The
story of Jesus' ministry was the story of relationships being formed,
communities being created. Jesus met people face to face, one on one, two by
two, whether at a well at high noon, or as chief wine steward at a wedding
banquet or feeding 5000 on a hillside, Jesus built community. He spoke to them directly, calling them by
name. And one by one, person by person,
they're called into a new sort of community with one another based on their
shared experience with the life and teachings of Jesus.
This
morning our gospel story gives us a picture of how Jesus found people, reached
out, and invited them into relationships.
And they did likewise and reached out to others, and in so doing began
to create the church. "Jesus
... found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip ... found Nathaniel and
said to him ... "Come and see."
Picture
Jesus finding, reaching out and inviting Philip into relationship saying
simply: "Follow me." And then
picture Philip, in turn, reaching out to Nathaniel with his story about Jesus
fresh in his heart-and inviting Nathaniel into his own relationship with Jesus
with the simple words, "Come and see." Whether you're in the desert or on
the side of the road, at dinner with a friend or parish coffee hour, to find
and be found by God this way is always just one friend, one story of how God
has touched your life, one invitation away: "Come and see."
A
life of faith is a perpetual voyage of discovery, being called and having
courage to respond: "Follow me." "Come and see." The
words of today's Psalm 139 tell of a God who knows us ... a radical claim ...
because God made us ... a bold belief!
"For
it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's
womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your
works; that I know very well. My frame
was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in
the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book
were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet
existed."
It's
this God who calls to us in invitation: "Follow me." It's been all too easy for Christianity to
get reduced to the things people believe, rather than the invitations we've
answered, the God we've encountered in personal and life-changing ways. "Come
and see" is an invitation into a new understanding of ourselves as
God's creatures. Even more important
it's an invitation into a new intimacy with a living and life-changing God.
Louie
Crew, founder of Integrity, tells of his own voyage from worrying about what he
believed, to excitement about the God who reaches out to each of us who says, "Come
and see." Louie writes:
Read true stories of success and triumph from some of the countries where we work. You will receive new and featured stories from our partners in the field as they are published.
Elena is a food vendor in the community of Uros-Chulluni, Peru, where the only mode of transportation is by boat. The expense of renting a boat to sell her food limited both her business growth and mobility. Although Elena dreamed of owning her own boat, she had no collateral to secure one.
Through a micro-finance program supported by Episcopal Relief & Development, the Ecumenical Church Loan Fund and the Anglican Diocese of Peru, Elena and her neighbors formed a community bank. She was then able to obtain a small loan without traditional collateral, enabling her to buy her own boat.
Now Elena’s business has expanded to include not only the sale of food, but also handicrafts and candy. She’s thankful to Episcopal Relief & Development for showing her how to improve her income, continue her children’s education and strengthen her family.
Maria, her husband Juan and their five children knew the harmful effects of dirty, contaminated water in their village of Bijagua, Nicaragua. They used to bring the household water for cooking, bathing, drinking and washing in buckets from a stream 10 minutes away from their home — the same stream where cattle roamed.
The children were constantly sick with diarrhea, and getting the water each day was a real burden. “Our daughter spent so much time carrying water, she was falling behind in her school work. We always worried about her walking alone in the dark of the early mornings and evenings. There are poisonous snakes around here,” said Maria.
Episcopal Relief & Development partnered with El Porvenir, an organization that works in Nicaraguan communities to develop water, sanitation and re-forestation projects. The program also provided Maria and her community with education and training on properly maintaining the water system, water hygiene and protecting children and families from preventable, water-related diseases. Instances of water-borne illnesses were also tracked by local health monitors.
Now Bijagua has safe water and residents can stay healthy. “Our daughter is excelling in school now that she doesn’t have to carry buckets of water. And the children don’t have diarrhea anymore,” Maria stated.
