Given A New Name

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

Do you anyone in your life that has to be absolutely different than everyone else around them? For whatever, reason they always see a different point of view or perspective than everyone else. Maybe you have that family member - that roots for a different team in the family - just to be different, just not to agree with other people. Or perhaps you know a friend of yours who prefers and maybe even insists on the most different pizza toppings that no one else likes. These kind of people tend not to see eye to eye with everyone else, they tend not to agree with everyone else, and perhaps something that you take as an assumption - that everyone can agree with - these people proof that not to be true. Now maybe you someone like these people, or maybe you fail in that category when it comes to your friends and family. But individuality or being your own person, is emphasized in our culture, its highlighted, its lifted up as something that we need to do. For example, something we hear often in our world, is that you need to discover your own truth or you need to find ways to become authentic to yourself. Or in our world, we are encouraged - don’t let anyone tell you what you are - but be yourself and you can be whatever you want to be. There is this common thought - that in our world no one can tell you - who you are, besides yourself and you need to discover, you need to invest, you to pursue the truth about yourself in your life.

Now while, I think it is important to figure out gifts and talents that God has given you, while we are all created uniquely, and not all the same person. Perhaps in our spiritual lives - we inherit this attitude or this attitude seps into our thinking and relationship with God. Maybe in our relationship with God - we treat God’s Word as something - that I can listen to if it is something lines up with the way I want to live, the way I see the world. Perhaps we say, I’m going to set God’s Word to the side, to pursue my own desires. There is this temptation in pursuit of individuality that we turn ourselves or desires into our own gods to be appeased and made happy. St. Augustine, someone Luther studied had this saying talking about sin - he said, “Sin is the human being turned in on itself.” In other words, the focus our lives, the focus of our actions becomes less about God or less about the neighbor that God has placed in our lives to serve or share Jesus with. In other words, according to Augustine, when sin - we have removed our gaze from God and placed it ourselves. In pursuit of being our own people, in pursuit of desires in our hearts and minds, we often take our eyes from the love that God has for us, to focus on ourselves.

We aren’t the only ones who struggle with this one a daily or weekly basis. The people of Israel in the midst of the prophecy of Isaiah fell into this pattern of living as well. The end of Isaiah 42, ends with God sending His anger, God sending judgement upon the people of Israel because they failed to hear, or listen to the Word of God. The people of Israel had constantly in the book of Isaiah or even the Old Testament - turned their backs on the Word of the Lord to their own pursuits, to their own thoughts, to the things that they were best. Instead of the listening to the God of the universe, they listened to the idols of their own hearts. At the end of Isaiah 42, the prophet is saying to the people of Israel that because of your disobedience Babylon is coming, exile is coming for you! These people forgot about God’s provision and care for them, and His great love for them - as the focused on themselves.

But our text today from Isaiah God makes this great change and transition. He through the prophet in our text today emphasizes His love for the people of Israel! God starts out by pointing back to the works of old that He has done, for His people. He says in Isaiah 43, “He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel”. He is pointing back to the His creative power - as He called the people out of the world - forming a nation out of Israel. He is pointing back to all the work that He has done in the past for their ancestors, leading them through the desert to the promised land. And the Lord picks up in Isaiah - I created you, “Fear not, I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine!” The Lord for people despite their sinfulness, despite what they are enduring and facing, God says, You are mine! He doesn’t say - you were mine, He doesn’t say, you will be mine, He says to the people of Israel despite judgement and exile you are facing - You are mine! And God continues - you that no matter what you go through, I will be with you! God in the prophet of Isaiah - doesn’t give up on His people. He continues to shower them with His love and His grace! He continues to give them this undeserved forgiveness. God calls the people of Israel by name - a personal way, an intimate way to be His! For God the call to be His people is greater than the circumstances of exile, the circumstance of judgement they are facing. They are still His people!

Family is a unique relationship given to us in the world. Family is one of the few things that you can’t pick; it is one of the few things that no matter how different, no matter how unique you try to be - you are belong to the family. No matter if you have completely different hobbies or interests than the rest of the family, you are still apart of the family. No matter if you don’t clique with all of your family, you are still family - you still belong to the same group! The connection you have with your family isn’t chosen, you don’t pick it, but it is given to you! In the gift of Baptism, God has made you apart of His family! You are made a child of God not through your own work, but through the mercy of God as He adopts, as He calls you be apart of His family! Through the mercy of Jesus and through His work - you are made a child of God, you are made His own. Just like we heard, in the Gospel as Jesus received this great proclamation from the Father in Heaven at His baptism, you are united to Jesus in Baptism and now God says that same thing about you - You are my beloved Son or Daughter. You are mine! No matter what you go through - You are His! No matter how many times you fail or fall into temptation - you are His! God’s promises for you are greater than your sins, He never gives up on you! You are His!

As we continue to live in this world, as God’s people may we continue to reflect that connection to God to others. May we continue to radiate that connection to Jesus. We aren’t just individuals in this world to do our own thing, we are just our own people, as Paul says in the New Testament - we were bought with a price - the price of Jesus on Calvary! We don’t just need to invest in our own selves, but may we continue to pursue life connected to Jesus; because He has called you by name, you are His!

Now may the grace of God, which surpasses all understanding, may it guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.