The following sermon was delivered by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia, on January 17, 1982. The title is Nathaniel the Guileless, and the scripture references John chapter 1, verses 43 through 51. 

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. I'm reading from the first chapter beginning at the 43rd verse. This is the story of another call to another man, no less insistent than that to Samuel.

Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip and said to him, follow me. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, we have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.

Nathanael said to him, How do you know me? Jesus answered him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God.

You are the King of Israel. Jesus answered him, Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.

And he said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. The Gospel of the Lord. The story of Nathaniel always seems to me a little bit like a water lily.

It's pretty enough on the surface, but if you look a little bit more deeply, you'll find it has a fairly complex and fairly deep root structure. It goes way down deep into the soil beneath the surface. On the surface, it's the story of a man who is rather abruptly converted.

From skepticism, can any good thing come out of Nazareth, to almost excessive conviction. Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.

Just like that. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? You're the King of Israel.

Just in a moment. And all Jesus had to do was say, I saw you under the fig tree. I was saying to Joe Kitts earlier, we perhaps ought to incorporate that into our evangelism program.

If it's that effective, I mean, do away with all of those questions we ask. Just say, I saw you out in the parking lot sitting in your car. Boom, you got another disciple.

But I think there's a lot more there if we'll look more deeply. I want to consider, first of all, before we even get to Nathaniel, his friend Philip. Philip's response to the call of Jesus, come, follow me, is to immediately go and tell his friend, we found him.

We found the Messiah. I wonder if I were to ask you, you don't have to answer this, but if I were to ask you, how many of you would say this morning that you're following Jesus, I wonder how many hands would go up. And then if I asked a second question, I wonder how many of them would stay up.

If I were to say, okay, you're following him, how many of you talked to somebody else about him this week? I wonder how many hands would stay up. see so many would-be disciples of Jesus are absolutely tongue-tied when it comes to talking about him to somebody else we're afraid that that other person might take offense or that they might not be interested or that they might ask a question that's too hard for us to answer well any of those things might happen but if they take offense that's their problem that's not our problem and that's not God's problem that's their problem Jesus said some would take offense that he'd be a stumbling block he will either be the foundation stone on which we build our lives or he'll be a rock of offense and a stone of stumbling that's their problem if they're not interested that's a great opportunity for us to arouse their interest that's a challenge Christians are supposed to be the salt of the earth salt is supposed to make people thirsty so they're not interested that's our privilege to begin to arouse their interest and if you're afraid that they might ask a question too hard for you to answer there's only one solution to that let's go do your homework find out the answer I want to suggest to you that following Jesus Christ involves being eager to talk about him to other people as God gives us the opportunity.

We're not all called to be evangelists, but I would say that one of the indispensable elements involved in following the Master is being actively engaged in telling other people about Him as the opportunity presents itself. Scripture says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And it goes on to say, but how will people believe unless they hear?

how will they believe that member of your family or that friend on your block or the person with whom you work how will he how will she believe unless they hear about him and how will they hear unless you dare to open your mouth as Philip did and say we found him we found him sometimes when I speak along those lines people say to me well you know I just don't have a gift for verbally bearing witness to Jesus, but I witness with my life. And I say, praise God, that your life is so lovely and so different from everybody else's that when people see you, it reminds them of Jesus. Praise God for that.

But that doesn't really solve the problem. Because if your life is like that, it's going to provoke questions in other people's minds, and you've got to talk about him anyway. So take our cue from Philip.

The first thing he did upon responding to the call of Jesus, follow me, is he went and told his friend about him. Philip says, we found the one that Moses and all the prophets promised would come, Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph. And Nathanael says, Jesus of Nazareth?

Nazareth? Are you sure? Nazareth is just three miles down the road from where I live.

Couldn't be. I know everybody in town. You're going to tell me Messiah has come from Nazareth?

Not a chance. You see, Nathaniel's response is exactly the same as most of the other folks in town. When Jesus went back, you remember that the scripture says he went back to his own hometown and they wouldn't believe in him.

He could do no mighty works in Nazareth because of their unbelief. And as he reflected upon it, he said, a prophet is not without honor except in his own hometown. Folks just don't expect that the local boy is going to make good.

But this one did. Nathaniel says, no way could he be from Nazareth, not the Messiah. But again, I just love the example of Philip here because rather than arguing the point, he says, come and see.

Come and see. I've just challenged you to be willing to speak to people about Jesus. But I want to relieve you, I hope this relieves you very greatly, to add on to that that it is not your job to convince them.

