Sermon for the 18th of January - Second Sunday after Epiphany SJB
Lectionary Readings for the Second Sunday of Epiphany
1 Corinthians 1: 1–9
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 40.1-12
I waited patiently for the Lord : and he inclined unto me, and heard my calling. 2 He brought me also out of the horrible pit, out of the mire and clay : and set my feet upon the rock, and ordered my goings. 3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth : even a thanksgiving unto our God. 4 Many shall see it, and fear : and shall put their trust in the Lord. 5 Blessed is the man that hath set his hope in the Lord : and turned not unto the proud, and to such as go about with lies. 6 O Lord my God, great are the wondrous works which thou hast done, like as be also thy thoughts which are to us-ward : and yet there is no man that ordereth them unto thee. 7 If I should declare them, and speak of them : they should be more than I am able to express. 8 Sacrifice and meat-offering thou wouldest not: but mine ears hast thou opened. 9 Burnt-offerings, and sacrifice for sin, hast thou not required : then said I, Lo, I come, 10 In the volume of the book it is written of me, that I should fulfil thy will, O my God : I am content to do it; yea, thy law is within my heart. 11 I have declared thy righteousness in the great congregation : lo, I will not refrain my lips, O Lord, and that thou knowest. 12 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart : my talk hath been of thy truth and of thy salvation.
John 1: 29-34
The next day John the baptizer saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’ The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).
Sermon for the Second Sunday of Epiphany
In the Greek schools of philosophy, teachers would hold forth in public places and the serious students, the questioning, and the merely idly curious would gather round this male figure. And then, if the subject-matter of these discourses was of more than passing interest, some of these passers-by and lookers-on would attach themselves to him and follow him. They would form a school, first of listeners, then perhaps of practitioners, and they would, ultimately, go out and spread even farther abroad the teaching that had left its mark on them.
And so it was for Jesus and his followers.
One of the most famous of the ancient Greek philosophers was Socrates, and his method of critical questioning has left its mark on how Westerners educate their children (only in some schools, I should say).
And so it was for Jesus--he was always throwing out questions for the same kind of end--a deeper level of understanding, a deeper level of wisdom--with the practical effect that it forced his hearers to think more deeply about who he was and who they were.
Jesus was not interested in wandering around the countryside dispensing a personal commentary on life to people in the vicinity; at the point we are considering in John's Gospel he has begun to gather around himself a few persons who would engage with him in the mission he had been entrusted to proclaim; the breathtaking inbreaking of The Kingdom of God. And all that that event meant for all of humankind.
Somewhat like Socrates, Jesus persistently resorted to questions. His teaching method, if you like, was hardly ever to straightforwardly answer a question asked of him, but to provoke those around him to a deeper consideration of what was at stake, by asking them a question.
Frustrating and even baffling as that probably was for those Judean peasants who formed the majority of his following, it was a method that winnowed those who were idly curious from those who were intent on finding the meaning of the rather short and mostly hard lives they lived.
So in this initial process of forming a small group of disciples who could become the foundation of all that would follow, Jesus asked the most elementary of questions:
What are you looking for?
And the disciples of John to whom this daunting existential question was addressed had no idea what to answer. They just tried, at least, to get a location from him.
Where are you staying? so that we can come and sit and listen to what you have to say. Assuming that, over the course of time, they might be able to make some sense of the new philosophy this teacher was promoting and could decide later whether to continue to hang around, or not.
But in answer to this question of residence Jesus simply replies: Come and see.
And it is this question and this beckoning answer that form the heart of Jesus's teaching, I think, and everything he represented.
What are you looking for?
Come and see.
You are looking for a sense of identity, for meaning in life, for love and belonging....
Come with me and listen, and follow, and keep listening, and keep following, and see where this will all lead.
I love how different parts of the Bible often speak to one another, asking and answering questions, echoing and framing themes. Beginnings are recalled in endings---for Jesus, for the disciples, for Peter, who serves as a kind of everyman in the New Testament.
Peter vanishes from recorded mention in the middle of the New Testament book of Acts. The narrative of that book then shifts to the apostle Paul, who in all likelihood ended his life in Rome. Tradition holds that Peter, also, ended his life in that great city, choosing to be crucified there upside down, as he felt himself unworthy of being crucified in the same manner as the one he followed.
There is a striking and beautiful legend that grew up around this supposition.
Some of you may have seen the great film, Quo Vadis, a classic, from 1951, with the fabulous Peter Ustinov as Nero and an uncredited Sophia Loren--those were the days! It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and it was such a huge box office success that it was credited with single-handedly rescuing MGM from the brink of bankruptcy. Do watch it, if you haven't, lately!
The film is based on the novel by Polish Nobel Laureate Henryk Sienkiewicz, written in 1896, a romance. But it centres upon the legend of what happened to Peter, after the book of Acts finishes with him.
Here is the question. It is a question Peter asks, of Jesus.
Quo vadis? is a Latin phrase: it means Where are you going?
The legend holds that Peter was fleeing the persecution of Christians in Rome, rushing along in fear among the crowds streaming out of the city along the Appian Way.
All of a sudden, he sees a vision of Christ walking toward the city of Rome. Peter, in astonishment, bursts out:
Domine, quo vadis?
Lord, where are you going? Basically pointing out that Jesus is going the wrong way, in case he hadn't noticed.
Jesus does then answer Peter, in the legend. He says to him,
Romam eo iterum crucifigī.
I am going to Rome to be crucified again.
Peter, shamed, knowing that he is abandoning the Christians there who will suffer terrible fates, turns around on the road and retraces his steps, to face certain martyrdom.
That is enough of an answer for Peter. It is an indirect answer, but it answers him as clearly as if Jesus had asked him in return: I am going to be with those who are about to die for their faith. Where are you going, Peter?
So Peter's end is echoed in Peter's beginning, the beginning of his life of discipleship following Jesus. Jesus beckons to Peter as he had to his brother Andrew. And then he gives him a new name. Kepha (in aramaic); petra (in Greek)--you shall be the rock upon which the faith is founded.
How is Jesus beckoning to you?
Do you know where you are going?
What are you looking for?
It is very simple, this phrase of Jesus to the potential disciples.
Come and see.
If you are here tonight, it is likely that you have already asked the deepest questions of life: what is my own path to be? where will I place my ultimate allegiance? The Christian faith is all about openness, about the asking of questions.
It is also about faithfulness, of commitment, of seeking and finding a truth that sustains us until the end, like Peter.
Here we are, gathered on a cold winter's night in the heart of London, having sacrificed some comfort and pleasure to sit on hard pews to participate in a service of worship that, I would say, is a little different in character, say, from a good detective series on TV.
But I think that the beckoning call of this phrase of Jesus--Come and see--has been compelling enough to draw you here, and I think that the truth, the goodness, and the beauty of the Christian faith are indeed enough, as we grow as disciples, to sustain us through whatever it is that life will cast at us.
What are you looking for?
Come and see.
May Christ continue to reveal to us the riches of his grace as we grow in faith, hope, and love.
Amen.