Farewell. Commencement (Easter, 2014-05-21)

Sunday May 21, 2017 /  6^th Sunday Easter 

[ •Acts 8:5-8, 14-17 • Psalm 66  • 1 Peter 3:15-18 • John 14:15-21 • ]

Title: “Commencement ”

[__01_-farewell speech_]   

          Who do you know?

          In this Gospel reading, Jesus is giving a farewell address or we might say a graduation or commencement speech as he anticipates a departure.

          And, on Commencement Day, or Graduation Day, we are called to consider that many of our next steps – after Graduation Day  and after the classroom – are not simply based on what we know but who we know.

          And, I suggest that we can apply this lesson of success to our own salvation and personal connection to  Christ.

          Yes, it is important what we know …but even more important that we recognize and develop and spend time in prayer and in our personal relationship with Christ.

          In him, we are known.

[__02 identity__]         

          One of the things we know about graduation speeches and commencement speeches – these days – is that we do not simply sit up straight and listen because of WHAT is being said, but also because of WHO is speaking. For such a reason, celebrities with wide appeal – but perhaps few  academic credentials will be the commencement speakers. Last week, Steve van Zandt – late of the HBO Series / The Sopranos and of E Street Band as Bruce Springsteen’s lead guitarist -- gave the Commencement speech at Rutgers in New Brunswick.

[__03__]      This “farewell” or “commencement” speech was given at the Last Supper on the night before Good Friday and his arrest, crucifixion and death, given three days for our Savior’s own graduation from the earth to resurrection.

          And, they are concerned – nervous and scared not only because of what he is saying but because of who he is. He is their teacher, rabbi, friend. His absence is a great disruption to their lives.

          They will struggle to understand the meaning of “destroy this Temple and in 3 days I will raise it up.”  (John 2:19)

          [__04__]    Similar to any group of people listening to a speech, a long lecture – or perhaps this sermon / homily – we catch certain ideas, and we may listen partially.

          Or, as Paul Simon wrote in The Sound of Silence, “a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.”

          The disciples of Christ also only hear partially or see partially, reflecting as St. Paul wrote … “at present we see indistinctly as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully as I am fully known.”

(1 Corinthians 13:12)

         

[__05__]      So, on a graduation day – and at many important milestone events in our lives – we see partially, not completely. Call it uncertainty; or we might say – in the Christian sense – mystery, mysterious.

          We may not be completely sure of ourselves.

          [__06_]      One of the great things about Commencement speeches is that, on graduation day, everyone is equal, everyone receives the same speech, the same message, whether summa cum laude (four-point-zero) or two-point-two.

          But, then again, the Commencement speech is a different type of exam – a different type of ACT or SAT.

          The commencement exercise or graduation is not a question of what do you know…but who do you know…and who are you?

          Who am I? And, who am I going to become? Because, in our relationship with Christ, we are all lifelong learners of his ways, of his commandments, this includes the lessons of …

          FORGIVENESS – are we not often persuaded or able to forgive someone not simply based on WHAT they did or WHAT their apology may be … but rather WHO he or she is to us. It’s who you know.

          HONESTY – are we not called to remember that honesty is not simply a statement of information but an acknowledgement and affirmation of a relationship. It’s who you know.

          COMPASSION / GENEROSITY – in the care we give to someone who is sick or ill or alone, we might recall that what matters is not what we do but that we are present. Thus, in this you and I are known, are recognized. Whom you know is important.

          Jesus is asking the same question of his disciples.

          As he ask them to keep his commandments, follow certain values, he also asks them to follow in his ways, to imitate him, to know him personally.

          It is who you know, and who we know as a community, as his graduating class each day.    [__fin__]