The work of convincing is the Holy Spirit's work. our job our responsibility and our great privilege is to bear witness to jesus but it's not our job to convince that's the job of the holy spirit philip was willing to bear witness to jesus but he didn't argue the point he said you check it out for yourself and i think that when we dare to approach our friends in that same way not trying to prove a case not trying to argue a point simply bearing charitable witness that we found him. We found the one that makes life worth living.

You come and look for yourself. That when folks are willing to come and check out the evidence for themselves if they do so with an open mind they're going to be led to the same conviction that Nathaniel finally came to. Jesus sees Nathaniel coming and he makes this remarkable statement.

Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile. Wouldn't you love to have somebody say that about you? Behold a Fairfax resident indeed in whom there is no guile.

And Nathaniel says, well, obviously he's talking about me. I wish we had a tape recording of their conversation. The problem with scripture is that you never know the tone of voice in which things are said.

You know, all you have is the words. You don't know the tone of voice in which they were spoken. I have a suspicion.

I don't know this is so, but I just wonder if possibly when Jesus greeted Nathaniel and said those remarkable words, he said them just slightly tongue-in-cheek. I just wonder about that. if they just possibly were full of irony, that rather than being a man in whom there is no guile, just maybe Nathaniel was the very opposite.

Jesus sometimes did that, you know. Two chapters later, a fellow by the name of Nicodemus comes to visit him, and they get talking, and Nicodemus is pretty confused, and Jesus says, what? You're a teacher of Israel.

Surely you understand these things. Nicodemus didn't have a clue. Chapter after that, Jesus is sitting by a well in Samaria, and a woman comes up and he engages her in conversation.

He says, go and call your husband. She says, well, sir, I have no husband. He says, well, that's true.

Of course, you've had five so far. The guy you're living with now you're not married to, but you've told me the truth. Jesus is not saying those things cruelly, but he is saying them ironically.

He's saying, I know exactly what you're like. I know. I can see right through that facade that you would present to people.

Abraham Lincoln said you can fool some of the people some of the time. Maybe most of the people most of the time, but I would add to it, you can't fool Jesus for a second. Jesus sees right through the facade of Nicodemus, right through the facade of the woman by the well.

and I suspect that it may be that Nathanael presented the face to everybody else of being absolutely guileless. And Jesus said, Behold, an Israelite in whom there is no guile. And it cut Nathanael to the quick.

I don't know that for sure, but it may be. He says, I saw you under the fig tree. And whatever it was that Nathanael was doing under the fig tree, somehow it gave Jesus an insight into his character.

Now a fig tree is the very symbol of Israel. You see it on some of the coins that are used today. You see it on all sorts of tapestries and in calligraphy and all manner of decorative design.

It's the symbol of Israel. And the rabbis would traditionally go to study the scripture under a fig tree. Students of God's word would go and meditate upon who God is under a fig tree.

People would go and pray to God under the fig tree. And so Jesus says, I saw you under the fig tree, Nathaniel. And whatever it was that he saw, it convinced him that either Nathaniel was, in fact, an Israelite in whom there is no guile, or exactly the opposite.

In either case, Nathaniel knew that he was known. He knew that he was known and it stopped him dead in his tracks. When you know that somebody has seen right through to the real you, it'll stop you.

And if that person is Jesus, it'll stop you dead. Nathaniel knew that he was known exactly as he truly was. And somehow in the midst of that, he knew that he was loved.

I referred to the woman in Samaria. When Jesus made that comment to her, you've had five husbands and you're living in sin now, she went back to town and she told all of her friends, I've just met a man who told me everything I ever did. Surely he must be the Messiah.

She knew that she was known. The mask was ripped away. And yet Jesus loved her.

That came through absolutely clearly. And it won her heart. and something like that seems to have happened in the case of Nathaniel he knew that he was known and he knew that he was loved let's dig a little bit more deeply into the story there's only one man in all the bible that is pronounced guileless and that's this man Nathaniel interestingly enough there's also only one man in all the scripture that is called full of guile.

Do you know who that was? Anybody? Somebody said it.

Jacob in the Old Testament. Remember Jacob and Esau, the two twin brothers? Jacob is pronounced full of guile.

Jacob, the younger twin, who's always conniving and scheming to get his older brother's blessings, right? Esau goes out and he comes back hungry and Jacob says, sure, I'll give you some soup, only you trade your birthright for it. and Esau the big dummy does so.

