Nathaniel Meets Taylor Swift

(The gospel reading on which the sermon is based can be found by scrolling down to the end of the sermon.)

Grace to you and peace from God our Creator, from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and from our Sustainer, the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Can anything good come out of a Taylor Swift concert? Seriously! Like the question in our gospel text this morning that Nathaniel poses – can anything good come out of Nazareth? Can anything good come of out a Taylor Swift concert? Just to update you – we are in the midst of the Era’s Tour – the highest grossing concert tour of all time – which started last March and will end next December. It will include 151 concerts spanning over five continents.

Can anything good come out of a Taylor Swift concert? Well, lots and lots of money comes out of a Taylor Swift concert, and many estimate that in 2023 her Era’s Concert Tour contributed almost $5 billion dollars to our economy which is more than the yearly economic output of 42 countries (including the country of Liberia which as 5 million people!) It is estimated that the average concert goer spends $1300.00 on tickets, merchandise, and outfits, and when the concerts were at Gillette stadium last May there was a 1000% increase in the demand for hourly workers within a half mile of the stadium.

That Midas touch extended around the country wherever she was on tour: In California, a business called Susie Cakes sold $50,000 worth of Swift-themed cupcakes. In Seattle, a sushi restaurant dished out $10,000 in “Reputation” sushi rolls and glitter-filled cocktails, and in Kansas City, a store called Donutology filled orders for 20,000 Eras-themed donuts. (I bet you didn’t know I could sound like a “Swiftie” – that is a fan of Taylor Swift? Me neither – before researching for this sermon I knew almost nothing about Taylor Swift!)

Can anything good come out of a Taylor Swift concert? In the Christian Century – a magazine to which I subscribe – there is an article by author Amy Julie Becker with the title, “Worshiping at the Church of Taylor Swift.” She writes of her experience attending one of the concerts at Gillette Stadium with her husband, Peter and their three daughters:

As soon as we arrived at the show, Peter and I were both struck by the sense of being in a house of worship. The rituals, the chants, the ecstatic moments, the shared experience, even the reciprocal relationships established through friendship bracelets—it all underscored a sense of awe and transcendence alongside intimacy. People are notably kind to one another at a Taylor Swift show. At Gillette Stadium, even the security guards were smiling widely and dancing in the aisles.

A Presbyterian pastor named Hannah Lovaglio who attended a Swift concert with friends wrote this about her experience:

The strongest communities come together around an inclusive culture and core values to overcome hate and work for good in this world. To be a Swiftie is to stand on the side of women, the LGBTQ+ community, the misfits, and those who otherwise feel sidelined. Where others create community by deciding who is out, Taylor swings the doors wide open and says: Welcome. There is some part of your story that is my story, too; I see you.

“Welcome. There is some part of your story that is my story, too.” That’s exactly what Nathaniel, in our gospel text this morning, hears Jesus say to him. Of course, at first Nathaniel is skeptical. He is skeptical when Philip tells him, “We have found him! We have found him about who Moses in the law and also the prophets write, Jesus son of Joseph of Nazareth.” Nathaniel’s doubt comes from his knowledge of Nazareth – a small rural town, far from the seat of power. How can anyone like Jesus, the Son of God come from a place like Nazareth? Shouldn’t Jesus come from a great city like Jerusalem, the place of religious authority, the home of the magnificent Temple, the seat of political and economic power? Shouldn’t Jesus come from a place like a Taylor Swift concert?

Philip then took Nathaniel to see Jesus, and when Jesus saw him approaching – never having met him – Jesus said, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” In other words, Jesus sees an honest, decent man who shares his doubt, his skepticism, and Jesus welcomes him just as he is. “But how can you welcome me so completely, how can you accept me without condition when we’ve barely met?” Jesus responds, ‘You think my acceptance of you, my welcome of you is remarkable…just wait, you will see greater things than these! You will see miracle upon miracle!’ And where do Philip and Nathaniel go next? They go to a wedding in Cana of Galilee where they witness with their own eyes, Jesus turning water into wine! A miracle!

Can anything good come out of the most unlikely people and places? Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Can anything good come out of a Taylor Swift concert? One more question – three for the Trinity – can anything good come out of the church?

Can anything good come out of the church? That is the question we must ask because so many have answered the question with a resounding “NO.” When you see millions of young people in this country flocking to see Taylor Swift and spending literally billions of dollars to attend the church of Taylor Swift, and at the same time when we see only tiny numbers of those same young people attending mainline protestant churches, we know that so many are already assuming – “well, not much good must be coming out of the church!”

Can anything good come from the church? Somehow, we – that is the Lutheran church and most mainline protestant churches like us have answered that question to the Latino population, for example, with a resounding, “NO!” The Latino population is one of the fastest growing groups in the US and one of the youngest which is also reflected in their church attendance. However, listen to these statistics: 61.7% of Latino congregational worshippers attend evangelical churches, while about 33.8% are in Catholic churches and only 4.4% in mainline Protestant churches. Only 4.4% of young Latinos are attending mainline Protestant churches like our Lutheran churches across the country. What does that say about who we are? What does that say about our priorities? On top of that, overall, we know that far more people in the US never attend religious services than do attend religious services, and that’s been the downward trend for decades.

So what can we learn from – say – the church of Taylor Swift? Much has been written about the good influence she has over young people. Listen again to what Amy Julia Becker writes:

The goodness of a Taylor Swift show points to our need for a deeper goodness. We are a lonely people in need of connection that goes deeper than friendship bracelets exchanged with strangers. We are a people in need of permission to mourn losses and celebrate beauty for longer than a few hours on a Saturday night. We are taught—by our culture, and also by Swift herself—to believe in karma, but we are in need of blessing. Our souls crave the assurance that we will not be measured by our rights and wrongs but instead will be received in love by a God of grace.

We are in need of blessing – as Jesus blessed Nathaniel even in his doubt and his skeptism. Our souls crave the assurance that we will not be measured by our rights and wrongs, but instead will be received in love by a God of grace, and I will add, to the extreme extent that Jesus actually suffered a horrible death for you and me so that we may live as people of grace.

One more paragraph from Amy Julia Becker,

The church has not been able to compete with Taylor Swift. But maybe, once the tour is over and the music fades, some of those people will find their way to a smaller and quieter setting with the same invitation to friendship and belonging and intimate connection. Maybe Swift is just one more step on a road away from sanctuaries of grace. Or maybe she is a sign that points to our need for them.

Can anything good come from this sanctuary of grace called Holy Trinity? Of course, we know the answer to that question so I leave you with an image of hope – an future looking image of this little place along the road called Holy Trinity.

Here’s the image. At one of the Advent Supper Church services on Wednesday evenings during Advent before Christmas, a high school student and member of the church named Jaden came to the service. She did not come alone or just with her family. No, she came with three of her high school friends most of whom had never been here before. They sat together around one of the round tables and ate with us, sang with us, prayed with us. There was one more there with them. Christ. Christ sat at that table with them.

Listen again to the good news of Jesus Christ – coming from a most unlikely person – an author writing about a Taylor Swift concert:

Welcome to this sanctuary of grace. Amen

Sources include:

The Washington Post, October 13, 2023
The Presbyterian Outlook, July 5, 2023
The Christian Century, November 21, 2023
Religious News Service

Gospel

In John’s gospel, Jesus’ ministry begins with the call of disciples, who then bring others to Jesus. Philip’s friend Nathanael moves from skepticism to faith when he accepts the invitation to “Come and see.”

The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the 1st chapter.

Glory to you, O Lord.

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” ⁴⁹Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

The Gospel of our Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.