Rev. Ryan J. Baer – Lakeside Presbyterian Church
43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael asked him, “Where did you come to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
So I wonder if you’d humor me for a few minutes this morning, because I want to share a little of my own personal testimony with you today. I want to share with you a little bit about my own personal journey of faith in Jesus Christ, and about what it means to me to be a Presbyterian.
I did not become a Christian at 6 weeks of age, when I was baptized at the First United Methodist Church of Artesia, New Mexico. I did not become a Christian at 5 years of age, when serving as an acolyte at the First Presbyterian Church. I did not become a Christian at 12 years of age, when I met with my camp counselor and “prayed the sinners prayer” and “accepted Jesus into my heart” at Sky Ranch Summer Camp in East Texas. I did not become a Christian at 15 years of age, when I was “confirmed” at the Custer Road United Methodist Church of Plano, Texas. I did not become a Christian at the age of 20, when I took a job on the staff of the Methodist Campus ministry in Columbia, Missouri. I did not become a Christian at the age of 24, when Amy and I became members of the Woodhaven Presbyterian Church in Irving, Texas. I did not become a Christian at the age of 25, when I came under the care of Grace Presbytery as I began to explore a call to seminary education. I did not become a Christian at the age of 29, when I graduated with my Master of Divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary, nor did I become a Christian at the age of 30, when I was ordained as a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church on May 11, 2008, nor did I become a Christian a few weeks later when I was installed by the Presbytery of Tropical Florida as the pastor of Lakeside Presbyterian Church.
The truth of the matter is that today, just a few weeks shy of my 34th birthday, I am still in the process of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am still learning what it means to respond with all that I am to Jesus’ two simple words: “Follow me.”
Looking back across the span of my life, each of those dates, each of those events, were important milestones along my journey of faith. But none of those events made me a Christian. For me, becoming a Christian is an event that has happened across the entire span of my life, and it’s an event that happens every day.
For each and every day, when we wake up in the morning, we have a choice. Will we follow our own wandering hearts and try to chase down our own fickle desires? Will we try to live by our own power? Will we try to be our own saviors? Or will we give our hearts to Jesus, and will we surrender the will and the care of our lives over to the one who has claimed us and marked us and redeemed us, the one who has called to us and said, “Follow me.”
In our story from John’s gospel this morning, Jesus is just beginning his earthly ministry, just beginning the process of calling the first disciples. John tells us that Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and there he found Phillip. We don’t know much about Phillip. We don’t know if he was a fisherman or a tax collector or a candlestick maker. All we know is that Jesus found him and said, “Follow me,” and Phillip followed.
And I have to tell you, sisters and brothers, that I would not be who I am today if it weren’t for the presence of Phillip in my life.
Looking back, at each of the critical points in my life, God has placed a Phillip in my life. Phillip wasn’t any one person. But at each of the critical points in my life, God has placed in my path a man or a woman who has decided to follow Jesus, someone who has known me has cared enough about me to come to me and say, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” At each critical point in my life, God has sent a Phillip to me, someone who has pointed me to the truth of Jesus Christ, just like Phillip did for Nathaniel.
The Phillips that God has placed in my life have been Sunday School teachers and youth advisors. The Phillips in my life have been seminary professors and mentors. The Phillips in my life have been members of my own family. And believe it or not, some of you have even been Phillips in my life. Looking back over the course of my process of becoming a Christian, at various points, God has sent a Phillip to me.
And would you believe that almost every time, I have responded just like Nathaniel? Would you believe that almost every time a Phillip has shown up in my life, I have said, “What? Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
I have said, “You’ve got to be kidding me. You can’t be serious. You really believe all of this Jesus mumbo-jumbo?” And the Phillips in my life have simply said, “Come and see.”
I have said, “You’ve got to be kidding me. You can’t be serious. You really want me to sing in your youth choir? I’m only 15 and still going through puberty. Can anything good come out of my voice?” And the Phillips in my life have simply said, “Come and see.”
I have said, “You’ve got to be kidding me. You can’t be serious. I have started a career. I have a new bride at home. You think I should consider seminary? Can anything good come out of this?” And the Phillips in my life have simply said, “Come and see.”
