St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen, Jersey City NJ
January 15, 2017
Year A: The Second
Sunday after the Epiphany
Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm 40:1-12
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
John 1:29-42
“Come and See” – the Amazing Power of Invitation
Many
of you know that long before I became your Rector, my wife Sue and I were
parishioners here at St. Paul’s.
And,
whenever I think about the unexpected turn of events that have brought us to
this point, I’m reminded of the amazing power of invitation.
It
was about seventeen years ago, and Sue and I had been married for a few years
and were living in our little house over on Highland Avenue, just a few blocks
from here.
She
was working corporate and I was teaching history at St. Peter’s Prep.
At
Prep, I got plenty of religion and church baked right into my job, but after a
while I recognized that this was something important that was missing from
Sue’s and my life together. So, I pitched the idea that we should go to church,
and, I thought, the beginning of the church year, the First Sunday of Advent,
would be a perfect day to start.
Not
really into it, but being a good sport, Sue agreed, and that Saturday night we
went to Mass at one of our local Catholic churches, which will remain nameless.
It
was a pretty dismal experience for both of us.
Knowing
what I know now, 2017 me would tell 1999 me that it was just one service and
everybody has an off day and I shouldn’t judge a whole church by one seemingly lifeless
and irrelevant experience.
But,
that’s what we did. We decided this was a mistake, not for us, and we would
never return.
The
following week, I told this story in the faculty room, probably making it sound
worse than it really was to get some laughs from my colleagues.
One
of my colleagues laughing along with everyone else was a math teacher named
Patty Nickerson, and once things calmed down a bit she said very quietly, “You
should come to my church someday.”
And
that church was a little Episcopal church on Duncan Avenue.
Somehow,
I convinced Sue to give church another shot. I remember saying that, if nothing
else, we’d get to see the inside of this interesting-looking church.
So,
on the Second Sunday of Advent, Sue
and I walked over from our house and walked through those doors. And, our lives
were transformed in ways we certainly could not have possibly imagined.
As
I’ve told you before – and like many of you the first time you came here – we
were stunned by the diversity of the congregation, bowled over by the peace, overwhelmed
by all of these different kinds of people who seemed genuinely happy to see
each other, overjoyed to just be together.
It
felt like a dream come true, not my dream, but Martin’s dream of us living as
beloved brothers and sisters, which, of course, is really Jesus’ dream of the
kingdom of God.
You
old-timers who remember Patty Nickerson remember that she’s a quiet person, no
street corner evangelist waving a Bible and shouting at people to repent and be
saved, yet that day in the faculty room, I believe she allowed Jesus to speak
through her to me.
“You
should come to my church some day.”
As
Jesus says to Andrew and the other disciple in today’s gospel lesson, “Come and
see.”
Come
and see: the amazing power of invitation.
That
first Sunday at St. Paul’s we met someone who would transform our lives and
become not just our priest, but a very close friend.
He
approached us during the peace, stretched out his hand, and said, “I’m Dave.
Welcome to St. Paul’s.”
Now,
just like a lot of you, we didn’t dive into life at St. Paul’s right away.
In
fact, in those early weeks we skipped coffee hour. It seemed too scary and
awkward to socialize with people we didn’t know.
We
were still just testing the waters.
So,
for those first Sundays we would leave through the front door, sometimes
catching Fr. Hamilton’s eye, who stood where I stand today after the service.
He looked sort of disappointed but in fact he was waiting for the right moment.
When
that right moment came, Fr. Hamilton did something unexpected, at least to us:
he invited himself over to our house!
We
both probably looked stunned, so, in his very casual way, he said something
like, “I’ll come over, we’ll talk about the church, get to know each other, but
don’t go to any trouble.”
Well,
we were in a panic! The priest is coming over! So, we spent hours cleaning the
house from top to bottom. Sue baked a cake.
And,
then the big night came and he came over and we told our stories and talked and
laughed just like the good friends that we were fast becoming.
After
that, we started going to coffee hour, became pledging members, and one thing
led to another and here we are together today.
Jesus
is always extending an invitation to us – and sometimes Jesus just invites
himself over.
As
Jesus says to Andrew and the other disciple in today’s gospel lesson, “Come and
see.”
Come
and see: the amazing power of invitation.
Many
of you could tell stories not so different from ours. I’ve heard you tell them,
how a neighbor or a friend invited you to come check out St. Paul’s, to come to
church or to a musical event or the community supper, whatever.
Thanks
to the amazing power of invitation, many of you have been enriched by
discovering Jesus here.
Your
lives have been transformed by the power of God working in and through us, in
and through this beautiful old place.
As
Dave Hamilton used to say, “I don’t have to believe it. I’ve seen it.”
But,
you know, I’ve learned a lot standing outside St. Paul’s for coming up on
almost four years now.
I’ve
learned that people don’t believe in, or even know about, Martin’s dream,
Jesus’s dream, of a beloved community.
I’ve
learned that, despite all our signs and our open door and all of our social
media, despite all of that, people don’t know that they’re invited.
I’ve
learned that a surprisingly large number of people think they’re not invited
because of who or what they are.
I’ve
learned that more people than you’d think worry that they’re not dressed the
right way, or they don’t know the right words to say or the right way to behave
in church.
I’ve
learned that a lot of people think they’ve been away for so long that they’re
no longer welcome, that it’s just been too long and they’re no longer invited.
I’ve
learned that a lot of people have been hurt by the church, in some cases it’s
been physical hurt but in even more cases it’s been emotional and even
theological hurt, the threat that if you don’t believe the right things all the
time that somehow you’re beyond God’s love and care.
Well,
we are all called to be like Patty Nickerson and allow Christ to speak through
us, each in our own way, quietly invite people over:
“You
should come to my church some day.”
We
are called to be like Dave Hamilton and allow Christ to speak through us, by
extending our hand in welcome:
“I’m
Dave. Welcome to St. Paul’s.”
“I’m
Tom. Welcome to St. Paul’s.”
And,
yes, in some cases, we may be called to just invite ourselves over, to let
people know that we care about them and want to get to know them, that they are
welcome to be part of the dream come true.
You
know, life is hard, and, unfortunately, there’s a good chance that for many of
us life is about to get even harder.
So,
maybe more than ever, we are called to say, we need to let Christ say through us,
“Come
and see.”
The
amazing power of invitation.
Amen.
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