John 14.1-14

We’re going to do something today we don’t generally do. Everyone who can stand up. Now, I want you to leave your seats, and greet as many people in this sanctuary as you can by saying the following “Hi! My name is…” even if they already know you, and then listen carefully when they say the following back to you “Hello… repeat person’s name. My name is…” Try not to fight too long over who gets to go first. Because the second person has to say your name back to you.

“Hello my name is…” Hello… repeat person’s name. My name is….” Got it? Ready, set, go!

Alright, hands in the air, who here learned at least 1 person’s name you did not know before today? 2? 3? 5? How many have just realized you should have wandered further away from where you normally sit to find someone new? Who here learned they have been calling someone by the wrong name for a very long time?

How many of you possess a writing utensil or a cell phone and have the foresight to jot that person’s name down on a piece of paper or log it in your phone so later today, or this may have happened already when you think to yourself “What was their name?” you can look it up?

Alright, that was fun. Now that we’re all acquainted, select one of the people you introduced yourself to, wave and smile. Now squint your eyes skeptically at them because we’re going to judge them harshly (not aloud, but in your head). I repeat, not out loud!

If this person was the only person anyone outside of these walls ever met and that person who has never met anyone from this church were to judge the entire congregation of Highland Avenue United Methodist Church based upon that person, would you be okay with that? Would you be okay with the entire reputation of this church resting upon their shoulders, their actions, their words, and their attitude?

Jesus tells us that if we get to know Him, we will know His Father also. That by meeting a representative, we will know the whole. What if that representative is you or that person over there? I in them and you in me, that we may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

When we leave the walls of this church, there is a whole world out there of people who do not know this church even exists. There is a whole community of people out there who have never set foot in this church despite how prominent a structure it is in this community and they are judging us harshly by whoever it is they encounter and whatever happens in that encounter.

Jesus has prepared a place for us on this earth here in Bellevue but it’s not just for us. It was built almost 100 years ago as a place for this entire community to dwell while they are here on this earth. So, why isn’t it? For a place so easy to see and find, why is it so few come in here?

Remember those people you just met? Why didn’t you know their names before? Do you know where they work, what kind of hobbies do they have, what are their gifts and talents? What were they looking for when they started coming to this church? What are they looking for now?

These are questions that not just the pastor of the church needs to know but it’s people need to know them because YOU are Highland Avenue UMC. Each and every one of you when someone else meets you represents this church. And not just this church! You represent Jesus Christ to that person you meet.

Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known.

That’s you. The one who is supposed to be making it known to the world that Jesus Christ not only exists but has a church in this very community. When a stranger meets you so too should they meet the one who sent you. To know you is to know us. I in them and you in me.

Believe that the Father is in you. If the Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in you than the Father is in you also.

Believe you are the work of the Father in this world and whatever you do is a reflection of him working through you to the world around you that does not yet know Him.

Have you ever seen a mirror? I’m pretty sure all but one or two of you have today.

Mirrors cast reflections of the image source. What that means is that whatever the source does, the image mimics the behavior. If you are a reflection of God, are you a good one or is it more like a carnival mirror all warped, wavy and out of focus? What about if you are the image of this church?

If I know you, would I be able to see the source of who you are in you? Would Jesus Christ resonate through you? Would I be able to see Jesus Christ so clearly through your personality, your kindness, your generosity, your actions that I would be able to see clear through to the Father in Him? Are you such an accurate reflection that whatever has been asked of you in His name glorifies both the Father and the Son? Would I want you as an ambassador of me? Would we the church be proud that our ambassador is you? Would I want to get to know you better?

Are the words you speak yours or Gods? Do others see in you the way, the truth and the light? Are you an embodiment of love holding no hate, contempt, or disdain for anyone? Can people meet Christ through you and come to know Him as you know Him? Would I want to spend more time with you, get closer to you?

We are reflections of that which we hold dearest to us. So… what are you reflecting? Who are you reflecting? Your father, your mother, sister, or your brother? Someone who hurt you? Someone who wronged you? Who is your source? Look carefully. Ask your neighbor if you need to. That one whose name you just learned and hopefully haven’t forgotten. I highly recommend writing it down if you haven’t already.

We are quick to judge others more truthfully than perhaps we judge ourselves.

You are but a reflection in this world.

To know you is to know us whether we like it or not. You are a representative of this church when you are out in the world and when you are within the safety and security of these walls. You are a representative of Christ. You are a representative of God. To each and every soul you encounter you are commanded to be a reflection of your faith not your past, not your parents, not what has gone wrong or right in your life but to be a reflection of Christ. To know you is should be to know him. To know one another is to know this church. You are its ambassador in this world. You represent it.

I in them and you in me that we may become completely one. Know me. Know you. Know Christ. Know God. Know us so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.

May, the Lord bless you and keep you;
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you
And be gracious to you;
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you
And give you peace.