Home » Library » REMEMBER AND KNOW WHO YOU ARE

Sunday, May 24, 2009

REMEMBER AND KNOW WHO YOU ARE
Sermon for Ascension/Memorial Day Sunday

By Rev. Cindy Bates

Scripture: John 17:6-11

6 "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Indianapolis visiting a friend who was having surgery. I found myself sitting in a waiting room at St. Vincent Hospital, a place where I had made hospital calls for almost 20 years when I was serving St. Luke's United Methodist Church which was just down the street. It felt a little strange sitting in that place, having left that city over 12 years ago. While I was waiting, I was answering some e-mails on my Blackberry. So my head was down and I wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on around me. But suddenly I felt someone was looking at me, and as I looked up I heard a woman say, "Who are you?", and sure enough, her finger was pointing right at me. I didn't know whether to laugh or run! As it turned out, she and her husband were members of St. Luke's and had come to that congregation shortly before I left. We had not gotten to know one another well, but I guess I looked enough like my former self that she thought she knew who I was... but she wasn't sure. After a brief chat to get reacquainted, she and her husband left and I got back to my e-mails. But, somehow, I kept going back to her question: "Who are you?" Obviously, she wasn't trying to probe into an analysis of my psyche, she just thought she recognized me and wanted to know in what context she should know me. But her question did make me ask myself, at a deeper level, "How would I answer that question?" How would you answer that question, if someone asked it about you?

Robert Fulghum, humorist, writer, and at times, profound theologian, in his latest book, What On Earth Have I Done? says there are certain big questions in life that he calls the "mother" questions. (Although to be inclusive, I think sometimes they are the "father" questions as well!) He says these big life questions, that we have probably all heard at one time or another, are: "What on earth have you done?" "What in the name of God are you doing?" "What will you think of next?" And then the "big" one..."Who do you think you are?" Are there any of us that have never heard those questions asked of us? I would like to suggest that today's scripture passage tries to get us to think about those questions, and if we are really paying attention, helps us find our answers.

Even though we are several weeks past Easter, the Gospel lectionary passage this morning takes us back to the night that Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples, when he tried to tell them what would be taking place over the next few days. He told them how he would be leaving them in a physical way, but still be with them in a spiritual way, through remembering all they had shared together, all they had learned together about living life, not just in community with one another, but in relationship with God. Jesus knew he was about to be arrested and taken away, and in the other Gospels, he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane and prays in agony about what is going to take place. Here, in John's Gospel, the writer who has been called a "theological poet", because of his differences in language and his mystical perspective, recounts how before going to Gethsemane, Jesus prays a "pastoral prayer" for his disciples. It is a beautiful prayer that is both intimate and urgent, full of love and passion, asking God to be with his disciples that were gathered around the table. And, when we listen closely, it is also a prayer for us, for his Church, for all who would be followers, for all who would come together in the name of Christ. It is a prayer we need to read often, and pray often to help us remember who and whose we are. Jesus prayed that his disciples would remember and know that they belonged to him, to one another, and to God. He prayed they would know who they were in the world because of that remembering. He prayed they would know their purpose in the world because of that remembering.

It seems most appropriate, on this Memorial Day weekend, when we think about the power of remembering and honoring loved ones who have gone before us, our Church calendar is also asking us to "remember and honor" who we are as followers of Jesus Christ. Reading this passage today also seems timely as we, as a church family and our greater community, are honoring and remembering with so many individuals and families this time of year those who are celebrating graduations from high school and college. According to our Church calendar, this Sunday is called "Ascension Sunday," marking the time when after the resurrection and the post-resurrection appearances, the risen Christ ascended to heaven. Ascension Sunday has been referred to by Peter Gomes, and other Biblical scholars as marking the "Commencement of the Church", a graduation of sorts for all of Christ's disciples. In other words, instruction has been given and the new life in Christ is now to be lived.

What does it mean to remember and know who you are? Christy Boyle and I were having a conversation about today's scripture and she shared with a story she remembered from her days as an elementary school teacher. She said her students had been on a field trip one day and things had not gone all that well. Several of the children had not gotten along, and were not treating one another very nicely. There was one little girl in particular who was fairly new to the school and perhaps she was feeling she didn't quite fit in, and when the children teased her she lashed out at them. It just so happened that her mother was one of the parent chaperones that day and she had observed the behavior of her daughter and the other children. At the end of the trip Christy said she overheard the mother say, "Annie, I love you. Remember who you are. You are a,” and she gave their family name. First she grounded her child in the love that would always be there for her and then she finished by saying you belong. You belong to a family that holds certain standards and expectations about how you think of yourself and how you treat others. How important is it that we know who we are when it comes to our faith?

This last week Shirley Tidd, St. Andrew's Office Manager, and longtime member of Heritage United Methodist Church, saw the title of my sermon for this week and said it reminded her that when her son Nate was growing up, and he would leave the house, as he was going out the door Shirley would always say, "Remember whose you are?" For Shirley it was a reminder that Nate not only belonged to her but he belonged to God. She said she never thought too much about that, and didn't really think Nate was paying that much attention until he grew up, got married and had his own children. One day recently he said, "You know Mom, one of the things I remember most about growing up was what you said to me when I left the house each day and now I say it to my kids." Remember whose you are.

Preacher and writer William Sloane Coffin said, "Jesus should not be only a memory but a presence." I think that was exactly what Jesus was saying when he prayed this pastoral prayer. "0 God, don't let them forget my presence, Your presence. They need to remember they are yours." How profoundly that should affect how you and I live in this world. It wasn't until I was preparing this sermon that I realized the words we pray in our communion liturgy are so closely linked to this pastoral prayer that Jesus prayed for us. The words we pray before Holy Communion are like a summary of this Jesus prayer from John. "Make us one with Christ, one with each other and one in ministry to all the world."

Do you sometimes need a reminder of who you really are. We so often identify ourselves by our careers or achievements...homemaker, accountant, teacher, scientist. We also identify ourselves by our relationships...wife, sister, parent, son, grandparent...we identify ourselves by life experiences...veteran, tri-athlete, widower, graduate...or even our hobbies...golfer, gardener, wood carver, dancer. These are all categories or descriptors of parts of ourselves, but none of these can truly capture the essence of who we are. Jesus wanted us to know our true identity as children of God.

This prayer in its entirety is a much longer passage than what we have read today. Throughout the prayer Jesus talks a lot about being in the world, living in the world, but not being "of the world." Many Biblical interpreters would say he was not talking about being removed from the world because of the evils of the world. To the contrary, Jesus was sending his disciples into the world with a mission, a witness, so the world could know the height and depth and breadth of God's love...so the world could know we all belong. We all are one in the family of God. Jesus was giving his disciples, giving us, an identity, a holy calling to live in ways that reveal the nature of God. Someone has suggested that this prayer, calling us into the world, but setting us apart from the world, is like the idea of our use of holy water.

The water we use for baptism is not "holy" because it is fresher or more pure. It is not holy because we mix it with water from the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized. It is holy because of what it means and how it is used. It is set apart for a holy, sacred purpose. Barbara Brown Taylor, in her recent book, An Altar in the World, tells about a time in her life when she was scared and somewhat desperate about what she should do with her life. She said one night she was praying and her whole heart seemed to be open to really hearing what God wanted her to do. She said what she heard from God was, "Anything that pleases you." She said she couldn't believe her ears and asked, "What kind of an answer is that?" "Do anything that pleases you," said the voice in her head," and belong to me." She learned that the "doing" wasn't nearly as important as the "belonging." Jesus knew it is important to know who and whose we are, because when we forget, it is so easy to get lost. And life can take us down difficult paths and rocky roads and even dead end streets.

This past week my dog got lost. He didn't know he got lost, but I knew it. There has been some construction work happening in my back yard and he managed to squeeze through the make-shift gate. When I realized the little escape artist was missing, he had been gone about an hour, and I spent the next hour driving up and down my neighborhood, trying not to panic, talking to everyone who was out and about, asking if they had seen him. I was truly wondering if I would ever see him again and I was kicking myself for not checking the gate earlier. Fortunately, he had his name and my phone number around his neck, and later that night I got a call from the Sunrise Living Center on Holly. Bailey was paying a visit to some of the patients there. I think he forgot who and whose he was and he thought he would like to become a therapy dog for 100 new friends. The good news was Bailey had an identity so someone could help him find his way home. Sometimes I think that is one of the highest callings we have as a community of faith...to remind each other who and whose we are when we lose our way.

When we have an identity as followers of Christ.... when we have an identity as children of a loving God...when we know we are called to live in the world in ways that witness to who and whose we are, it will make all the difference in how we answer those "mother" questions. "What on earth have you done?" "What in the name of God are you doing?" "What will you think of next?" You really will know who you are!