Over and over and over again, as I reflect back on the course of my life, time and again, God has placed a Phillip in my life, a man or a woman who has decided in their own lives to follow Jesus, come what may, a man or a woman who has come to me and said, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
And just like Nathaniel, I have said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
The Phillips in my life were wise disciples. They did not pull out their Bibles and try to academically prove to me the existence and Messiahship of Christ. They were secure enough in their own faith to know that there is a time and a place for in-depth Bible study, but that was not it.
The Phillips that God placed in my life did not launch into an impassioned plea about the state of my soul, or give me emotionally charged descriptions of hell and fire and brimstone and hit me with pithy phrases like, “Turn or burn.” They were secure enough in their own faith to know that repentance is essential to discipleship, but they also knew that tales of hellfire and brimstone don’t often connect with people who are already going through a kind of hell in their own lives.
The Phillips that God placed in my life have known me. They have invested in and developed a relationship with me. And they have cared about me enough to come find me and to say, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
And invariably, when I have responded like Nathaniel, when I have said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, the Phillips in my life have been secure enough in their own faith to respond with a simple three-word invitation.
“Come and see.”
The Phillips have invited me to come and see for myself the new thing that God is doing in the earth in Jesus Christ. They have invited me to come and see for myself the gifts that God has placed in me for service in his kingdom. They have invited me to come and see for myself this Jesus of Nazareth, this one who saw me long before I ever saw him, this one who has claimed and marked and redeemed all of us.
And because of the witness and testimony of Phillip, I have responded like Nathaniel. I have called Jesus my lord and king and dedicated my life to following him.
But enough about me. What does all of this have to do with us? What does this have to do with our life together as a church?
We have gathered here today to celebrate our Presbyterian heritage, to give thanks for the faithful saints who have gone before us and left us a legacy. And that is a good thing.
But it’s no secret that these are challenging days for us as Presbyterians. It’s no secret that as a whole, the Presbyterian churches in this nation are getting smaller, older, and evermore in danger of financial insolvency. It’s no secret that the social issues that divide us as Americans are also dividing us as Presbyterians. Many of you know that a handful of our sister churches in our presbytery have begun the initial steps to request a dismissal from our Presbyterian Church (USA) to another Reformed denomination.
And so I imagine that there are many Nathaniels out there today. I imagine that there are many people, both within and outside of the Presbyterian Church (USA), who are asking in all seriousness, “Can anything good come out of the Presbyterian Church?”
And so for us sisters and brothers, this is the moment for us to become a Phillip. This is the moment for us to be secure enough in our own faith to remember that the future of the Presbyterian Church does not depend on whether or not we leave this denomination or stay. The future of the Presbyterian Church does not hinge on whether or not we exchange our bagpipes for bass guitars. The future of the Presbyterian Church does not hinge on whether or not our side “wins” or “loses” in the ongoing conversations about sexuality, morality, and personal ethics. The future of the Presbyterian Church does not hinge on our ability or lack thereof to attract young families.
The future of the Presbyterian Church hinges on whether or not we will become disciples like Phillip. It hinges on whether or not each and every one of us, each and every day, are willing to make a decision to lay aside our own personal wants and desires and longing, and to answer Christ’s call to follow him.
It hinges on whether or not we’re willing to do the hard and long and slow work of building relationships with whomever God happens to put in our path.
It hinges on whether or not we’re willing to share with those closest to us the good news, that we have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth. It hinges on whether or not we can stand it when they laugh at us, when they ask us, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Can anything good come out of the church?”
With all due respect to our friends from the Scottish American Society who are with us today, no one ever came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ because of a particular cultural heritage. The Presbyterian Church USA is not going to live or die based on how the votes come down at the next General Assembly. And Lakeside Presbyterian Church is not going to live or die based on whether or not the hymns are played on the organ or on the piano.
Our cultural heritage, our polity, our worship traditions, are a means to an end. But these things are not the end in and of themselves. And if these things are not effective in bringing men and women into a relationship with Jesus Christ, then they must be seriously re-evaluated.
For the future of the church hinges on our ability to be like Phillip. The future of the church hinges on our willingness, both individually and collectively, to make a daily commitment to drop everything for the sake of following Jesus. The future of the church hinges on our ability to build and invest in relationships with the Nathaniels in our lives. And when, inevitably, they say to us, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, when, inevitably, they say to us, “You really believe in all of this Jesus mumbo-jumbo? You’re really serious? Can anything good come out of the church?” we have got to be secure and mature enough in our own faith to issue a simple, heart-felt, three-word invitation.
