Christmas 2 Feast Of The Holy Name 2023

Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and blessed be God's family now and forever.

Amen.

Let's pray together.

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid.

Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray.

Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation.

Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of Him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.

Amen.

God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law.

So that we might receive a doctrine of the children.

And because you are children, God has sent the spirit of his son to our heart and crying Father.

Out of the mouths of infants and children, your majesty is raised above the heavens.

You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries to quell the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, you have set in their forces.

What are human beings that you should be mindful of them?

Mortals that you should seek them out.

You have made them but little lower than the angels.

You adorn them with glory and honor.

You give them mastery over the works of your hands.

You put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, even the wild beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatsoever walketh in the path.

The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up his confidence upon you and give you peace.

So they shall put their name on the Israelites, and I shall will bless them.

Hear what the Spirit says to God's people.

So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger.

When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying, and praising God for all they'd heard and seen as it had been told them.

After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child, and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

The gospel of the Lord.

And today is actually a feast day.

So it's not the second Sunday of Christmas.

Today is the feast of the holy name of Jesus.

So we get to do all three of these things.

And maybe it's worth just hearing a little bit about names and their significance biblically, because biblical names do something a little different than most of what we do traditionally with names.

The best analog I can give you is from a fantasy series called Aragon.

I don't know if any of you have read this series, but it's quite well written if you like fantasy.

And in one of the books, uh sort of it talks about the magic of the world, and it says that everything essentially has a true name, a true name, and if you know that true name, you can speak it and manipulate it.

And so even human beings have a true name.

Like my name is Mike, but I have a true name, and if I find it out, then I will know myself.

And if other people find it out, they can use it to manipulate me because that's the magic of the world.

Well, it turns out that was sort of how names work in Near Eastern religion.

If you knew the name of a deity, if you knew their true name, you could speak it and obligate them to do something for you.

So if you read near ancient Near Eastern literature, gods like Isis and Osiris and Baal and Marduk, they get tricked out of their names by humans, and then they can, people can use their name sort of like a spell.

So if I say the name correctly, the deity is obligated to do something.

It's different in the Bible, right?

God shows up to Moses on top of Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb, depending which uh book you're reading, Exodus or Deuteronomy, and God says, Here's my name.

And many of you know this name.

We've talked about it before.

This is that name that sounds much in Hebrew like a breath.

And you'll know the Bible's using it when you see capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D.

Like if you look at that prayer in the book of Numbers, you'll see it.

And um, it sounds like a breath, and I've told you this before in Hebrew, it's actually the verb to be in every possible permutation.

So past, future, present, and all the modals like would, could, should.

Now, this is God's name in the Hebrew Bible.

And it's not a name like God.

No, it's actually a personal name.

So much so, I've told you this before that in Hebrew uh it's considered so holy that it's not written and it's not pronounced.

People don't go around saying this name.

They don't.

Our Jewish brothers and sisters, anyway, do not to this day.

And if you've been to a synagogue, you'll know that uh they don't even touch paper on which the name is written because it's considered too holy to touch, and we will defile ourselves with the holiness of God's name.

So it's read, it's written on a scroll so that you can unwind it without touching the paper.

Well, this is the feast of the holy name, and many of us don't always realize that Jesus, that's an Aramaic word, is actually the same name in Hebrew as Joshua.

So there's this funny thing that we Anglos like to do.

We sometimes meet people from the Latinx community who are named Jesus, and we say, Well, that's disrespectful calling your kid Jesus, but we name our kids Joshua all the time.

And I just want you to hear as like the same thing.

And the word Joshua and the word Jesus are actually God's holy name, which you'll hear in the Yah part, and then the the verb salvation.

That's the Schwa part.

So in Hebrew you pronounce Joshua Yahshua, right?

And this is the holy name given to Jesus on the eighth day.

Yahshua, God saves.

Happens on the eighth day because then is now, Jewish boys are circumcised eight days after they're born.

Eight days.

Girls are uh named on the Sabbath closest to their birth, but boys, it's required to wait eight days.

And theoretically, the way names work is that during those eight days, you're kind of sizing a kid up and trying to figure out what their personality or what their gift is, and children are named according to their character, not according to like your great-great uncle.

So it's a little different from how we do it, right?

