The Boy with a Name: A New Year's Eve Sermon

This is the sermon I preached on New Year's Eve. We didn't get a recording of it and I thought it might be of benefit to others to hear/read, so I've decided to print it here. God bless you in 2017!

Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

The gospel reading appointed for New Year’s Day in our lectionary stands out for one reason.  It’s only one verse long.  Tonight, I wanted to have the Gospel reading for New Year’s Eve read in the service, but I wanted to preach on that shortest of readings in our lectionary.  

From Luke 2:21l;  And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.  That’s it.  That’s the whole reading.

And the verse doesn’t contain a whole lot of action or information either.  And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

According to the Law of Moses, it was necessary for Jesus to be circumcised on the 8th day, and so He was.  Mary and Joseph, being devout in their faith, took Jesus to the temple to be circumcised.  And in accordance with His circumcision, Jesus also officially receives His name.

Interestingly, the naming of the male child at the circumcision on the 8th day is a custom that has continued in the Christian baptismal rite, which is why there is a part in the baptismal rite when the pastor asks the parents, “How is this child to be named?”

It’s not that the pastor doesn’t know what the child’s name is, (it’s printed in the bulletin so he doesn’t forget!), but the naming of the child is important.  The parents have chosen the name for a reason. They have put a lot of thought into the naming of the child, and now, the child with the name chosen by their parents is about to receive a new identity through baptism.  Because the very next part of the service, after asking “How is this child to be named?” is the baptism itself.  The Child’s name is spoken followed by the words, “I Baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

In a prayer that follows the Baptism, the significance of being baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is beautifully described. The first sentence points both to the new identity and to the new reality that it signifies; Listen to that prayer:

Almighty and most merciful God and Father, we thank and praise You that You graciously enlarge Your family and have granted (name) the new birth in Holy Baptism and made him/her a member of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and an heir of Your heavenly kingdom.

Do you hear the words that emphasize the new identity: Father, family, member, heir?

The first emphasis is that we can now call God our Father.  Through baptism, we are made children of God and He is our dear Father. As baptized children of God, we have a heavenly Father, even if our earthly father chooses not to claim us.  As baptized children of God, we can approach our heavenly father boldly in prayer, asking for those things that are good for us and confident, that just as a good earthly father would, our Heavenly Father will give us those things that are good for us.  With our new identity, we can know the comfort that even if we’ve been like the prodigal son, even if we’ve run away from God, when we return in repentance, he welcomes us and greets us with open arms.

The second emphasis is that our new family is the Church--fellow believers scattered throughout the world in every age. Even if our earthly families are terribly broken, as many of them are, our fellow baptized will stand with us. By virtue of their own baptisms, they're obligated to do just that. 

You may have heard the phrase, “blood is thicker than water,” but the truth is, baptismal water is thicker even than blood relations.  

Finally, in Holy Baptism we are made members of God's only Son, Jesus Christ and heirs of salvation. All that is Christ’s becomes ours, for in this Baptism we die and rise with Him as Romans 6 tells us. 

The result is that we are heirs of the kingdom of heaven itself. 

In baptism God has placed His name upon you.  You might remember in the movie Toy Story, how the little boy Andy wrote his name of his favorite toys, and this became a badge of honor among all the toys.  God has baptized you into His name.  You are His, a precious possession.  And He isn’t ashamed for everyone to know that you belong to Him.  Isaiah wrote that God has also written your name on the palm of His hand.  He chose you before the creation of the world and called you by name.  You are His.

And the reason that we can receive the gifts that are delivered through baptism, the reason that we can call God Father, call the church our family, be made members of God’s only Son, and an heir of God’s Kingdom, is because of the boy with a name;  the Christ child, Jesus.

What happens in this text is all about Jesus doing what was necessary to live up to His name.  He was doing what was necessary to take our place under the law.  The name Jesus means Savior, and for Him to be our savior, He had to perfectly keep the law of God, which we could not keep, and He does so in our place.  Him being circumcised wasn’t for His good, but for ours.

Jesus passes his perfection on to us through baptism, He gives us His good name.

Not too long ago, I read a biography of Cesar Augustus.  You probably know him best from the Christmas account from Luke 2 as the guy who ordered that a census should be taken.  But long before he became the first emperor of Rome, he was a nobody.  He was born into a fairly well to do family, but many others were born into the same social class and aren’t remembered at all.  However, through a series of events, he got to know and became a favorite of Julius Caesar, who was the ruler of Rome and just so happened to be the great-uncle of Augustus.  

Things were looking good for Augustus.  He was moving up the military ranks and was becoming a favorite of the most powerful man in the world.  And then his world was rocked.  On March 15th, the Ides of March, Julius Caesar was assassinated.  This was devastating news for the young Augustus.

But soon after the death of Julius Caesar, his great uncle, Augustus received an extraordinary piece of news; in his will Caesar had adopted Augustus as His son.  Though Julius Caesar was dead, the adoption was permissible under Roman law.   The author of the book, Anthony Everitt, writes, The adoption was a personal, not a political, act.  However, Caesar was handing Augustus a priceless weapon: his name and his clientela, all those hundreds of thousands of soldiers and citizens who were in his debt.

By handing Augustus his name, by placing his name upon Augustus, Caesar was handing him an opportunity.  Obviously Augustus made well on that, otherwise he wouldn’t have become the emperor of Rome.

As we prepare to enter into a new year and make plans for the things we would like to do in the new year, and as we reflect back on the previous year, both the good times and those things that bring us shame, remember this; Our Lord Jesus Christ has placed His name upon you through baptism.  He has brought you into His kingdom and made you an heir.  And as you enter the new year, you do so with His name upon you, with His favor for you, and with His inheritance as your own, all because of what Jesus had done for you.

The boy with a name, Jesus, has lived up to that name and passed on to you the benefits of His good name; the benefits being that God is now our Father, the church our family, we are joined with Christ, and we are heirs of salvation.  Don’t forget the good name that is yours through your baptism.