Come and see
43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael asked him, “Where did you come to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
So I wonder if you’d humor me for a few minutes this morning, because I want to share a little of my own personal testimony with you today. I want to share with you a little bit about my own personal journey of faith in Jesus Christ, and about what it means to me to be a Presbyterian.
I did not become a Christian at 6 weeks of age, when I was baptized at the First United Methodist Church of Artesia, New Mexico. I did not become a Christian at 5 years of age, when serving as an acolyte at the First Presbyterian Church. I did not become a Christian at 12 years of age, when I met with my camp counselor and “prayed the sinners prayer” and “accepted Jesus into my heart” at Sky Ranch Summer Camp in East Texas. I did not become a Christian at 15 years of age, when I was “confirmed” at the Custer Road United Methodist Church of Plano, Texas. I did not become a Christian at the age of 20, when I took a job on the staff of the Methodist Campus ministry in Columbia, Missouri. I did not become a Christian at the age of 24, when Amy and I became members of the Woodhaven Presbyterian Church in Irving, Texas. I did not become a Christian at the age of 25, when I came under the care of Grace Presbytery as I began to explore a call to seminary education. I did not become a Christian at the age of 29, when I graduated with my Master of Divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary, nor did I become a Christian at the age of 30, when I was ordained as a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church on May 11, 2008, nor did I become a Christian a few weeks later when I was installed by the Presbytery of Tropical Florida as the pastor of Lakeside Presbyterian Church.
The truth of the matter is that today, just a few weeks shy of my 34th birthday, I am still in the process of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am still learning what it means to respond with all that I am to Jesus’ two simple words: “Follow me.”
Looking back across the span of my life, each of those dates, each of those events, were important milestones along my journey of faith. But none of those events made me a Christian. For me, becoming a Christian is an event that has happened across the entire span of my life, and it’s an event that happens every day.
For each and every day, when we wake up in the morning, we have a choice. Will we follow our own wandering hearts and try to chase down our own fickle desires? Will we try to live by our own power? Will we try to be our own saviors? Or will we give our hearts to Jesus, and will we surrender the will and the care of our lives over to the one who has claimed us and marked us and redeemed us, the one who has called to us and said, “Follow me.”
In our story from John’s gospel this morning, Jesus is just beginning his earthly ministry, just beginning the process of calling the first disciples. John tells us that Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and there he found Phillip. We don’t know much about Phillip. We don’t know if he was a fisherman or a tax collector or a candlestick maker. All we know is that Jesus found him and said, “Follow me,” and Phillip followed.
And I have to tell you, sisters and brothers, that I would not be who I am today if it weren’t for the presence of Phillip in my life.
Looking back, at each of the critical points in my life, God has placed a Phillip in my life. Phillip wasn’t any one person. But at each of the critical points in my life, God has placed in my path a man or a woman who has decided to follow Jesus, someone who has known me has cared enough about me to come to me and say, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” At each critical point in my life, God has sent a Phillip to me, someone who has pointed me to the truth of Jesus Christ, just like Phillip did for Nathaniel.
The Phillips that God has placed in my life have been Sunday School teachers and youth advisors. The Phillips in my life have been seminary professors and mentors. The Phillips in my life have been members of my own family. And believe it or not, some of you have even been Phillips in my life. Looking back over the course of my process of becoming a Christian, at various points, God has sent a Phillip to me.
And would you believe that almost every time, I have responded just like Nathaniel? Would you believe that almost every time a Phillip has shown up in my life, I have said, “What? Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
I have said, “You’ve got to be kidding me. You can’t be serious. You really believe all of this Jesus mumbo-jumbo?” And the Phillips in my life have simply said, “Come and see.”
I have said, “You’ve got to be kidding me. You can’t be serious. You really want me to sing in your youth choir? I’m only 15 and still going through puberty. Can anything good come out of my voice?” And the Phillips in my life have simply said, “Come and see.”
I have said, “You’ve got to be kidding me. You can’t be serious. I have started a career. I have a new bride at home. You think I should consider seminary? Can anything good come out of this?” And the Phillips in my life have simply said, “Come and see.”