In in my family, we give names either that were family traditions or names of people that we knew and liked because they they they touched us, right?

In Hebrew, you name people based on their characters.

So consider you know a few of these folk.

Um David.

David in Hebrew means beloved.

And if you read the story, everybody loves him.

God loves him.

The Philistines love him, Saul's children love him.

He is beloved.

Now, how mom figured that out in the first eight days, I don't know.

Because if I was naming my kid, I probably would have named her Messi or uh takes my sleep away, right?

Like so.

So these are kinds of the things that happen.

But you'll see this out throughout the Hebrew Bible.

So when you see somebody's name, whether it's David or there's a guy in the story called Nabal.

Uh Nabal means fool in Hebrew, and once upon a time, David goes to Nabal and says, Hey, I need some supplies.

And Nabal says to the beloved, no, and only a fool says no to God's beloved, right?

So this is the name.

Now, what mom named their kid fool, I don't know.

But again, this is how names work in Hebrew.

So your name is meant to say the essence of who you are, and unlike regular tradition, Mary and Joseph don't observe the baby Jesus and give him a name.

They've already been given the name by an angel.

You're going to name him God saves, because that will be his character.

So the essence of Jesus is that God is saving.

But it's not just God.

Remember that the the word for God in Hebrew is the verb to be.

So another way to hear it is life.

Salvation of life, or existence itself can be saved.

I hope this makes sense.

So that's the name given to Jesus.

And um, I think it's really helpful to think about what salvation is because.

We all understand we have this sort of faith promise about what happens after we die, but if you'd like to have a concern about what Jesus' salvation looks like, well, he had a life.

And um, consider what salvation looked like for Jesus.

It was touching people that weren't allowed to be touched.

It was having women among your group of disciples along with men.

It was going to people who had what we would consider today probably like really, really difficult mental illnesses.

Spending time with them and loving them.

It was spending time with people of ill repute, like tax collectors and prostitutes.

This shows up quite a bit in the gospels, right?

This is who Jesus spends time with and enjoys spending time with.

So, of course, we understand that salvation happens after we die, but what we all too often forget is that salvation is about also how we live our lives.

And I've mentioned to you this before, one of my favorite definitions of salvation comes from Barbara Brown Taylor, who's an Episcopal priest.

And she says salvation happens anytime somebody with a key to a lock unlocks it when they just as well could have locked the door.

What that really means is we have power to either lock people up or to help set them free.

And the name of Jesus is God sets them free.

And the reason this is so important is that God has chosen to do that with us.

And so we wear the name Christian.

It means little Christ.

And we really bear the holy name of Jesus when we do the essence of what Jesus did.

We join God in saving people from their burdens, from their anxieties, from their worries, from their ostracisms.

We are invited to bear the holy name of Jesus by doing what God did then and continues to do now, especially in the small things.

But our invitation today, I mean, again, this is important to me because of the way my own spiritual path is to say, well, yes, and let's start joining God beginning the first day of our secular 2023, and unlocking doors that we just as well could lock.

And in that way, we bear the blessing of God's holy name, right?

This is what happens in Numbers.

You tell Aaron is supposed to bless the people, saying, May life be good to you.

May life be good to you.

May you be saved and delivered to a bigger version of life than you've settled into.

I don't know who needs salvation in your life.

I need some.

There's people in my immediate family that need some.

There's people in the room that need some.

And so here we're invited on the first day of this year to make God's holy name manifest in the way not only we pray and we worship, but in the way we treat other folk, especially when we don't want to, so that we can embody the holy name of Jesus in our own lives.

Please join me as we pray our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth.

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only son of God, eternally God, God and God, life and God, true God, true God, we are not almost through Him all the name of Hammer, we came down to heaven of the Holy Spirit, and we're saying that was there.

God of all mercy, we confess that we have sinned against you, opposing your will in our lives.

We have denied your goodness in each other, in ourselves, and in the world you have created.

We repent of the evil that enslaves us, the evil we have done, and the evil done on our behalf.

Forgive, restore, and strengthen us through our Savior Jesus Christ, that we may abide in your love and serve only your will.

Amen.

Almighty God, have mercy on you.

Forgive you all your sin through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life.

Amen.

Look at that.

God saved us once again.

We asked for it and we got it.

