1st Sunday of Christmas: The Holy Name of Jesus, January 1, 2023: Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7 or Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 2:15-21; Psalm 8
Names are important. Names mark us as members of communities large and small. Parents think hard about the names they give their children: do they carry a family name? Or that of a friend? We may have a family nickname, or one among our friends. Lovers often have private names for eachother. The stories behind our names, public and private, are stories of our communities.
Today’s reading from the book of Numbers raises the question: why and how do names matter? First the Lord gives Moses the words of a blessing that frequently closes a service: “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.” But then he says, “So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” The Israelites now carry the Lord’s name, and it carries a blessing.
There are more names. The Psalmist starts by addressing the Lord: “Oh Lord our Governor, how exalted is your Name in all the world!” We have two choices of Epistle: in Galatians, Paul tells us that because we are adopted as children of God, we now address him by a new name, “Abba, Father”. In Philippians, Paul tells us that God gave Jesus his name, one to which “every knee should bend”.
The Gospel begins with the familiar story of the shepherds visiting Mary and Joseph and the baby, as well as whoever else is there. They tell those they see at the manger about the message of the angels: clearly there are others present, because Mary and Joseph already know that this baby is special!
After eight days, Luke tells us, they hold a bris. At a bris, held on the eighth day of a Jewish boy’s life, he is circumcised and given his name. And so Jesus is given his name, the name Mary and Joseph had been told to give him. But a bris is not a private event, but a communal one: these days there is often a big party, but at the time of Jesus birth, one would expect neighbors to be there as witnesses and helpers. They need to know the baby’s name.
Names, both what we are called and what we call others, mark our places in the world. So did Jesus’ name. The shepherds, along with the ritual circumcision, remind us that Jesus was born into a community, even if it was a temporary one created by an order from the emperor. Through baptism, Paul reminds us, we become part not just of a community, but a family.
From time to time, you can read a story of someone who as a result of illness or injury cannot remember their name. The effort to find out their name is a reminder that names create connections. Like Jesus, from the moment we are named, we are part of a community. Thanks be to God.