A More Light Congregation

Bethany Presbyterian Church

Sermon

How do you get a gift for the person who has everything?  How do you get a gift for someone who doesn't want anything?  Maybe they're old enough to be tired of just one more box of candy; or they're trying to downsize; I know my mom doesn't want anything that takes up space or that she'll have to dust.  Maybe many of you feel the same way.  For her birthday this year, I gave my mom an advent calendar. They're not a big tradition in my family, so I hoped it was unique for her.  The key was, it was very small!  It was very compact and fit inside a box about the size of a pack of cards.  The calendar was a long piece of thin twine or rope, 24 tiny clothes pins, and 24 cards.  Every card was nicely decorated on one side, and on the other side there was a beautifully written Name of Jesus.  Every day, one could choose the card for that day, turn it over, and maybe meditate on the name of Jesus that was written in calligraphy on the card, and pin it to the little clothes line.  Here are some of the names for Jesus, according to the artist that made that calendar.  I wonder if your favorite is on this list:


The Word

I am

Alpha Omega

Son of God

Prince of Peace

Redeemer

The Way

Lord

Light of the World

Lamb of God

Morning Star

Mediator

Good Shepherd

Messiah

Emmanuel

Son of Man

Cornerstone

Christ

Bread of Life

Savior

The Vine

Jesus

Glory of the Lord


Most of those listed here are not names that would have made sense to the disciples.  Jesus, Messiah, Alpha and Omega, and Lord would have.  For example, the disciples never had the concept of the Trinity as we do.   The selection of names for Jesus in this advent calendar is one example of the types of names that Christians have given to the Jesus of their lives. We get these names from hymns, the Bible, tradition, and some are completely new.  These names represent some of the associations that we make when we try to describe Jesus.  Depending on our age and personal history of faith, we may have developed our own names for Jesus over the years as we have grown and matured and become reflective, understanding and aware of ourselves in relation to God and the world.  It might be a good project for us sometime, to make our own version of the calendar.  What names might you use?  If we were in person, I'd ask you to feel free to call out.  Write something in the comments section if you want to.


When we think about naming something, we might first think about when we name a child when they are born.  There are many traditional ways we might name a child, maybe after someone special, or a combination name of something new and someone special. In Sweden it is common to name the baby only after a few months have gone by to find a name that fits the child.  In contrast in some cultures names are given to represent who the child will become.  In some cultures names are helpful to identify family units and generations.  In Korea, a name is written with the family name first and then the given name.  Also, in every generation the eldest male chooses the second name of every child.  All of the children of that generation, cousins, will then be given that same middle name.  Their children will be given a new middle name chosen by the eldest male of that new generation.  


Russian names have three parts: Their given name, a middle name based on the father's first name, and the father's surname.  Again, the middle name would be the same, in either a feminine or masculine version.  A Spanish speaking family might have two surnames, the father's and the mother's.  Somali children have three personal names and no family name.  Those kids are identified by all three names.  Afghan names are traditionally only a first name.  A last name might be chosen using a place of birth, profession, or tribal affiliation.  


In all of these cases, our names connect us to something.  The tradition of changing one's name when married is something we are familiar with, whether we've chosen to follow the tradition or now.  When a child is adopted we might change a name.  There are other times that names are changed.


The religious world is a common place for this.  A Pope might take a new name.  Some Catholic traditions give a Christian name after confirmation.  I have a funny story from my family about this change.


My mom has a great friend and former boss named Therese Casey; hot shot, super smart business woman who my mom met when Therese was my mom's boss at the First National Bank of Chicago.  Mom and Therese became very close and remained friends for all of Therese's life.  After Chicago, and before Therese's death, my family had an event where we invited people from near and far.  I remember my brother coming up to us and saying “Therese Casey is here.”  And I said, “So is Mary Finan!”  The funny part of the story is that Therese Casey, before she was business woman extraordinaire, was a nun and she was Sister Mary Finan.  Mary Finan was her name when she was a nun.  She left that life to get married, before my mom knew her, and returned to that name more recently after she retired from the bank.  I knew the basics of the story, but for some reason I didn't put two and two together until that event where they were “both” there.


