"Can Anything Good Come Out From Edgemont?"
A sermon preached by the Rev. Christopher E. Yopp at Edgemont Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) based on John 1:43-51.
I like the story of the young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she came to the question on the college application which asked; “Are you a leader?” Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, “No,” and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise, she received this letter from the college; “Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveal that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower.”
In our Gospel Lesson this morning, Phillip comes to Nathanael and proclaims that he has found the one whom Moses wrote about. He is Jesus of Nazareth. While we do not know what expression Nathanael had on his face, I think that it is safe to say that his expression must have revealed the cynical tone of his response; “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” And Phillip answered; “Come and see.”
For some reason, January is the month for every “Ten Best” and “Ten Worst” list imaginable. January editions of magazines, television, and news media find it necessary to include a feature on some “Ten Worst” or “Ten Best” list. The ten best movies, the ten worst videos, the ten best books, the ten worst dressed, the ten best trends, the ten worst investments, the ten best colleges, the ten worst places to live, and the list goes on and on.
And this morning we see that even this “worst list” has made its way into our Gospel Lesson. Nathanael, upon hearing that Jesus’ hometown is that of Nazareth, asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” I think it is interesting that historically, Nazareth was not perceived in such a way. Yet, Nathanael’s statement has forever tarnished this small, dusty, insignificant village of stone homes struggling to stay solvent. While Nazareth was, indeed, unremarkable, undistinguished, and unconsidered, it didn’t have such the negative image that Nathanael paints. Just like many of those “Ten Best” and “Ten Worst” lists, it was a matter of perception.
But in many ways, we are a lot like Nathanael. In many respects we take on this cynical attitude when it comes to the church. It is easy for us to sit back in our pews and ask, “Can anything good come from Edgemont? But, this is a good question for us to ask ourselves as we embark on a new year of ministry? Minus the cynicism, “Can anything good come from Edgemont?” Sure we can look at our average weekly attendance and our offering, we can look at the amount of participation at worship services and in church programs, we even look around at the spirit and enthusiasm of the people to help us answer that question, but we must not fail to look at ourselves before we can truly answer that question. “Can anything good come from Edgemont?” each of us determines the answer to that question.
Oftentimes, to measure the psychology of a church it’s leaders will compare its quality to its quantity. That is to say, they will take the qualitative features of the church such as worship, fellowship, missions, education, and activities for children, youth and adults and measure them against the church’s quantitative response such as stewardship, participation, attitude and overall level of support. Certainly, this is a good exercise for any church. But I can’t help but think how do we measure up in terms of quality verses quantity? “Can anything good come from Edgemont?”
Keep in mind, John and Andrew were originally disciples of John the Baptist. He had introduced them to Jesus, and, in time, they would become two of Jesus’ closest disciples. From that moment that John had declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God and baptized him in the River Jordan, John and Andrew followed Jesus. I love how the gospel writer records that Jesus turned, saw them following and asked; “What are you looking for?” I mean, it must have startled them, but I love their response, they responded to Jesus’ question with a question; “Where are you staying?” And Jesus answered them; “Come and see.”
Jesus said; “Come and see!” And they went with him and spent all day with him. At the end of the day, they returned convinced that Jesus was the Christ - the Messiah. And then we see evangelism at work, we are told that Andrew found his brother Peter and said to him; “We have found the Messiah!”
And then our Gospel Lesson picks up with the next day, when Jesus is in Galilee and calls Phillip to come and follow him and he does. And then once again, we see evangelism at work as Phillip goes to Nathanael and says; “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” And Nathanael said to him; “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” And Philip said to him, “Come and see!” I love those words; “Come and see!”
Lakeside Wesleyan Church once did a survey in which they asked, “How does the church grow?” And this is what they discovered; 6% just walk in and join on their own, 10% join because the church has a good program for children, youth, and adults, 6% join because the church has a good pastor, 3% join because of some special or unique need, 2% join because of the general visitation by the pastor or a member of the church, 7% join because of a good church school, 1% join because of a revival, and 65% join because they are invited by friends, relatives, or a church member! “Come and see!” When was the last time you said that?
