come and see: we have found the messiah

By Dawn M. Frankfurt

Glory to the Holy and Undivided Trinity;

God who is Three in One and One in Three;

Who is beyond us, among us, within us;

Who was, and is, and is to come, world without end. Amen.

My best friend from the earliest days of seminary is Phil. It was Spring Break our senior year. Phil and his wife had me over to dinner one night – which they often did. I remember they suggested that after dinner we could watch the first episode of the first season of the West Wing TV series which they’d just gotten on DVD. I’m not a big fan of most TV, and I wasn’t too enthused, but they were into it and I couldn’t think of a good enough excuse to duck out before I saw the disc going into the player. The next thing you know, they were lending the whole DVD set of the first season to me. It was Spring Break, so I had some extra time. I watched the entire first season in something like four days. That was the first time I ever did a TV-series marathon like that. What I found was I was thinking as much about the show and its characters as I was about the people and goings on in my own life. Parallel universes converged there for a short while. Very strange.

It was so easy getting drawn in. I loved it. I felt like I was suddenly an expert on the way things work around the Oval Office. I wondered if the Donna and Josh thing was ever going to go anywhere. Wasn’t it amazing that Leo never mistakenly called Mr. President “Jed” in the middle of an important meeting? If I ever visit the White House and get a chance to have a tour of the president’s residence, would I walk through thinking about Jacqueline and Jack Kennedy, Laura and George Bush, or Abbey and Jed Bartlet?

It’s funny how worlds get confused like that. Hollywood and history get mixed in many formats – especially miniseries like: “The Winds of War,” or “Roots.” What would it be like to sit down on Mr. Roger’s couch and change shoes together? Would you drink Dr. Pepper mixed with milk if you went over to Laverne and Shirley’s? How many Harry Potter fans do you think have checked to see if there really is a No. 4 Privet Drive just in case they get a chance to see the little room under the stairs on a trip to London? Best sellers like Harry Potter, or anything by John Grisham, for example, seem to be almost automatically turned into movies. This is common for popular books. Just think how many different movies have been made out of the Bible – the most popular book of all time. Wikipedia lists 28 movies based on the life of Christ alone.

Given all this, imagine my disorientation when on Friday I saw for the first time an itinerary for my coming trip to the Holy Land. Here is my context: I’m in two Bible study classes. In one we’re studying the writings of the prophet Isaiah, and in the other, the Book of Acts. I study Holy Scripture all of the time, especially the readings we share on Sunday mornings. In the church year we are currently celebrating the season after Epiphany, after the visit of the wise men to the manger. Remember, last week, we talked about the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. And just a few weeks ago were we celebrating the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. On top of that, President Bush is traveling around in the middle east. Israel and Jerusalem are constantly on CNN. How could it be, then, that the itinerary for my February trip includes some of these things:

· Drive the coastal road, built by Herod the Great, to Caesarea, where Peter was imprisoned for two years. Proceed on to Mt. Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration. Continue to the Sea of Galilee.

· Drive to the Mount of Beatitudes, site of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Continue to Tabgha, site of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fish and then proceed to Capernaum, the center of Jesus' Ministry in the Galilee.

· Drive to Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle. Continue to Nazareth, visit the Church of the Annunciation, Joseph's Workshop, and Mary's Well. Continue to Jerusalem.

· Drive to the Mount of Olives. Visit the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was betrayed. Enter the Old City through St. Stephen's Gate, the place where Stephen, the first Christian Martyr, was stoned to death. Follow Jesus' footsteps along the Via Dolorosa, reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Calvary.

· Share Holy Communion at the Garden Tomb. Drive to Bethlehem. Adjacent to Bethlehem is Shepherd's Field - Grotto of the Nativity as well as the manger where Mary placed the Child at birth.

· Drive south to the lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea. Visit the Fortress of Massada the last stronghold of the Zealots in the war against the Romans. Continue to the Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Return to Jerusalem.

