Holy Name (2018)

Okay kids, I need your help on this one, when asks who you are, what do you say?

Yeah your name,

yeah, now if someone were to ask you, now excuse me, who are you?

Okay now this one might be tougher, who named you?

Now this one might be even harder, do any kids know why their parents gave them their name and not some other name?

A name tells you about someone.

Names are very important aren't they, if we did not have names, how would you know which Christmas present to unwrap?

Names today are important because, it is the first thing we use to identify ourselves and other people.

A name is actually a shorthand way to tell a story. When you first meet someone you share names, and maybe that is all, but as you get to know someone you begin to understand their story.

Now today most of our names are chosen because we like the sound, or after a family member, but in the Ancient near east names were chosen because they expressed hopes and fears, their observations, or feelings.

The names carried a story even before the child had lived their own.

Today we celebrate the day when the son of God was given his name. And his name gives us a shorthand to the story that he is writing. God has given us his name, he has told us his story.

FCF: But what sometimes what happens is either we don’t know God as he has revealed himself to be, and so we don’t really know the story that he is writing, And maybe we have unintentionally named God to be far off and distant, quiet, the big man in the sky kind of thing, or maybe we try to rename him, as something other than what his name is, you know I like to think of Jesus as an inspiring spiritual teacher more than a savior.

FCF:

that we try to name God, we try to be the ones that say who God is and what he does. What matters

But Because God has revealed himself we should know his name

FCF:

Because God has revealed himself we should know his name

First, because God has revealed himself we should know him as one of us

Because has come we should know his name as Immanuel

Look with me at verse 21.

Luke 2:21 ESV

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Jesus, is a human name, you know. He was not the first person or the last person to be named Jesus. I had a friend named Jesus in college. In the Old Testament God revealed himself as I am, I am who I am. What we might translate as YHWH. it was not a human name, but in the New Testament, God takes on humanity, and with it a human name. He identifies with his people, he is God with us.

And as Jesus left this world he commissioned his followers to make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that he commanded, and said

Behold, I am with you always.

Jesus is a human name, God stands in solidarity with humanity. Taking a name like ours so that we might know him, and know he is with us.

A

Illustration:

When Sara Frances and I got married we just kinda assumed she would change her last name. She was a Hollinger, but became a Rasmussen. We did not think to much about it, it was just one of those things “you do” when you get married. But after going through what seemed like years of name chnage forms from social security, the DMV, taxes, registrations, and so on. You start to think, why did we have to do this again? It assent because we wanted our children to have a helpful online security question, you know, what is your mothers maiden name?

Why bother changing your name? Well even though it can be a bit of a hassle, we are glad we did it. Because when we were married, we became united, we became one, and taking the name of your spouse is really an act of solidarity. When Sara Frances took my name she stood with me and we stand as one, one family the Rasmussen’s.

Well even though it can be a bit of a hassle, we are glad we did it. Because when we were married, we became united, we became one, and taking the name of your spouse is really an act of solidarity. When Sara Frances took my name she stood with me and we sand as one.

She was a Hollinger, but once we were married she became a Rasmussen.

Application:

Application:

God took our name, a human name, to be with us to stand in solidarity with us. So what does this mean for us today?

First it means, he can be known. Sometimes we think God is so far off that it is actually impossible to know him. But because he took on human flesh and a human name we can actually know him. He has revealed himself in Jesus.

It also means God is with us, near to us, as Jesus said before he ascended into heaven, behold I am with you always. God is near to us when we are in need.

Jesus is near in every place of your life. When filling your car with gas, when watching TV, when you are asleep.

S

Kids, have you ever been afraid of the dark? So when bed time rolls around and you head to your room, and after your mom or dad says good night and leaves and you are in your room and it is all dark outside and inside?

What you can do when you are afraid is pray and ask Jesus to help you to have courage, so that you can get the rest you need. You can ask Jesus to come be close to you, so you aren't alone. Jesus knows exactly what that feels like to be in the dark and alone, he felt the same thing you do. And he will help you when you are afraid.

