Message: The One by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Patti Lusher)

In 1965 point guard Bobby Joe Hill was living in Highland Park, MI when Coach Don Haskins came to recruit him to play basketball. Haskins had recently taken over as the coach of a small NCAA team in El Paso, TX called the Texas Western College Miners. During this time of desegregating schools and sports, Haskins decided to integrate his all white team by going across the country and recruiting black players. In this scene from the film “Glory Road” we find the coach trying to convince Bobby Joe to come to El Paso to play.

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Bobby Joe went to El Paso. The Miners went to on the National Finals to play powerhouse Kentucky that year. Against all odds Bobby Joe and four other black starters beat Kentucky 72-65 to become the NCAA National Champions that year.

Their success all turned on Haskins invitation to Bobby Joe to come to El Paso and play basketball.

You can tell from the clip in the movie that Bobby Joe is discouraged. Ever since he was a kid, he says, all he wanted to do was play basketball. It was like playing sweet music for him. But he kept sitting on the bench because he was black. Never mind that he was, as Coach Haskins saw, quick and full of skill.

But Haskins tells him: “You just told me about a big old dream you have. I can let you play, I can help you make your dream come true faster than a twister can take your socks off.” Bobby Joe looks at Don Haskins and in that moment he trusts him. He knows Haskins is the one who can make a difference. Haskins is the one who can chip away at the segregation in college sports. And Bobby Joe trusts this man and so he goes to El Paso. His life is forever changed. Don Haskins is the one for Bobby Joe. He is the one who can turn his life of oppression into a life of pure joy. Bobby Joe can live out his potential because Don Haskins does not see color. He just sees skill.

Do you have someone like Don Haskins in your life? Someone who sees the best in you, and who brings out the best in you? Someone who calls you to be the person God put you on this earth to be?

In our scripture for today, we see Jesus do this for Nathanael. First of all Jesus goes to his home region of Galilee. He runs into Philip and makes an invitation. “Come and follow me.” Philip follows right away. He knows Jesus is the one they have been waiting for. So Philip goes to get his friend Nathanael. Philip says to Nathanael: “We’ve found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, the one from Nazareth!” 

Nathanael said, “Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding.”

But Philip said, “Come, see for yourself.” Notice that Philip is not pushy. He does not try to coerce or convince Nathanael. I think Philip is so sure Jesus is the one that he knows once Nathanael sees him that he will know too. It is just so obvious to Philip.

But it is not so obvious. Nathanael, like Bobby Joe in the movie, is a skeptic. Whatever this out-of-towner with the funny accent is selling, Nathanael and Bobby Joe are not buying. 

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said, “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.”

You see Jesus is trying to establish a connection to Nathanael. But Nathanael will have none of it.

⁴⁸ Nathanael said, “Where did you get that idea? You don’t know me.”

Just like Bobby Joe, Nathanael is resisting any sort of idea that Jesus might know him. Who does Jesus think he is waltzing into town and pretending that he knows what it’s like to be Nathanael? No one knows what it means to walk in the shoes of another person.

But then Jesus reminds them they have already met. Jesus answered, “One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree.”

Now, something happens in that moment. Whatever it is, is not recorded fully in the text. All we get is this: ⁴⁹ Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”

What this means is that in Nathanael’s soul, down to the depths of his heart, in that moment he recognized Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. Nathanael knew Jesus was the ONE that would lead him to God. From that moment on, Nathanael would follow Jesus anywhere and do anything for him. So much more than a player would give his heart and soul to his basketball coach, Nathanael gave Jesus his life in that moment.

^50-51 Jesus tells him, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”

Jesus promises that their life together is going to be amazing. 

What about you? Have you had that moment where you recognize Jesus as the ONE? Now I am respectful of other religions and I know that some people come to God through Muhammad or Buddha, but we are here because we are followers of Jesus. We have found a unique connection through Jesus of Nazareth. We may all go through times of doubt and skepticism. But we come back to Jesus. How did it happen for you? 

You may have a moment you can name, when you gave your life to Jesus. You can remember the day. You turned away from an old life and stepped into a new life, giving your life to the direction that God has in mind for you. If you have a day like that I celebrate that day with you. You, like Nathanael, saw the wonder and the truth of Jesus and said, “Yes, you are the one. I want to follow you. I want to put my trust in you because you will keep me close to God.” 

Others of you may be more like me. You grew up in a family of Jesus followers. Following Jesus is like breathing oxygen for me. I can’t really tell you a time when I didn’t identify as a Christian. Of course I have gone through times of doubt, but in the end I always put my trust back in Jesus. Because Jesus is the ONE who makes sense of the world for me. Jesus says love wins out over hate, truth wins out over lies, justice wins out over oppression, and good wins out over evil. I believe these things, and Jesus helps me believe. 

I have had mentors along the way who encourage me. We all need human beings who reveal Jesus to us. My mother embodies the patience and compassion of Jesus to me. She puts her trust in God. When I am at the end of my rope, I call my mom, and she gives me some of her rope. That is her being Jesus for me.

Do you have people that are Jesus for you? And point you to God? Who are they? Can you picture one of those people right now? I want you to try. Picture someone who is an example to you in what it means to put your trust in God. Someone who lives their life with a sense of contentment that you long for on a bad day. That person is for you, what Jesus was for Nathanael. Jesus pointed Nathanael to God. 

And here is the great thing, you can be that person for someone else. You can be the one. No, I’m not saying you have to be Jesus. But you can be like Jesus. And you can be a spiritual mentor to someone. You can encourage someone who is doubting and tell that person to have hope. You can be like Jesus was for Nathanael, and point the person to God.

How do we do that? By paying attention. We pay attention when people show us they are hurting, and then we show compassion. When we do that we are pointing them to God’s compassion because God is the source of our compassion. When someone is feeling discouraged and unlovable, we show them love. By our love, we are pointing them to God who is the source of all love. When someone is feeling lost and we encourage them to put their hope and their trust in God, we are pointing to God who is the source of our hope. 

We are the only hands and feet Jesus has on this earth now. We are the ones who point people to God. We get to invite them to live the lives God put them on this earth to live. That is what coach Don Haskins did for Bobby Joe Hill. The Coach invited Bobby Joe to step into the life for which God put him on this earth. That is what Jesus did for Nathanael. Someone did it for you. That is why you are here. You want to live the life for which God put you on this earth. 

Now, will you show the next person? You can be a spiritual mentor. Point someone to God by your actions. Live with compassion and love and hope and when you do, point others to God. This is how we change the world: when we live as Jesus lived. Amen.