[Propertalk] The Holy Name of Jesus 2017 - Part 1

[Robert P Morrison]

Here's part 1 for Sunday. I hope you're having fun!
Bob

	THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY     THE HOLY NAME OF OUR
LORD JESUS

	NUMBERS 6:22-27     1st JANUARY, 2017

	GALATIANS 4:4-7      PSALM 8

	LUKE 2:15-21

	 I came across a book with an intriguing title.

	 “Photograph God”. 1

	 What a concept! Of course I looked it up. Who wouldn’t? Even with
us firmly in the middle of the Christmas Season, who wouldn’t love
to see God? The image of a young baby is already every-so-slightly
faded from our minds. I mean, think – a baby – or the Creator of
everything that is; a smelly diaper – or the smell of wet grass, or
fresh bread baking, or … you choose!

	 It seems to be a no-brainer! Nothing would beat a picture of God.
But stop a minute. Think. See what all those worshippers have
discovered. See what people have placed at the centre of their lives.
See and acknowledge what’s at the centre of our faith.

	God became human. 

	We know “The Human Face of God”, because it is your face; it is
my face; it is the face of every person in the world, no matter where,
no matter when. God became a human being in the person of the Son of
Mary, and took on all our characteristics. God is no longer “out
there”, if ever that were true. God is right here, wherever we turn,
wherever we look. God is as intensely personal as can possibly be.

	This is what we celebrate today. Not merely the first of January, two
thousand and seventeen. Not merely because it is a new year, a new
day, as wonderful as that is. But because we recognise God becoming
part of our traditions, part of our family life. God, whose Name could
not be pronounced, God now has a Name we may utter whenever and
wherever we want. And Mary and Joseph, following their inspired
intuition, gave this Name to God, and to us.

	It was immersed in the fibre of the being of every Hebrew. On the
eighth day after birth, a male child was presented for circumcision
and was given – a Name! His Name! His very own Name!

	God has always been aware of the importance of naming – naming
ourselves, naming the other creatures on earth, naming the non-human
elements of creation. God was aware – and perhaps teased Moses about
this – God was aware of our intense desire to know God by a name.
Yet what God offered to Moses at the burning bush, and throughout
history, has been an attribute of action. Tell them “I am” sent
you. Or Jesus said to those listening, “God is Love. God is
Compassion. God is Hope. God is Trust.” Everything describes God as
a dynamic Being who is unbelievably committed to interacting with us
and drawing us closer and closer. 

	Thus, when Mary and Joseph went to present their child for
circumcision and naming, when he became recognised as a human being
and became a member of God’s people, Israel, He was given a name of
incredible significance. “Jesus” comes from the Greek form of the
Hebrew word for “God saves”, God delivers, comes to our help.”

	To call this child “Jesus” then, in a time when everything was
under the tight control of the occupying Roman forces, when everyone
was supposed to look to Rome for the answer to any question, is to
make a deliberate point. To call this boy “Jesus” signifies not
only to everyone who might meet Him, but to Him Himself that He was
God in the midst of the people.

	A few weeks back I was struck by something in our baptismal liturgy
which, frankly, hadn’t registered with me before. When we gather
together and begin to offer our praise and thanks, all references to
the person being baptised are impersonal. In the liturgy of Baptism we
use “child”, or “person”, indeed anything but the name of the
person to be baptised. It’s only when we come to the act of pouring
the water in the Name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit that the name of the baptismal candidate is mentioned. As this
happens the officiant says, “I do this, I baptise you, and thus we
name and introduce you to the world. Furthermore, we say that as you
are named as a child of God, you are marked as Christ’s own for
ever. It’s as if God has been waiting for this moment to acknowledge
you and me personally and to declare how unique we are.”

	Naming, then, is like the act of giving birth. It’s the calling
forth of a new person whom God has created so imaginatively. Naming is
shouting out to the whole world not just one word. It’s telling
people about what lies behind that one or those two words. It’s
establishing a meaning and a purpose for that person, a meaning which
we’re invited to remember throughout our lives.

	One of the devastating possibilities of aging is that people can lose
their ability to communicate well. I won’t say that they can no
longer think, that they can no longer remember. We’re not exactly
sure what happens when Alzheimer’s disease settles over a person,
for instance, but some say that the person within somehow remembers,
that memory continues. It’s just the ability to express their
memories and thoughts that’s short-circuited.

	If that IS the case, then not only will the person remember her or
his own name, but she or he may well remember the names of others,
especially those which have been spoken, which have been expressed
excitedly for years, just as Jesus’ Name must have been.

	Somehow, despite the diminishing ability to communicate, the person
CAN continue to cherish relationships with God and with others.
Somehow, the significance of the names that these people were given is
retained. The individual can remember her or his parents who made the
gift, just as Jesus remembered Mary and Joseph, and the stories they
told of the Archangel Gabriel’s visit.

Robert P. MorrisonSt Alban's Episcopal ChurchPO Box 1556Albany, OR.,
97321
541-921-1076
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