January 2, 2019—Transferred Feast of Holy Name
Do you have a good nickname? What about growing
up? Did you have a name that only your family or close friends called you? I
marvel at how these names sometimes stick. Kim and I call (our son) Teddy by
many different, ridiculous names. For example, we started off calling him
bubby, but that quickly got shortened to bub, then it got lengthened to bubs,
and now I often call him the bub-i-nator! What about you? Do you have a
ridiculous name? Do you have nicknames for those closest to you? A What about a
profound name?
How about with God? What does God call you? By
what name does God call you?
There’s a hymn within the Alleluia III Hymnal entitled “I Will Change Your Name.” It is a
favorite within the Cursillo community of Alabama. The lyrics in that song
speak powerfully of conversion. Just take a listen:
“I will change your name.
You shall no longer be called
Wounded, outcast, lonely or afraid.
I will change your name.
Your new name shall be
Confidence, Joyfulness, Overcoming One,
Faithfulness, Friend of God, One who seeks My
Face.”
(D.J. Butler, 1987 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing)
Wow! In this song, God is committed to changing
our names. Instead of us calling ourselves wounded, outcast, lonely, or afraid;
God will change our names. But, why does this matter? Well, it matters because
what we call someone matters. And, more importantly what God calls us matters.
The Genesis 1 Creation Story tells us that when God speaks God creates. So,
what God calls you matters, which is why what God called His Incarnate Son
mattered too—and it’s why we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Name (transferred
to) today.
In Luke’s sharing of the Good News of the Christ,
we discover early on that God, the Father, is going to have an idle role in the
proceedings. Via angelic messengers God bends the ear and the heart of Mary.
She learns from Gabriel that she will bear God’s Son, and that this child will
be the Son of the Most High God. Additionally, she discovers that she shall
call him Jesus—and His Kingdom will have no end. But, what’s with this name?
Why does it matter? Couldn’t he have been called Billy Joe or Steve?
Often we forget that Jesus’ name was not really
Jesus. It was, but it wasn’t. Jesus is a Romanized version of a Hebrew name—the
name Joshua. Jesus’ name would have sounded like Joshua in His own day. What’s
so important about this? Well, Joshua means “God has saved” or “God will save.”
When Mary heard that she was to name her child Joshua she was learning that
through this child God would save humanity. I think it’s tough being a parent
to Teddy—I can’t imagine what Mary must have felt in that moment, but I
digress. Mary and Joseph naming their child Joshua might not seem like a big
deal now, but it was.
On the eighth day of his life Jesus/Joshua would
have been circumcised, as a marker that he was part of God’s People. Then, he
was given his name, which was both a way of giving him his identity, but also
for his parents it was a way of taking part in the creative act like God
speaking things into being in the creation stories of Genesis. God’s naming
Joshua/Jesus such was pointing to what this child from Nazareth came to show
us—that God saves. What about our own names? What do they show us?
You may not know what your name means. That’s
alright, you can always google it. My name in Hebrew means, “the chosen,” but
in Egyptian means, “the devil,” so it could be a mixed bag. Rather than getting
caught up in what you are named now, perhaps it’s time to ask God what your new
name might be—like what those song lyrics tell us. Through Jesus/Joshua of
Nazareth who was the Christ we know that we have been shown the pathway to
healing, wholeness, and salvation. God is calling us to walk that pathway of life.
From being wounded, outcast, lonely, or afraid
you are called to step into newness of life, as Christ transforms you. God is
calling you by a new name. You are Confidence, Joyfulness, Overcoming One,
Faithfulness, Friend of God, One who seeks God’s Face. In this New Year, trust
in the one who saves and ask God what your new name might be.
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