Nathan Williams told of two men who had been business partners for over twenty years. They met one Sunday morning as they were leaving a restaurant. One of them asked, “Where are you going this morning?” He said; “Well, I’m going to go play golf. What about you?” The first man responded rather apologetically, “Well, I’m going to church.” The other man said, “Why don't you give up that church stuff? What’s the point of it all?” The man asked, “What do you mean?” “Well, we have been partners for over twenty years. We have worked together, attended board meetings together, and had lunch together, and in all of these twenty years you have never asked me once about going to church. You have never invited me to go with you. Obviously, it doesn't mean that much to you.”
Rich Mullins who was a renown Christian artist and, in some ways, a great theologian said, “I asked my dad once how he knew he was ready to get married.” And he said; “Oh, I didn’t, in fact, the only reason I got married was because I wasn’t ready. If I had known what I was in for I would have run screaming from the church.” So Rich, rather confused said; “Are you sorry that you did it?” And his father said, “No, I am not sorry at all.” He said, “I didn’t understand at the time what I meant when I said, ‘I do,’ but I am so glad I did. I had no idea that my wife was going to live this long or what a glorious life she would give me.” Certainly, John and Andrew, Phillip and Nathanael didn’t realize what it fully meant when they said, “Yes,” that day to Jesus’ call. But, I can imagine that they were glad they did. And the same is true for us.
Bill Gates once said, “In terms of allocation of time and resources, religion is not very efficient.” He went on to say, “There’s a lot more I could be doing on Sunday morning then sitting in church waiting on God.” And, certainly, he’s right. There is a lot more you and I could be doing with our time then sitting here on Sunday morning. Why do we come to church? For what purpose? You see, that business partner was right, Bill Gates was right, if all we do is come to church each Sunday morning and walk out the doors unchanged, untouched, and unresponsive, we are wasting our time, there are a lot of other more useful things we could be doing. But, if in coming to church, we experience the life-giving power and presence of God; if we find ourselves uplifted and strengthened for daily living; if we are compelled to go forth as evangelist, like John, Andrew, and Phillip then we haven’t wasted our time and something good is indeed coming from Edgemont, and that something good is you and me living out our faith. Can anything good come from Edgemont? My response is, “Yes, I am looking at it!” Amen.
In our Gospel Lesson this morning, Phillip comes to Nathanael and proclaims that he has found the one whom Moses wrote about. He is Jesus of Nazareth. While we do not know what expression Nathanael had on his face, I think that it is safe to say that his expression must have revealed the cynical tone of his response; “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” And Phillip answered; “Come and see.”
For some reason, January is the month for every “Ten Best” and “Ten Worst” list imaginable. January editions of magazines, television, and news media find it necessary to include a feature on some “Ten Worst” or “Ten Best” list. The ten best movies, the ten worst videos, the ten best books, the ten worst dressed, the ten best trends, the ten worst investments, the ten best colleges, the ten worst places to live, and the list goes on and on.
And this morning we see that even this “worst list” has made its way into our Gospel Lesson. Nathanael, upon hearing that Jesus’ hometown is that of Nazareth, asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” I think it is interesting that historically, Nazareth was not perceived in such a way. Yet, Nathanael’s statement has forever tarnished this small, dusty, insignificant village of stone homes struggling to stay solvent. While Nazareth was, indeed, unremarkable, undistinguished, and unconsidered, it didn’t have such the negative image that Nathanael paints. Just like many of those “Ten Best” and “Ten Worst” lists, it was a matter of perception.
But in many ways, we are a lot like Nathanael. In many respects we take on this cynical attitude when it comes to the church. It is easy for us to sit back in our pews and ask, “Can anything good come from Edgemont? But, this is a good question for us to ask ourselves as we embark on a new year of ministry? Minus the cynicism, “Can anything good come from Edgemont?” Sure we can look at our average weekly attendance and our offering, we can look at the amount of participation at worship services and in church programs, we even look around at the spirit and enthusiasm of the people to help us answer that question, but we must not fail to look at ourselves before we can truly answer that question. “Can anything good come from Edgemont?” each of us determines the answer to that question.
