The Holy Name, Yr A (January 1, 2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Holy Name, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Numbers 6:22-27 St. Andrew’s on-the-Hill
Philippians 2:5-11
Luke 2:15-21
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
who was, and is, and is to come. Amen.
“The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.” (Num 6:24-26)
What a magnificent way to bring in a new year…with blessing and peace.
While today is New Year’s Day,
it is also the day we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Name.
Holy Name…that refers to Jesus, of course.
Eight days after his birth, it was time to circumcise Jesus…a rite in which he was named,
“Jesus”
from “Yeshua”… “Joshua,”
meaning “God is salvation.”
As we hear in Philippians:
“God has exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:9-11)
In ancient Jewish tradition a child is circumcised and named on the 8th day of life.
This ritual is considered a sign of the covenant between God and God’s people,
and it dates back to the time of Abraham.
One’s name provides identity before God.
I remember one of my seminary professors standing in front of the class
and raising his hands up as if holding a child,
imitating the way a father would hold up his child,
claiming that child by giving a name.
We do a similar thing when we baptize a child.
As a child – or adult – is baptized and passed through the waters,
that child of God is named
as they are baptized
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
They are then sealed with oil and raised up,
claimed and named by God as God’s very own!
In our scriptures today, we hear of naming and blessing and peace.
Being named and claimed brings a blessing and a peace.
We belong to God.
We are God’s people.
Author and spiritual teacher Henri Nouwen (1932–1996) writes about this intimate naming and claiming we experience as God’s beloved:
“We are the Beloved.
“We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children and friends loved or wounded us.
“That’s the truth of our lives.
“That’s the truth I want you to claim for yourself.
“That’s the truth spoken by the voice that says, “You are my Beloved” [see Mark 1:9–11].
“Listening to that voice with great inner attentiveness, I hear at my center words that say:
“I have called you by name, from the very beginning.
“You are mine and I am yours...
“I have molded you in the depths of the earth
and knitted you together in your mother’s womb.
“I have carved you in the palms of my hands
and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace.
“I look at you with infinite tenderness
and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother for her child.
“I have counted every hair on your head and guided you at every step.
“Wherever you go, I go with you,
and wherever you rest, I keep watch.
“I will give you food that will satisfy all your hunger
and drink that will quench all your thirst.
“I will not hide my face from you.
“You know me as your own as I know you as my own.
“You belong to me.
“I am your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your lover, and your spouse . . .
yes, even your child . . .
wherever you are I will be.
“Nothing will ever separate us.
“We are one.”
[Henri J. M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World (New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1992), 30-31.]
During this Christmas season, we celebrate that Jesus has come among us to heal us
and to show us what a life looks like
that has been claimed by God
and that lives in attentive listening toward God….
a life that is lived knowing the fullness of God’s abiding love.
And we are called to be witnesses to that love.
In the letter to the Philippians we hear:
“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who
emptied himself…and…humbled himself
and became obedient....”
Let the same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus.
There are many in this world and in this community who do not experience a naming and claiming as anyone’s beloved.
Many years ago as part of a prison ministry I helped give rides to prisons in South Georgia so that family members and friends could visit their loved ones once a month.
One day we got a card from a man at a prison.
He wanted to thank us for bringing folks to the prison to visit.
He had no family or friends who came to visit him,
but he said that each month as he saw the church vans pull into the parking lot,
it filled him with hope.
He said that if someone cared enough to bring folks to visit,
maybe there were some good-hearted folks in the world.
That gave him hope and a little peace.
On the flip-side, another man in prison said to me,
“If no one cares about me,
why should I care about anyone else?”
Being named and claimed by someone who loves you:
that is a tremendous gift
and critical our well-being.
This is what evangelism is about…
naming and proclaiming God’s love for another human being –
whether or not you use the word “God.”
So, how do we take our own sense of being called by name and being claimed by God
and do the same for others?
A smile, a nod, and a simple “hello” go a long way
as we acknowledge someone else’s presence in the world.
Hearing someone’s need and responding to it
tells another that we see and hear and honor them.
Telling someone that we love them.
As this new calendar year begins,
let us consider, as individuals and as a community,
how we may proclaim God’s love and blessing and healing and peace
to the world around us.
As we receive blessing,
may we offer the same blessing to others as Moses was commanded so long ago:
“The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.”
Amen.