Jacob the schemer, the conniver his very name means supplanter, manipulator. I could loosely paraphrase that dirty sneak thief. Comes a little bit later in the story and their father now pretty much blind old man Isaac wants to pronounce the patriarchal blessing and the blessing ought to have gone to Esau.

Jacob takes some sheepskin and puts it on the back of his hands, the back of his neck, puts on Esau's clothes and comes in and pretends that he's Esau. And Isaac reaches out in his blindness and gives Jacob the blessing. He gets the birthright and the blessing.

The supplanter, full of guile. When Esau comes back in, Isaac says to him, your brother came with guile and he's taken away your blessing. But Jacob had one redeeming character, characteristic, one redeeming quality.

He wanted God's best and he'd settle for nothing less. He didn't want only Isaac's blessing. He wanted God's blessing.

And God honored that in him. In spite of the kinks in his character, God honored that in Jacob. You remember the story how one night an angel of God appeared to Jacob?

And Jacob, instead of shrinking back in fear, everybody else in the whole Bible, everybody else from one end of Scripture to the other, when they meet an angel, they shrink back and the angel has to say, fear not. You know what Jacob did? He said, let's wrestle.

Grabs the angel, they wrestle all night, comes first light and the angel says, I gotta go. Jacob says, I'm not letting go of you until you bless me. And the angel of God, in the name of God, pronounces God's blessing and changes his name from Jacob, dirty sneak thief, to what?

Israel. Israel. Which means one who has power with God.

one who has power with God because Jacob wouldn't let go he wouldn't settle for less than God's best and God changed his name and changed his character he is really Israelite he is the progenitor he is Israel himself full of guile but an Israelite indeed who will settle for nothing less than God's best Do you hear the echo of all of that when Jesus meets Nathanael? He says, you're descended from your great, great, great, great grandfather Israel. You are an Israelite by birth, but I see that you're an Israelite by character.

You want nothing less than God's best. Well, you're going to get it. You're going to get it.

Those who want nothing less than God's highest and best will get it. And it's not a matter of earning it. Did you know that?

Jacob sure didn't earn it. But he got it. And so did Nathanael.

It's even deeper than that though. Because it was this same Jacob, Israel, who on another occasion had a dream in Bethel. And I bet you remember the dream.

He lay down and he saw the heaven open. And he saw a ladder, or probably more accurately, a staircase, coming down from heaven to earth. And angels of God ascending and descending on that ladder, that staircase.

And mind you, it came down from heaven. It didn't go up from earth. There's a great gulf fixed between holy God and sinful man.

Try however you like. You're not going to be able to reach up to God. Unless God Himself takes the initiative and reaches down into your life, you're never going to know Him.

We heard in the Old Testament, Samuel didn't yet know the Lord. The Lord took the initiative. He called to him, Samuel, Samuel.

And finally Samuel understood and responded. God takes the initiative and reaches down. And so He took the initiative and reached down into Jacob, Israel's life.

And He opened up a staircase from heaven to earth. and bridged the gap. And Jesus says to Nathanael, you're going to see exactly the same thing that ancient Israel saw.

You're going to see the heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on a staircase. Only you know what? I'm the staircase.

I myself am the link between holy God and sinful man. I myself am the bridge over troubled water. I myself am the umpire that Job begged for, the one who would lay a hand on God and a hand on man.

I myself am the one who will bring you into the knowledge, the fellowship, the love of God. And that was Nathaniel's great privilege. And all the others who responded to that same call.

I wonder if the Lord Jesus were to walk into this room this morning and were to look into your eyes and were to talk to you personally. If you were to say to me, you know, you've fooled all sorts of people. You haven't fooled me for a second.

I know exactly what you are. I know what you've done. I know what you wish you've done.

I know who you are and I know what you are and I love you. I love you. Would you be prepared, as Nathaniel was, to say, Lord Jesus, I'm not going to settle for anything less than God's best.

I haven't earned it, but that's what I want. I want God's best. If that's the desire of your heart this morning, I believe that Jesus' invitation to you would be exactly what it was to Nathaniel, exactly what God's invitation was to Jacob Israel, come and know me.

I take the initiative. I love you. Receive the gift of my life.

Let's bow our heads together. Just as I am without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me and that thou bidst me come to thee O Lamb of God I come thank you Lord Jesus that you know me exactly as I am and that you love me Lord Jesus Christ it is my desire this day to settle for nothing less than your best I would come to you and know you more deeply more intimately and I would give you myself this day for your great namesake Amen