January 1, 2006 - The Holy Name of Jesus Christ - Father Fred Myers

FIRST READING: Numbers 6: 22-27
PSALM: 8
SECOND READING: Philippians 2: 5-11
GOSPEL: Luke 2: 15-21

You know, names are powerful things. Today, we are celebrating the Holy Name of Jesus. It is always celebrated on the first day of January. It is the day that has been designated to be the day that we celebrate the Name of Jesus.

Think how important names are and how upset we get if somebody doesn't know our name, or how upset we get if we don't know somebody else's name - when we have known them for years but forget their name. Names. Names and titles are given to us, from time to time. Now, for most of us, I would say, our name was given to us by a parent or parents, and we had no control over that. It's the name that we were given, but we lived into that name. I can remember my mother, when I was young: "Fred" - my name is really Frederick, but she called me Fred - "Fred! Don't ever destroy your name!" And I never really understood that until later on in life when I realized, "Oh yes! That is part of my identity. That is who I am". Not totally, but it identifies me, and all that I represent, and all that I am.

Names can also have an evil connotation. I have been reading, and I got the latest book of Harry Potter for Christmas this year. In there, they always refer to Voldemort as "The name that must not be spoken", because he represents dark evil. Think of Star Wars - Darth Vader! - that even has a dark sound! Names are very important, and they identify for us who that person is in some way.

The Holy Name of Jesus. Jesus was given the name Yeshua in Hebrew, which means Savior, the one who saves, or God Saves - Yeshua - and He lived into that name, as we saw, and as we believe. He lived into that name as the Savior, the One who brings healing, the One who drives out demons, the One who brings us joy, the One who comforts us in our time of need - Jesus, Savior.

Along with names, we are also given titles. As Stephanie mentioned, 25 years ago on the 3rd of January, I was given a title, and that title was "priest". One of the things I was allowed to do after the ceremony, that the Bishop allowed me to do, was to pick a hymn. The hymn I picked you will be singing here in a few minutes, and it is on page 5, if you want to take a look at it. It is, "O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee", and, to me, the words of that hymn aptly describe how I felt I must be, or how I must live my life as a priest - a priest in the Church of God; one who proclaims the Good News; one who celebrates the Sacraments; one who is permitted through the Bishop to give blessings - a priest, that title, and I have carried that now for 25 years. It has been a glorious thing! Sometimes it has been kind of hard, but, at other times, and most of the time, it is a glorious thing.

Now, all of you have been given a title at your baptism. You have been given a name. You were baptized in your given name. Years ago, it used to be that we took on another name, and we had a baptismal name, which was to signify that we were, in some way, a special child of God. But, today, we don't do that. We baptize you in the name that your parents gave you - in your name.

But, you were also given another title. At that time, you were given the title and name of "Christian", a follower of Jesus, a follower of Christ, the One whose Name we celebrate on this day. Jesus, Savior of the world, Redeemer. On the front of your bulletin, you will see some of the names that have been given to Jesus - Anointed, God With Us, Emmanuel, Yahweh Saves - this is who we follow; this is the One in whose Name we have been baptized. We have been baptized in the Name of Jesus.

The question that remains for us is: Are we willing to live into that Name - the name, Christian - and take our given name and be an example, and be the Christ for the world around us? Are we willing to be the symbol, if we will, of God's love for the world - God's caring love, His healing, His driving out demons; His lifting us up; His consolation; His saving our souls?

Jesus, the most Holy Name that we can utter - Jesus; Jesus; Jesus. Praise be to God.

I want to wish you all a most blessed new year, and may you carry the Name of Jesus with you in all that you do.

AMEN