Come and See Just who God Is

You’ve been waiting for ages and then two come along at once.

What is true of buses may also be true of James Bond movies.

We knew one was to be released in the Autumn, but none of us knew what Danny Boyle had in store for us in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

It was too good to be true … as James Bond made his way solemnly through the corridors of Buckingham Palace, entering the state apartments.  The woman in the salmon pink dress with her back to us, was it Helen Mirren or … and then when she turned round and it turned out to be the Queen herself, that really was the icing on the cake of a wonderful opening ceremony.

But that was not all!

She accompanied James Bond into a helicopter and then we saw her in that same dress leaping in the company of that special agent and parachuting into the stadium.  Maybe that bit was played by a stunt man!!!

But when she took her seat in the same dress that was clever!

I read this week an interesting observation.  When the Bond movie was eventually released was its director                       also having fun and inviting us to make connections with the Opening Ceremony.

The name of the Bond movie Sky Fall took us right back to the leap from the helicopter.  Even the location of the actual Sky Fall took us into the wilds of the Scottish moors that could almost have been in the grounds of Balmoral!!!

I then spotted another link.  And I couldn’t’ help but share it with Matthew and Adam.  Do you remember I set a quiz at a Parade Service asking them to find out the lines of the poem that was to be placed on a wall in the Olympic Village by Tennyson.   Adam Matthew and James button holed me after the service with the answer – and I eventually awarded them a prize of a Gold medallist stamp of Bradley Wiggins and a collage that included the quotation from Tennyson’s Ulysees

That which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

It seemed almost to be her swan song speech when Judi Dench, once more playing the part of M, had to appear before a House of Commons Select Committee.  The speech she gave was strangely moving.

And what should be the quotation she drew on … but those very words from Tennyson.

I have a hunch that wasn’t just coincidence – both Danny Boyle directing the Olympic Opening Ceeremonoy and the director of the James Bond Movie were playing games with us – making connections and references to and fro the same events.

Fanciful? – that’s how good film making works.  It’s how books too are constructed.

And interestingly the Gospels are wonderfully crafted pieces of writing that use themes in such a way.

As Advent unfolds we are turning to John’s Gospel.

There’s something exciting in the air as the Gospel opens.  People come on stage and point to Jesus, the Word of God made flesh and bones, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the teacher, the saviour, the king – so many ways of thinking of Jesus.

This is exciting.  It’s intriguing.  It makes you want to find out more.

Look.  Watch.  See.   Those words are repeated.

And one phrase sticks in the mind.

Andrew to his brother.

Philip to his friend.

Come and see.

Don’t be content with what I have to say.

Come and see for yourself.

It’s not long before Jesus enables someone who is born unable to see, actually to see.

In things Jesus does and in things he says John makes us very aware that there is something worth seeing here.  And we need to see it for ourselves.

Indeed the likes of Philip stick with Jesus – they see him doing remarkable things.  They hear him saying remarkable things.  And they see for themselves.

And then the Gospel story draws towards its climax.

The night of Jesus’ arrest he meets with his friends and they are with him once more.

And he has wonderful words to share with them.  There is a note of calm in Jesus’ voice.  No wonder, those friends sense the mounting anxiety of what is in store.

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.   In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’

Notice the sequence of thought.

Calm does away with fear.

Believe in God.  That’s something loads of people do.  In some way.  In some religious form or other.  But Jesus extends an invitation.

Believe in God.    Believe also in me.

It is through Jesus that we then see things in a different way.  And in particular we see God in a different way.

The conversation goes on and then Jesus says something remarkable.  Pay careful attention to the words.

‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

It is significant that it is through Jesus that we come to be able to see God as Father and enter into a relationship with him in the closest of possible ways.

Then Jesus says something remarkable.

If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’

What a difference that would make if we could only see God.

This is a running theme through the Gospel.

And by now it is too much for Philip.

He may have told Nathanael, Come and See.

But he still feels something is missing.

Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 

Philip longs to see God.

See Jesus and you see God as he really is.

The focus is on Jesus.

What a difference that makes.

And then it makes a difference to our lives as well.

For then as we see God in this way we too can share in those acts of love that make such a world of difference that Jesus himself did.

Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

The gospel unfolds further.

Jesus goes to his death.  The grave cannot contain him.  He rises again to life. Track through those resurrection accounts and time and again John emphasises that people ‘see’ for themselves, they hear, the taste, they touch.  This Jesus is real.

Come and see is such a refrain.

Until you get to the very end.

And then comes what for me is one of the greatest lines in the Gospel.

Thomas it is who needs to see before he can believe.

And he does see.  And he does see.

And then Jesus says.

Have you belived because you have seen me?  B lessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to  believe.”

Jesus was real.

So many people Saw.

But we too can share in the presence of God with us – even when we have not seen.  For we too can believe.

Come and see!

He’d said it to his friend.

At first it seemed so clear.

But then the questions started.

And now the questions overwhelmed.

Just show me.

Let me see.

Let me be sure.

Come and see in jesus just who this God is

A Father filled with love,

Such love as the world cannot give

Such love as the world cannot take away.