May 12, 2019 [4th Sunday Easter, Mother’s Day]
● Acts 13:14, 43-52 ● Psalm 100
●
● Revelation
7:9 14b-17 ●
+ John 10:27-30
●
Title: “Good Shepherd / Who You Know.”
[_01_] I’d like to reflect this
Gospel of the Good Shepherd – and on each of our mothers – with this phrase –
“it’s who you know.”
My mother can still recall the person & schoolyard friend that
I made on my first day of school. I was more focused on what I was supposed to
know.
My mother was more concerned about
“who I knew” not what I knew…and I was still in kindergarten.
[_02_] And, is not our faith – our
confidence – in another person not simply based on what is being said (or not
said) but also on who the person is, who is saying it?
EXAMPLE:
Several months ago, I did what I do – what perhaps we all do – several –
several hundred times ? – a day – I looked at my phone to see what was coming
next or what I needed to know…or what need to respond to …and at that moment I
knew that I was meeting some people in a little while.
I received this message: “we will be
there in 19 minutes.”
Given that the appointment was with
a known person – someone I knew – I found the precision to be curious. That is,
I did not really need to know exactly that number…I knew the person was coming
…but I appreciated the reminder. Later, she told me that she meant to type
“10” (one-zero) …rather than one-nine ….
but I realized in this example, that my trust was not based on what was being
said..but who was saying it And, in this case, the person had an extra nine
minutes to make it on time!
[_03_] It’s
who you know.
The
Good Shepherd Gospel, John Chapter 10.
And, we are reminded to know Jesus
personally. Now, I will admit that sometimes we take this expression “it’s not
what you know it’s who you know” to an unhealthy place or extreme.
Consider the famous Broadway
musical/play with the title “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.”
One commentator (Psychology Today blog,
Fredric Neuman, M.D. June 11, 2014) – reflected that the story
of the play resonates because… “It
was a prescription for what an ambitious person without skills or talent or
brains needs to do to succeed. It was a matter of being in the right place at
the right time and saying the right things to the right people. It was amusing
because it alluded to certain aspects of business that we all recognize. People
sometimes fail their way up the corporate ladder.”
That’s
an extreme case…
But …is that extreme not the “so-called” bad shepherd? What does Jesus say about them…
We should not trust someone just because we
are paying the other person or for some material reward… someone who works only
for pay, only for the money… is not someone who is going to be very committed
to the team, or to any long-term goal.
[_04_] Jesus
is aware that trust and love and lasting friendship is based on who you know,
rather than what you know.
2 spouses – husband and wife – may say
each one knows everything about the other person. Actually, that’s impossible.
I do not even know everything about myself
It’s who you know, not what you know.
[_05_] Consider – in our lives – we rely on good
shepherding of our mothers and our fathers… and that even as we age, we turn to
our parents not only because of what the know …and, sometimes, our parents know
more than we think they do… but we turn to them because they know us
personally.
[_06_] And, who are we? In this month of May, we
honor or Blessed Mother Mary and our own mothers whose trust was not based on
what they knew, but on who they knew.
Mary trusted in God even before she
could see what Jesus could do, and trusted in him even in his fragility as a
child, for who he was already and would become.
[_07_] Trusting
in who we know is the foundation of faith and love.
An example.
In 1977, Jimmy Carter became the
president of the United States…and one person who was a favorite of the media
during his presidency was his mother, Mrs. Lillian Carter, a.k.a. Miss Lillian.
Miss Lillian even lived at the White
House, 1600 Pennyslvania Avenue. It must have made Mother’s Day dinner
get-together so much easier.
I recall this lesson learned about not
only “what we do” but also “who we are.”
(Source:
Jimmy Carter, An Hour Before Daylight
(memoir / book))
Now, Jimmy Carter grew up in Georgia,
the deep South, as we say, in the 1930’s, during the Great Depression. At this
time, his family had a working farm so they were relatively well-off.
Meanwhile, there many individuals and
families wandering the countryside, searching for food, for work, for shelter.
They were like sheep without a
shepherd.
Some of them came to the Carter home
and farmhouse. And, his mother – Miss Lillian – fed them.
One day, Miss Lillian was at a
neighbor’s house and was talking about these visitors and the food they asked
for.
Her neighbor responded, “Well I am
glad they do not come here, because I would not feed them.”
This caused Miss Lillian to wonder why
the Carter house received so many visitors so she asked some of them.
They told her about the signal and
sign of which the Carters had no knowledge. The visitors explained that the at
roadside, where the mailbox was. In this area, the mailbox was not at your
front door, but on a wooden post at the road. And, the visitors had
intentionally scratched the post to indicate as a friendly home.
It is our imperfections, even our
faults and our desire to love God and neighbor that makes us who we are … who
we are may be better known by others and by God than we know, And, is it not
true that Jesus is recognized after the Resurrection not only his face but also
by his wounds? We also have some rough edges and scratches…and falls.
In order to be sure that the sign
would remain, Miss Lillian told her family never to paint over the wooden post
or to remove the scratches. [_fin_]
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