Names matter.  And when we get a new name it is usually for a reason.  A new name means a new purpose.  When Abram and Sarai were given new names, they each got a blessing of their own also, and they would have a new purpose.  Abraham, no longer Abram which means “exalted father,” would now be Abraham which includes the word “multitude” in the original language.   Abraham's blessing from God is that Abraham will be the father of a multitude of nations.  And indeed, it was so, as three of the world's major religions call Abraham their father in faith: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The covenant is the same.


The text from Genesis is the third announcement of the covenant with Abram.  The first was when Abram was 75 when God first came to him in Haran.  The second was when Abram 86 when Ishmael was born (not a child with Sarai).  Here in the third event of covenant, Abram is 99 and the covenant is a promise of a son from Sarah.  


It is important to note that the woman in the story, Sarah, was given a new name and a blessing and was a major part of this new covenant.  Sarah's name was changed by God also.  Her new name Sarah means “princess” or “queen mother.” A name from royalty.  This is a necessary change to reflect the outcome of her blessing from God.  She is given her own blessing from God also, that she “will give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”  And, indeed, this also came to be.  At age 90 Sarah gave birth to her own son although she had previously been barren.  Isaac and Esau were born and from them came the lineage of King David.  


New names.  New purpose.  In this text, the third time God has spoken to Abram and made a promise, God says “I am God Almighty.”  This is the first time this phrase has been used in the Torah.  God took a new name here too.  The covenant God promised that day was between Abraham and Sarah and God Almighty.


The gospel of Matthew, not the one we are reading from today, begins with a genealogy to reflect the importance of Jesus' connection to this same covenant.


When we baptize someone in the Presbyterian Church, we use the phrase, “_________________, Child of the Covenant, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”   In that way, each of us who are baptized with this formula have the same family name, “Child of the Covenant.”  If anyone is feeling lost or left out, this is one way we can claim our belonging to this Covenant.  Of course it is beyond our denomination's pay grade to decide who is a part of this covenant and who is not, but, this formula emphasizes the connection to this same covenant promised to Abraham and Sarah.


In the gospel of Mark, Peter has just previously confessed that Jesus is the Messiah.  Peter understands that lineage and connection to the covenant, and gets it – Jesus is the Messiah.  So when Jesus begins to explain that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, rejection and even death, and after three days rise again, Peter balked.  It was a popular idea that the Messiah would deliver the Jews from Roman oppression, so the idea of all that suffering for one who had come to save them was wrong!  But Jesus knew that the words from Peter's rebuke were coming from Satan, because in the wilderness Satan tempted him with this same kind of power.  Peter doesn't seem to have paid much attention to the “and after three days rise again” part.  Jesus' explanation must have seemed first unacceptable, and then unbelievable.  Some of us are still trying to believe the reality of resurrection.  Some things cannot ever be grasped, and some things will never be grasped by logic, reason or data.


Barbara Brown Taylor reminds us that “We do not head straight to Easter from the spa or the shopping mall.  Instead we are invited to spend forty days examining the nature of our own covenant with God.”  She invites to ask ourselves a few questions. I will close with these questions.  If you'd like, I can send these questions out separately so you can have them in front of you.  She suggests we ask,


     “Upon what does that relationship [covenant with God] depend?”

     “What concrete practices allow us to become bodily involved with God?”

     “If we were to ask God for a new name, what might that name be?”

     “What new purpose might that name signify?”


Please pray with me,



Naming customs from around the world

Abram to Abraham? Why did he do it?  In the original Hebrew language of the Torah, which is the first five books of our Old Testament, the name Abram literally means “exalted father.” The name Abraham, however, contains another unused root word, which roughly means “multitude.” Abraham translated literally, then, means "father of a multitude"



I Name You

Reverend Debra McGuire

February 28, 2021

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

Mark 8:31-38