Thoughts going in, Sunday Jan 1st

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. 21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

As we mark time in our secular lives, January 1st marks the start of a new year; new beginnings, new possibilities, etc. On the church's calendar, however, it's been the "new year" since the first Sunday of Advent. January 1st has a completely different role--marking the 8th day since the birth of Christ.

Of course it's all relative. Most people know that it's extremely unlikely that Jesus was really born on December 25th--hence also the unlikelihood that he was really circumcised and named on January 1st. All of this is a little bit beside the point, given that the Church merely uses these days/dates to commemorate events she knows to be true. Bottom line: regardless of the exact date, Jesus **was circumcised and named; it was in accordance with Torah; and it did happen on the 8th day, whenever that was.

And so we refer to the day as the festival of the Holy Name. As such it's hooked to a particular calendar day, Jan 1st, and so it's a matter of how the cookie crumbled that this year January 1st happens to be a Sunday. Yet, since it has, this Sunday we will turn our attention to the key phrase of the passage: he was NAMED JESUS, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

WHAT'S IN A NAME? This rhetorical question is posed by Juliet in Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet." She goes on to say "that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet;" Juliet's point seems to be that what really matters is what something IS, not what it's called. After all, Romeo bore the name "Montague".... a name accursed by Juliet's Capulet family. Yet, Juliet did not hold Romeo's name against him; indeed, Juliet saw that Romeo was something other than his name.

So what.... well, in a way this illustrates the REVERSE of Jesus' name and its importance. Because while Juliet may dismiss Romeo's name as not being crucial to WHO HE IS as a person, the Bible takes the exact opposite approach to the name of Jesus.

In Luke 1 the angel Gabriel said to Mary: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Put another way, the angel said the child must be called Jesus (Yeshua, meaning The Lord Saves) precisely because he is the Son of the Most High, and the Most High SAVES; precisely because he will sit on the throne of David, and the one who sits on that throne SAVES. And he will reign forever, and his kingdom will have no end, precisely because THERE WILL BE NO END TO HIS SAVING WORK.

In other words, the answer to the question "what's in a name" when asked regarding JESUS..... is....EVERYTHING!

cheers,

TM

Thoughts going in, Sunday Dec 11th

John 1: 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 19 Now this was John's testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Messiah." 21 They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." 22 Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself ?" 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' " 24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" 26 "I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie." 28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

This Sunday marks the THIRD week in our Advent journey, and there are some fairly neat things going on this week. First, while some may find it a little confusing, I want to mention that the gospel reading we have for this week includes portions of the HISTORIC gospel of the day. What I mean is, for several hundred years the church was on a 1-year series of readings, but since the 1960s we've been on a 3-year series. It's generally thought that the 3-year series is superior because it allows for more of the Bible to be read in the worship services of the church. Regardless, the gospel for the old 1-year series for the 3rd Sunday of Advent was John 1:19-23...and in year B of the 3-year series (our present year) the gospel selection is quite similar.

Ok, great. What else? Well, since the gospel reading is about the same, it's interesting to look back at some of those themes and markers that were present in the old 1-year series. For instance, the collect of the day: Incline thine ear to our prayers we beseech thee, O Lord; and enlighten the darkness of our minds by the grace of thy visitation. Who livest, etc. Concerning the historic collects of Advent, the 3rd week's was the only departure from the "stir up" collects.

Ok, again, great... what else? Well, this is also "pink candle" Sunday. The kids are usually pretty quick to notice that one of the candles in the Advent wreath is a different color from the rest. Pink. Why pink? Well, it makes the day stand out among the rest. It was called Gaudete Sunday--again, from the old series--because the introit of the day was taken from Philippians where St. Paul begins: Gaudete in Domino semper...or in the English REJOICE in the Lord always. So, Gaudete Sunday was REJOICE SUNDAY. Why rejoice? Because the somewhat penitential season of Advent is now HALF OVER. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. We're almost there.

But to build on this a little... it's not a "rejoice because this unpleasant experience is almost over" sort of thing. It is rather a matter of rejoicing over our present circumstance as well.

Back to the gospel reading, John makes an interesting statement in vss 26-27. He says: I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. Let that one percolate in your mind for a bit. According to the scene in this gospel, John the Baptist is addressing a whole group of people; Jesus is among them right now; this very day, but they don't realize it and they don't recognize him for who he is. Enlighten the darkness of our minds...the old collect says.

It's a sad fact of our sinful state that the Lord could be standing right in front of us and we'd miss him because our minds are so darkened with other stuff that we either don't care or just aren't looking for him. Thankfully God has not left us helpless. The original forerunner, John the Baptist, was sent... in the spirit of Elijah & Isaiah and all the prophets of old. And today we have God's word which is "living and powerful, sharper than any 2-edged sword" to point the way for us.

This Advent may we be reminded to LOOK FOR CHRIST in all of the areas he's told us he can be found: among the poor and needy; with children; with the sick and dying; in the Divine Service, the worship life of the Church; in his Word the Bible, and in the holy sacraments. HE'S THERE among us, just as he was standing there among the crowd that day on the banks of the Jordan. And let us REJOICE at the fact that 2000 years has already gone by, the end of all things is closer now than ever. He could return today! REJOICE!

Cheers,

TM