Why Does God Take Time for Me? Doesn't He Have Better Things to Do?

Sermon given Sunday, January 7, 2024
 

Why Does God Take Time for Me?

(Readings: 1 John 3:11-21;
Psalm 100:1-5; and John 1:43-51)

In 1 John, chapter 3, verses 11 through 21,  Nathaniel said to Jesus, "How do you know me?"

In those times when we have had a powerful encounter with the Lord, or He has answered a prayer we were in desperate need of, or maybe given us unexpected blessings, isn't that a question—or a question very similar—something we have all asked of Jesus at some time in our life?

In those times, when we stand in awe of the blessings and love God showers down on us, we are amazed that out of the billions of people in the world, the Lord knows and hears us.

This shouldn't seem so unusual. Jesus knows everyone He has created, but for us who are baptized Christians, He knows us in an even more personal way. Through baptism, we all became adopted children of God the Father, and a brother or sister to Christ Himself. We are more than just friends of Jesus; we are part of His family, and He loves us more than we can imagine.

But how do we know this? The answer is pointed out in 1 John when it says, "The way that we came to know love, which is Jesus, is that He laid down His life for us."

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second person of the Most Holy Trinity, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, the creator of the Universe, loves us so much that He was willing to humble Himself, to be born of a woman, live a humble human life, and allow Himself to be humiliated and sacrificed to save us from our sins so that we could share in His life, both now and for eternity.

Jesus loves us and knows us intimately, of that there is no doubt. There's no question about it. The question is, do we know Jesus and what are we willing to do—or stop doing—to get to know Him better? Jesus came to share His life with us, but are we willing to share our life with Him?

The world tells us not to waste our time, but God is telling us that nothing is more important than spending time getting to know Jesus and His great love for us. The first reading also points this out by saying, "Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth." In other words, Children, don’t just talk the talk; you need to walk the walk. God is saying to us, if you want to know me, do something!

We see this call-to-action in other places in the scriptures as well, and in the teachings of the Church. James chapter 2 tells us, “What good is it, brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

In the same way, the Church encourages us to actively pursue the Lord and build a strong relationship with Him through Prayer, Self-Denial, and Works of Mercy. My friends, that's doing something; that's how we put our faith in Jesus into action. That's how we get to know the Lord.

The saint we remember today, St. John Neumann, is a great example of a man who knew Jesus and put his faith in Jesus into action. Our town of West, TX has a special connection to St. John Neumann because, like many of the ancestors of those who live in West, he was a Czech immigrant, born in Bohemia.

As a young man, he felt called to be a priest but was not allowed to follow his vocation in his home country because there were too many priests in Bohemia at that time. He studied English so he could come to America, where there was an extreme shortage of priests. Finally, in 1836, at the age of 25, the Bishop of New York agreed to ordain him a priest and bring him to his diocese, where there were 200,000 Catholics and only 36 priests.

Just imagine: To follow God's call to the priesthood, John Neumann had to learn a new language, leave his home forever, and travel across the ocean to a foreign land to do God’s work as a missionary. His faith in God and the hard work he put in, which was the fruit of his faith, paid off, and he eventually became Bishop of Philadelphia where he devoted himself to spreading the word of God by preaching and building Churches.

He also founded the first diocesan Catholic school system in the US. He was such a strong advocate of Catholic education that he is one of the patron saints of Catholic Education.

St. John Neumann did all this good work for the Lord in only 48 years of life. He only served as a priest for 23 years before he died. He is also the only male U.S. citizen to be canonized a saint.

Brothers and Sisters, during this new year of 2024, let us spend time each day getting to know Jesus personally.

Let’s get out of our comfort zone for the Lord and go forth living our faith without fear, doing the things He calls us to do, even those things we don’t feel capable of or qualified to do.

Let us live into the confidence that through Jesus, all things are possible. At the same time, remember what St. Mother Teresa said: “God has not called us to be successful; He has called us to be faithful.”

Amen.