January 19, 2003

Second Sunday of Epiphany

John 1:43-51

1 Samuel 3:1-10

 Can Anything Good Come out of New London?

     Dr. Benjamin Carson is one of the foremost neurosurgeons in the world today.  He became internationally known a few years ago for successfully separating Siamese twins that were joined at the head.  He has amazing surgical abilities but gives God the credit for his gift.  When he was at Johns-Hopkins in Baltimore he did radical brain surgery on one of my parishioners from Pennsylvania.  The procedure was supposed to take at least eight to twelve hours, but because Dr. Carson was able to step in, it was over in six.  The patient was on his feet and walking down the hall the same day! 

     Dr, Carson wasn’t always a prominent physician.  He grew up in a poor neighborhood in Chicago with no father at home.  His mother did housekeeping and worked several jobs.  He and his brother were poor students and spent most of their time watching TV and getting in trouble. 

     Ben’s mother was a good Christian woman who believed God wanted something better for her sons.  As she cleaned the homes of wealthy families she wondered what made them different from her family.  Their houses contained basically the same things as her apartment - rooms to live in, furniture, appliances, except that they had nicer things and more space.  But they did have one thing in particular her family didn’t have - a library.  She decided to remedy that situation.  She went home, turned off the TV her boys were always glued to and started taking them to a public library.  She required them to read at least one book per week and give her a book report…even though she couldn’t read or write.

     Ben and his brother went to college (Ben won a full scholarship to Yale).  Ben became a great surgeon and his brother a very successful businessman…because their mother believed in them and showed them God believed in them, believed that something good could come out of a Chicago ghetto, something good could come out of them.  

     Nazareth was not a great city, not an important center of trade or culture or government.  It was just a poor town in a poor country.  When Philip ran to Nathanael to share his excitement in meeting Jesus, Nathanael’s reply was probably not all that surprising: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  But Mary believed in her son (check out the second chapter of Luke, starting with verse 46) and God believed in him, believed something good could come out of Nazareth, something good could come out of Jesus.  Just last Sunday we heard the story of Jesus’ baptism.  In Mark‘s account of the event we hear the words of a proud parent spoken from the heavens, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  Yes, Nathanael, something good came out of Nazareth, - salvation for your soul, salvation for the world!

     But can anything good come out of New London?  How often have we heard that question?  People sigh and say, “New London used to be such a nice place with busy downtown stores we loved to shop in.  But now, I won‘t drive in at night.”  Little New London does have some big city problems.  Yes, some things are improving slowly, but we wonder if things will get better fast enough to bring our church along with the tide, whether or not our church can even hang on long enough to wait for such a rejuvenation, if indeed it comes at all. 

     Most of us don’t have New London addresses, but this is where our church resides - would it be better if we closed up shop and moved to the ‘burbs?  Could be done - move to a suburban area and plant a new church where we’re surrounded by upwardly mobile families, you know, “location, location, location!”  To put it another way - if nothing good can come out of New London, why stick around?

     This morning’s call to worship was from Psalm 139.  You may want to read the whole thing some time.  In it you will find the assurance that there is no place on earth where the goodness of God can’t be found.  It tells us every moment of our lives, every breath is held in the palm of God’s hand, that God knew us before we were born and knows all the days of our lives.  It tells us that because God cares for us, the darkness isn’t really dark, for God brings light to all things.  God holds us, forgives us, loves us, believes in us, believes good things can come from us.

     We just need to allow ourselves to see what God sees in us, what God sees as possibilities in our lives, in the towns and neighborhoods in which we live and this city in which we are called to serve.  And you better believe the Lord doesn’t call people to serve without believing they are capable of great things!

     So God called to Samuel who responded, “Here I am, Lord.”  And Jesus called Peter and Andrew and Phillip and Nathanael and so many others down to this day where he also calls us.  Samuel, just a boy.  Others, just fishermen and tax collectors and prostitutes and farmers and housekeepers and businesspeople and construction workers and…well…you fill in the blank.  People called because God believes in them, because Christ wants them, needs them to follow.  People called because there are too many people in this world who have given up, too many places in this world people have give up on, saying, “What good can possibly come out of this?

     What good can come out of losing a job?  What good can come out of a divorce?  What good can come out of an alcohol problem?  What good can come out of a struggling downtown?  What good can come out of a big old church with a handful of faithful folk hanging on?  What good can come out of Iraq?  What good can come out of North Korea?  We’ll know what good when we allow ourselves to see what God sees in us and sees in others.  We’ll know what good when we allow ourselves to see that we, that all people are held in the palm of God’s hand, that God believes in us, believes good things can come from our lives.  Why else would God make such a big investment in us, giving us his only and beloved Son?

     Believe me when I tell you I would not be here if I didn’t believe God has big plans for this church, if I didn‘t believe in you and the great things we can accomplish here together.  I believe we are called in this time and place to share God’s love with the people of this city and the neighboring towns, to be a source of goodness and hope and healing and kindness and peace for our families and coworkers and neighbors and the people who shop here, live here, go to school here and worship here.  I believe this church…THIS church…is a light in a dark place, an oasis of spiritual nourishment, a sanctuary in an uncertain world, a house of prayer in a city that feels it doesn’t have one.  I believe in my heart and soul that Christ is calling us to this, to be his disciples now, to witness to his gift of salvation, to touch the lives of others with his love, to be the goodness, the heart of New London.