And for the adults, good took on humanity with a human name to stand in solidarity with us. So that when you experience darkness in your own life, you can know that Jesus too spent three days in complete utter darkness, he knows what it feels like to be alone.

But God did not take just any human name. We don’t just need someone to stand in solidarity with us, to join us in the dark.

We need someone who can vanquish the darkness, we need the light of the world.

God has come to dwell with us. To him and be known by him

And

Because has come we should know his name as savior

God with us

Jesus:

Look with me at verse 21 again

He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

The angel Gabriel told Mary to name the child she was carrying Jesus. The name Jesus most simply means savior.

And Gabriel told Mary to name this child Jesus, not because the name sounded nice, or because they had an uncle Jesus, but because Jesus is who this child would be, he would be savior.

He would save his people from their sins.

And it is here in verse 21 we see his being named Jesus and savior and we also see him bearing the covenant sign of circumcision, which was a sacramental sign and seal of God’s forgiveness of sins, it was sacramental cutting off of the sin. It was a constant reminder to God’s people from the very earliest of ages blood is required for their inclusion in his family.

But here when May and Joseph name him Jesus (the savior) and this sign of circumcision it points to what kind of savior he will be,

cut off for his people, one who sheds his innocent blood for the forgiveness of sins.

one that identifies with the sins of his people being cut off so they can be brought in, and the one who sheds his innocent blood so that his people can be forgiven of their sins.

Illustration:

One of the values of our society right now is authenticity. No matter what you do, you should be true to your self. Now I am sure there are many different ways to interpret this phrase of being true to your self. I mean I don’t want to be too true to my impatient self. I would probably feel better saying I should be true to my true self.

But our culture values authenticity and being true to oneself. Jesus true self, his name, is one of savior. He came as God in the flesh to save his people from their sins. From his birth to death and resurrection he had a mission.

Name this child baptism

Now sometimes we balk at the idea of sin.

Illustration: Name this child baptism

Application:

And if that is his true authentic self, it would not be loving for us to relate to him as if that were not his identity.

Jesus did not come as an inspiring teacher of higher spiritual truths. He came as savior, and if we want to know God, we must know Jesus as our savior.

We would not like it if someone were to insist that our name is something other than what it is.

To know Jesus, to know that our salvation comes from someone from him frees us. It means that your worth, security, identity is sure is safe is saved. All other things will let us down. A job or career can disappear in the next financial crisis, your academic achievement can slip away if you get physically or mentally sick, friends can turn on, and if we look to our kids success to save us, well they will have their issues too.

There is only one who can deal with the brokenness in our own lives

We must know him as savior, not just as teacher, or some dude that lived a long time ago that probably said some great things, and people started talking and roomers spread and it just snowballed into what we have today

We can’t get enough education to save us, we can’t get enough therapy to save us.

the only one who can save us from sin and his name is Jesus.

Conclusion:

Mary obeyed and named him Jesus

Conclusion:

We live not by being perfect but by being forgiven

Jesus received his name at his circumcision. And it has been a practice of the church to name children at their baptisms. It is where we get the phrase your Christian name.

A while ago we had some baptisms, and we asked the parents and godparents to name this child or candidate.

And they then respond with their name, and then we say the child’s name, I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Now we usually do it at the hospital before we leave. But we still do retain the practice in our baptismal service. There is a part before the child is baptized that we ask the parents and God parents to name this child. And they then respond with their name, and then we say the child’s name, I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

They with there name were submerged into the name of God.

And we bear his name.

That immanuel would subit himself to circumcision is a prelude to the work he will do, when no more blood will be shed.

You know there is a part of a

And just like Jesus received his name at his circumcision that of savior, so we receive our true name at our baptism that is, saved, forgiven, child of God.

Jesus was given the name above every name so that we might be named as members of his family.