sermon - Name of Jesus "what's in a name?"

Sermon – Name of Jesus
Luke 2:15-21
January 1, 2012
“what’s in a name?”

What significance does your name have for you? Why were you given that name?
The process of naming a newborn child is very important. After all, a name is something you have for life. Some kids grow up resenting their name.

Some people become known by a nick name or in Prince’s case, or the artist formally known as Prince’s case, it’s a symbol. It has been hard for Lakers commentators to get used to calling Ron Artest by his new name, Metta World Peace. And if you didn’t know he changed his name, you might wonder why the commentator yelled “World Peace”! after he dunks the ball.
Our name marks us, that’s why it’s hard to change it or get rid of it.

We may or may not know what meaning our names have. Usually when a parent names their child, there is meaning attached to the name, a reason we were given that particular name. Or maybe they just like the name. Sometimes the name passes on family lineage. You may have the same name as your parent or other relative. My middle name is my dad’s name.

But when parents name their child, it has to do with the expectations and hopes they have for their new born child, who the child will grow up to be. To look into the child’s eyes and start to imagine what their life will have in store. To start to imagine their first steps; their first day at kindergarten; their graduation day; how they might make a difference; how they will have a family of their own one day.

In some cultures, such as the Ewe tribe in Ghana, the naming is very much tied to the expectation of who the child will be. So the name is often tied to an attribute, the name says something about the desired character of the new born. So if a child is acting out, a parent might say: “your mother and I chose that name for you, and you ought to think about how you will fulfill its meaning.”

Today is the day in the church called “The Name of Jesus” which we celebrate when New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday. This is the day we focus on the naming of the child Jesus. Eight days after Jesus was born, he was circumcised according to Jewish custom (Lev. 12:3). When the child was circumcised, the child was named.

What do you suppose Mary and Joseph were thinking as they looked at their newborn child, as he was circumcised and named. They were probably filled with hope and excitement of who he would become.
And again, when Jesus was named, the name was tied to expectations, and the hopes rooted in the promise about who he would become.

Before he was born the angel told Mary: “31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.” You will name him: Jesus. This name means “he saves.” When Jesus was named, it had to do with the promise of who he would become. As the angel says: “32He 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.33He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’” The name “Jesus” tells us who he would become: the Savior of the world.
There’s just something about the name Jesus. The next hymn we will sing is: How sweet the name of Jesus sounds: “how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear! It soothes our sorrows, heals our wounds, and drives away all fear.”

I think naming is similar to what we do at the beginning of a new year. A new year is much like a new birth… we begin a new year with hopes and expectations of what the new year will hold in store. So we make new year’s resolutions, and set goals. But there are a lot of uncertainties that surround the new year.
What will happen? Will the economy be any better? Will I be OK economically? Will I be healthy?

There is a lot we don’t know. But we do know that when we look in the manger...we hear the promise that “unto us a child is born” and his name is Jesus, the savior. So because of Jesus, we have certainty in the new year. We leap into the new year with assurance of the promised salvation we have in Jesus. That evil, sin, and death do not win the day in 2012… Jesus does. Amen.