The Awesomeness Of Being Known By God

"The Awesomeness Of Being Known By God"

By Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

(Psalm 139:1-6,13-18)

[1] O LORD, you have searched me and known me.

[2] You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from far away.

[3] You search out my path and my lying down,

and are acquainted with all my ways.

[4] Even before a word is on my tongue,

O LORD, you know it completely.

[5] You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

[6] Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is so high that I cannot attain it.

[13] For it was you who formed my inward parts;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

[14] I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

that I know very well.

[15] My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

[16] Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.

In your book were written

all the days that were formed for me,

when none of them as yet existed.

[17] How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

[18] I try to count them--they are more than the sand;

I come to the end--I am still with you.

(NRSV)

INTRODUCTION:

Steve and Rick and I along with Rob Clopton, Bridget Klug, Judith Pickering and Maggie Speights are all headed down to Waco for Annual Conference this afternoon. While thinking about Annual Conference and Appointments I remembered a story about a pastor who had just come to a new church. He was talking to one of the members and the member said, "Pastor, we have been talking about what we should call you." The pastor said, "What did you call the last pastor?" The member replied, "We called him the `Hog Caller.'" The pastor looked a little surprised and said, "At the last place, they called me their 'Shepherd,' but I guess you know the people here better than I do."

I. NAMES:

A. Names are important aren't they. Sometimes names, especially brand names, define a whole industry or product. Just look at products like Kleenex, Xerox, Band-Aid, Ziplock Bag, Thermos, and Scotch Tape. They are all brand names which have become associated with a product even if it's manufactured by someone else. A classic example is Coca Cola. Here in Texas we use Coke to signify a soft drink. Haven't you ever heard someone say, "Let's get a Coke," and then they order a Dr. Pepper? Or haven't you had someone ask you, "What kind of Coke would you like?" Names describe us, especially if you have a nick name, like "Shorty, Tiny, Tubby, Sticky, Duke or Killer." I knew a guy whose nick name was "Forger." The last I heard, he was in prison. Can you guess for what?

B. Sometimes we live up to our names. And sadly, sometimes we live down to the names people give us. A number of years ago I visited a new family in the community. The father introduced the children like this: "This is Pete. He's the clumsy one. That's Kathy coming in with mud on her shoes. She's the sloppy one. And as always, Mike's last. He'll be late for his own funeral." That father's introduction gave me a lot of insight into his life and into that family. That father not only named his children, he labeled them too. He labeled them with their faults and mistakes. People do that to us, and to those we love all the time. They remind us of our failures, our errors, our sins, and they don't let us live them down. Our names describe us and in a sense, they define us. People know us by our names.

II. KNOWN BY OTHERS:

Did you know that Bill Cosby knows my name, he used it in one of his shows. Duke Ellington knew my name, Ella Fitzgerald knows my name, Count Bassie knows my name, Lena Horne knows my name. Any jazz musician worth their salt knows my name. They all know my name because Billy Strayhorn wrote "Take The A Train" and "Lush Life" and a whole bunch of others. Billy Strayhorn was Duke Ellington's arranger and creative consultant. Lot's of people know my name but they don't know ME. But that's OK, because there are LOTS of people who don't know me. President Clinton doesn't know me. O. J. Simpson doesn't know me. Al Gore, Rush Limbaugh, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, the Pope, Mother Theresa, Queen Elizabeth, John Kennedy, Charles Manson, and Janet Reno don't know me. But that's OK. They may know my name but they don't know me.

III. KNOWN BY GOD:

A. And again, that's OK. It's OK because there IS one who knows my name and knows me better than I know myself. I'm not talking about my wife Mary, though sometimes it's spooky just how well SHE know me. I'm talking about God. God knows my name. A little boy prayed the Lord's Prayer only he didn't quite get it right. He prayed, "Our Father who art in heaven, how'd you know my name?" The Psalm says God knew us before we were born and formed us in God's image. God knows us better than anyone else in the world, including ourselves. There's something awesome, frightening, wonderful and challenging about being known so well. It's frightening and comforting to think there is someone who knows our every thought and distraction. That level of intimacy for some is very frightening. For me it is very comforting. And Scripture looks upon it as Good News.

B.And we should, too. For the one who knows us so well; the one who knows our foibles and our failures, our sins and our corruption still loves us. Will always love us. God loves us so much that God sent Jesus to offer us forgiveness and to draw us back into a loving relationship. When we accept God's forgiveness, God separates us from our sins. "As far as the east is from the west," the psalmist says. Think about that. You can travel North or South and eventually you will be heading the other direction. But if you travel East, you can never catch up with West. And vice versa, which means once we accept God's forgiveness our sins are as far away as you can imagine. The offense will be wiped away and blotted out. The Good News is that we don't have to remain in bondage to our sins. The forgiveness of God is ours for the asking. It promises freedom and the loving embrace of a parent who forgets our past, clothes us for a new life and sets a banquet before us.

CONCLUSION:

I invite you to the banquet prepared just for you today. There's a special place setting with just your name on it. God knows your name. God knows you and loves you. And today you are the guest of honor at this feast of forgiveness.

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.