He Knows your Name!
Mary - John 20:11-16 & 18
Thomas - John 20:24-28
Peter - John 21:15-19
Introduction to Scripture Reading
During this section of our worship, which we call “Proclaim God’s Word”, Austin and I are going to read about a dozen passages of Scripture. Pay close attention to the Scripture. It’s far more important than anything I have to say. Focus your mind upon it! It is God speaking his word to you. The first reading is printed in your bulletin, selective verses from Psalm 139. Let us read responsively: Read Psalm 139
The reading from the Gospel, page 103 in your pew bible, is from John, 10:1-3 & 27. Listen for the Word of God: Read John 10:1-3 & 27
He Knows Your Name!
He knows your name! Well, of course, he knows everything. God is omniscient. He knows how many hairs are on your head. He knows every time a bird falls to the ground. But it’s not his vast knowledge that impresses me. It’s the sense of His intimacy with us that this implies. We have just read that God knows our names. We will begin to understand what this means as we hear Austin reads passages about Mary Magdalene, Thomas and Peter.
After Jesus is buried, Matthew, Mark and Luke, the synoptic gospels, each has only one final chapter. John, on the other hand, is aware of some very important unfinished business. He finds it necessary to write two chapters.
Likewise Matthew, Mark and Luke each write eight to twelve verses on the events at the empty tomb. John writes twice that much! John finds it necessary to linger after the resurrection to take care of the pressing human needs of 1) Mary Magdalene, 2) Doubting Thomas and 3) Simon Peter.
I find it interesting that only John, the Beloved Disciple, records these three events. John, who had the audacity to call himself “the one whom Jesus loved”, is also the one who understood how profoundly Jesus loved the others.
The first passage Austin will read is about Mary Magdalene. Could there have been anyone else who loved Jesus as Mary did? She had washed his feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and anointed them with costly perfume. When Jesus was executed, Mary was crushed by grief and despair. Darkness enveloped Mary. She and several others were the first to arrive at his tomb early Sunday morning. The tomb was empty. The others left. Mary, alone, stayed at the tomb - weeping. And then - Jesus came. Listen carefully to the word of God from...
[Austin to read - John 20:11-16 & 18]
Mary, who loved the most, was the most distraught. She no longer had any reason to live. She was no longer functional. So Jesus came - personally - first of all to Mary. She saw him dimly through the darkness of her despair. She spoke to him, but didn’t recognize him… until… he called her by her name. To read this scripture is to be deeply touched by the compassion of Jesus who understands, loves, and goes out of his way to care for his friends.
Now Thomas had an entirely different kind of problem. Thomas doubted. Unless he could come to terms with his doubt Thomas would never be able to function as the leader he was meant to be. Listen for the word of God from John 20:24-28.
[Austin to read John 20:24-28]
Peter’s problem was more serious. He’d not only failed his best friend; he had cowardly denied that he’d ever even known him. Immediately Peter was overwhelmed by guilt and shame. He ran out into the night, as great heart-rending sobs tore through his body. He would never know peace again unless he was set free from this prison of shame and failure? John shows us how Jesus redeemed Peter? Listen to God’s word from John 21:15-19.
[Austin to read John 21:15:19]
Whenever I read these passages it is as though I find myself standing there with the disciples experiencing the warm, compassionate love of Jesus, and I’m profoundly touched. He knows all about us warts and all and still he passionately loves us. Incredible! If this is the way of Jesus I want to learn to walk in this way. More than that, I want to walk beside him, to live my live in the presence of Jesus each day.
God has been calling his people by their name for a long time. The Bible is merely a record of God’s intimate relationship with his people. It all began with Adam and Eve in the third chapter of Genesis, verses 8 & 9. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden…and the man & his wife hid themselves among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and woman, “Adam! Eve! Where are you?”
[Austin]: Genesis 4:9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother, Able? What have you done?”
Bo: Gen. 12:1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go out from your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house to the land I will show you.
[Austin]: Exodus 3:4 When the Lord saw that Moses had turned aside to see, He called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”
Bo: I Samuel 3:4 Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called, “Samuel, Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!”
[Austin]: Isaiah 6:8 Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? And Isaiah said, “Here I am Lord, send me!”
