Come and See

It’s been quite a year for sports in Philadelphia! The Phillies, for the first time since 1980, won the World Series, breaking a long, long dry spell. There were some years after 1980 when the Phillies got really close – I remember 1993, when Philly won the national league championship and Dykstra and Daulton and Kruk and Williams and Schilling and the others got so close to a victory – but they seemed to choke near the end. After a while, we could perhaps be forgiven for figuring “why bother getting our hopes up. The Phillies always choke at the end. Must be something in the water….” But seemingly 2008 was the year the curse was lifted, as the Fighting Phils went all the way.

Sunday’s Gospel reading reminded me a little of the Phillies. Jesus went for a walk in Galilee, and met Philip, who became a follower. Philip, full of excitement over having met Jesus, goes to Nathanael and says, “We have found him of whom Moses and the prophets spoke, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth. Nathanael finds little reason to get his hopes up, and mutters, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth.” Philip says, “Come and see.” So Nathanael follows Philip to Jesus, who says, “Here comes an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” Nathanael says, “where did you come to know me?” Jesus said, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael does a 180 degree turn and says, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, the King of Israel.” Jesus said, “Do you believe because I saw you under the fig tree? You’ll see greater things than these.” Or, to put it in today’s terms, “you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

I think sometimes we who live in Philadelphia can be a little like Nathanael before his meeting with Jesus. We remember that some amazing things happened downtown at Independence Hall some years back, but 1776 was a long time ago. We don’t see much of that vision of Philadelphia anymore – what we see now more resembles journalist Lincoln Steffans’ description of Philadelphia – “corrupt and contented.” When people from the suburbs think of Philadelphia, probably the first things that come to their minds are “crime and taxes”. And those things are on our minds as well. Even here in Bridesburg, police officers have been gunned down not that far from where we live, and incidents of petty vandalism seem to be a daily occurrence. And we read on a daily basis about huge city budget deficits, and worry about what police and fire and recreation center services will be cut in order to balance the budget. And all that is in addition to our own personal struggles. We can sometimes get to feeling beaten down by life, and it may sometimes be hard to feel much hope for the future.

I’d invite anyone reading this blog to “come and see” what God is up to in Bridesburg. God is with us here in Philadelphia, here in Bridesburg, here at Emanuel Church on Fillmore Street. As Jesus saw Nathanael under a fig tree, before Philip called him, so God sees each one of us, every day. And God has plans for each of us that would blow our minds, were we to be able to see the future. God is at work in all the churches in Bridesburg – All Saints, Bridesburg Methodist, the Presbyterians, Baptists…certainly at Emanuel United Church of Christ. If you’re attending elsewhere and are being fed spiritually – praise God! We’d love for you to visit at Emanuel, but we have no desire to poach members from other congregations. But (here comes my bloggy version of an altar call) if you’re looking for a spiritual home, for a community of faith, and haven’t found one elsewhere, “come and see” us here at Emanuel Church some Sunday at 10 a.m. We’re a small congregation, but we’re good at welcoming people – and who knows, along with the coffee and cake afterward, you could have a life-changing (even life-saving) experience with God. Come and see.