So now we stand in full assurance that God has saved us from the burdens we came in the room with.

So the peace of the Lord be always with you.

A few things I want to call to your attention, but first, it is the first Sunday of the month.

So if you were born in January, would you come up so that we can celebrate your birthday and offer you a blessing?

And while you're coming up, are practices to say our name, the day of our birth, and either where we were born, when we were born, or both of those.

Ellen Maston, born in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1939.

What date?

January 12th.

James Blaine, born in Beaumont, Texas, January 21st, 1945.

Sean Chelton, January 8th, 1984, Galveston, Texas.

And I'm celebrating my mother Dinah Stone, who was born January 30th, well, maybe I shouldn't tell you the year she's not here in Ohio.

So let's uh say a blessing for our birthdays, and then we'll sing to them.

So, God, we know that every year, every moment of our lives is firmly in your hands.

Look with continued favor, we pray on these, your children, as they begin another year.

Grant that they would continue to grow in wisdom and grace, and above all, strengthen their trust in your goodness and love all the days of their lives through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Okay, how about January anniversaries?

Are there any anniversaries we'd like to celebrate?

Okay, well, then let me roll right into the announcements.

So the first thing that you're staring at that's new is this Lord's table behind us, and we're going to speak to it, and we're also going to uh bless it today as well.

So um the same artisan built this as built the shell font.

That's Jeremy Grubb, who works out of uh Alvin, Texas.

And um Jeremy uh built this as a memorial.

We had a few long-term parishioners who gave this in memorial, and um you can see the design of it.

It's really two shells, one facing forward and one facing the back.

Um if you didn't know that, that's what it is.

And the reason that we have shells is, of course, not just because we're on the lake and because we have one on the font, but the shell is this old symbol, it comes from the second oldest Christian pilgrimage route in the world, the Santiago de Compostela, that goes from France to Spain.

In fact, Lisa walked it as well, and Lisa carried a shell the whole way.

And um, since the fourth century, Christians have been walking this, and they go not only to Santiago, but they go on to the coast of Spain, because at the time people thought the world was flat, and they considered Spain to be the edge of the world.

Like if you kept going, you'd fall off.

So when pilgrims went on this from all over, from Germany, France, further east, they brought back a scallop shell with them.

Again, Lisa carried one with her, right?

They brought a scallop shell from the edge of the world.

And they brought it back to their priest and said, Hey, this comes from the edge of the world.

You should do something with this.

And um, clergy started to use these shells to baptize with.

It's a shell from the edge of the world.

So we've got a shell.

And I don't know if you know this, we also have a little silver shell that we use as a baptismal scoop, and that shell literally left the world in a space shuttle.

And as I've mentioned to you, our patent left the world in a space shuttle as well.

Charlie Bolden took that up.

So here we come to this Lord's table, which we also call an altar, because it does both things, and we recognize that what happens here is out of this world.

So this is the design that you're looking at.

It is meant to take us beyond the boundaries of our world into God's wonders of grace.

And so I'd like to read a poem to you that I've posted.

This is by Nina Hart, and then a prayer of dedication.

An altar is a place where we can lay our wounds and conflicts and our questions and our scars, giving them to God or the Holy Spirit, or even just a little part of our pea brain that is our wisdom lobe that knows what to do but hasn't kicked in yet.

An altar is a place where we lay down our swords and our shields and we ask for guidance.

An altar is a visual installation dedicated to whatever we consider to be holy.

An altar is a reminder to the mind to join with the heart.

And again, that's a poem by Nina Hart.

So now to bless our Lord's table.

Lord God, we ask you to sanctify this table that is dedicated to you.

Let it be a place of heavenly nourishment for those who seek to journey beyond the bounds of our known world and into the mystery of your grace and holy imagination.

May it be a place where burdens, regrets, anxieties, and fears can be sacrificed to your loving care, so that all who would approach you might receive the consolation of your grace.

And may it beckon us to serve you, to serve one another, and be made aware of your communion of saints in heaven and on earth.

Amen.

I hope you will take time to interact with the table, because by design, every time you move an inch or two laterally, the light does something different.

So today it's unadorned, because you need to see it.

It will often be unadorned, but don't worry, we'll continue using funnels seasonally, uh, and we're going to uh we're gonna figure it out.

