Take me to Bethlehem
House of bread
Where the empty are filled
The poor find riches
And the rich recognise their poverty
Where all kneel and worship
And all are fed.
Song “Kaleidoscope” https://youtu.be/ReOkNQHodKk
Reflection on John 1v29-42
The season of Epiphany has followed the wise men as they foolishly searched for a star, a star that would lead them to a new king, a new God. We have watched as the magi returned a different route having been warned in a dream to beware of Herod. And in fulfillment of that warning, Herod in rage and motivated by jealousy, killed all the children under two years old in that region. So Mary and Joseph like many since became refugees and fled to Egypt, returning when the political situation had subsided, to live in Nazareth where Mary originally came from. Lots of new beginnings.
The scene jumps some years and we encounter Jesus now at the age of about thirty on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. As the scene opens Jesus is as it were idly walking along the lake. He probably knew the disciples, Philip, Andrew, Peter, and Nathaniel before this encounter as they were local.
These men were working class fishermen, not scholars, not teachers but burly, smelly fishermen and they would not have been religious people. But in fact we find that almost exclusively it was to these people that Jesus ministered, the hamarez, the common people, and it was from such people that he chose his disciples. And they are already captivated by him. What a contrast he was to the other rabbis!
When Jesus called the fishermen he made no conditions, just come he said and they came as they were. Jesus asks us to come as we are, and he will use us as we are. We are all the same. There are no conditions to being a Christian except to want to follow Christ. You may have committed great sins you may subsequently mess your live up but Jesus says just come. Come, follow me, warts and all. When we do this we take one step, one day at a time and just trust God.
It was an act which changed the course of human history but it began with a simple act of complete faith. Jesus calls us to leave behind our old lives and just come.
The church has a similar journey to make. It has lived with ways of being and structures that served it well in a previous age, but not in this. In this age it has to let go of buildings and power and focus on people. It has to let go of the past and embrace a new future, one perhaps less tidy. It has to trust God and just come. Warts and all.
When Jesus called his disciples Peter and Andrew he expected them to follow him. When Jesus calls us today, he expects us to follow him and to walk and talk in his way. Walk the walk and talk the talk. We are called to be a light to the nations. And he called you since you were in your mother’s womb, just think on that! And you have a task which is to see Righteousness and Justice roll like waters. Just follow. Amen
Song “Here is Bread” https://youtu.be/GgysV3EZKas
When the star in the sky has gone
And the wise men have gone back to their homes
The real work of Christmas begins
To find the lost,
heal the broken,
feed the hungry
and release the prisoner. Amen
Song “Do something beautiful” https://youtu.be/nGEaevv1iI0
