John 1:44-46 - Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 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."
"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
"Come and see," said Philip.
As I remember it, I passed beginner swim lessons seven times. To move on to intermediate, you had to be able to swim the length of the pool without stopping. That never happened with me, so I passed beginner but never moved on to intermediate.
There were worse things, though, than not moving on to intermediate. Like not even passing beginners. At the Moose Lodge, where we took swim lessons, the culture was for moms to take their children who failed beginners and, while angrily yelling "Swim!", they'd throw the wailing, panicked child out into the middle of the pool. I saw that scenario so many times it made me sick to my stomach and still does to this day. I saw it as children being forced to take a plunge into learning something that they dread or that they're incapable of accomplishing.
Such a forced plunge is the image I get when I hear people talk about telling others about Jesus or inviting someone to church. Whenever people hear a sermon or other encouragement that appeals to them to tell others about Jesus or invite someone to church, they feel like they're the panicked, wailing child being thrown into the middle of the pool by an angry parent who might as well be yelling, "Swim!" I've heard people say that it feels like they're being forced to take a plunge.
The thing is that today's Bible reading is a place where God shows us through Philip that we're making this harder than it has to be. Talking to someone about Jesus or inviting someone to church can be more simple than beginner swim lessons because it can be as simple as saying, "Come and see!" (John 1:46). The studies show that the vast majority of people who don't go to church would actually come if someone just invited them. All people are made by God, and God made all people with a longing to be in fellowship with God. But many people who don't have a church home are worried that they won't be welcomed or won't know anyone or won't know what to do when they go into a church. So when you say, "Come and see," then you're saying to them "you'll be welcomed by me, and you'll know me, and I'll show you what to do." And inviting someone to church then becomes a blessing for everybody.
You might say, then, that inviting someone to church is, yes, taking a plunge, but it's not the angry-parent-throwing-the-wailing-child-into-the-pool kind of plunge. Instead, it's a plunge that's more along the lines of the old Nestea tv ads that showed hot, sweaty adults eagerly jumping into a swimming pool that was filled with Nestea, and all those adults would let out a refreshing, "Aaaaaah!"
Be refreshed, dear friends, and take an eager plunge into inviting someone to Jesus and worship. Like Philip in today's Bible verses, all we need to say to someone is "Come and see!"
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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