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Being Seen

1/18/2015

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Jesus answered [Nathanael], "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." ~ John 1:50

My mother used to tell a story about me from the time I was a young child. Like many toddlers, I had a blanket I liked to carry around – actually, it was a cloth diaper, in those long ago days. Whenever an adult spoke to me sternly, or I thought I was getting trouble for something, I would pull the diaper over my face, so no one could see me. At that young age, children think that if they can’t see a person, then can’t be seen themselves. Closing their eyes, covering their face, or hiding under a blanket is a way of trying to be invisible.

Some of us still feel this way, not wanting to be in the spotlight, not wanting any undue attention brought on ourselves. Others of us are different, and step onto the public stage whenever possible, basking in the attention. And probably most of us are some mix between those two extremes – happy to be seen when all is going well and we have something we want to share, but shrinking back and trying to blend in with the wall-paper when we feel we’ve messed up, or otherwise come up short.

And yet, in our heart of hearts, we all do want to be seen, noticed, valued, appreciated, respected, loved – even only by one other person.

In the Gospel reading this morning, Jesus calls Philip to follow him, to join up with the group that is apprenticing themselves to Jesus to learn from him about God and God’s kingdom, God’s purposes and plans, and way of living life in the world. Philip then goes right out and finds his friend Nathanael, saying that they had found the Messiah, the One of whom all the Law and the Prophets had spoken and attested to. But Nathanael was very suspicious – how can anything good, anything of God’s purpose, come out of Nazareth? The Messiah, after all, was to be from Bethlehem; everybody knew that!

But Philip is not deterred. He doesn’t argue, or cajole, or try to make Nathanael believe what Philip believes. He just says, Come and see. Come and see for yourself. Come check it out. There is something here worth seeing.

So Nathanael goes along for the ride, to where Jesus is. And even before Nathanael has opened his mouth, Jesus says to him: Here is an Israelite in whom there is not deceit, a straight-shooter, someone who knows and values our religious truths inside and out.

Nathanael, of course, is astonished. Jesus has hit the nail on the head, has “gotten” him spot-on. Jesus has seen Nathanael for whom he truly is. Of course, Nathanael is still a little suspicious: How do you know me? You haven’t even met me yet! And Jesus says, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” This is about Jesus’ ability to see and read the human heart, even from a distance. And Nathanael knows what this must mean. Anyone who can see, who can have that kind of insight and spiritual wisdom, must be from God; must be directly connected to the Lord of universe. And so Nathanael says: Rabbi, Teacher, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel! And for Nathanael, that means he must embrace who Jesus is, and what he is doing, because here is the Messiah, right in front of him.

And Jesus says to him, in effect: Hang on, Nathanael, don’t get so excited because I see you and know you. If you cast your lot with me, you will see even greater things – the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man; a reference to the dream of their ancestor Jacob, who, sleeping in the desert, saw the angels moving up and down a ladder from earth to heaven and back again, and realized that God was present in that place. If Nathanael stays with Jesus then he will see and experience the realities of God’s presence, whether visible or invisible.

So, Jesus saw Nathanael – truly saw and understood and valued him – and it made all the difference in the world.

How is it when we are seen for who we really are, in our best selves? How is it to be recognized for what we have to offer, what our gifts are, what the world is like because we are in it? None of us are perfect or flawless people, but we are all made in God’s image, we all have qualities and personalities that are unique and wonderful and beautiful, and if we were not here, the world and humankind would be diminished somehow. When others see this in us and respond with affirmation and acceptance and recognition, that part of us that wants to shrink back and pull the blanket over our heads has the courage and the joy to step out of the shadows, to stand up a little straighter, to open our hand to others with gladness.

Can you think of a time when you were seen and valued by another person? Did that make you unfurl a little bit, like a flower in the spring time? Did you feel less afraid or ashamed or alone? Did the other person’s recognition make you feel as if you count? That’s what it means when God sees you and knows you, valued, recognized, beloved, being OK at a fundamental level.

God sees and knows and loves us to the depths of our being – even during the times when we want to run away and hide, and we are precious to God….no matter what.

Who else do you know who needs to experience that? Who needs to be Nathanael to your Philip?

Just like Philip, we don’t need to cajole or convince anyone to believe in God and trust in Jesus. But we do need to see the other person, to know them for who they really are, to see them with God’s eyes – warts and all – and give them the courtesy and honor of hearing their story: who they understand themselves to be; what matters to them; whom do they love; what do they fear or worry about; how does the world look through their eyes?

When we do this, we are acting as Jesus’ disciples in the world – learning from Christ how to see the hearts of others; learning from others how much bigger and more multifaceted is God’s world than just the part of it we live in.

When we are able to see another person, and he or she accepts that gift of being seen, it can open up a bridge, a channel, between them and God that might not have been open before. And the only thing you have to do is see, and listen, and be willing to learn, standing in that place where Jesus is with you both and longing to love you both into wholeness and peace.

Let us pray.
LORD, you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You trace my journeys and my resting-places and are acquainted with all my ways. Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, but you, O LORD, know it altogether. Thank you, Lord, and help me to share this gift with someone else who needs it. Amen.

