Naming of Jesus/New Year's

*Preached at Grace North Church by John R. Mabry on December 29, 2002.*

My best friend in high school was a gangly, creative soul named Bob. Bob and I and a couple of other friends had a little film production company called The Four of Us Films, and we made a number of them. They were Super8 films with awkward soundtracks, as we were always bumping up against the limits of the primitive technology we had to work with. Oh, for a digital camera and some iMovie software back then!

Bob was determined to make it as a film director, so not long after we graduated from high school, he announced he was going to move south to attend Cal-Arts, one of the finest film schools on the west coast. This surprised none of us, but he had another announcement that puzzled us. He had also decided that he was going to change his name. Henceforth we were to call him BJ instead of Bob. He expected all of us to simply never mention "Bob" again. After all, "Bob" in his mind was the awkward high school student who had dubious luck with the ladies and whom nobody really took seriously as an artist.

BJ, however, was going to be a successful filmmaker, settle down with a really hot wife, and was going to wow every loser that ever picked on him in high school. It was a total self-makeover, and it all began with a name.

We were all a little shocked. It's not easy to suddenly call someone something else, especially if you have known them for some time. One of my friends stubbornly refused. This upset BJ, but he took it in stride, and continued to insist on his new name. I tried my best. Every now and then, "Bob" would pop out, and Beej would cringe. But he knew I was trying. And before long, BJ was simply BJ. Bob was just another person that I knew long ago.

I thought a lot about Bob and BJ this week, as I contemplated the Feast of the Naming of Jesus. Shakespeare tells us that "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet," and that is true, but would we think as kindly of a rose if it were called "Bludgeonroot Flower" or something equally grotesque? I think it might color our perception somewhat. Names ARE important, even if we insist otherwise.

In ancient times, people were even more convinced of the power of a name. In many cultures, if you knew something's name, you had power over that thing or person. In some Native American tribes, one had a popular name and a secret name, known only to you and the shaman. No one was to know your secret name, except perhaps your spouse; therefore you would be safe from any magical harm.

Names are more important to us than we realize, even today. They determine how we think about ourselves, and how other people think of us as well. The stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, the labels and names we choose actually shape our perceptions, and therefore our reality. They become self-fulfilling prophecies, and so we would do well to choose our labels carefully.

The power of names was not lost on the ancient Hebrews. In our first reading this morning, we see a very important shift happen in the life of the patriarch at the heart of the three chief religions in the west. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all trace their religious heritage to one man, Abram. The word "Abram" in Hebrew means "high father." Now this had to be a very painful name for poor Abram, as he had reached old age and was childless. The "high father" was father of no one, and his name seemed to be a cruel joke. Not as cruel as those the Hogg family who named their girls "Ima" and "Ura", but still painful nonetheless.

So imagine poor Abram's dismay when this strange God he had decided to trust informs him that he must change his name from "Abram," "high father," to "Abraham," which means "father of multitudes," or "father of millions." Talk about adding insult to injury! I can only imagine him saying, "Gee, God, think you could kick me while I'm down?"

But apparently it was important to God that Abram's name be changed; Abraham probably didn't like it, but he went along with it. He had faith, which is probably more than I would have done in his shoes, and the prophesy, whether self-fulfilling or not, came true. Abraham is indeed the father of millions, and through the ages, millions of millions. How could he possibly have foreseen it? How could be possibly have known. He didn't, of course. He just trusted, and went ahead and painted a new name on the mailbox.

This Sunday of the year, we celebrate another significant naming. Originally a pagan Roman festival, I was not able to turn up its original name. But like so many pagan festivals, it was "Christianized" when Rome adopted Christianity as its main religion. It was first celebrated as a Christian feast in the fifth century, and held on February 2, forty days exactly after Christmas. The pagan celebration consisted of a procession around the city to expiate the people from their sins. The Christianized celebration, however, transformed this into a procession of light to celebrate Christ as the one who does the expiation. The Feast itself has gone through a number of names as well: the Feast of the Circumcision, the Presentation of the Lord, the Purification of Mary, Candlemass, or in our own parish, the Naming of Jesus

The Naming of Jesus is an important focus of the celebration, as Jesus' name is itself so significant. Jesus is an Anglicized version of "Yo-ho-shua." It is the same name as Joshua, although these are separate names in English, they are one in the same in Hebrew, just as Jacob and James are separate names in English, but the same in Hebrew. Was it a change in names? Well, according to ancient Christian tradition, before his birth as a human, Jesus was the Lady Wisdom, "Hoekma" also known as St. Sophia, through whom the world was made, the worker at God's right hand and first-born of all creation.

