Festival of the Holy Name
Sermon Notes January 2023
Desiree Snyman
Names
Depending on which website you consult, the most popular name worldwide is Mohammed for boys and Sophia and its variations for girls. In developed countries the most popular names are usually James and Mary. In Australia Charlotte was the most popular name for girls and Oliver for boys. In a previous church that I served in, the name Barbara was so widespread in the parish and the village there was a registered club for all women named Barbara. In South Africa the most popular girls’ name in 2021 was Precious. Precious is not an unusual name. African people place heavy meaning in names, which is why I was saddened to hear of child named “Mistake”. Happily, Mistake is not a common name. African names such as Mercy, Lucky, Goodness, Happiness, and Blessing are usual, this in itself leads to some difficulties. Psalm 23 says “Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”. Author Chris van Wyk thought this meant that his mother Shirley, together with Mercy and Goodness would be following him wherever he went in life.
As a woman priest there are obvious difficulties in employment that my male counterparts thriving in a patriarchal system would never experience. While being male might make my life easier, I thank God that I was born female, because my parents had decided to name a male child Heinrich-Lukkof after my paternal grandfather. African culture places heavy meaning in naming, as does Scripture.
Names in the Bible
In Genesis, Jacob the deceiver is renamed Israel meaning God is upright. Abram and Sarai become Abraham and Sarah. In the New Testament Saul becomes Paul after his mystical encounter.
The power of naming is at play in these early chapters of Luke’s Gospel. When John the Baptist is born there is controversy at his circumcision on the 8th day. The cultural expectation is that his parents Elizabeth and Zechariah would name him Zechariah after his father. Instead, they name him John following the instructions of the angel.
Luke 1.59: “On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. 60But his mother said, ‘No; he is to be called John.’ 61They said to her, ‘None of your relatives has this name.’ 62Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63He asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And all of them were amazed.”
Notice how the author of Luke’s Gospel uses the double as a literary device. Elizabeth and Mary are doubles, as are John and Jesus. Similar to John, Jesus is named before his birth.
Luke 2.21: 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”.
Jesus’ name
Jesus means God saves us. Jesus is not the only name given to this child swaddled in a manger. The shepherds go to Bethlehem after the angel has told them about the one who is born is “saviour” and “messiah”. Jesus. Emmanuel. Saviour. Messiah. Jesus is only 8 days old and already his list of names tells a story about his purpose, identity, his relationship with others and his relationship with God, his values, and his actions. On the 8th day Jesus is gifted with his name that describes his purpose as embodying God in the world - Emmanuel. His circumcision names Jesus’ cultural belonging and national identity, his Jewish lineage, and his connection to the prophets. These are not the only names Jesus will be called. Later, some will call him “Drunk”, “Glutton” and even “Beelzebub”.
Names are more than a label for people. Names are powerful, they are multi directional. Jesus’ name directs attention to Jesus’ presence and the name evokes the experience of Jesus’ presence too. In other words, praying the name Jesus or Christ brings his presence, his work in the world, his values, his essence into the present moment.
Our names
That is the point of a festival of the Holy Name – to consider, ponder and meditate on how a name directs identity, how we are in the world, and our purpose in life. So, what about you? What names do you carry? If Jesus is also Christ, Messiah, Counsellor, Saviour and according to his detractors “Beelzebub” – what are your names? Some of our names denote belonging, relationship, purpose, and essence, as with Jesus. In addition to Mohammed, Sophia, James, and Mary our names might be mother, father, sister, brother, friend, teacher, mentor, caregiver, divorcee, widow, worker, retiree or aunt or uncle. What is our true name, our true identity?
The language of Thomas Merton, Thomas Keating and Richard Rohr is helpful. We are not who we think you are. The self you take to work, to your hobbies, the self that worships, that socialises with friends is the separate self, the ego, the false self. The false self is not the bad self, it is just not the true self. The separate self, the ego, is a construction of the mind and consciousness in response to life experience and is often constructed as a way to survive. The ego, the false self, establishes its identity by adding more and more: more names, more things, more moral behaviour, more enlightenment and for some more wealth or more things. Deeper than the false self, the separate self, or the ego, is the True Self. The True Self is connected to Source, to God. It’s our true name, our true identity as God’s Beloved. In contrast to the separate self which is established by addition, adding more things to identity, the True Self is recovered through subtraction, through letting go, through surrender, not adding more and more.
Our true name
Our path to the True Self is modelled by Mary. In hearing all that is said about Jesus she ponders and treasures these things in her heart. Luke2.19: “19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” Treasuring and pondering in the heart is the descent into silence, experiencing and tasting God in pure emptiness.
1 January is naturally a time to reflect on the past year and reflect on who will be in the future. January is named after Janus, the two Romans mask that looks forwards and backwards at the same time. Look back on the year that was. Who or what are you grateful for? When or where did you feel close to God? When and where did you feel far away from God? Having looked back we look forward also. Who do we want to be in the year ahead. What goal might we have? On the feast day of the Holy Name its worth asking who is choosing your goals, the true self, or the false self?