Over and over and over again, as I reflect back on the course of my life, time and again, God has placed a Phillip in my life, a man or a woman who has decided in their own lives to follow Jesus, come what may, a man or a woman who has come to me and said, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
And just like Nathaniel, I have said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
The Phillips in my life were wise disciples. They did not pull out their Bibles and try to academically prove to me the existence and Messiahship of Christ. They were secure enough in their own faith to know that there is a time and a place for in-depth Bible study, but that was not it.
The Phillips that God placed in my life did not launch into an impassioned plea about the state of my soul, or give me emotionally charged descriptions of hell and fire and brimstone and hit me with pithy phrases like, “Turn or burn.” They were secure enough in their own faith to know that repentance is essential to discipleship, but they also knew that tales of hellfire and brimstone don’t often connect with people who are already going through a kind of hell in their own lives.
The Phillips that God placed in my life have known me. They have invested in and developed a relationship with me. And they have cared about me enough to come find me and to say, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
And invariably, when I have responded like Nathaniel, when I have said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, the Phillips in my life have been secure enough in their own faith to respond with a simple three-word invitation.
“Come and see.”
The Phillips have invited me to come and see for myself the new thing that God is doing in the earth in Jesus Christ. They have invited me to come and see for myself the gifts that God has placed in me for service in his kingdom. They have invited me to come and see for myself this Jesus of Nazareth, this one who saw me long before I ever saw him, this one who has claimed and marked and redeemed all of us.
And because of the witness and testimony of Phillip, I have responded like Nathaniel. I have called Jesus my lord and king and dedicated my life to following him.
But enough about me. What does all of this have to do with us? What does this have to do with our life together as a church?
We have gathered here today to celebrate our Presbyterian heritage, to give thanks for the faithful saints who have gone before us and left us a legacy. And that is a good thing.
But it’s no secret that these are challenging days for us as Presbyterians. It’s no secret that as a whole, the Presbyterian churches in this nation are getting smaller, older, and evermore in danger of financial insolvency. It’s no secret that the social issues that divide us as Americans are also dividing us as Presbyterians. Many of you know that a handful of our sister churches in our presbytery have begun the initial steps to request a dismissal from our Presbyterian Church (USA) to another Reformed denomination.
And so I imagine that there are many Nathaniels out there today. I imagine that there are many people, both within and outside of the Presbyterian Church (USA), who are asking in all seriousness, “Can anything good come out of the Presbyterian Church?”
And so for us sisters and brothers, this is the moment for us to become a Phillip. This is the moment for us to be secure enough in our own faith to remember that the future of the Presbyterian Church does not depend on whether or not we leave this denomination or stay. The future of the Presbyterian Church does not hinge on whether or not we exchange our bagpipes for bass guitars. The future of the Presbyterian Church does not hinge on whether or not our side “wins” or “loses” in the ongoing conversations about sexuality, morality, and personal ethics. The future of the Presbyterian Church does not hinge on our ability or lack thereof to attract young families.
The future of the Presbyterian Church hinges on whether or not we will become disciples like Phillip. It hinges on whether or not each and every one of us, each and every day, are willing to make a decision to lay aside our own personal wants and desires and longing, and to answer Christ’s call to follow him.
It hinges on whether or not we’re willing to do the hard and long and slow work of building relationships with whomever God happens to put in our path.
It hinges on whether or not we’re willing to share with those closest to us the good news, that we have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth. It hinges on whether or not we can stand it when they laugh at us, when they ask us, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Can anything good come out of the church?”
With all due respect to our friends from the Scottish American Society who are with us today, no one ever came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ because of a particular cultural heritage. The Presbyterian Church USA is not going to live or die based on how the votes come down at the next General Assembly. And Lakeside Presbyterian Church is not going to live or die based on whether or not the hymns are played on the organ or on the piano.
Our cultural heritage, our polity, our worship traditions, are a means to an end. But these things are not the end in and of themselves. And if these things are not effective in bringing men and women into a relationship with Jesus Christ, then they must be seriously re-evaluated.
For the future of the church hinges on our ability to be like Phillip. The future of the church hinges on our willingness, both individually and collectively, to make a daily commitment to drop everything for the sake of following Jesus. The future of the church hinges on our ability to build and invest in relationships with the Nathaniels in our lives. And when, inevitably, they say to us, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, when, inevitably, they say to us, “You really believe in all of this Jesus mumbo-jumbo? You’re really serious? Can anything good come out of the church?” we have got to be secure and mature enough in our own faith to issue a simple, heart-felt, three-word invitation.
Come and see
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