January 1, 2012: The Festival of the Name of Jesus

Name of Jesus: January 1, 2012
Luke 2:15-21
Preacher: Pastor Carrie B. Smith

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Happy New Year!

Today is the first day of the Year of Our Lord, 2012. It’s also the 8th day of Christmas—and therefore, in spite of the Valentine’s Day paraphernalia cropping up around us, it is still completely appropriate to greet one another with a hearty “Merry Christmas!”

Chances are that outside of the famous (and somewhat annoying) song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, you haven’t thought too much about the 8th day of Christmas. But it just so happens that this is also a feast day in the church year—a feast we rarely have the opportunity to celebrate on a Sunday—and it has nothing to do with “eight maids a-milking”! Today, at least in the church, is known as the Festival of the Holy Name of Jesus.

It’s true that the name of Jesus was on our lips last week on Christmas Eve, when we joyfully sang “Away in a manger, no crib for a bed. The little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.” But in Jewish tradition, a baby boy would not actually have received his name until the 8th day of life. On Christmas Day and for the next seven days, that tiny baby in the manger was known only as the son of Mary and Joseph—until his ritual circumcision, when his parents would speak his name—Jesus—for the first time.

I admit that after the over-the-top celebrations for Christmas and the New Year, it may seem a bit strange to have an entire day set aside to honor the Name of Jesus. But then, names do matter, don’t they?

When I was pregnant with our younger son, we had chosen the name Micah Carlyle—Micah because of my favorite Bible verse, Micah 6:8, and Carlyle for my brother. But in the middle of the pregnancy, Robert started his seminary internship, and it just so happened that the 14 year old son of Robert’s supervisor was also named “Mikah”. Right away, I should say that Mikah Meyer has grown up to be a delightful young man—but at the time, he was a professional 14 year old pastor’s kid! (Use your imagination here.) One day, I came home from church and said to my husband, “I can’t do it. This baby cannot be a Micah! We need to find a new name.” And so it was that Zion Robert was born.

Names matter.

I wonder if Robert Zimmerman would have been the icon that Bob Dylan is? And could Queen Latifah have made it as a successful rapper and actress if she had remained Dana Marie Owens? Names have power, affecting how others see us and even how we see ourselves. This is why parents agonize over naming their children. Women about to be married—or who are going through a divorce—struggle with which surname to use in the future. And this election season, comedians are having a great time with the fact that Americans who struggled over having a president with a name like “Barack Obama” are now choosing between a “Mitt” and a “Newt”!

Names matter.

It matters that this tiny baby, born in Bethlehem in the middle of an occupation to an unmarried girl and laid in a manger, was named Jesus. It matters because this name didn’t come out of a book of “1,001 Things to Name the Savior” or a list of the “Top Ten Jewish Boy Names of the First Century.” Rather, it was the angel Gabriel, appearing to Mary, who announced that his name would be Jesus. In Luke chapter 1, we read how the angel came and said:

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

This was more than a suggestion. This was more than a friendly bit of baby-naming advice. In fact, this wasn’t the first time the angel Gabriel had used his baby-naming talents! Just a few verses before this, at the very beginning of the Gospel according to Luke, Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and announced that his wife, Elizabeth, already in her old age, would conceive and bear a son named John. And for his hesitation in believing this astounding news, poor Zechariah was struck mute, unable to speak anyone’s name at all, until the baby John was born.

Names matter—and in particular, names matter to the story of the birth of the Messiah, the Lord. The way Luke tells it, it’s clear that this baby is someone special, for his birth was foretold by the prophets. His name was given by an angel. Even more angels announced his birth. From the first sentence to the last, it is understood that this child, named Jesus before he was even conceived in the womb, is a gift from God, the fulfillment of a promise, and the hope of the whole world. “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) Amen!

It matters, in a biblical sense, that this baby was named Jesus, as it was foretold to Mary. But does it matter to us today? If a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet, would a savior named Fred be as beautiful?

Or perhaps it can be said in this way: Does it matter which name we give to Jesus?

Consider what it means to celebrate the Name of Jesus on the first day of a new year. As we contemplate how we want to live our lives in the year ahead, many of us are resolving to eat better, to exercise more, to go back to school, or to fulfill long-abandoned dreams and goals. And while many of these lofty goals are soon forgotten (someone recently described New Year’s resolutions as a “To-Do List for the First Week in January!), the process of making them is in itself important. Making resolutions is about fixing our priorities. It’s about naming for ourselves—and often for friends—what and who is important in our lives.

And so here we are, on the first day of this New Year, the first day of living out these new priorities, and the church tells us that today’s priority is the Name of Jesus. Perhaps this is an opportunity. Perhaps our number one resolution this year could be to decide who Jesus is. What would happen if Christians, on this day, resolved to give Jesus a new name?

I’m not suggesting we should re-name him Fred, or Bob, or Cynthia! But if Jesus has, in the past, been known to us as “that guy we hear about on Sunday mornings”, or “a generally good man, someone I can look up to” or even “a mythical character that I really only think about at Christmastime”, then maybe, in the New Year, it’s time for him to receive a new name. What will we call him in the year to come?

Will we call him the Lord of Life and Healer of our Soul?

Do we know him as a good example to follow and a great role model, or do we call him Redeemer and Savior?

Is Jesus just a name we drop at the end of a prayer, or is his the name at the top of our contact list?

And in the New Year, will Jesus be called the chief cornerstone of the church, or will we reserve that name for old habits, stale structures, and “the way it used to be”?

There is power in the name of Jesus.

For St. Paul tells us in Philippians that “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)

Again in Romans, we hear that all those “who call upon the name of the Lord” shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)

And of course our brother Martin Luther encouraged Christians to practice "pure faith and confidence, and a cheerful meditation of and calling upon His holy Name". (Treatise on Good Works)

Names matter.

And that’s why, today, on this Festival of the Name of Jesus, your name also matters. Hear the Good News: No matter what priority the name of Jesus has had in your life in the past year, your name is always top priority for God. Whether Jesus has been on the mainline this past year—or if he was dropped from your contact list—he is still Emmanuel, God with Us. This is our Christmas joy and our hope for the New Year—that God so loved the world (including you!) that a baby was born in Bethlehem, and was laid in a manger, and his name was Jesus. He is the Messiah, the Lord. He is the light that shines in the darkness. And no matter what we call him, he is the same Christ—yesterday, today, and forever. On this day, the babe in Bethlehem received his name. And because of that gift, you can be confident in your name, which is Beloved Child of God. Amen.