I wanted to know some information about an elected official the other day, so I simply googled my question and up came a variety of profiles of the person from Wikipedia® to a variety of politically-motivated blogs.
Would you agree that we are living in a world of informational overload? And despite all that information, I think we are also experiencing relational anorexia. We are starving for genuine relationships.
Given that, my attention was drawn this week to the Epistle. Paul is writing an essentially autobiographical testimonial. And in it, he is telling us that the call of the church must be to "know Christ."
The word punster in me would like to label this as the "Just Say Know" reading. That's K-N-O-W. Just say know. Get it? Well, it is kinda corny, but maybe it will help you remember this sermon.
Ah, the "Great American Dream"! The American "pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps" Dream lures us into believing that if we somehow just knew more, we could get ahead and get the jump on the next guy.
If you think you haven't been part of the Dream's magic spell, consider for a moment what you might have done 10 years ago, if you knew what you know today:
Might you have...
- invested in a little company called Google?
- advised your children to take Arabic or Chinese instead of French and Latin?
- gotten married -- or not gotten married?
- enrolled in college and really hit the books?
- dropped out of college and hit the road?
- gone to more baseball games with your dad/son?
- voted?
Let's face it...all these "might have dones" don't count for anything today.
If you think you haven't been part of the Dream's magic spell, consider for a moment what you might have done 10 years ago, if you knew what you know today:
Might you have...
- invested in a little company called Google?
- advised your children to take Arabic or Chinese instead of French and Latin?
- gotten married -- or not gotten married?
- enrolled in college and really hit the books?
- dropped out of college and hit the road?
- gone to more baseball games with your dad/son?
- voted?
Let's face it...all these "might have dones" don't count for anything today.
But contrary to the promise of the Dream, in many ways it's not WHAT you know, but WHEN you know it! And most important, it's WHO you know.
One of the biggest pitfalls lurking behind the American Dream is that for so many people, the real value of knowledge is judged by the amount of stuff that knowledge generates. Those most "in-the-know" are believed to be those who have knowledge that will get them the best-paying jobs so that they can stockpile the greatest number of possessions.
One of the biggest pitfalls lurking behind the American Dream is that for so many people, the real value of knowledge is judged by the amount of stuff that knowledge generates. Those most "in-the-know" are believed to be those who have knowledge that will get them the best-paying jobs so that they can stockpile the greatest number of possessions.
I've noticed colleges scrambling to desert the notion of education for life and adopt an education that will guarantee a job.
How much you know is measured these days by how big your stock portfolio is, how many clients you have and in the higher echelons, if your political campaign can be linked to the most lucrative donors. This is what we call success today; it's about money and influence.
Fortunately, even with all our informational wizardry, undreamed of by former generations, some of us sense there is a frightening void awaiting the "knower" just beyond that mountain of useful information.
A few months ago, I related the story of the man who founded Habitat for Humanity (Millard Fuller). He and his wife started out working 90 hours a week, never seeing each other, never seeing their children, working every day of the week. And it took an almost-divorce to wake them from their Dream and cause them to revisit their priorities.
What amazed me about that story was that in those early days when he was working his tail off, this man would be glorified as if he were someone to emulate. Like this one family, there are now generations of exhausted, hard-working, well-meaning, but deluded men and women who are gluttonously stuffing themselves with "knowledge" and yet are suffering from relational anorexia.
A few months ago, I related the story of the man who founded Habitat for Humanity (Millard Fuller). He and his wife started out working 90 hours a week, never seeing each other, never seeing their children, working every day of the week. And it took an almost-divorce to wake them from their Dream and cause them to revisit their priorities.
What amazed me about that story was that in those early days when he was working his tail off, this man would be glorified as if he were someone to emulate. Like this one family, there are now generations of exhausted, hard-working, well-meaning, but deluded men and women who are gluttonously stuffing themselves with "knowledge" and yet are suffering from relational anorexia.
