Holy Name January 1, 2012
Ex. 34:1-8 Ps.8
Rom. 1:1-7 Luke 2:15-21
Today is a day we mark on our secular calendars as New Year’s Day. Also, today is the First Sunday after
Christmas, but on this year, the Feast of the Holy Name falls on a Sunday. And when a feast of our Lord falls on a
Sunday, it takes precedence over the Sunday on the Church Calendar. (That is
some liturgical trivia that you are thrilled to get). The older name for the Feast of the Holy Name
was called The Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord. And that event is an
elective surgery that no 8 day old boy would elect if he could speak,(“Rabbi,
you’re going to do what?”) Since we would have to explain the meaning of Circumcision
to our young children, the Feast of the Holy Name is a more comfortable name
for this feast. So it is the eighth day of Christmas, but following the Jewish
custom the son of Mary and Joseph was presented to be circumcised but also he
was given his name on that day. The
eighth day was the day that Mary attained the required level of ritual purity
after giving birth. The custom of naming
was adopted in baptismal practices of the church as well, for at a baptism a
person receives ones Christian name.
That is why baptisms are often called christening because one of the
meaning of christen is to receive ones name.
Although the literal meaning of christen is to be made to be “in
Christ.” Or to be anointed with the oils of chrism.
When we name a child we do so for many reasons. We may want to connect a child with the
past. Sometimes we name after a father,
mother or family member. Sometimes we
name after a friend. Some people name
based upon how a name sounds. Some
people like to invent new names and new spellings of names, emphasizing that
their child is unique, special, one of a kind. My child is going to be a “one
of a kind” just like a one of kind snowflake; and sure enough my child
certainly goes on to prove that there is no one like him or her. Native
Americans often named their children after a contemporary event that occurred
at birth. From the Hebrew Bible, we know
that places and people were named according to the narrative of significant
events that occurred at a place or with the birth of a person. Names were given in response to people and
places that were seen as signs of God.
Do you know what your name means?
Are you living up to your name?
My name means “lover of horses,” and Philip of Macedonia, father of Alexander
the Great was a great horseman. I really
have never lived up to my name….it’s not that I dislike horses. I have never spent that much time with horses
to be able to develop a special love for them. I think that my parents probably
had Philip the Evangelist in mind when they named me; probably not an Episcopal
priest. The failure to live up to my name has made me
even more presumptuous; I use the shortened name “Phil,” which means, “lover.”
In the case of Jesus; his name was given to Mary by the Angel at the
annunciation. So on the occasion of his
circumcision he was given the name of Jesus or Yeshua. Meaning in Hebrew: The Lord God Saves. God saves.
God is our salvation.
So today we ponder the meaning of the name of Jesus: God saves.
Salvation is not necessarily all that it is cracked up to be. Many people don’t use their garages for their
cars because they save everything.
Our memories save quite a bit too.
And many of our saved memories come back to haunt us if we experienced
trauma in our lives.
We know our life is transitory and much is passing away. But do we really want someone who can save
everything? Maybe we should consider the
word saves as meaning: God rescues.
Probably rescues is closer to the meaning intended than a common
notion of the word save. Some Christians think that saving and
salvation refers mainly to being saved from hell after one dies.
I think that the notion of redemption is probably closest to the meaning
of the name of Jesus. God is our
salvation. God is our redemption.
You and I know that everything that we have done and everything that has
happened to us makes up who we are now.
While we would like simply to erase some of the past deeds and events of
our lives, we know that all of these deeds and events are saved because these
very deeds and events constitute who we are right now.
The notion of redemption is that God embraces and accepts our lives as
they are and then helps us to come to a positive outcome without regretting
what we have actually done or had happen to us.
To me this is the most positive notion of salvation, because it is not
based upon denying the facts of our lives.
It is a redemption that says in spite of everything that we have done or
has happened to us, we can use all of it to make good positive decisions for
our future. And we are not ashamed of
our past life, because we have integrated the events of our past life to be
used to help us minister to others.
Let us embrace the holy name of Jesus today, not just as a name, but as
a functioning spiritual reality of our lives.
God places before each of us a vision of ourselves in future states as more
fully integrated and spiritually mature persons. All that we will become preserves what we
have been but it also does so with integration and wisdom regarding all of the
experiences of our life.
The Holy Name of Jesus shows us the personal salvation to which each of
us is called. The experiences of the
present and past may not yet be integrated or may still seem without purpose. But by faith in the Holy Name of Jesus, we
can know that we are on the path to realize the full purpose of our lives.
I do wish each of us events in 2012 where new purpose of our past lives
is discovered. And I wish for St. John
the Divine Episcopal Church further discovery of why received our name as a
parish 55 years ago. And in the Holy
Name of Jesus, I wish you a Happy New Year.
Amen.