Oftentimes, to measure the psychology of a church it’s leaders will compare its quality to its quantity. That is to say, they will take the qualitative features of the church such as worship, fellowship, missions, education, and activities for children, youth and adults and measure them against the church’s quantitative response such as stewardship, participation, attitude and overall level of support. Certainly, this is a good exercise for any church. But I can’t help but think how do we measure up in terms of quality verses quantity? “Can anything good come from Edgemont?”
Keep in mind, John and Andrew were originally disciples of John the Baptist. He had introduced them to Jesus, and, in time, they would become two of Jesus’ closest disciples. From that moment that John had declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God and baptized him in the River Jordan, John and Andrew followed Jesus. I love how the gospel writer records that Jesus turned, saw them following and asked; “What are you looking for?” I mean, it must have startled them, but I love their response, they responded to Jesus’ question with a question; “Where are you staying?” And Jesus answered them; “Come and see.”
Jesus said; “Come and see!” And they went with him and spent all day with him. At the end of the day, they returned convinced that Jesus was the Christ - the Messiah. And then we see evangelism at work, we are told that Andrew found his brother Peter and said to him; “We have found the Messiah!”
And then our Gospel Lesson picks up with the next day, when Jesus is in Galilee and calls Phillip to come and follow him and he does. And then once again, we see evangelism at work as Phillip goes to Nathanael and says; “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” And Nathanael said to him; “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” And Philip said to him, “Come and see!” I love those words; “Come and see!”
Lakeside Wesleyan Church once did a survey in which they asked, “How does the church grow?” And this is what they discovered; 6% just walk in and join on their own, 10% join because the church has a good program for children, youth, and adults, 6% join because the church has a good pastor, 3% join because of some special or unique need, 2% join because of the general visitation by the pastor or a member of the church, 7% join because of a good church school, 1% join because of a revival, and 65% join because they are invited by friends, relatives, or a church member! “Come and see!” When was the last time you said that?
Nathan Williams told of two men who had been business partners for over twenty years. They met one Sunday morning as they were leaving a restaurant. One of them asked, “Where are you going this morning?” He said; “Well, I’m going to go play golf. What about you?” The first man responded rather apologetically, “Well, I’m going to church.” The other man said, “Why don't you give up that church stuff? What’s the point of it all?” The man asked, “What do you mean?” “Well, we have been partners for over twenty years. We have worked together, attended board meetings together, and had lunch together, and in all of these twenty years you have never asked me once about going to church. You have never invited me to go with you. Obviously, it doesn't mean that much to you.”
Rich Mullins who was a renown Christian artist and, in some ways, a great theologian said, “I asked my dad once how he knew he was ready to get married.” And he said; “Oh, I didn’t, in fact, the only reason I got married was because I wasn’t ready. If I had known what I was in for I would have run screaming from the church.” So Rich, rather confused said; “Are you sorry that you did it?” And his father said, “No, I am not sorry at all.” He said, “I didn’t understand at the time what I meant when I said, ‘I do,’ but I am so glad I did. I had no idea that my wife was going to live this long or what a glorious life she would give me.” Certainly, John and Andrew, Phillip and Nathanael didn’t realize what it fully meant when they said, “Yes,” that day to Jesus’ call. But, I can imagine that they were glad they did. And the same is true for us.
Bill Gates once said, “In terms of allocation of time and resources, religion is not very efficient.” He went on to say, “There’s a lot more I could be doing on Sunday morning then sitting in church waiting on God.” And, certainly, he’s right. There is a lot more you and I could be doing with our time then sitting here on Sunday morning. Why do we come to church? For what purpose? You see, that business partner was right, Bill Gates was right, if all we do is come to church each Sunday morning and walk out the doors unchanged, untouched, and unresponsive, we are wasting our time, there are a lot of other more useful things we could be doing. But, if in coming to church, we experience the life-giving power and presence of God; if we find ourselves uplifted and strengthened for daily living; if we are compelled to go forth as evangelist, like John, Andrew, and Phillip then we haven’t wasted our time and something good is indeed coming from Edgemont, and that something good is you and me living out our faith. Can anything good come from Edgemont? My response is, “Yes, I am looking at it!” Amen.
posted by Pastor Christopher @ 11:40 AM
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