The Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 20, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline
Acts 1:12-26 1 John 5:9-15 John
17:11b-19
Grace Mercy and
Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Amen. Our text today is the Gospel
lesson, with special emphasis on the first two verses.
Brothers and
Sisters in Christ. Is your name
important? Does it actually mean
something, or does it mean nothing? In
the play Romeo and Juliet, Juliet determines that a name doesn’t really mean
anything, saying “What’s in a name? A
rose by any other name would still smell as sweet.”
It seems like
names don’t mean anything. We toss them
around and use them like they don’t matter.
I can’t remember how many times, when I was in trouble as a kid, that my
mom would call me both of my brothers names before finally realizing that it
was me, Adam, that was in trouble. She
knew which one was the one who was in trouble, but she the name wasn’t the
important thing at the time.
And many of us
don’t like our names either, we change them or shorten them, we pick nicknames
and demand that people call us that instead.
For us people in today’s day and age, names just aren’t really that
important at all are they? No matter
what you call something, it just doesn’t change what it is.
But to God, names
are important. To God names mean
something. Throughout the pages of
scriptures, God gives people names that mean something. These names identify who the person is, and
what they have done or will do. We have
Peter, whose name mean rock, and upon whose confession, “You are the Christ”
the church is founded. We have Abraham,
whose name means Father of the People, who became the father of many
nations. The list goes on and on, but
the most important name is the name of Jesus, which means the Lord saves.
In today’s text,
Jesus prays that the Father might keep us in the name that God has given, the
name of Jesus, the name “The Lord Saves.”
In that name we are one, in that name we are united as the Church of Christ
I.
We were in the name of Death, the name of Sin, the name
of Satan.
But we haven’t
always been in that name. We were born
of another name, We were born into the name of sin, into the name of Death,
into the name of the Tempter. We have
been held captive to this name. We could
serve no other name on our own. Instead
we were held bondage to the owner of this name, Satan.
We have been
subject to the name of Satan since almost the very dawn of time. It was when our forefather Adam ate of the
fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil that we have been bound to that
name. In that act, all of us have been
sold into slavery to Sin death and the devil.
And we can see
that in our daily lives. We are slaves
to sin, and because of that we can not truly love God. Our sin shows itself in every way imaginable. St.
Paul tells us in Galatians 5, that the acts of the
sinful nature are obvious: Sexual immorality,
impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy,
factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. Those are the things we are guilty of. WE are guilty of these things because each
one of them stems from our broken relationship with God. These things are sin. Sin tarnishes the name of God, it separates
us from him.
When we are
separated from God, we no longer have his name upon us, instead we have the
name of Sin Death and the Devil. And
really, we don’t want to have God’s name upon us do we? How many times in our lives do we avoid the
opportunity to witness to who’s name is upon us? WE are at times embarrassed to be known to be
a Christian, to have Jesus’ name upon us. Our text tells us that because we have
God’s word, that the world will hate us. We don’t want to be hated, we want to
be liked. We want to have friends. We want respect. Instead we brazenly claim any other name we
can, but we ignore the name of God. WE
don’t want to claim that name for ourselves.
I am an
American. I am a South Dakotan. I am a republican, or I am a democrat. I am doctor, I am a Teacher, I am a whatever,
but when it comes to faith we feel like we have to be careful who knows what we
believe. We have to be careful who we
share our faith with. I don’t want to
put my job on the line by claiming to be a Christian. I don’t want to offend anyone who thinks
differently then me because I am a Christian.
So I will just keep it quite and inside.
I won’t tell anyone. I don’t want
to be embarrassed infront of my friends, so I ignore my faith in public.
Its easier to do
that. We don’t want people to think
badly of us. We don’t want to be
criticized. Instead we want everyone to
like us. But God says in our text today
that he has given us his word, and that the “world has hated them” because of
it. The world hates Christianity because
it is not of this world.
II.
Now we are in the name of Jesus, and belong to him who
saved us by his death.
But we do have
God’s name upon, even though we are in sin.
Even though we deny it before the world, we are God’s possession, and we
do have His name upon us.
a.
Through Baptism
You received that
name in the waters of Holy Baptism. You
received a new name, the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. That name is the name above all
names, the name at which all other names will bow. That is the name of Jesus. You receive it upon you, and it claims you as
its own.
In the ancient
Christian church, all the baptisms, for both adults and children were done at
one time, the day before Easter. At that
time all the baptismal candidates would come into the church in the very early
morning before Easter Dawn, and they would be washed in the baptismal
waters. Upon coming out of the water,
they would receive a new Christian name, and leave behind their old pagan
name. Instead of having the name of
Apollo, the pagan god, you would have the name Christopher, the bearer of
Christ. Instead your pagan name you received a Christian name, one that marked
you as Christ.
In modern baptism,
we have a remnant of that, as the Pastor asks, “What is this child to be
named?” and immediately following, that baby is baptized into the name of
God. In baptism we too have left behind
our old name, the name of Sin, the name of Death, the name of the devil. Now we have a new name, one that marks us as
belonging to Christ.
In the book of
Revelation, we see that name being recorded in the book of Life. In baptism, your name was recorded into that
book, written in the blood of the lamb.
You see it isn’t just claiming the name “Christian” that saves you. Instead it is that by being washed in that
name, you are connected to the very death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. When you received the name of God,
you died with Christ on the cross. When
you received the name of God, you laid dead with Christ in a tomb for three
days. When you received the name of God, you rose victoriously with Jesus, and
now will never die again. Now you have
eternal life and you have it to the full.
Friends in Christ,
Jesus has given you his name, so that when God the Father looks at you, he
doesn’t see your former name of sin, he doesn’t see all those times when you
thumbed your nose at Him. Instead, God
sees Jesus every time He looks at you.
Thus He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant, you are serving me
in Christ’s name, the name of Jesus, the name which means God saves.”
Jesus prays in
today’s text that you might be kept in that name. IN our world today, we will face many
struggles. People will die
unexpectedly. Friends will suffer from
sickness and disease. People will hate
you because you are in that name.
Through it all, God has promised to keep you in that name. God has promised that you will remain His,
for nothing can snatch you out of his had.
He has promised, and that promise is written in the blood of Jesus
Christ, crucified for the sins of the world.
Jesus name means
God saves. Jesus name is written upon
you. Jesus name cannot be erased by
anyone else no matter what. You are
His. He will now guard and protect you
even to life ever lasting. Names do mean
something. God’s name means you have
forgiveness life and salvation.
Nothing is so sweet as that promise.
Life in Jesus Name. Amen.
