2^nd Sunday after Epiphany at Epiphany on January 18, 2009

John 1:43-51 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." ⁴⁴ Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote-- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." ⁴⁶ "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip. ⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." ⁴⁸ "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." ⁴⁹ Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." ⁵⁰ Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." ⁵¹ He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Politically Incorrect

We live in an age of political correctness. Political correctness is a good thing when it protects an individual from stereotyping, discrimination, bigotry, injustice, or prejudice. Everyone I know is 100 percent in favor of that kind of political correctness. Everyone I know struggles and strives to be inoffensive to, and respectful of, the religions and races, attitudes and attributes, backgrounds and choices of others. Still, being politically correct can be a struggle.

Sometimes, without any malicious intention, I find myself being politically incorrect. At times I’ve actually used the terms fireman and policeman, rather than the politically correct fire-fighter and police officer. I always thought that first-year high schoolers were freshmen. No longer. I’ve been told that’s politically incorrect. I guess they aren’t all men and they aren’t all fresh. These young people are ninth-graders. I don’t know why that same thinking doesn’t keep tenth-graders from being verbally scarred. “Sophomore” comes from two Greek words meaning “wise moron.”

What do you get when you cross a Jehovah’s Witness with a Lutheran? Someone who knocks on doors but is afraid to say anything. I don’t care who you are, that’s funny. It may also be pretty politically incorrect. Political correctness bars us from telling certain jokes for fear of offending someone.

Ours is a politically correct age. It hasn’t always been that way. Scripture records a fine example of political incorrectness. Philip had been found by the Messiah. I don’t know whether Philip was at the Jordan River or if he had heard John the Baptist speaking about the Lord. I do now that Philip was absolutely overwhelmed with excitement at being asked to follow the Savior. So great was his exhilaration and enthusiasm at Jesus’ invitation that he couldn’t stop himself from sharing this good news with one of his friends, Nathanael. You can almost hear a breathless Philip, barely able to contain himself as he makes his announcement to his friend: “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote-- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Nathanael skeptically replies, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Talk about a politically incorrect answer. Nathanel’s scathing reply reveals he has some seriously prejudicial issues. You may not know this, but in the ancient world, Galilee had the reputation of being a bit behind the times, of being culturally and linguistically challenged. Yet, even though the Galileans were looked down upon, most of them, people like Nathanael, derived some comfort from the fact that they weren't from Nazareth. Nazareth was the pits – even for the Galileans. Nazareth wasn’t the place where you took your family for vacation; Nazareth wasn't the place you bought a time share. Nazareth would never have been listed as one of the top ten places seniors should retire. Nathanael’s first impression of Nazareth and any person who might come out of that little village, may have been honest, but it was also politically incorrect.

So, having had cold water thrown on his announcement about the Savior, what does Philip do? He doesn't walk away, mumbling under his breath at the callous and critical comment of his friend. He doesn't stand there and try to overwhelm his buddy with convincing arguments of all the good qualities that he has found in the Christ. Philip does what God's people have done in every age, what I'm doing with you right now. Philip says, "Come and see. Come and see for yourself what I'm talking about." Philip says, "Look, my friend, I don't have all the answers to all of your questions, but I think you owe it to yourself to come and see. You may be surprised, very surprised at what you find. Please, check it out."

And Nathanael did exactly what his friend asked him to do. He went and he saw Jesus for himself. In less than a minute of face-to-face time with the Savior, Nathanael found out a number of things. He found out that Jesus knew him ... I mean really knew him. As Nathanael approached Jesus, the Savior commented, "Look, here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false." Jesus, with divine insight, had looked beyond the outside of the man and gazed into his heart. Nathanael had to have been impressed. He might even have noticed that Jesus hadn't condemned, but rather had commended him for his previous politically incorrect assessment of the Lord's home town.

Acknowledging the truth of Jesus' insight, Nathanael asks the Savior, "Where have we met before? How do I know you?" That's when Jesus really showed the divine stuff of which He is made. Jesus says, "Nathanael, you ask how I know you. OK, here's your answer. Do you remember, some time ago, when you were under the fig tree, before Philip invited you to come here? I saw you there." It was in that instant that he was transformed. Every politically incorrect thought he had been thinking, every prejudice that his heart had been holding went out the window and the Holy Spirit saved that cynic. Nathanael acknowledged that his first impression about Jesus had been wrong. Having seen Jesus for himself, the salvaged skeptic confessed: "Rabbi, You are the Son of God, the King of Israel." In just a minute, Nathanael had seen Jesus as God's Son.

Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Nathanael did go on to see greater things. Nathanael spent the next three years watching Jesus, and, oh, the wonderful things he saw. Nathanael saw Jesus heal lepers, raise the dead, and calm storms. He saw the Son of God arrested and he witnessed the resurrected Lord in the upper room.

All of us have been Nathanaels before. We have all been skeptics at one time or another. We were born as unbelievers. Even later as Christians we have been cynical and skeptical, we have had doubts about God taking care of us when our health is poor. We have had questions about Jesus’ love for us when money is tight. We have wavered in our faith when tragedy hits our family.

