Eve of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus - December 31, 2008

The Church Season of Christmas,
Eve of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (December 31, 2008)
One Year Series

“What’s in a Name?”

Readings:
Numbers 6:22-27
Galatians 3:23-29 (NIV)
Luke 2:21


Sermon Form: Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 2nd chapter of St. Luke.

Luke 2:21 (NIV)
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise Him, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Tonight there will be a great celebration of another year ended and another year begun. It is a time when we are told to set aside the old and to ring in the new. A time of celebration set in tradition. Every country, every nationality, every family has their own tradition, I’m sure your family has some special tradition too. From my earliest memories, I recall our families way of celebrating New Year’s Eve, and how we would wake up the next day to Rose Bowl parades and watching endless football games on New Year’s Day. The tradition of our house was to stay up until midnight and watch the Time Square ball drop. We would listen to Guy Lombardo play “Auld Lang Syne,” and then we would step outside to shoot the shotgun three times. After all that excitement we quickly ducked back inside to eat some pork, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes for good luck before going to bed. Most of the people today won’t remember who Guy Lombardo was, nor will they know the song or the lyrics to, “Auld Lang Syne” I know I’ve heard that song more than a few times. But I’ll have to admit that only recently did I bother to try to find out what those strange words meant. And when I did look it up I found that a modern English translation would be something like "long, long ago", "in olden days", or even "once upon a time." To our modern ears it would sound more like, "For old time's sake" or "back in the day."

In these “Good old days,” most around the world will be using the new calendar as an excuse to party, “to eat, drink, and be merry.” Some will look back to a better time, and some will look forward to better times that they hope are yet to come. In the midst of all the calendar changing celebration, and with all the revelry in the great centers of this world, another celebration will be taking place. This other overlooked but not forgotten celebration happened in days of long ago, once upon a time. But this celebration is not a fairy tale nor is it based in human tradition and it will not soon be forgotten, for this account is history which was written with the ink of human blood.

For long, long ago, On the eighth day after His birth the child of Bethlehem is given the Name Jesus. And if you think about it, it was Jesus who named Himself. For it was God who placed the Name Jesus in the ear of an Angel and that Angel who put the Name Jesus into the ear of Joseph, saying, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the Name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (v. 20-21) Eight days after His birth Jesus was named, eight days after December the 25th would be tomorrow. Why eight days? Jesus was named on the eighth day, because that was the day of His circumcision and that is the day when a Jewish boy receives His name. And because God created the world in six days, and on the seventh day He rested, and the eighth day is God’s new beginning of His new creation.

Ah, but you may ask, "What’s in a name?" Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name.” But what is the Name of the rose I have in mind tonight? It was Isaiah who foretold it and it was his words which were placed into a hymn proclaiming, “This Flower, whose fragrance tender, with sweetness fills the air, Dispels with glorious splendor, the darkness everywhere; True man, yet very God, From Sin and death he saves us, And lightens every load.” (LSB#359) Jesus is indeed the flower of which Isaiah foretold. The One who would be called Emmanuel, “God with us.”(Is. 7:14) For Isaiah guided by the Holy Spirit was looking forward to better days for his people and he knew they were yet to come. And Isaiah spoke of those better times to come when it would be said, “to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6) Quite a list of names for the one who was to come.

But Isaiah also knew of list of names for God, for Isaiah could look back to the beginning of all time and hear of the comfort God's Name had brought to His people. And in the olden times God was called, El meaning “strong” (Gen. 7:1), or El Shaddai – “Lord God Almighty” (Gen. 17:1), or YHWH Yireh – “The Lord will provide” (Gen 22:14), or YHWH Rophe – “The Lord who heals” (Ex 15:22-26) or even Yeshua meaning "Savior" "He will save"(Isa. 43:3). It is not a coincidence that the name Yeshua is Hebrew for Joshua. And Joshua in Hebrew is the same as Jesus in Greek.

Joshua, is the name of the Old Testament conqueror who led the children of Israel into the promised Land. But Joshua was a foreshadowing of the new and greater Joshua to come, who would be Yeshua, or Jesus. For He would be the One to come who would conquer sin, death, and the devil, and would lead the new children of Israel into the Promised Land of Heaven. (paraphrase Rev. Josh Schneider) For in giving His Son the Name Jesus, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the Name that is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”(Php. 2:9-11)

Yet the world which we ponder this very night bows only to its own desires, for its own merriment, for waxing eloquent of lives past and for the hopes of future years. For it seems that the most important name in the 21st century is the name of the person which is reflecting in the mirror. And knees only seem to rarely bow to anything which is heavenward. Rather it is more likely that every tongue would wag in confession of greedy desires for self-fulfillment, stooping only to gain from worldly gratification.

This is the world in which we live. It is a world of sin into which we have been born into in which we participate. Yet it also the world into which Jesus the child was born. And on this night when few will notice, or celebrate His Name, we celebrate that Jesus came in the flesh to live up to every Name He that He has ever been called. For He is the One who was given the Name Jesus, who was strong for you as He went to the cross. The He is the One who was given the Name Jesus, who was Almighty for you as He died for you in His flesh. The He is the One who was given the Name Jesus, who is the Lord, who healed you by forgiving all your sins. And He is the One who was given the Name Jesus, the Name above all Names, He saves you still. For it is He who saved you and placed His Name upon you in the life giving waters of your Baptism. That is why baptismal fonts are given eight sides, because it is the Name of Jesus which saved you from the world you were born into. And because Jesus saved you from your sins He makes you His new creation. And Jesus saves you still in the forgiveness of sins which He offers in His true body and blood in Holy Communion.

While the meaning and the name of that song of yesteryear, “Auld Land Syne,” may fade away, the meaning and the Name of Jesus will never fade. For Jesus’ Name means, “He will save.” So if you should ask, “What’s in that Name?” The answer is everything. For in Jesus’ Name you are given the promise that your eternal future will never fade. AMEN

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