We seem to know things, but not people. We know how to do work, but we don't know how to be a friend. We know what it takes to get ahead, but we don't know who we can depend on to help keep our heads above water when life becomes overwhelming.
We know how to make a living, but we don't know how to make a life.
Paul is a good example of someone who had all the right knowledge and all the right connections to guarantee his success in life. Then, suddenly he knew that he was completely ignorant about the most important thing a human life could experience -- a right relationship with God.
Paul is a good example of someone who had all the right knowledge and all the right connections to guarantee his success in life. Then, suddenly he knew that he was completely ignorant about the most important thing a human life could experience -- a right relationship with God.
Filled with knowledge, Paul was starving to death. Only an intimate, personal relationship -- a wholly different kind of "knowing" and being "known" -- satisfied all Paul's cravings. You might say that he allowed himself to find God and also to be FOUND by God.
Have you ever been in a public meeting where the speaker takes questions from the audience, but then listens all the while nodding? He has that smug smile on his face as if to say, "oh you of little knowledge. I know it all and how sad that you don't. Here, just let me tell you what you should think and then you can go away corrected."
Have you ever been in a public meeting where the speaker takes questions from the audience, but then listens all the while nodding? He has that smug smile on his face as if to say, "oh you of little knowledge. I know it all and how sad that you don't. Here, just let me tell you what you should think and then you can go away corrected."
The old adage: "knowledge is power." Only those in charge, those with all the power, "know it all" and see the big picture. Well, those of us who "know Christ" operate under a completely opposite mandate.
I want to stop here for a minute and let you think about what knowing Christ Jesus means for you. I'd like you to think about what it would be like to not have Christ or God or the Spirit in your life at all. What is it about your relationship with God in Christ that is most valuable to you? Like Paul, what is so valuable that it equals your life itself?
There are so many out in our communities, our neighborhoods, our households, who do have a "need-to-know." People who need to know the confidence in God that you know. Simply put, it is up to those of us who "know Christ" to reveal his love to them.
On Easter morning, Mary Magdalene was reduced to tears by the sight of the empty tomb. The angels confronted Mary and asked her, "Why are you crying?" She replied, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have taken him ...."
Beloved, there are so many "theys" out there -- conglomerates of faceless, hostile "theys" whose job it is to make it hard for us to "know" and easy for us to "not know."
- There are the "theys" of materialism -- urging us to invest in possessions instead of treasures.
- There are the "theys" of anti-intellectualism -- advising us to trust only our emotions and never our heads.
- There are the "theys" of commercialism -- persuading us to spend the contents of our wallets instead of extending the power of our hands.
- There are the "theys" of politics -- dividing us into factions instead of joining us into teams.
- There are the "theys" of the present -- narrowly fixating us on what we want today instead of what our children will need tomorrow.
By knowing Christ and by making Christ known to the world, the genuine treasures of this life and the next will decorate our life. And we will find true thankfulness, true peace..for our soul.
May this parish fulfill its mandate to Just Say Know.
Beloved, there are so many "theys" out there -- conglomerates of faceless, hostile "theys" whose job it is to make it hard for us to "know" and easy for us to "not know."
- There are the "theys" of materialism -- urging us to invest in possessions instead of treasures.
- There are the "theys" of anti-intellectualism -- advising us to trust only our emotions and never our heads.
- There are the "theys" of commercialism -- persuading us to spend the contents of our wallets instead of extending the power of our hands.
- There are the "theys" of politics -- dividing us into factions instead of joining us into teams.
- There are the "theys" of the present -- narrowly fixating us on what we want today instead of what our children will need tomorrow.
By knowing Christ and by making Christ known to the world, the genuine treasures of this life and the next will decorate our life. And we will find true thankfulness, true peace..for our soul.
May this parish fulfill its mandate to Just Say Know.
Amen.
Scriptural texts: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20; Psalm 19; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46
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