Grace and peace to you from God our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit

Have you ever spoken a word that the moment it left your mouth you wished you could take it back?

The immediate feeling of energy that puts you in fight or flight mode.

I wonder if you have a similar feeling when someone says to you, “You’re not going to believe this, you have to come and see!”

How might you respond if someone told you they had found Jesus? Would you welcome the news and ask for more info, perhaps to go meet Jesus? Or maybe you would be a little more cautious, doubtful even.

Nathanael not only seems doubtful, but downright rude.

Listen to his first response to Philip.

“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

That’s a potential conversation ender, similar to;

“Will the Vikings ever win the Super Bowl?”

Questions that are filled more with sarcasm than hope and promise.

Yet the gospel writer John has a way to orchestrate a story, often turning the story upside down.

What we thought would happen is reversed and we are changed, we have an epiphany..

I still don’t know where the Vikings are headed,

but we are blessed that Jesus has come out of Nazareth.

Like Philip said, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote,

Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

“Come and see.”

Remember these are fishing buddies and I’m sure they have swapped many tall tales and miracles catches, but finding Jesus.

Philip knew how to get through to Nathanael, just as God gets through to us. God invites us to listen to the call of love through Jesus.

Now that the invitation was offered Nathanael went to go and see.

Remember the words from the psalm that God already knows us, our thoughts and deeds from the beginning of time.

I wonder if Nathanael was having an epiphany with foot in the mouth thoughts?

Rather than chide him Jesus describes Nathanael as, “truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”

I kind of wonder that Jesus already knew what Nathanael had said, offering compliment rather than criticism.

Perhaps at this point Nathanael wished he could take his words back. Or maybe not as he asks Jesus, “ Where did you get to know me from?”

I am reminded of the times I have met a person and in a short while found out that we had a mutual friend or relative.

Has that ever happened to you?

I am always interested in making the connections to learn more about that person and I would not be telling the truth if I also didn’t use those opportunities to have a Jesus moment.

“Who do people say that I am?”

I must confess that I hope that I am described as I think that I am, not just what I want to hear.

There is joy in being who you are supposed to be and grace when others see you as you.

Jesus is the great king, the Messiah, who has become one of us. God knows this and extends love to us through Jesus.

Unconditional love that accepts us for who we are, as God made us, even forgiving us when we continue to make mistakes.

There is no test, no measurement, no way that God will abandon us. “Come and see the goodness of the Lord.”

Jesus models that love throughout the Bible.

We find examples of people who surprise us with compassion, small acts of kindness.

When I was growing up going to the State Fair was always how we finished off our summers.

Part of the fun or rather challenging part was the tradition of trying to sneak into the fair.

Yes this is not lawful, or beneficial for me, except for this one time.

I was reluctant to go with my friends who had assured me that they had a great place to sneak in.

It was supposed to be so easy, I was thinking more of how my friends thought of me.

We had to walk through the U of M fields very near the animal barn waste area. There is about an eight foot high fence, topped with barbed wire.

Once you made it over that you had to walk amongst the cars behind the Grandstand and you were in.

Easy, right?

Not when you really didn’t want to do this and you were good at fence climbing. And barbed wire? And did I forget the deputy sheriff’s horseback patrol? I don’t remember what order the four of us went over, but we made it. Or at least we thought we did.

In what seemed like seconds the Deputy Sheriff's horseback patrol, who probably watched the whole affair quickly rode up to us and stopped us.

I was scared and really just wanted to go home. It was game over, reality time.

We were questioned repeatedly about where we jumped over and the others tried to keep deflecting that we had entered at the main gate.

After about five minutes I simply looked up and said,”sir I jumped over the fence right there.”

Finally taking responsibility for my actions, I hoped I could finally go home. The deputy looked at me and said, “Go to the Fair.”

I must have looked at him like I saw Jesus.

I didn’t say anything, but the deputy followed with, “Son you will get a lot farther in life telling the truth.”

I couldn’t believe it, but I learned about friendship that day and listening to others. Eventually I watched as none of them confessed and they were escorted out.

Now what? I had been given a lesson in honesty, but I didn’t feel like going any more.

Jesus invites us to come and see the goodness of life.

I learned that yes, telling the truth does get you farther in life.

I also learned that what your friends say isn’t always true or the best advice. Come and see that there is goodness in the world.

Even goodness that can come out of making poor decisions

God is with us in those times too.

Jesus spoke to me that day through the Deputy Sheriff, perhaps seeing the importance of being kind when some makes a poor decision.

In all of our reading for this morning God we hear about God for us. God who knew us before we were born, which is an amazing thought.

More so a God who loves us when we do things or say things that will not help us.

That’s the unconditional love we all receive as a gift.

It goes without saying that we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., tomorrow.

Dr. King understood that God is with us and no matter what, we are enough, just as we are.

When we believe those words we continue to see the heaven’s open with glory. Jesus not only tells us but shows us the importance of loving one another. Imagine and live into the joy that God knows your every second. God is with you to experience the gift of life.

Come and see. Walk with, talk with, and live with Jesus.

For this we can say Thanks be to God. Amen