Your true name, loved by God - a sermon for Sunday 19th January 2025
Sunday, 19 January 2025 - The Second Sunday of Epiphany
Let the
words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my
rock and my redeemer.
The miracle
of turning water into wine is hugely significant in the life of Jesus, it is
the first miracle recorded in John’s Gospel. It is the third of three epiphanies,
beginning with the Magi’s Visit, Jesus’ Baptism and the wedding at Cana. Each
revealing something significant about who Jesus was.
The miracle in
Cana tells us a lot, [1]
Most of all,
that the wine produced is far in excess of what is needed, telling us that when
it comes to grace, forgiveness and love, they are also in excess, a love so extravagant,
abundant and overwhelming that we can only begin to comprehend a glimpse of
that love, if we can only open our hearts to accept that the creator of all
things, loves us unconditionally and we can never be separated from that love,
not by sin or guilt or shame, because that love is steadfast and true for
eternity.
Oddly, as I prepared to speak, I read an essay[2] based on this week’s readings which hardly mentioned wine and weddings, instead it skipped back to the passage we heard from Isaiah, it refers to a young man and a young woman marrying in verse five, and many people will read this and talk about Christ the groom and the church as bride, a traditional idea upon which the church was built.
Anyway, weddings,
wine and church, are not where I’m going with this.
Instead, the
essay had focussed on the verse in Isaiah which says,
“you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.”
I read this a day or two after I was asked, if you ever get chance, please talk in church about names and how we use them, or misuse them.
Well, I always
do what I’m told so here we are. Names, we are given our names by our families when
we are born and the birth is registered. When we are baptised, that name spoken
in the presence of God and the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was baptised, God named
him beloved, we know this because a voice from heaven
said, ‘You are my son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.’
When we are
baptised in the spirit, we too are named and beloved by God.
God knows our
names and calls us by name.
Names do
evolve over time and the name of Jesus is a good example. He was born Jewish, and
Hebrew or Aramaic were the languages spoken. Meaning that his true name would
have been Ye-ho-shua, shortened to Yesh-ua[3] or Joshua, then after
Jesus died, the New Testament was written in Greek, his name becoming I-e-(a)-sous
(-soos).
In the year
382 the first Latin bible was translated from Greek and his name became, Iesus in
Latin which became Jesu in English in the 12th century and Jesus in
the 17th century.
Which makes
me wonder how Jesus would feel knowing there are so many ways of saying his
name around the world, in fact, I found a page listing 113 different language
versions of Jesus name.[4]
Of course,
Jesus is very forgiving and knows we mean well when talking to him in prayer.
The act of
naming people, places and events to signify their essence recurs throughout the
Bible. On the very first pages of Genesis, Adam and Eve name the animals. Jacob
gave the place where he struggled with God a special name, Peniel,
"because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”[5]
When Sarah
banished Hagar to the loneliness of the desert, Hagar nonetheless named Yahweh
"the God who sees me," and in a play on words exclaimed, "I have
seen the One who sees me."
Re-naming
carries even greater significance. A new name signifies a new reality. Sarah
and the patriarchs received new names. Pharaoh renamed Joseph. Moses renamed Hoshea,
Joshua. God named Moses twice; Moses, Moses. King Cyrus renamed Daniel and his
three fellow exiles. Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter. After his
conversion, Saul took his Roman name Paul, as the apostle to the Gentiles.
In recent
times, when Jorge Mario Bergoglio became pope, he took the name Francis to
signify a new direction for the Catholic Church, the name Francis helped him in
guiding the church in a different way.
When people
get married, it’s possible to take a new name and the same applies at
confirmation and adoption. Of course, one can also change a name by deed poll.
Re-naming is
important, it marks a change in someone’s life, one chapter ending, a new one
beginning. A time to start again, or continue a story with new emphasis. Sometimes
it’s your title; Miss to Mrs, Dr, Rev’d, Father, or letters after your name
after receiving a qualification or award.
This train
of thought reminded me of a book I read many years ago called the wizard of Earthsea
by Ursula L Guin. In it, knowing the true name of a person or dragon (it is a
fantasy fiction book) gives power over them, so that sharing your true name is an
act of complete trust. The book chronicles, in part, a boy’s search for his
true name so that he can become a wizard.
Names and
words have power. A while back, I changed job several times over two or three
years.