It all sounds so real, so concrete, so specific. This itinerary says that on Monday, February 25^th I’m going to go to the Mount of Olives and then on to the Garden of Gethsemane. I am still trying to comprehend that I’m going to go to the places where Jesus lived and died. These are places I’ve been reading stories about all my life. It is really sort of mind-blowing! This isn’t going to visit platform 9 ¾. It’s a lot more than walking into Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment without knocking, knowing just where to find a box of cereal, how to play messages back on his answering machine, where the restroom is and what’s in his medicine cabinet. This won’t be like driving down the long driveway of the Southfork Ranch to visit J.R. Ewing’s Dallas mansion. This is more real than that. More than a sound stage or movie set. It’s even more real than “reality” TV. Definitely more real than what’s going on this election season. With as much news coverage as there is of the candidates and their campaigns for president, it grabs us on some level. Whether we like it or not, we can’t help but be drawn into the soap opera of selecting presidential nominees in this country. People (my Dad among them) tell stories about meeting Bill Clinton and immediately being taken in by his legendary charisma. I’ve heard reports of Mike Huckabee’s charm and the power Barak Obama has to energize a crowd with his inspirational stump speeches. Our interest is being captured.

The reason I’m talking about being drawn in, is because that’s what the gospel story describes this morning. Matthew tells us that there was a lot of new talk around town about this guy, Jesus. John the Baptist was going around telling everyone about him and declaring him to be the Son of God. It’s a hard-to-believe story being bellowed out by a crazy but charismatic guy. The people who were hanging out with John the Baptist heard him say a lot about Jesus. And then one day, imagine, here comes Jesus walking by and John, this guy you look up to so much, starts yelling, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

In that setting, you can totally understand how one of John’s disciples, Andrew, could be star-struck – as it were. Andrew is mesmerized by the sight of Jesus and he immediately begins following him. Jesus asks Andrew what he’s doing, and when it’s obvious that Andrew wants to follow him, Jesus tells him to come along. Andrew wants his brother to see what he’s seeing. Remarkably, when Simon Peter comes to see Jesus, the first thing that happens is that he finds his identity. He is called by God. Jesus says to him: “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas.” Imagine being drawn in by something as compelling as Christ right there in front of your eyes. Would you know what you were looking at? Would you recognize Christ? How would you respond?

One of the reasons you come to Trinity Church is to ask yourself these kinds of questions and to work at finding the answers through thought and conversation with your friends here, through the story of God which we tell in our worship services, and through our reading of Holy Scripture. What we have here is a wonderful thing. We continue to come back because in these facilities, with these people, and by doing the things we do, we encounter Christ here. This is what we do in Christian community.

We want our buildings and grounds to be pleasing for ourselves and others. Having this resource takes all sorts of time, financial resources and attention just for maintenance. You might think that we invest too much time, talent and treasure in this physical church. But before you come to that conclusion, think of all that goes on here and how our programs wouldn’t be possible without these facilities to do them in. In my mind, the 3 most important things a parish does are: worship, have community, and do outreach. Trinity is unusual in the fact that it thrives in all 3 areas. That’s not true in most parishes. We have wonderful worship here with a beautiful music program. We come together for Christian education and to get to know each other at various events. From this place we reach out to the hungriest people in Staunton, in the nation, and throughout the world.

We are not 700 extras playing parts in a TV series starring somebody who looks an awful lot like Charlton Heston. We are not simply in re-runs of last season which ended in a cliff-hanger: “Who will be the next rector of Trinity Church?” Behind door number one – will it be Father Mulcahey? Behind door number two – the Vicar of Dibley? Or will the parish take a chance on the mystery guest behind door number three?

It is nothing that trivial. It is not some TV show you can just sit back and watch. This is real, our gathering place, our church home. We are given many things here. What draws you here may be different from what draws your neighbor here. But one thing is sure. We are DRAWN here. We are drawn to this church, this congregation, these people. Through all of these things we are being drawn to Christ. We know Christ in worship, through taking care of one another, and by supporting the needy around us. We are being drawn in, as Andrew was, as Peter was. Here at Trinity we are being drawn to Christ. Here, we are finding our identity with Christ. Please be generous in your support of this.

Come and see: We have found the Messiah!

AMEN!