Some geeks came to see Jesus? Oh, it was Greeks, not geeks. . .
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip and said to him, Sir, we wish to see Jesus.
Never overlook the small details that intersperse John’s narrative. They are never there as interesting anecdotes or to take up space. They almost always have something to add to the meaning of the story. So, one of the first things that might stand out for us in our Gospel this week is that it doesn’t just begin with some PEOPLE came to the festival. No, it very specifically reads, some Greeks came to the festival, and while they were there, they approached Philip and asked to see Jesus.
It appears that Philip doesn’t know whether he should disturb the Master or not with these visiting Greeks, so he goes to Andrew who knew exactly what to do. The experienced Andrew knew by now that no one could be a nuisance to Jesus, that he would receive all who came to him.
Now because these Greeks came from the world outside Israel, by including them in this story, St. John may have been trying to tell us that welcoming outsiders is paramount in the Christian faith, and we can use the word Christian here because John’s Gospel is the very latest of the four Gospels.
By the time it was written, Christianity had become a separate sect from Judaism. The other possibility is that John points out the fact that these visitors were from Greece as a way of informing his reader that the Gospel, the Good News, should go out to the whole world, and not just stay in the Jewish homeland.
Personally, I don’t see why both reasons couldn’t be true. There is no rule, as far as I know, that says a literary character, symbol or metaphor ever need have only one reason for being added to a story.
This is what gives me the courage to add a THIRD reason why John lets us in on the fact that some Greeks came to the Passover festival and wanted specifically to see Jesus.
There’s no reason to believe that these Greeks had converted to Judaism. There was a court in the Temple known as the Court of the Gentiles.
It was there because people were often drawn to the Temple whether Jewish or not.
There is only one wall of that massive Temple still standing, the West Wall, and when people visit Jerusalem today, they almost always stop there to pray and to touch it, no matter what religion they happen to practice. People are naturally drawn to places that provide the serenity of holiness.
The Greeks of the ancient world were long standing wanderers. Not aimless wanderers, but passionate, searching wanderers, always trying to discover new ideas in philosophy, science and religion. They were the seekers of their day.
I believe that they either heard about the now nearly-pandemic reputation of Jesus, or they may have actually witnessed Jesus when he drove out the livestock for the sacrifices, and they may have heard his seething critique of the religious establishment.
Either way, they wanted to see this Jesus for themselves. They wanted to see him even if it meant fighting their way through the crippling crowds to Philip who let them in the front door to Andrew.
Andrew didn’t treat them like tourists; he didn’t show them the sights. Nor did he explain the traditions of his religion. Without hesitation, Andrew shows them straightaway his Lord, Jesus Christ. Why? Because that’s who they came to see!
I think that this Gospel may be screaming at us to emulate St. Andrew when it comes to dealing with those who come to us as searching sojourners.
For years now, we in the Episcopal Church have been complaining, like every other mainline denomination, about the exodus of younger people from our churches. Many of us, me included, thought that it was because they were attracted to drop-down screens with the words of praise songs projected upon them in an auditorium with a rock band accompaniment. We thought that they were attracted to the instant gratification offered by the higher tech mega churches out there. But that’s old school now.
The fact is new studies are showing that Millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) are coming to realize the value of traditional worship.
In a Belief Blog to CNN, Rachael Evans, a Millennial herself, says this about her generation:
Time and again, the assumption among Christian leaders, and evangelical leaders in particular, is that the key to drawing twenty [to thirty] somethings back to church is simply to make a few style updates – edgier music, more casual services, a coffee shop in the fellowship hall, and a pastor who wears skinny jeans.
But here’s the thing: Having been advertised to our whole lives, we millennials have highly sensitive BS meters, and we’re not easily impressed with consumerism or performances.
She goes on to say, Like every generation before ours and every generation after, deep down, we long for Jesus.
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip. . . and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’.
It appears that some things really do never change.
Our beautiful liturgies, conducted in the beauty of holiness have one purpose, and one purpose only:
to show Jesus to those who come in search of him.
So often when Christians are asked about their particular church, they will go into a litany, telling people how beautiful their church is, or who they are willing to ordain, or how good the music or preaching is, or any other number of attributes of their church, when what the questioner really wants to ascertain is whether he or she will be able to see Jesusthere.
I saw a church sign with a message this week. The message simply read, Jesus, ‘nuff said.
Now don’t get me wrong. Maintaining the beauty of our building, music, liturgy and preaching are all important, but important only as they can point to Jesus and to the God of Jesus.
We would better help people see Jesus if, instead of describing our form of our liturgy, we described how God is personally present for us in our places of worship.
We would better help people to see Jesus if instead of telling them who we will and will not let into our pulpits and behind the altar, we describe what kind of God is made known to us in the preaching, and to what degree Jesus is revealed to us as we commune together.
We would better help people see Jesus if instead of saying we have good music at our church, we described how a particular hymn brought us closer to Him, maybe even relate a real-life personal experience to them.
People are searching today as those Greeks were searching so many years ago. It’s no secret that they are skeptical of traditional religion, but I believe we can begin turning that around if our first response to the crossroads of any decision or description regarding the church would be to ask ourselves the question:
Will this help people to see Jesus?
‘Nuff said.
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