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This Week's Sermon THE SECOND SUNDAY after EPIPHANY 18 January 2009 "How Do You Know Me?" John 1:43-51 LSB Series B Vicar Gerald D. Heinecke Soli Deo Gloria!

One of the things you learn in college when you are studying to be a teacher is that your students desire to fit in. This often leads to the students not being themselves around their friends. Most adults miss this though. If adults see children at the mall goofing around they write it off as adolescence. If they had children themselves they may think, "My child never acted that way!" But if your little Timmy brings his friend Bobby home and you see Timmy behaving badly, you place the blame on his friend Bobby. In Timmy, there is much deceit.

The problem is that most likely Timmy nor Bobby are acting in a manner that they truly believe is right. It's all to appear cool. This is one of those fun parts of being a teacher and trying to explain to a parent that their child is behaving poorly in class. The parents may be correct, Timmy doesn't behave that way when he is at home. How do you know who Timmy is? How do you know who anyone is? It's a question that we can ask God.

This is a question that many ask of themselves, except that it is asked in a different manner. How do I know I am a Christian? Nathanael is even so bold as to ask Jesus in our Gospel text, "How do you know me?"

This question was prompted by a statement that Jesus made as Nathanael was walking towards him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit." This is an interesting statement for Jesus to make. What does it mean to have no deceit? It means to have no dishonest actions or lies. Many Jews had a hard time with deceit. In fact, most Jews were false Israelites, including their religious leaders: the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the scribes. These people pretended to be good Jews but they lived for themselves and they lived very covetous lives, desiring what others had.

Their outward lives were full of works: the strict adherence to the Law and to the Sabbath day, but they practiced it in order to gain position within their religious orders. They did it to be recognized as better than others. They did it because they wanted to be on top of the hierarchy when their earthly messiah appeared. These Timmys followed the Law so that they could be cool and accepted amongst all the other religious leaders.

This is what Jesus recognized was not in the heart of Nathanael. This brings us to the text today-a conversation between Nathanael, Philip, and Jesus. Jesus, having now been baptized, begins his public preaching. The Lamb of God has been made known and he is quickly gathering to himself his disciples. He found Andrew and Peter the day before and he now meets Philip, who, being called by Jesus to follow him, immediately goes and finds Nathanael and tells him the great news. You have to admire Philip's excitement and his desire for his friend to meet the Christ. He tells him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

Now if you were a Jew during this time, you would have thought, "Awesome! Show me, I want to meet him!" From the time of Adam and Eve all of the Lord's people were waiting for the coming Messiah. It was even the dream of most Jewish girls to be the mother of the Messiah. Then the conversation takes an interesting turn. Instead of excitement, Nathanael has scepticism. Why? Because here is a true Israelite! He reads the scriptures, he knows what the scriptures say, and he hasn't tried to read something into them that doesn't exist. He knows that the Savior is to come from Bethlehem not Nazareth. He expects one to come who will save us from our sins. And thus he says, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"

Nathanael does as you are encouraged. If you don't think it's correct, check it out. Don't believe it just because I say it is true. Test it to the scriptures. In this case he is able to go to the source of the one who has said it. Once again you have to admire Philip's childlike faith, "come and see," he tells Nathaniel.

This takes us back to the beginning of the sermon, Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said to him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" This question reminds me of the movie, "The Devil Wear's Prada." One of the main character Miranda Priestly is at one of her big parties being followed by her assistants. Miranda does not know or remember a lot of her party guests. The purpose of her assistants is tell Miranda who the guest is and what they do before the guests reach Miranda so that it appears she knows the guests. But Jesus is obviously nothing like Miranda. He knows all people, he even knows their very thought. Instead of Jesus not knowing who Nathanael is, he instead gives a very descriptive answer of someone whom he has not physically met, and it is apparently only one that Nathanael would know.

Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree I saw you." Nathanael is floored by this statement! This statement not only shocked him into belief but a great profession of faith. Jesus' answer declared that Jesus is omniscient, that is all knowing, and also that he is omnipresent, which means present everywhere.

Nathanael knew he had never seen Jesus before. Apparently from his shock we can guess that no one would have seen him under the fig tree as though the tree was out of the way. He was in a spot where only his friends would know to find him. Jesus shows his omniscience because Jesus shows him that he knew what Nathanael was thinking. Maybe, Nathanael was reflecting on the psalms and prophets or on what John the Baptist had been preaching in the wilderness. While it is unclear to know what he was thinking, it is clear that Jesus knew his heart matched his actions. Here we see that Nathanael wrestled with God alone, praying not like the hypocrites on the corners of streets, but under a fig tree alone.

This is a wonderful reminder of the marks of the true Christian. Unfortunately in life there are true and false Christians within the visible church. Jesus even warns us of them. He says in Matthew 7:15, Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Jesus' point is that if it looks like a sheep and walks like a sheep but howls like a wolf, it's a wolf. There are many who propose to be Christian even within the Lutheran church who are false.

False teachers and non-Christians may abound, but God can tell them apart. How does God know you? How does God know all the Timmys of the world? He knows you through your baptism. He knows you because he has placed his mark upon each of your heads and your hearts to mark you as one who has been redeemed by Christ. He recognizes you because you have been washed clean by the blood of the lamb. He sees you as part of the one, Holy, Christian and apostolic church because you have been baptized and you know the truth of God's Word. What greater thing can you claim for salvation than what God has done for you? Everything you do is imperfect, reeking of sin. Only by what God has done for you, may we be known by God, and be seen as pure as the lamb of God. If Jesus did not die on the cross for your sins, God would not have known you as his children. He would not have claimed you through your baptismal adoption.

While we are aware of false teachings we have comfort when we read stories like that of Nathanael. He gives Christians an example of how we live our lives. Where was Nathanael when Philip found him? He was under a fig tree. Throughout the Old Testament the fig tree is a symbol of a place of prayer and contemplation. Nathanael gives us an example of Christian piety. He does not openly flaunt that he is praying. But rather his prayer is between God and him. What do we pray for? We pray for what Jesus has shown us to pray for in the Our Father.

We pray that God's name would remain holy among us as it is taught in truth and purity. We pray that God's kingdom would come by giving us his Holy Spirit so that we may receive grace to believe his holy Word. That God's will would be done by breaking and hindering every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature. We pray that our Father would not look at our sins but rather that he would guard and keep us so that we may not be deceived or mislead into false belief, despair, or other great shame or vice. In the end when our last hour comes that he would give us a blessed end and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to himself in heaven.

Nathanael's life, your life, and my life are all to be one marked by constant prayer that we would continue to know the truth. As we continue to learn the truth we ask God to show us good works that we may do to proclaim his glory. A true Christian is marked not only by right knowledge and by his receiving the Word and sacraments but also by his actions. Our public works as well as those that are known only by the Father. Being a Christian is not a walk in the park. It is a walk earned for us by Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. It is a walk given to us through Jesus' blood shed for us and confirmed through his victory over the grave. It is a walk sealed for us in our baptism and it is continued to this very day.

We won't be able to truly know any Timmy. There is one who does. He is our Father. He is the one who has known us from our conception. How does God know us? He knows us through Christ. He knows us because the one who knew no sin became sin for us that we might have eternal life. because he has adopted us through our baptism and made us his own children. He knows us through the salvation given to us. He knows us because we pray to him that he would make us his dear children. We have a gracious God that would take the time to know us and make us his.