Sermon: "To Know and to be Known"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

[This sermon by Bishop vonRosenberg was delivered using the following notes.]

Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me" (Jn 10:14). Next week is Mothers' Day, and it occurs to me that we may well associate the Good Shepherd image not only with this parish, but also with the task and calling of motherhood. Indeed, the good shepherd possesses qualities that remind us of some of the best attributes of mothers - caring, nurturing and encouraging, for instance. And, of course, mothers are also knowing - sometimes, it seems, all-knowing. Surely a mother could say with conviction, "I know my own"… and, perhaps with a little less certainty sometimes, "My own know me."

In my family, we have experienced some significant additions - and a few subtractions - in the past several years. In terms of the additions in particular, we have added two daughters-in-law, three grandchildren, and another one on the way. And so, the boundaries of our family are being stretched in some wonderful ways. As our family boundaries are stretched in the work of inclusion, what we really attempt to accomplish involves the process of knowing … knowing and becoming known. And what great fun that is. Also, though, we do well to recognize that it is work as well, this process of knowing and becoming known.

Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me." It seems to me that these dual actions of knowing and becoming known describe a fundamental responsibility for all people. Surely these activities have everything to do with identity, as well as with the revelation of who we are and the discovery of who others are. More particularly, knowing and becoming known provides a kind of score for the duet of the Christian life. After all, what are we called to be and to do as God's children that is not somehow associated with these actions? At a basic level, is it not our eager longing as children of God to know God and God's other children … and to be known by God and by God's other children? I suggest to you today, that such a longing - a calling - describes who we are, as we were created to be … to know and to be known.

The good news is that God has known us all along. That part of the duet has already been sung. As the Psalmist writes, with considerable awe, "O Lord, you have searched me and known me … Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it … For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb" (139:1,6,13).

We are known - even in the womb - by God and, in a lesser way, by our mothers. Who can forget that wonderful encounter between the two pregnant cousins - Elizabeth and Mary - as they spoke of their knowledge of God's calls to their sons - John the Baptist and Jesus? We are not strangers to God, ever. Rather, we are known … and that is indeed good news.

Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me." And the beat goes on. To know and to be known plays the tune to which humanity dances.

Is not the service of Baptism all about knowing and being known? The candidates are known as God's children already and now, also, as Christians. And, as they grown in stature and in grace, they also will grow in knowledge and love of God. Further, is not the service of Confirmation an affirmation of that fundamental call to human beings - to know and to be known? The candidates who will stand before us in a few moments present themselves to be known by us. They are baptized Christians who now, in the words of our Prayer Book, intend "to make a public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their Baptism" (p412). And this action takes place here - in public worship - so that this congregation and these candidates will grow in mutual knowledge of one another - to know and to be known.

As we live our Christian lives, we appropriately grow in the knowledge and love of God, of God's Son, and of our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Our call is to know and to be known. Thus, in those lives in Christ, we read the Gospel story as one means to unmask the reality of the person of Jesus of Nazareth … that we may know him in all his wondrous works. And, as we celebrate the eucharist, we pray that, like the disciples, we may know Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me."

God in Christ knows us now. But our own knowledge is not yet complete. St. Paul said it so very memorably: "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known" (I Cor 13:12). We will know fully when our journey ends, at the feet of God Almighty, face to face with our brother Jesus. We will encounter then the perfect knowledge that surpasses human understanding. And then we will indeed know fully, even as we have been fully known.

In the meantime, we rejoice in opportunities like the one today - chances for us to know and to be known as we can now, in the context of Christian community, the Body of Christ on earth.

For such occasions as this one, then, thanks be to God!

Copyright © 2006 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee