link between heaven and earth through the person of Christ, and as John explained at the very beginning of this the first chapter of his gospel ‘The word became flesh and lived among us’
What at first glance seems to be quite a straightforward piece of scripture, is in reality not simply a story about the calling of two disciples, but rather an important initial part of the messiah narrative that John unfolds for us through his Gospel.
Each of Jesus’ encounters with those who he called to become one of the twelve disciples teaches us a little about not only the Character of Christ, but also something about the nature of humanity. Each calling has the power to speak into our own experiences of faith, perhaps even other aspects of our lives.
Nathaniel’s encounter began through his friend Phillip, an innocent conversation between them ended up with life changing consequences, but even more so, reveals an aspect of the Messiah which we may not have ever considered previously.
This is the nature of discipleship, it challenges us into new deeper relationship with Christ, it makes us stop and consider often in our own limited ability to awesome power of God. The words that Jesus used, the way that he wove the history of Israel into a simple symbolically packed encounter with someone that he had just met, and the resultant realisation and agreement from Nathaniel to follow should make us stop and pause,
Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
That’s how the hymn starts, but its also the way that many encounters with Christ begin as well, its at that first moment that we have the choice to say yes or no, to allow the encounter to continue and explore what it means to follow Christ in our lives.
Of course, the song continues to challenge us, to become re-shaped, transformed and understand a little of what it means to be Christian.
But the song echoes the actions that we take, it mirrors the lives that are recorded in the Gospels and beyond. They remind us that the initial yes, is just that, the beginning, and as we develop our faith we grow closer to Christ day by day.
The song ends – Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you, and you in me.
Discipleship is a life long adventure, and just as with all life there will be highs and lows, and we will continue to develop through them all.
In some ways we may simply think that this decision that we make is just for us, but each of us affects the world around us. Our actions, our conversations, even the way we behave reflect not only our character, but also on our faith and how it is perceived.
This fact alone, should before we act, challenge us to ask these questions, if I do this, if I say that, who does it help, who does it benefit, and possibly more seriously, who does it damage? Simply asking these things should give us pause for thought before doing something which is not Christlike.
But the other side of that coin is, that through our positive actions, we do exhibit those Christlike qualities in our lives. These are the actions which, whilst we need to remember clearly the words of Christ from Matthews Gospel – “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” are the ones that clearly tell the world that we want to make a positive contribution through the grace and love that we have received through Christ.
The Gospel this morning reminds us that it may take only a moment to say yes and agree to follow Christ, but it will take us a lifetime, probably longer to comprehend the vastness of that answer. The disciples followed Christ through crucifixion, and shared their experiences so that we may make the choice for ourselves.
As we see in scripture following does not change many of the experiences that we will have, but what it does do is change the way in which we react and cope with them as we know that we walk with God, and that he will always be by our side, strengthening, encouraging and even comforting us as the need arises.
Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
In 2021 it takes courage to answer yes, but that yes also brings so many blessings.
Today what is your answer?
Amen.