I guarantee you you've never seen one like it, and you won't again, because the artisan said, I'm never doing something like that again.

So there we are.

Okay, uh, a few more announcements about what is to come up.

Oh, by the way, I am trying to put a slideshow.

I have about 120 pictures of this being made in progress, and so I'm trying to get that loaded into the e-news in a way that we can look because it's it's pretty darn impressive to see how you build that on a solid mahogany.

Okay, a couple things coming up.

Um, of course, the men's Bible study is still meeting this Tuesday from um 7 to 8 in the morning here in Christ Hall.

You can just walk in for that, and it truly is a lovely way to start the day.

Um, this coming Saturday is our next fresh food distribution with the food bank, and that'll be right out here in the parking lot from 7:45.

And lately we've been done at about 9.30.

That's usually when we've given all the food out.

You don't have to sign up for that either, but it is truly a great way to start the new year uh serving people who, gosh, groceries went up 30% last year.

So we're seeing people who live in this neighborhood drive through.

I mean, the need is the need is real.

So uh that's this coming Saturday.

I want to remind you that uh next Sunday we're starting one of two really important meetings between services to discuss where we are with the pipe organ.

So um the reason we're having this meeting is because um installation of the pipe organ has exceeded what we've pledged in our capital funds drive.

So we need to talk about um why we need an organ, and we do.

The digital organ we have is is literally in hospice, right?

So we've got to do something to support our music program, and we would love to see this thing get installed, and that's what we want to have this meeting to talk about what the costs are, what the opportunities are, and what the one, frankly, alternative is.

So we're going to have a fax meeting next Sunday between services.

Uh that will be recorded.

It will also have a Zoom access so you can watch it from home.

And of course, we'll be live and in person.

This is an opportunity to hear all the facts.

Then, two weeks later, on the 22nd, we're skipping MLK weekend because we want to make sure this is accessible.

We'll have a feelings meeting.

And during the feelings meeting, this is where we'll say, based on the facts, here's what I think we ought to do, or here's our opportunities, or here's what I'm worried about, etc.

And then at the 29th, we'll have our annual meeting, and we will vote on what we want to do with our pipe organ.

Okay, so that's the trajectory, and I've mentioned this before.

This is so important, and we believe in democracy, that I would like to say that if you do not attend these meetings or watch the recording, I'd rather you didn't vote.

Because that just doesn't seem fair, right?

So please make this a priority because it's a huge opportunity for us one way or another.

And again, the first meeting will be next week between services.

The last thing, the last two things I want to lift up to you are uh to go ahead and think about it now.

A week from this Wednesday is January the 11th, and um Stuart Federal, rabbi over at the Congregation Har Shalom off El Camino, is offering us a tour of the synagogue.

So we'll go in and he'll answer any questions you have about Judaism in general, but he'll also show us what's in their worship space, how they use it, and what it means to them.

I can't film that very well, but this is a lovely opportunity.

And you'll see this in the e-news.

Um, we'll meet over there, although if you'd like to carpool together, that's always encouraged, and we can meet here.

But we'll meet from 6 to 7:30 over at Har Shalom, and I have the address as well.

And if this is of any interest to you, I'll hope I hope you'll take the opportunity to do it because here is somebody letting us into their spiritual home in a lovely way.

I mean, truly.

And you'll see down the road, we'll also be visiting the Coptic Church and uh the Islamic Center at least, and hopefully another one or two, because our job in an increasingly global world is to understand respectfully how other people, what their spirituality and what their worship looks like.

The last thing I'd like to uh offer to you is that we have some poinsettias, and they were really lovely.

And if you would take one home, that would be great, or take five, and they make really great gifts to your neighbor.

Like, hey, uh, I don't know how you're starting the new year, but I brought you this poinsettia, and I hope you enjoy it.

The alternative is we don't do anything with them, and it'd be a shame to not use them.

So this is a great way to be a good neighbor and say, hey, my church had these, and I hope you'll enjoy them.

So please take as many as not you'd like, as many as you can, and let's put them to good use.

Please leave the baskets, take the plants.

Walk in love.

As Christ first loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God.

All things come of the O Lord.

This is the table not of the church, but of Jesus Christ.

It is made ready for those who love him and those who want to love him more, so come.

