By the time we get old enough not to care what anybody says about us, nobody says anything.
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Atlantis: the domain of the Stingray
21Dec
2011
Wed
23:25
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Mid-week Advent IV

Luke 1:57-80

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What’s in a name? It’s an interesting question, isn’t it?

Names are supposed to be descriptive. When objects were discovered or created, many were given names that described what they were, how they looked, or how they functioned. When life on earth is scientifically classified, it is placed into smaller and smaller groups with names that narrow down the characteristics of that life. When towns and states were founded and chartered, many were given names that described the surround region, that indicated they were near a particular body of water or other landmark, or simply named after their founder or someone significant to the residents. When parents name their children, they will often give names that have special meanings to them—they may even look up the meaning of names to find one that “fits” what they imagine their baby will be—or they will give them a family name that bears significance to the child’s lineage. Names are supposed to be descriptive; they have a very intentional meaning to the person, place, or thing that bears the name.

Then, there’s the Shakespearean view of names, as Juliet speaks in perhaps his most famous tragedy:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet...
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

“That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” In other words, it doesn’t matter what it’s called, it would still be the same flower. So it is with Romeo, in Juliet’s mind; it doesn’t matter what his name is, she would still think him perfect. A name does not make an object or a person.

And perhaps that’s true, to a point. For instance, as a joke, I have been warned never to name a son Jonathan as it seems that pastors’ sons named Jonathan act little like “God’s gift,” as the name means, and more like hellish burdens on their parents. Our St. Martin was hardly a worshiper of Mars, the Roman god of war. There are also plenty of Joshuas out there and many men named Jesus in the Spanish-speaking world, and none of them are the anointed one, for only one Y’shua, or Jesus, saves His people from their sins. It often seems a miss, not a hit, to name a child hoping that they are or will grow into the meaning of their names.

Though, from time-to-time, parents do give their children names that they grow into. In that light, it almost seems appropriate that I would become a pastor, as my name is said to mean “God’s peace,” and it is my joyful duty to proclaim to a sin-scarred people the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, given in that same Y’shua who saves His people from their sins. Though, on the other side of the coin, I’m certainly no individual picture of the peace of God, as the war between sinner and saint rages on. However, I was named Geoffrey simply because my parents liked the name without regard to the meaning.

That brings us to tonight’s Gospel lesson. Elizabeth bears to Zacharias a son, as Gabriel had nine months earlier announced to him. The time had come for the boy to be circumcised and named. The people present assumed that he would be named after his father, but his mother spoke up and said, “No; he shall be called John.” However, that name had no significance or meaning in the families of Zacharias and Elizabeth. Puzzled by it, they look to the muted Zacharias, and, supposing he couldn’t hear either, made signs to him to inquire what his son’s name should be. He wrote on a tablet, “His name is John.” “Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God.”

In the ears of those present at John’s circumcision, his name was meaningless. However, his name is John, not because his parents simply liked the name, but because that was the name given this miracle baby by God, and when God gives a name, it certainly carries its intended meaning.

This is true with the named announced to Mary of her Son, who fulfilling the prophecy from Isaiah 7 is said to have the name Immanuel, which means God-with-us. And so, when Gabriel announced her impending pregnancy, he told her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) Of course, it was moments earlier when Gabriel had said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.” (Luke 1:30-31) He is to be given the name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins (cf. Matthew 1:21); Jesus, Y’shua, which name means “YHWH saves.”

And as mentioned weeks ago, He didn’t grow up to be Y’shua. He was Y’shua from the moment of His conception—He was the Savior of the world from the moment He was conceived in the womb of Mary. He was the Savior of the world for His entire life, and especially at the end of His life—for it was upon the cross where He ultimately fulfilled His namesake, taking the sins of the world upon Himself and dying as the sacrificial Lamb of God, covering all sin in His blood as the ransom for it. “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Those are John’s words, this John whose nativity we observe out of time in our Advent preparation. Remember, it was God who named this boy, too; and when God gives a name, He means what He says. John’s name means “God is gracious,” or “God is generous,” or “God is faithful.” All of these are true, and John the Baptizer bears witness of them all.

This got the people in tonight’s Gospel thinking. The meaning of John was not lost on them. So, they question among themselves, “What kind of child will this be?”

It doesn’t take long to get an answer. With tongue loosed, Zacharias sings a song which the Church has adopted as her own—the Benedictus. At the end, the last few verses, the answer to their question is given:

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
To give knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.

What kind a child will this be? He will be a prophet, but not like other prophets. John, “God is faithful,” “will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins.” The prophets of the past were given to speak of the coming Lord, but they all had to say, “Wait a little longer; He is not coming yet.” Not John—He was to remind the people of the Lord’s faithfulness and prepare the Lord’s way, because He is coming now, and He does so by preaching about the Light (cf. John 1:6-9), proclaiming the tender mercy of God by the Dayspring from on high, the Light of the World, who gives “light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, [guiding] feet into the way of peace.”

“God is faithful,” John proclaimed, in name and in deed, “He has promised to send a savior. I am not He, but He comes after me. Get ready, He’s coming.” And John fulfills his namesake as he points to Immanuel, to Y’shua, and says, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” That is to say, “The Lord is faithful: He is here as He has promised to be! He is your Savior!”

Most certainly, the Lord is faithful, as John’s name means, faithful to the promise He made, reiterated for us by John’s father:

Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began,
That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

The Lord is generous and gracious? Yes, those too. “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” He is generous and gracious; He doesn’t take away the sins of only a select few, and He doesn’t leave us empty-handed. He takes away the sin of the world—every last bit from every last person who has ever lived, is living, and will live. In exchange, He gives you His righteousness.

Therefore, John’s message of preparation has always been, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:1-2) Repent...confess your sins for the sins that they are. The kingdom of heaven is at hand—the Christ is near to take away your sins. Those who received John’s message were baptized by him in the Jordan—a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. (cf. Mark 1:4)

The same can be said to you and of you. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Yes, I have come to proclaim the peace of God, as in my namesake, to the broken-hearted—to those hearts broken by the weight of sin. And what a load we bear, we who are by no means pictures of peace as the war between sinner and saint rages within. Therefore, I urge you to make confession of all of your sins and receive the forgiveness that Immanuel won for you by His passion, death, and resurrection. This is your right and privilege as the sons of God.

Sons of God—what’s in a name? For, dear baptized, now including you, dear Nadra, for which we are exceedingly glad, you have been given that name: son of God. You have received upon forehead and heart the seal of Him who died for you, and being baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, God has placed His name on you. Remember, when God gives a name, He certainly means what He says. Our God—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—has placed His name upon you, and in so doing, has given you what His name means.

Therefore, He who is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) has given you peace, even as the war between sinner and saint rages within. He who is called Holy (Mark 1:24) has set you apart so that now you are no longer of the world but in it. He who is Immanuel (Matthew 1:23) is with you as you carry the seal of Him who died for you upon forehead and heart. He who is your Prince of Life (Acts 3:15), the Word of Life (1 John 1:1), the Way, the Truth, the Life (John 14:6), and the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25) has given His life for you and to you, that though you may die, yet you shall live in eternity with Him. (cf. John 11:25-26) He who is Savior (2 Peter 2:20), Redeemer (Job 19:25), Messiah (John 1:41), and Righteous Judge (2 Timothy 4:8) has saved and redeemed you, a lost and condemned creature and declared you not guilty for His sake.

What’s in a name? When it comes to God, simply this: the forgiveness of all of your sins!

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Download media: 20111221.midweekadvent4.mp3 (7.19 MiB)
audio recorded on my digital recorder and converted to mp3
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