Christmas 1B “The Feast of the Holy Name” 1/1/12

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Luke 2:15-21
           The feast we celebrate today,"The Feast of The Holy Name" has been celebrated since the end of thefifteenth century.  This feast in thepast, has been held on different dates, but most often in January, because 1January, eight days after Christmas, commemorates the circumcision of the childJesus; as recounted in the Gospel.1  Thisday on which Our Lord was named, is no simple, secondary post-Christmas Feastthat just happens to fall on the liturgical calendar.  No, it is a significant day because the nameof Jesus is of utter importance for us. Names are important.  Each of ushas a name that people use to point to our individuality.  Two friends talking may mention the nameRowan Williams, Barack Obama, or Mother Teresa and most of us know the friendsare speaking about the Archbishop of Canterbury, the President of the UnitedStates, or a modern day saint.  For usChristians, and for those who are not, it is interesting to consider whatideas, images and emotions are stirred up at the mention of the nameJesus.           The name "Jesus" occurs in anumber of languages and is based on the Latin Iesus, of the Greek IησοuÏ‚, ahellenization of the Hebrew YÄ•hÅ�Å¡uă‘ or Joshua. Both of these names mean "Yahweh delivers" or "Yahwehrescues". Jesus is generally an expression of the phrase "God'ssalvation" or "Yahweh saves", or "Yahweh issalvation".2  When we consider thedepth of meaning of the name “Jesus,” the proper name of Our Lord, we also cometo recognize in its origin, an expression of our faith in the incarnation, inthe salvific work of God in Christ.  Whenwe say the name Jesus, we are proclaiming, that Jesus saves, Jesus delivers,Jesus rescues, and Jesus is salvation.  The narrative of the life, death and resurrection of Our Lord is theevidence of this proclamation.        In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, theauthor wrote, "Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the namethat is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confessthat Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians2:9-11)  In Matthew’s Gospel, the writerprofessed, "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am thereamong them.” (Matthew 18:20)  In John’sGospel, the writer captured our Lord’s words, "I will do whatever you askin my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son."  (John 14:13) The name of Jesus brings us to our knees, it conveys his glory, itunifies us as a people, and his name by its utterance remains powerfullypresent and active in the world today. It is not merely in the saying of the name of Jesus that brings aboutgrace, it is in the transforming life, death, and resurrection of the man, theSon of God, God Incarnate, Jesus the Christ. The place where most of us struggle a little, is in how the redeemingwork of God in Christ has affected us and how does it change the way welive.  The question we must ask ourselvesis what is my relationship to God in Christ really like.       Sometimes we hail the depth of commitment or association ofrelationships by the way we identify them. We sometimes use descriptors such as business partner, acquaintance,friend, best friend, sister or brother, spouse, lover, etc. Two kids were onthe playground one day chatting when a third came strolling past.  One said, "There goes my best friend Jay… he is so awesome."  The other boysaid, "there goes that Jay person  .. . I do not know him that well, but I don’t care for him."  Each boy had a different experience of theirrelationship with Jay and each experience formed the other's feelings,attitudes, and thoughts about the young man.  Whether “best friend” or “estranged acquaintance,” the names we use canpoint to the character of the person who bears it, and it can signify thenature of the relationship we have with that person.       What name do you call Our Lord?  How has God worked in your life?  For many disciples, the Work of God in theirlives has first been experienced, then they named him.  Peter was asked "who do people say Iam?"  Peter replied, "You arethe Messiah, the Son of God."  Peter experienced the presence of God's grace over three years as hewitnessed Jesus heal and restore so many people.  Like Peter, we all at some level, haveexperienced God's grace either in our own lives, or as witnesses of God’s gracemanifested in the lives of others. It is through our experience of Christ thatwe come to intimately name him.     The person who has struggled withaddiction or depression or some other crippling issue and who has experiencedthe beloved presence of Christ, may call him “Savior.”  The person who has faced a disease and yethas overcome and returned to health, may call him “Healer.”  The person who has experienced the heartbreakof a broken relationship and yet found new life, may call him“Reconciler.”  The person who has passedthrough the valley of the shadow of death as a result of the loss of a lovedone and yet, are able to face a new day, may call him “Comforter.”  The person who has found purpose, meaning,and identity that they never knew before, may call him “Friend.”   The person who has experienced none of theselife-changing events may still call him “Lord,” “Son of God,” “Christ,” or “Messiah.”  For saints throughout the centuries Jesus is the “Alpha and Omega,” “theBeginning and then End,” “the name above all names,” the “Annointed One,” the“Messiah,” “Jeshua,” “Iasus.”  We who have experience God's grace are changed and by thattransformation our love and commitment to Christ deepens and grows.  Through that ever deepening and growingrelationship to Christ, we come to give him the name that defines his redeemingwork in and through us.  Each week inthis place we are invited to receive God’s grace through the sacraments.  We merely stretch out our hand and receivehim and we take him.  We allow him tofill us.  So we can go out into the worldand declare his name and say with joy and praise,"Jesus is Lord, Jesus isLord, Jesus is Lord."
1(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Holy_Name_of_Jesus).  2 (http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2010/06/05/relationships.qp-4298526.sto )