Each time, I
had to introduce myself, and one or two places would ask, what are you known
as, or what’s your preferred name, which sounds obvious if it’s never been an
issue for you, but I would feel a huge sense of relief.
Because my
name is Andrew, but sometimes I get called Andy and when we lived in Wales it
would be And. Oddly, I didn’t mind being an, ‘And,’ even though I’m not a
sentence conjunction.
And while I would
defend anyone who wishes to be known as Andy, to be Andy. It would make me
inwardly flinch. I’m sure I was bullied when I was very young, thanks to a children’s
TV character with a similar name. It turns out it wasn’t funny, it just hurt.
In fact, being told to accept it or that sticks and stones may break your bones but names will never hurt you, wasn’t helpful. It was a lie (perhaps well meant), but using the wrong name hurts, or can hurt.
In work, I
get called Andy by suppliers trying to be friendly, little realising that for
me, it’s the opposite of friendly.
And if you’ve
called me that and I’ve not corrected you, please don’t worry, that’s on me for
not saying, I like to be known as Andrew, in fact, I used to have the words, ‘known
as Andrew,’ in brackets, in my email signature for a while.
I suppose this
is just a reminder that it might be appreciated to please check with someone
before shortening their name, or changing it for them, even if you think it’s a
friendly thing to do.
Or if
someone tells you they’ve changed their name, we respect that and honour it, we
don’t use the old name or shorten the new one.
This is even
more important when some people are trying to work out who they are and how
they fit into the world, so they change their name, or pronouns or their
gender, to become who they truly are in the eyes of God.
I don’t think God makes mistakes, sometimes this sort of change is part of the process which enables a person to truly be who they were called to be by God and discover their true name and true self.
I don’t
pretend to understand all that someone goes through when they feel their identity
is just wrong, but I would fully support and respect them and the work they are
doing, especially if it brings with it a sense of peace.
Calling
someone by their true name conveys a sense of intimacy with the divine. It
points to our deepest and most fundamental identity as children of God.
For us, baptism
is the church declaring what has always been true, that each of us belongs to
God and only to God. The child is now claimed by God above all other claims.[6][7]
This is very
true, but how do we then recover God’s claim on our selves if we change our name.
Well, the answer is in Jesus own baptism.
In his baptism,
Jesus received a new name — he was God's beloved son.
Perhaps God
is saying, you shall be called by a new name; “you are my beloved,”
God created
each one of us. He cares for us. And he calls us by a new name: "you are
my beloved."
Listen to
your life. God is calling you by name. Pay attention. Be still and know that He
is God.
Before Him, all hearts are open, all desires known, and from Him no secrets are
hidden.
Whoever you
are today, yesterday or tomorrow, God loves you extravagantly, abundantly and
without exception. God forgives all our missteps and mistakes and still loves
us, God knows your true name and you are called beloved and he is well pleased,
so much so, there is a party with an awful lot of wine. Amen.
Readings
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning torch.
2 The nations shall see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate;
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your builder marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.
Psalm 36.5–10
5 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens ♦︎
and your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness stands like the strong mountains,
your justice like the great deep; ♦︎
you, Lord, shall save both man and beast.
7 How precious is your loving mercy, O God! ♦︎
All mortal flesh shall take refuge
under the shadow of your wings.
8 They shall be satisfied with the abundance of your house; ♦︎
they shall drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the well of life ♦︎
and in your light shall we see light.
10 O continue your loving-kindness to those who know you ♦︎
and your righteousness to those who are true of heart.
John 2.1–11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ 4And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ 5His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ 6Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. 8He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. 9When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ 11Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
[1] that he is rather direct with his mother,
“woman, what concern is that to you and to me?” he says, but also how Jesus
obeys his mother, which is perhaps why we can sometimes ask Mary to help in our
prayers, because we know he listens to his mum.
[5] Children received symbolic names, like Ichabod
("the glory has departed"), and Isaiah's son Shear-jashub ("a
remnant shall return").
[6] Huffington Post about the baptism of
Jesus, Vicki Flippin of Yale Divinity School
[7] Well, while re-baptism isn’t allowed, we can reaffirm
our baptism, often done at Easter, and interestingly, well, to me it is, the
book published by the church called Christian Initiation which has all the
words for a baptism and confirmation, is the same book which contains what is
called Reconciliation and Restoration or Recovering Baptism, essentially,
confession, in old fashioned language.
Comments
Post a Comment