Bo: Jeremiah 1:4 & 5 “Now the word of the Lord came to me, Jeremiah, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
[Austin]: And finally, we all remember how the great enemy of the church, Saul, was called to be the missionary to the gentiles so that you and I might have an opportunity to hear the gospel. Acts 9:4 & 5 Saul fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting…”
And when we close the ancient scriptures and come back to the 21st century, I must honestly say to you… He also called me by my name… and I know he called Ben, and Austin. He called Francis Burriss to help the poor in far away lands. He called Walter, Sara, and members of the choir to give glory to him in their music. And last of all He has called you - you have also heard his voice. You knew him when he called you by name. Oh yes, we all know that he knows our name, he knows where we are, what we’re up to; and we know that he speaks to us. We know his voice, soundless though it is - as He whispers to us in our innermost thoughts.
Earlier I said that Mary Magdalene’s immediate problem was grief, Thomas’ was doubt, Peter’s was shame and guilt…but actually those weren’t their major problem. Their real problem was the very same as ours is today. Our most profound problem in life - Now Listen! - is finding a purpose worth living for. You see we find ourselves with this incomprehensible gift of being alive. We intuitively know that our life matters, it’s important! We know that we are to accomplish something of value. Our soul cries out for something noble, something worthy of this gift of life God has placed into our care.
In his book, “The Seat of the Soul”, Gary Zukav, puts it something like this: “Each soul takes upon itself a particular task. It may be the task of raising a family, etc. Whatever the task your soul has agreed to, whatever its contract with the universe, all the experiences of your life prepare you to fulfill it. Without this contract the soul languishes in an inner sense of emptiness. This sense of emptiness, or of something missing, or of something wrong, cannot be healed without this contract of the soul. No matter how successful a person becomes, other goals will not be enough. Eventually the personality will hunger for the energy of its soul. Only when the person begins to walk the path that its soul has chosen will it satisfy its hunger.”
St. Augustine had said about the same thing 1500 years ago when he wrote. “O Lord, Thou hast made us for Thyself and until our souls find their repose in Thee, we shall know no rest”.
After Jesus restored Mary Magdalene, Thomas, and Peter they found their purpose. Those unlikely candidates were among that tiny group who established Christianity in our world; just several dozen frightened, frail, but faithful followers. The movement they founded has endured for twenty centuries - and has grown until today it embraces two billion people.
Now the good news is that God has given you your abilities and he is calling you to your own special task(s). Your task will have something to do with building God’s Kingdom on earth. It will have to do with making life good, making life better for other people. Your task may be the task of raising a family; or making a ton of money and using it to help the poor children of the world as Bill Gates is doing; or leading a scout troop and making a difference in young lives as John Ferguson is doing, or working with Good Works or Habitat for Humanity to provide homes for those who need them, or visiting lonely, homebound people as our deacons and Presbyterian Woman do. Your task will have to do with setting things right (righteousness), justice, equity, and compassion.
Now let me summarize what I’ve tried to say: He knows your name. He is closer to you than your own breathing. He knows exactly what you need. He knows precisely what it will take to fulfill your life with a deep sense of contentment. And yet, you hesitate. Frightened, we try to keep control of our lives, though we do recall that Jesus said: “those who want to keep their life for them self will lose it, while those who live their life for my sake will save it”. It’s when you hear him call our name, and you answer, “Here I am! What is it you have for me to do?” that you truly begin to live in God’s Eternal Kingdom.
In closing, I once read about some ancient Egyptians who believed that upon their death, each person would be asked two questions, and that their eternal fate would be determined by their answers. I think they are right, these two simple questions sum up what God expects of us. They said the first question God will ask is simply: Did you find joy? Are you living your life joyfully? You see, not to find Joy in God’s gift of life – is to misuse it, to abuse it, to have wasted it, to have thrown away his gift. The second question is this: Did you give joy to others. Are you making life better, more pleasant for other people day after day?
These ancient Egyptians were surely Presbyterians! They’ve given the answer to the first question in our Presbyterian Catechism, “What is the chief end of human kind?” The answer: “Our chief end is to enjoy God and to glorify him forever.” Amen.
Let us go now into the joy of His Presence,
And as you go - soon to begin a new year - remember,
He was with you in your mother’s womb,
He has watched over you all your life long,
And in His love, He is calling your name today,
Inviting you to serve with him in His Kingdom of Joy.
Amen.