But, oh, the wonderful things we have seen. We have seen would-be cancer disapper. We have seen converted alcoholics never touch another drop. We have seen premature babies grow up normal. We have seen precious love given to those who at times may be difficult to love – the autistic child, the grandmother with Alzheimers, the mother-in-law at Thanksgiving. We have seen the election of our first black president. We have seen a US Airways jet land safely in the Hudson River.

We have seen even greater things than that. We have seen children rescued from the devil through baptism; lives turned around through the gospel; those destined for hell turned toward heaven. We have experienced peace for a troubled conscience; calm in the hospital room; and comfort at the gravesite. And yet, we will see even greater things than that.

Nathanael was so impressed by what he found in the Savior that he spent the rest of his days inviting others to come and see their Lord. According to early church tradition, Nathanael went on to preach in Armenia and India and died while being skinned alive. Nathanael, even in dying, showed the intensity of the joy that he had found in Jesus. Rather than denying his Lord and becoming politically correct, Nathanael stayed faithful to His Savior, the Son of God.

Consider Nathanael’s words, “Teacher, you are the Son of God.” Today, in many places, those words would be soundly condemned and anyone who spoke them would be roundly chastised. Do you know any politician who has the courage to say, "Jesus is the Son of God"? Society considers those words so politically incorrect that it would be political suicide for any public servant to utter them. In our courts, any justice who would confess the politically incorrect, "Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world," would soon find himself overturned. In many of our country's colleges, professors, and students who say: "Jesus is the Son of God, the Redeemer of humanity," will be branded as being politically incorrect and shunned for their parochial mindsets.

Primetime television programs pride themselves on tackling controversial subjects. Nothing is off limits. Still, what major show will ever say, "Jesus is the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the price that was paid for our forgiveness"? Every evening people sit and watch television programs where adultery is allowed, profanity is pronounced, and murder is a mainstay. Every day, in wide-screen and with high-definition clarity, the tube exposes our children to alcohol, drug abuse, violence, ghosts, ghouls, demons, and dangers. Not a week goes by where God's pastors and priests are depicted as being depraved and degenerate; God's believers are stereotyped as being biased and bigoted. But nowhere will you ever hear, nowhere will you ever see any upstanding, honorable Christian character say the politically incorrect words: "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who has shed His blood so those who believe can be saved." Not even on Christmas, the day which remembers the Savior's coming; not on Easter Sunday when believers recall the Lord's definitive defeat of death will the words of Christ's conquest be shared.

Yes, it is politically incorrect to publicly proclaim that Jesus is your Savior from sin. It is politically incorrect to put up a Christmas manger scene on your front lawn to promote that God’s Son was born to seek and save the lost. It will certainly offend some people to tell them that Jesus avoided the sins they have committed; that he resisted the temptations to which they succumbed. People won’t like to hear that Jesus was humanity’s heaven-sent substitute who was unduly arrested, unjustly tried, and unfairly condemned to death. It is definitely not acceptable in our political climate to tell others that their religion is a fake and a forgery created by the father of lies. No one wants to hear that salvation can only be found in the resurrected Jesus. It is politically incorrect to say all these things, but they are nevertheless all true. And we as Christians will proudly be politically incorrect.

There are plenty of skeptics like Nathanael all around us. You cannot win them to Christianity with wise and persuasive words. You cannot argue them into heaven. You cannot twist their arms to get them into church.

You can only save the skeptics by inviting them to come and see. You can salvage the cynics by bringing them to meet Jesus. Maybe your co-workers have the wrong impression of Jesus because they see so much suffering in the world and so they see Jesus as a cruel, unjust God who delights in the pain of others. Invite them to come and see Jesus who had compassion on the widow and raised her son to life and Jesus who gave the lepers back their lives when he gave them back their health. Maybe your friends are skeptical because foolish philosophers and pseudo-scholars have blurred their thinking with Darwin’s evolution and survival of the fittest. Invite them to come and see the politically incorrect truth that God is the creator and preserver of the universe. Maybe the world has knocked your relatives down again and again and robbed them of hope. Bring them to see Jesus who with His sacrificial death and glorious resurrection has given humanity heaven-sent hope.

We live in a politically correct age. If you want to be politically correct you may refer to a criminal as “ethically challenged.” You may make a shoplifter more respectable by calling him a “cost-of-living adjustment specialist.” You may refer to someone who is lazy as “motivationally deficient.” It may even become politically correct to call the dead “the living impaired” or “the metabolically challenged.”

You may be politically correct with everything except for Jesus. There you need to remain politically incorrect. Invite others to read the only true, holy, inspired Word from God. Lead them to see for themselves the great love God has shown in the person of His sinless Son. Show them how Jesus loved those whom society had found to be unlovable; how He cared for those who were incurable; how He offered words of forgiveness and hope to those who had nothing. Ask them to get to know Jesus who will truly change every aspect of their lives – just as with Nathanael. Jesus will affect their past because past sins and transgressions have been forgiven, and He affects their future, because there is now a clear direction and purpose. These may be politically incorrect words in our society, but they are the true words of God, and that should be enough for us. It may be politically incorrect, but invite the skeptic and encourage the cynic. Who knows, they may walk away having met the King of Israel and the Son of God. Amen.