Victoria Geer McGrath
All Saints’ Church, Millington, NJ
Second Sunday after Epiphany
January 18, 2015
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Being Beloved: A Family Story

1/13/2015

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And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased. Mark 1:10-11

How many ways can you tell a story, particularly a family story? Each person remembers the event slightly differently, or focuses on a different detail, or it has a somewhat different meaning or importance for each person telling it, yet it is the same shared story – the sort of story that binds families together.

Last week when I was visiting and travelling with my son in the Netherlands we went to stay overnight with my cousin Peg who lives in Brussels. She is my second cousin, and we hadn’t seen each other in at least six or seven years. In that time her sons have grown up and are both at university, so we were lucky to be able to have dinner with them; it was the last night of their Christmas holiday. The conversation eventually came around to her grandmother and my grandfather who were siblings. Peg had some questions about what I knew and remembered, and where certain family names came from. As we talked, the next generation listened in: Jack, Meg, Alex and Nicholas – hearing the stories of their own family, creating bonds and a sense of family identity that was larger than either of our nuclear families. For Peg and me, and to a lesser extent for her husband Anders, there was renewal of our family ties and our sense of belonging.

The Gospel reading we have heard today is another one of those “family stories.” It relates the baptism of Jesus at the hand of John the Baptist, his cousin. Matthew and Luke tell this story, too – each in their own way. The Gospel of John refers to the event, but doesn’t actually describe it – but that’s John for you….always telling the story from a very different angle.

Mark, in his typical fashion, is in a rush to tell us the Good News – and in as few words as possible; we all have family members like that, don’t we – direct and to the point. Jesus arrives where John is baptizing people, engaged in his ministry of getting them ready for the Kingdom of God to arrive. And then as one translation puts it: "Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. The moment he came out of the water, he saw the sky split open and God’s Spirit, looking like a dove, come down on him. Along with the Spirit, a voice: “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.” (The Message)

It is from here that the Spirit drives Jesus out into the wilderness to be tested by ordeal before beginning his public ministry. His baptism isn’t just a private moment of revelation and affirmation for Jesus alone. Instead, it is the jumping off place for Jesus to reach out to a much wider and larger circle of people, to begin to bring God’s Kingdom to fruition right in their midst.

John was baptizing those who came to him for repentance, a symbol of their turning away from sin and smallness of heart and going their own way, and turning towards God – getting ready for all that God’s future might bring. For Jesus to show up on the riverbank and ask to be baptized sometimes seems strange to us: Why should Jesus be baptized? What does he need to repent of? John the Baptist even says that he is not worthy to bend down and untie Jesus’ shoes! Yet Jesus comes for baptism anyway, to be part of those who are aligning themselves with this new movement that God is inaugurating, to claim his identity as part of the People of God. In doing so, Jesus has an experience, a pretty overwhelming spiritual experience. The heavens are torn open, the Spirit descends in the form of a dove, and he hears the voice of God saying to him: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well-pleased.” This is the voice and the sense of identity that Jesus carries with him into the wilderness, into his ministry, and to which (I imagine) he returns often in prayer and meditation. “You are my Son, the Beloved” – his identity.

From the earliest days of the Church Jesus’ followers have been baptized by water and the Spirit – not only as a mark of repentance, forgiveness, and a new start, but also for a new identity and to receive God’s power. The identity we receive is that of being part of the Body of Christ. Baptism marks the transition from us living for ourselves alone, or even for our family, to living for a much larger group – our sisters and brothers in Christ. We die to ourselves in baptism, so that we may be made alive in Christ and members of one another. We are given a new identity, a new family name.   

Christian faith and believing is not just for ourselves and our own salvation and relationship with God, a private and circumscribed experience. Christian faith and practice are for the sake of the world; it is those who follow and belong to Jesus, carrying out God’s mission of renewal and reclamation and wholeness and joy in every arena to which our life takes us. When we are baptized we are given, increasingly, the power and energy and strength to be God’s agents in the world.

Our identity and our mission are twin faces of our baptism: we have been forgiven, reborn, set free, made alive, beloved in this new family of Christ-followers; and we are sent out to do God’s work in the world, following in the footsteps of Jesus, powered by the Holy Spirit, directed by the wisdom of the Father. And because we belong to the family of Christ, we hear God saying to us just what he said to Jesus that day in the River Jordan: “You are my Child, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And just like Jesus, we need to return to that affirmation of our identity and purpose over and over again in prayer and meditation, in the midst of crisis or boredom, as we actively seek to do God’s will, when we are getting ready for bed and when we rise from sleep. It is part of our family story; it is part of what ties us to one another and to Jesus. And our identity and purpose as God’s beloved, baptized children – each and every one of us – is what will carry us forward into God’s future with joy and wholeness and hope.

Let us pray.
Lord Jesus, You were the center of all waters and floods at thy Baptism in the River Jordan, still sanctify the waters of baptism. You were the center of humanity as you gathered your friends, taught the crowds, and faced those who opposed you, grant us to hear your call and follow. You are the center of the new creation, re-gathering your friends and speaking peace, send us out in witness to your mercy. Amen.  ~ excerpted from “Litany of the Incarnate Life”, St. Augustine’s Prayer Brook.

Victoria Geer McGrath
All Saints’ Church, Millington, NJ
First Sunday after Epiphany: The Baptism of our Lord
January 11, 2015
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All Saints' Episcopal Church

 15 Basking Ridge Road, Millington NJ 07946    phone: (908) 647-0067    email: allstsmill@hotmail.com