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It’s
not what you know, it’s who you know that matters. I’m sure you have all heard about the young man and woman who got married in Israel. This couple wanted as all couples do, to have the perfect wedding. A large number of guests had been invited, flowers purchased, dresses and the rest. The ceremony went really well and then everyone went off to the reception. Toasts and speeches followed and dinner was served. Halfway through the serving of the dinner the wine ran out. How awkward for everyone and how embarrassing for the wedding couple! Problem solving suggestions came from left and right. Some guests offered to go home and fetch more wine while others offered to go and buy more. One woman who had come with her family turned to her son and said, “They have no wine”. Her son turned to her and said, as sons are wont to do, “and your point is….? It’s none of my business that the wine has run out and neither is it yours.” If his mother was anything like me she would have given him a dirty look, and I suspect she probably did exactly that because apparently she turned to the head waiter and said, “do exactly what he tells you to.” I am sure by now you have all realised that this was not just any son, this was Jesus. What a blessing for the bridal couple that Jesus had been invited to their wedding, for we all know how the story ended, Jesus sorted the problem by turning water into wine. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know that matters. Like all truisms, this one has its limitations of course. I am not intending to stand here today and preach a sermon that implies that knowledge, wisdom, information and learning are irrelevant, nor that networking and knowing the right people is all important. But you know, when it comes to Jesus and to our relationship with him, I think the statement emphasises a profoundly important theological point: We can have any amount of biblical knowledge, philosophical understanding and theological learning, but if we do not have a personal connection or relationship with Jesus, if we do not know Jesus as our personal saviour, all that knowledge is worthless! It’s not what you know, but who you know, that matters. In the Gospel story for today, we find in the temple a very religious man called Simeon. He understood the point I have just made really well. While he spent much time in the temple observing religious laws and practices as a priest, he understood that his knowledge about the laws of God were only useful if he had a personal encounter with Jesus. Salvation would only come to him if he could personally meet Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ. So once he had had a personal encounter with the Christ child, he was content to die, assured of his salvation. Similarly the prophetess Anna, who came from the priestly tribe of Asher; she too had spent much time in the temple observing religious laws and practices. Yet it was her personal encounter with Jesus that enabled her to praise God and to speak to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. For both of them, it was the personal encounter with Jesus that ignited their faith into something dynamic about which they could be excited and which they could share with others. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know that makes all the difference! Some people do not believe in God. However, I’m picking that most people, deep down have a belief that God exists in some shape or form. However, what they struggle with is the idea that God wants to know them personally. They seem to be stuck on the idea that, God is only "watching them from a distance" and has no real interest in having a relationship with them. What’s the point then you may argue of engaging with such a disinterested God? The Bible however, makes it clear that this is not the case. In the Old Testament in the book of Jeremiah we read: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you.” In the New Testament we read: "God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him." (1 John 4:9) To those of you who think God is distant and who may be struggling to find a way to form a relationship with God, know this…. God is profoundly interested in having a relationship with you and God has made a way through Jesus for us to come to Him and to get to know him and to be in relationship with him. Let’s use the analogy of some hero you may admire. Let’s say Nelson Mandela. Now I’ve studied Nelson Mandela and his life makes interesting reading. However, I am sure you’ll agree that it would be so much more exciting, fulfilling and rewarding to actually meet Nelson Mandela and get to know him. It’s not what you know but who you know that matters. So it is that while it may be interesting to know all about God, it is not the same as knowing God. Though it is interesting to know about God, it is so much more exciting, fulfilling and rewarding to actually know God personally. Jesus came so that through him, each of us could have the chance to have a personal relationship with God. In the Gospel of John we read: “If you know me, you will know my Father also…whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Jesus makes an invitation. He says, "I'm standing at the door and I'm knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in." Accepting his invitation means, recognising that he is the Messiah and so is worth knowing, just like Simeon and Anna, and it means accepting his hand of friendship and committing yourself to that relationship and through that relationship to be in a personal relationship with the creator of the universe. It’s not what you know in your Christian walk that is going to put fire in your spiritual belly and make you passionate, it’s who you know. It’s knowing Jesus as Your friend Your brother Your Saviour the only way you can ever really know God himself. |