Now, I know a guy named Gary who went to Sweden for two months and came back as Geraldine, and was a very different person afterwards. I don't think it was the change in name that did all of the work, of course, and the same is true of Jesus. Lady Hoekma functioned well in the realm of ideas, but Jesus had to deal with the harsh realities of a sexist culture where women were not afforded the respect that men command. Could Lady Wisdom have come in her feminine aspect? Certainly. And would she have touched people, and would their lives have been changed? Without a doubt. But would we be worshipping her today? I'm not so sure. The sad fact is that in fist-century Palestine, a woman would not have been taken seriously as a rabbi. If she came to earth today, I think it would be a very different story. But we are all products of our times and cultures, and for Wisdom to do her work in the first century, the sad fact is that she would have to do it as a man.

And so the Wisdom of God became Yo-ho-shua, which means, "He will save." This name set the whole tone of Jesus' life. He would remain the mouthpiece of God's Holy Wisdom, but now he was also the savior, and it was a name which carried with it a great burden, a grave responsibility, and a harsh premonition. For "he will save" lived into his name at a great price, he became a ransom for many, a warrior like Joshua before him, but unlike Joshua, Jesus won his battle by offering up his own body. Self-fulfilling prophecy? Perhaps. Names are powerful things.

This Sunday we celebrate not only the naming of Jesus, but the dawn of a new year. And so as we begin this new year, I invite you to do an inventory of your names: not just your given name, but all the other names you take upon yourself: employee, father or mother, artist, liar, hard-worker, lazy, daughter or son, all the monikers that describe you to you. It may help to write them down; you might even want to put them into two columns: names you like and names that you don't.

Then take a hard look at the list or lists you've made. What names do you like? Which names don't you like? Which names would you like to change? It is the new year; why not change the names you don't like to names that you do? It's not hard. No one needs to know your new names but you. Like the Native Americans, you can give yourself secret names that you can grow into. Or perhaps your names need to be public. Perhaps like my friend, or like Lady Wisdom, you need to undergo a transformation and become someone else, someone more congruent with your inner self, your soul.

Many of you remember my ex, Kate. When her first husband was filling out their divorce paperwork, he informed her that it included a name change for her. "Which name do you want to keep?" He asked her, "Mine or your father's?" Now Kate is a pretty powerful and daunting woman, and this is simply not the sort of question she takes kindly to. "Neither," she told him hotly, "I'll choose my own name." And so she chose "Wolfe," not because any relatives anywhere were named Wolfe, but only because it suited her. And those of you who know her, and her independent and sometimes ferocious personality, know that indeed, it suits her well.

I've been thinking about changing my own name for quite some time. I've always fancied "Jack" instead of John, John is so white-bread, and there is a rougeishness to "Jack" that I've always felt fit me better. Perhaps I'll try it on for size. But I won't insist you make the change just yet. But I do invite you to try a new name on for size yourself. If you like, we can have a naming ceremony for you before the altar, just as Jesus did.

Changing names can change one's fate, as both Kate and my friend BJ can attest. This week when I was visiting my folks in Alaska my mother asked how Bob was. Without thinking, I said, "Bob? Bob who?" Bob, the gawky high school student with the lousy love life is gone and largely forgotten. My friend BJ, however, went on to be the chief creative force behind the most popular computer game in history, the SIMs. BJ and his beautiful wife Beverly will be joining me for dinner tonight to help celebrate my birthday. He changed his name, and at the same time, changed his destiny. It takes courage to do; you may have to face the ridicule of your friends, the scorn of the world, and perhaps worst of all, your own doubts and fears. But I believe in you. And what's more, God does too. Names are important, and the names we give ourselves, doubly so. I invite you to choose one that suits you. Choose well, my friends, no matter what you call yourself. Let us pray

God of a thousand names, we call on different aspects of Thee when we have differing needs. We call on Thee as our protecting father, as our savior, as our comforter and friend. We call upon Thee now as Wisdom, and ask you to reveal to us our secret name; the one we do not know but should, or the one we do know, but wish we did not. Whisper to us, O God, and teach us, and give us courage to choose new names for a new year; draw us with thy holy wisdom into greater health and wholeness, as we seek to be your presence made manifest in the world. For we ask this in the name of the one we call "he will save", even Jesus Christ. Amen.