What's in a name?

Jan. 1^st  Feast of the Holy Name

Good Morning and Happy New Year again.

In the life of the church our new year  began more than four weeks ago  way back on the first Sunday of  Advent.   Today—January 1^st we celebrate something very different called the Feast of the Holy Name.  Today, we commemorate the naming of Jesus on the 8^th day after his birth. Jesus naming would have taken place at his ceremonial circumcision.    Back in the old days this day was not Feast of the Holy Name, but actually called the Feast of the Circumcision.  

Kind of glad we that we’ve change that—much more pleasant to be speaking about names and Jesus name as opposed to circumcision. 

People’s names in Holy scripture are important because  they often tell  us something about a person’s vocation— their name often tell about who and what that person is called to be.  Abraham from the book of Genesis—his name meant father of many—Abraham would be the one from whom the Jewish  people would be descended from.  

Jesus if you remember was not named by his parents, but rather by the angel in Joseph’s dream.  The angel said that He was to be named Jesus or Yeshua— which means God’s Salvation or God Saves. Jesus would go on to become God’s salvation for all people.  His life, his teaching—his every action would encapsulate his name’s meaning God saves.

I once heard someone say that at Holy Baptism—the baptized person is given the name Christian—in some way Christian is added to their name.  So in baptism—I would be named Sean-Thomas (Thomas being my middle name)  and then Christian.  Sean -Thomas Christian. 

If we have been given this name Christian in our baptisms—how does that somehow inform who we are to be—how does that encapsulate the reason for why we walk this earth? 

What does it mean to have the name Christian as part of our name?—how does that influence how  act in this world?

I think the hallmark of Christianity is love—love of God and love of neighbor and believing that God loves all creation without exception.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus says that people will know his disciples, his followers  by their love for one another.  There is even a contemporary Christian—song that says “they will know we are Christians by our love.”  

But does the world know us by our love-are Christians known for their acts of love?   Are we that different than the rest of the world that we are known by our love. I know when I walk down the street—people don’t look at me and my actions and say Christian.

Words most often used to describe Christians are judgmental or hypocritical. Often when we make the headlines or can be seen on TV is when we are judging this group or that group’s lifestyle.  So often what the what the world sees is condemnation or judgement—not walking the walk. 

Churches don’t often hold meetings to talk about about how we might better express God’s love in the world—usually  our meetings  are about budgets or buildings or resources.  I think that one of the reason that the church is struggling in this 21^st century is that we’ve gotten away from this core value of being people of love —we worry about our survival-we worry about why folks aren’t coming and we have forgotten to be people  known by our love.

We are entering a new year and with that comes a time for new year’s resolutions.  Some of us might be trying to shed a few pounds—maybe taking up a new exercise regimen or tackle something like quitting smoking.  

Perhaps a resolution we could consider is how might we be more loving. What might we do over the next year that would better reflect the love of God toward the world?  What if we made that resolution—to do something every day to better reflect God’s love in the world.

One action every day.   What if we did that-- every day—how would the world be different 365 days of love? What might this look like-it wouldn’t be that hard—pledge one day to simply say hello to everyone you encounter that day or another day—pledge to give out 10 compliments to folks you encounter-another day buy flowers for someone.  Imagine 365 days of simple loving actions—how the world might be different?

We have been given the name Christian—we have been called to love one another-how are you going to live into your name this year?   How will the world know we are Christians by our love?

AMEN