You who have much faith and you who have little.

You who have been here often and you who have not been for a long time or ever before.

You who have tried to follow and you who have failed, come.

Not because the church invites you, it is Christ, invites you to meet him here.

I put the wrong Eucharistic prayer in your bulletin.

So I'm going to invite you to join me on page 372 of your red prayer book.

This is the oldest of our Eucharistic prayers, and I like to use it during Christmas and Easter tide because it is the oldest, it is also the longest one, sorry.

We're on page three hundred and seventy two.

Be with you and also let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to glorify.

It is truly right to glorify you, Father, and to who give you thanks.

For you alone are God, living and true, dwelling in light inaccessible from before time forever, fountain of life and source of all whole goodness.

You made all things and filled them with your whole blessing.

You created them to rejoice in the splendor of your radiance.

Countless throngs of angels stand before you to serve you who night and day, and beholding the glory of your presence, they offer you who unsee he sing praise, joining with them and giving voice to every creature under her heaven, then we acclaim you and glorify your name as we sing.

You formed us in your own image, giving the whole world into our stewardship, so that in obedience to you, our Creator, we might shepherd and serve all your creatures.

When our disobedience took us far from you, you did not abandon us to the power of death.

In your mercy you came to our help so that in seeking you we might find you.

Again and again, you called us into covenant with you, and through the prophets, you taught us to hope for salvation.

Father, you love the world so much that in the fullness of time you sent your only Son to be our Savior.

Incarnate by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, he lived as one of us, yet without sin.

To the poor he proclaimed the good news of salvation, to the prisoners freedom, to the sorrowful joy.

To fulfill your purpose, he gave himself up to death, and rising from the grave destroyed death and made the whole creation new.

And that we might live no longer for ourselves, but for the one who died and rose for us, God sent the Holy Spirit, God's own first gift for those who believe to complete Jesus' work in the world and bring to fulfillment the sanctification of all.

When the hour had come for him to be glorified by you, his heavenly Father, having loved his own who were in the world, Jesus loved them to the end.

At supper with them he took bread.

And when he given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, Take, eat.

This is my body which is given for you.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and said, Drink this, all of you.

This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for all for the forgiveness of sin.

Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.

Father, we now celebrate this memorial of our redemption, recalling Christ's death and his descent among the dead, proclaiming his resurrection and ascension to your right hand, awaiting his coming in glory, and offering to you from the gifts you've given us this bread and this cup.

We praise you and we bless you.

We praise you, we bless you, we give thanks to you, and we pray to you, Lord our God.

Lord, we pray that in your goodness and mercy your Holy Spirit may descend upon us and upon these gifts, sanctifying them and showing them to be holy gifts for your holy people, the bread of life and cup of salvation, the body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ.

Grant that all who share this bread and this cup may become one body and one spirit, a living sacrifice in Christ to the praise of your name.

Remember, Lord, your one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, redeemed by the love of your Christ.

Reveal its unity, guard its faith, and preserve it in peace.

Remember Michael, our presiding bishop, Andy, Hector, Kay, and Jeff, our bishops.

Mike, Craig, and Jim, our priests, and all who minister in your church.

Remember all your people and those who seek your truth, the congregations invited to name their prayers and petitions silently or aloud.

Remember all who have died in the peace of Christ, and those whose faith is known to you alone.

Bring them into the place of eternal joy and light, and grant that we might find our inheritance with Thomas and all the saints who have found favor with you in ages past and present.

We praise you in union with them and give you glory through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Through Christ and with Christ and in Christ, all honor and glory are yours, Almighty God and Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.

Amen.

And now, as our Savior Christ hath taught us, we are bold to pray, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

Therefore, let us keep the feast.

We thank you for feeding us with this bread.

May it strengthen us that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may embody your desire and be renewed for your service through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Amen.

Depart in peace and take with you the certain knowledge that God is always coming into the world.

We will seek God not in a long-ago stable or ancient manger, but in the people we meet in the depths of our own hearts.

May the blessing of Christmas make you a blessing to others.

May the peace of the season pervade all that you do.

We will welcome the challenge of discipleship.

We will offer ourselves as God's ministers.

We will go forth in hope, peace, joy, and love, and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be upon you this day and remain with you forever.

Amen.