Year C Proper 13 WED 2022 He Gets Me

 Year C Proper 13 WEDNESDAY, 3 August 2022

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“He Gets Me”

Collect: Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without

your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the

Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 1:29-42

The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” I myself did not know

him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit

descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize

with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I

myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’* The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples,

and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they

followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him,

‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where

he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John

speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found

the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed*). He brought Simon* to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of

John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter*).

Good morning! A few thoughts this morning on the call of God.

The other day I was sitting in Panera meeting with a Randolph-Macon student I am supervising this summer. Ken actually saw us when he came to arrange the bagels for this morning, and he got a chance to meet her.

She had just gotten back from a mission experience in Guatemala. In her enthusiasm for going, she mentioned that she could not wait to bring them Jesus. We had a long talk about that, and one thing I mentioned is that Jesus was already there. I asked what she meant about bringing them Jesus and that got into a long conversation about the nature of salvation, but in really practical ways.

The Gospel message this morning echoes that conversation so well. While she was on her

trip I asked her to look at how the Gospel is contextualized for each and every one of us.

There is the general call of God to every soul to be in a relationship, but there is the

individual call of God that is the key that can unlock our heart, the only key. Blaise Pascal

put it this way: 

“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true

happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill

with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that

are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable

object; in other words by God himself.” - Blaise Pascal, Pensées VII(425)

This is often summarized by the idea that there is a God-shaped hole in every one of us that

only God can fill.

But what I find fascinating and beautiful, there is a uniqueness to our call, the Gospel, the Good News, finds its way to us in a language, or image, or sign that speaks to us individually. The Gospel contextualizes itself to who we are, who God made us to be.

To the blind one, the Good News is sight. To the drowning one, air. To the hungry one,

food. But we need not run to the extremes. Some of our needs are higher up on Maslow’s

hierarchy. Just look at the call stories in today’s readings.

To John, Jesus gave him purpose. He was a man of action and prophecy, and his fulfillment came in pointing to the Anointed One. Andrew needed mystery, “Where are you staying?” And Jesus responded, “Come and see.” Alluring and invitational, all in one. Peter needed to be understood, to be seen. Upon meeting him, Jesus gives him the name by which he would be known the rest of his days.  Jesus… looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter*). Or in English, Rock. Peter needed to see from the get-go that Jesus got him, for who he was and for who he could be.

My supervisee from the college had a very different trip by looking at the felt or real need

of the person she was with on her mission experience. It was not some commodity that was

to be given (say these magic words and you get into heaven), it was about a relationship

between her and this person, and a relationship between them and God.

No matter our history or our future, no matter our deficits or our riches, the Gospel of

Jesus Christ is powerful and amazing. The Gospel is as universal and as individual as our

fingerprints. Thanks be to God! We can all say like Peter, “He gets me. He really gets me.”

Amen