“Come and See” (Or, “You Should Come to My Church Sometime”)

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD

January 14, 2024

Year B: The Second Sunday after the Epiphany

1 Samuel 3:1-20

Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

John 1:43-51

“Come and See” (Or, “You Should Come to My Church Sometime”)

Around twenty-five years ago, Sue and I were living lives very different from how we live today.

Back then we had been married for a couple of years. We had just purchased our own home, a narrow house squeezed in the middle of a row of three.

Sue was working in New York City at the corporate office of Barnes and Noble. (Man, I still miss that employee discount!)

And I was teaching history at my high school alma mater, St. Peter’s Prep, a Jesuit school in Downtown Jersey City.

So, back around the turn of the century, if you had asked me about my future – our future – I think I would have expected things to stay pretty much the same for a long time.

I had wanted to teach at St. Peter’s for years, so it felt like I had landed my dream job.

Why would I ever leave?

And Sue already had a lot of responsibility at B&N and I expected that she would continue to rise through the ranks.

I’ve always been a little restless, but I think I was mostly content.

At some point, though, I did realize that something important was missing from our lives.

Sue and I didn’t go to church.

Teaching in a Catholic school, I sort of got church through my job, but that wasn’t the same as the two of us being part of a local parish and attending Sunday Mass.

So, in the Year 2000, on the eve of the First Sunday of Advent, we walked from our house to a local Catholic church and attended a Saturday evening Mass. 

It was not a good experience.

Now, if that were today, I would be much more forgiving.

After all, I’ve presided over many less than inspiring services and I’ve preached any number of clunky sermons.

Despite the best intentions and efforts, it happens.

But, back then, both Sue and I were very much “one and done.”

We were definitely not going back there.

So, that week I was telling this story in the faculty room – probably carrying on a bit, exaggerating how bad it was to get some laughs from the other teachers – when one of my colleagues – a math teacher named Patty - quietly said, “You should come to my church sometime.”

And Patty’s church was St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, which happened to be walking distance from our house.

She went on to tell me why she thought I would like it. I specifically remember that she thought that I would hit it off with the priest.

A bit of prophecy there.

So, anyway, the next Sunday, the Second Sunday of Advent, Sue and I decided to try again, and walked to St. Paul’s.

And as soon as we entered the church, somehow I knew that I had found “it.”

I didn’t even know what “it” was but I knew “it” was there.

I was struck by the warm welcome, the beauty of the old building, the diversity and friendliness of the people, the gorgeous music, and, yes, the priest who preached with power and authenticity.

During the shockingly enthusiastic Exchange of Peace, when Sue and I were shyly staying in our pew offering just some smiles and waves, the priest came down the aisle and extended his hand to us and said, “I’m Dave. Welcome to St. Paul’s.”

On that now long ago December morning, somehow I knew that I had reached a turning point in my life.

Sue and I went back to St. Paul’s on the following Sunday and for years of Sundays after.

Dave – the Rev. David Hamilton – and I became very close friends – he was like a father, brother, and mentor all wrapped in one – and a couple of decades later I would have the sad privilege of presiding and preaching at his funeral at the cathedral in Newark.

And, of course, soon I began to sense a reawakened call to the priest, beginning a journey that eventually brought me back to St. Paul’s as its rector and finally to someplace called… Owings Mills. 

And none of it would have happened if that day in the faculty room Patty hadn’t spoken up and said, “You should come to my church some time.”

Or, as Philip says to Nathanael in today’s gospel lesson, “Come and see.”

I know that I’ve told you parts of that story before.

I do try to avoid repeating myself but then I thought that I bet Nathanael retold the story of Philip inviting him to “Come and see” – I bet he told that story over and over.

I think about my story all the time and I’ve shared it many times – and I think it’s a story worth repeating because it illustrates a great truth: 

The story of Philip calling Nathanael to Jesus is not just a story from long ago.

The call to “Come and see” is not just found in the Bible.

In our own time and place, we can – should – must - invite people to “come and see.”

The other day, the leaders of various ministries received what is maybe a dreaded email.

It’s time to get working on our ministry reports, which will be gathered into the Annual Report, which will be distributed next month at our Annual Parish Meeting.

Although no doubt I’ll procrastinate for a while longer before I start writing my report, I have begun looking back on last year, reflecting on what has gone well and where there is still more work to be done.

There’s at least one thing that I know is noticeable because many people have commented on it: quite a few new people have joined us over the past year.

Not all of them have stuck around but many of them have.

They – you – have gotten involved in many ministries, have shown a real hunger to learn more about our faith and our church, and, yes, many newcomers have pledged their financial support for 2024.

Whenever I meet with newcomers, I ask how they found St. Thomas’ and what led them to check us out.

The three most common answers are:

The website and our online services. (In a number of cases, people watched the livestream for many weeks or even months before deciding to join us in person.)

The second is our beautiful and historic building – the understandable desire to see what it looks like inside, to find out what goes on in here.

And the third, and by far the most common and effective, is a personal invitation.

Somebody, like my colleague Patty long ago, like the Apostle Philip way longer ago, had the faith and courage to say:

“You should come to my church sometime.”

“Come and see.”

The point is not to grow our church, though that’s important.

No, we are called to extend these invitations because, like Philip and Patty, we know that we have found the “Good Stuff” – we have found Jesus, who offers love and mercy and hope, especially in a time when love and mercy and hope seem to be in short supply.

Nathanael went from being a skeptic – maybe even a bigot (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”) to a disciple – a disciple who, even better than Philip, recognized who Jesus really is.

We are called to extend these invitations because a simple “Come and see” can transform lives.

And as my friend Dave liked to say, “I don’t have to believe it, because I’ve seen it!”

Twenty-five years ago, I was a reasonably content high school history teacher.

Yet, my life has been enriched in countless ways because one day in the faculty room, Patty quietly said, “You should come to my church sometime.”

“Come and see.”

Amen.