Who is speaking to you?

+
of course the title could be - are you speaking to Me? I remember seeing that movie - Taxi Driver - when I was in college and I had no idea what to make of Travis Bickle. I was such an innocent. What a great movie.

But not for this week - the title of the sermon is actually 'come and see' - quite tame. But I am asked on Monday and I usually have no idea what the hook will be for the week.

So here' s the rough sermon. Rough because it will be spoken, not read.

January 18, 2009 –
John 1:43-51. 1 Sa, 3:1-20 (call of Samuel)
Come and See: Do you know who is calling you?

1. Opening – here are a series of ‘hear jokes’
Did you hear about the man who was so bashful that he couldn't even lead in silent prayer?
Did you hear about the student archaeologist who found his career in ruins?
Did you hear about the minister who said he had a wonderful sermon on humility but was waiting for a large crowd before preaching it?
Did you hear about the guy who is both a taxidermist and a veterinarian?
He has a sign on his door: 'Either way, you get your dog back."
Enough groaners

That’s my theme today – did you hear? Samuel heard – but he wasn’t too sure about what he was hearing. (The church members of Corinth heard, and didn’t like what they heard). Nathanael heard Philip make a great claim, but discounted that claim in the context of his time and place.

How do we know what we are hearing? Or even better – do you know who is calling you?

Telegraph operator applicant story – this is an old preacher story. It is set in the days of Morse code. A steamship company had advertised for a Morse code operator and had their best candidates waiting for an interview. As they sat in the outer office, they could hear the telegraph clacking, the phone ringing and the voices of various workers filling the air. They were told to fill out the application and wait to be called. One more candidate entered, filled out his paperwork, then went right through the door.

After a few minutes – the hiring director came out and said – “thank you for coming, we’ve filled the position.” “But, you never asked any of us in for an interview.” “Well, boys, that’s it, the telegraph was signaling over and over – if you understand this message come in and ask to speak to Mrs. Martin. Only one of you concentrated enough to hear the message.”

How do we know what we are hearing? Our lives are rather like that busy office – filled with competing messages and noises. Filled with too many tasks. Filled with many ways to entertain ourselves. How do we hear – how do we know who is calling?

If we are like the young Morse Code operator, first we must learn the language, then we must evaluate the truth of the message, and finally, hearing means trusting the speaker.

1. The Language of faith – the language of church, Bible, Spiritual growth.
The language of faith sometimes seems like a code – and inside the church we haven’t always realize that it is a code that people are not learning at their mother’s knees. What is a chalice, a nave or a narthex? What is the Trinity, what is confession or liturgy? Those are one kind of faith-language – but there is a more fundamental language that can be used – it’s the language that Philip uses – come and see.

Here you will find your hopes fulfilled. Here you will find a place for your heart, a God worthy to be worshiped. Here you can find a home for your soul, a place to confess sins and be assured you are forgiven. That’s the language we need to speak, the language of witness and hope. The language of testimony.

2. The truth of the message – Bible, core of church – orthodoxy.
So, we’ve resolved to learn a language of invitation so that we can speak and hear the invitation. Then, We need to check the message we are hearing against the core of our faith, against the Bible story and against Christian orthodoxy.

I love stories. I think getting to read a story is an incredible moment of transcendence between human beings. This other person has shared a narrative – written or spoken or filmed, and has drawn me in. That’s why the Bible is a most powerful story – it is a story with everlasting significance. It is a story meant to draw us in, to become our story. This means getting to know the characters, the dilemmas and the tragedy, the comedy, the hopes and dreams and despair.

It’s our story because it’s about people like us. We are like Samuel and Eli, like Philip and Peter and Andrew and Nathanael. We are the Prodigal Son or Daughter, or we are the eldest son or daughter. We are facing the same terrors and frustrations of the people of the kingdom of Israel, of the early church.

The second touchstone is what is core for the historic Christian church – the Trinity, the creeds and what is called orthodoxy. For 2000 years these concepts have been the comforting center of the faith.

3. Finally, we ask – can we trust the invitation – and if we are offering the invitation – are we truthworthy ourselves. Samuel trusted Eli, Nathanael, despite his crack about Nazareth – trusted Philip, at least enough to meet Jesus. Then he recognized in Jesus a truth he had been seeking.

Now Eli wasn’t the best priest in the history of the temple, and Philip wasn’t a great scholar when he told Nathanael to come and see – but both of them were fundamentally trustworthy in their own spiritual quests, and the invitation to listen to God – to come and see – came from their own experience of the trustworthiness of God. It’s the kind of role parents must play for children – and sometimes children for parents. It’s the kind of role pastors play, yes, but also ushers and readers and communion assistants. It’s the kind of role we all play even when we leave this building.

We are the ordinary folks who carry the extraordinary message – Come and see. We can be Philip for others – listening for their story and connecting their hopes and dreams with the great Gospel Story – that God came to earth in Jesus – taught and loved and gave himself up for us.

And that is good news.
+