September 29, 2024 – The Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Zane Scarlett
I suspect that if we were to look at your birth certificate, we would see a name. This means that your name was given to you at the time of your birth, or very shortly afterward. That is the custom in our culture. Perhaps your name was even selected for you before your birth. Some prospective parents agonize greatly over what to name the new child, because it is literally a life changing, or life defining, decision. I recently heard of a study that has found that as we grow, our name influences our personality, that our personality grows into our name.
That is the way OUR culture names us. But other cultures do it differently. For instance, in some Native American cultures a child is not given a name at birth. A name is chosen later; after the child’s personality develops, or there is a significant event that defines the child. Therefore, names like Bright Cloud or Stands With Bear describe the person. And a person’s name may change if something more significant and more defining occurs during the person’s life.
In Vacation Bible School this summer, we explored the many different names of Jesus. He was given the name Joshua at birth. A very common Hebrew name. In the culture of the time, his full name would have been Joshua Bar Joseph. It was changed to the Greek, Jesus, when the Gentiles got acquainted with him. He was called Rabbi by his followers, Messiah and Holy One of God by those who came to believe. It was found that the prophet Isaiah had spoken of a future king who would be called Emmanuel, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace. And these names were given to Jesus when it was determined that he was the king that Isaiah spoke of. Many names were given to Jesus after it was discovered who and what he was. But true to his birth name, he remained one of the common people. He was able to touch and connect with the common people because he was one of them. Because he is one of us.
Today’s Gospel is a part of the story that began at least last week. In our Lectionary, we are given little bite-sized parts of the whole so that we can chew on them, taste them for their flavor, and then digest them a little bit at a time. But we can lose the flavor of the whole when we only taste it bit by bit. So to back up a ways, after Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus feels that now is time to start teaching the disciples about his mission. Jesus begins telling his disciples that they are going to Jerusalem where he will be killed and rise again. But the disciples think that they know what being the Messiah means, so what they hear is that they are going to Jerusalem and there will be a revolution that Jesus will lead and there will be independence from the Romans and Jesus will establish the new kingdom of Israel. So as they are all walking toward Jerusalem and Jesus says he will be killed there, the disciples are arguing about which of them will have the best position in the new kingdom. Like us, they are talking when they should be listening. Like us, they are thinking about their own concerns and making plans for a future and how they can turn it to their own advantage. When they get to a resting place, Jesus asks what they were arguing about. He tells them that he has been trying to teach them about servanthood. He has been trying to teach them about loving each other. If you love others, your concerns should be for them. If you love another you do for another, not for yourself. Jesus tells them again that he is a servant, that he is love. That is the TRUE name of Jesus. Love has been the true name of Jesus since before the beginning of time. Love is the name of Jesus since before the beginning of time. This is a concept that my finite little brain cannot comprehend, and I know more about this story than the disciples did. I have seen what happens later. The disciples are dumbstruck. So Jesus takes a child in his arms and says that whoever accepts this weak, helpless, dependent creature in his name accepts God. Accepts in his name. In other words, protects and takes care of this one that can’t take care of itself. Become a servant to the needs of others. And this is done in love; in the name of Jesus.
So in today’s Gospel, Jesus is still sitting there with this child in his arms and John is completely bewildered. What can this child have to do with establishing a new kingdom. He doesn’t know what to say, but John hears the phrase “in my name” and it stirs a memory. He tells Jesus that they had encountered a man casting out demons in Jesus’ name, and they had made him stop because he was not a part of their group. I can imagine Jesus holding out the child for emphasis as he patiently tries to get John and the others to understand. Whoever does an act of love is not against him because he IS love.
The disciples, like us, still have a view of the world that pits one against another. If one side wins, the other side loses. John sees their group against everyone else who is not in their group. The disciples still see an earthly kingdom where there is a hierarchy of importance, some at the top means that some are at the bottom and are less worthy. But Jesus’ goal is to bring us all together in a kingdom where ALL are of worth. Jesus says that this child is just as important as anyone else in his kingdom. Those who are not against us are for us in the kingdom of love. And anyone who gives you a cup of water out of love is a part of the kingdom. Never turn that person away. Never forbid an act of love.
Jesus goes on to say that if anything gets in the way of this love, if anything causes your relationship to deteriorate, get away from it. No matter how precious it is. In fact, the more precious it is the more likely it is to come between you and God. In exaggeration for effect, Jesus says even if it is as precious as your own body. Get it out of your life. The only true life is that life in Jesus’ name. The only lasting kingdom is the kingdom of love.
The disciples continued in their confusion. It was not until they saw what happened next that they began to understand. When they came to an understanding, they became servants. Or perhaps – just maybe – when they began to act as servants, they came to understand. If we act more as servants, if we seek to serve the love of God to others, WE may come to a deeper understanding of the kingdom that has Jesus as king.
Many of us pray in the name of Jesus or with other similar words. In today’s Epistle, James tells us that when we are sad, we should pray. When we are happy, we should pray. When we are sick, we should pray. And we should pray for one another, because that is what love does. Praying in the name of Jesus is praying in the name of love. If we pray that with our heart, we will find it difficult to turn another away who needs our protection and help. If we pray with Jesus’ name in our heart, we can become the servant. We can take on a new name that matches our personality. A name that Jesus gave to us before our birth.