The Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ: In 2012 May that Name Be Used to Heal; Not Wound.

Scripture Readings

Numbers 6:22-27 (NRSV)

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them,

The LORD bless you and keep you;

the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;

the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

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

Philippians 2:5-11 (NRSV)

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death--

even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Luke 2:15-21 (NRSV)

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." 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 had 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.

Blog Reflection

The Feast of the Holy Name brings a mixed emotions for me. 

Ever since I fell in love with the Name of Jesus Christ I have never been the same.  That Name for me is comforting when I am a nervous wreck.  The Name of Jesus Christ for me means that the forces of darkness and evil in this world do not have the last word.  Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.  I believe that I will have everlasting life some day, because of Jesus Christ. I believe that when I receive Holy Communion I am receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the Bread and Wine.  I believe that Jesus Christ can and does forgive me when I sin forget to put God's will before my own. 

Yet, this Holy Day also carries with it some painful memories.  Throughout my time of being a conservative Christian; I remember how that Name was and still is used by fundamentalist and evangelical Protestant Christians to rebuke people who do not conform to their ideologies.  The Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians use the Name of Jesus Christ to perform their exorcisms, based on their emotional experiences and understandings of the Holy Spirit.  I once heard about a Pentecostal evangelist who brought forward a young 10 year old girl.  He attempted to use the Name of Jesus Christ to command this girl to speak in tongues.  He eventually got pretty violent.  I also remember many of the contemporary Maranatha songs for worship that romanticize the Name of Jesus Christ and so forth.

I am sure all of us have heard the Commandment in Exodus 20: 7

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who missuses his name.

The Commandment has otherwise been referred to as "taking the LORD'S Name in vain."

The common interpretation is that if you accidentally hit your finger with a hammer while using it and you scream out the Name of Jesus Christ or better yet God dammed, that you have taken the Lord's Name in vain.  Aside from the accidental use of the words in the scenario I have just mentioned, there are those who use those words very loosely in conversations with other family members and friends.  I have heard endless complaints by many fundamentalists and conservative Christians/Catholics etc who talk about people swearing and using vulgar language.  As with most things like this, I have come to the conclusion that the people who complain most about others swearing and the like; are often doing it to avoid not having to pay attention to their own weaknesses in these and many other areas.  There is a little hypocrisy in all of us.

My husband Jason on various occasions has said that he feels that when Christianists and others use the Name of Jesus Christ to defend callous and violent attitudes and behaviors towards LGBT people and others, it is also a wrongful use of the Name.  I think Jason is on to something there.

Just think about it. 

Every time the Name of Jesus Christ is used as a reason to exclude someone from the Church or violate another person's sacred worth, we are misusing his Name. 

When ever we say that the Christian religion is why we should target Muslims, Hindus or Atheists, we are defaming the Name of Jesus Christ. 

The Name of Jesus Christ is used over and over again to defend cruelty and oppression such as the Uganda Bill that would execute or put in prison known lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender people. 

The Name of Jesus Christ is used in this country as a reason why LGBT people should be denied our rights to marriage equality, protection from discrimination in the work place, hate crime violence, financial and/or public assistance and/or housing. 

The Name of Jesus Christ is used to defend the use of ex-gay or reparative therapy to change one's sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression through the means of psychological, spiritual and social abuse.  

Jesus Christ's Name has been used to deny the rights of women, defend racism, deny health care and defend tax breaks for the wealthy, while middle class America continues to lose every hope for prosperity.. 

Our Christian Faith tells us that God perfectly revealed God's Self in the Person and Name of Jesus Christ.  The Name of Jesus actually means Joshua, which means "Savior."  Jesus came in the midst of our poverty and messiness as a helpless child.  Jesus spent his life reaching out to the marginalized, the sick, the poor, the widow and even the dead to give them a new life here on earth as well as in eternity.  Jesus praised the eunuch's, the homosexuals of this time (see Matthew 19: 10-12).  Jesus healed the Roman Centurions male sex slave (see Matthew 8: 5-13).  Jesus warned the arrogant and the self righteous.  The only time Jesus really uses the word hell is towards those who think they are above all simply because they follow the rules. 

My prayer for 2012 is that Christians will make a heartfelt effort to use of the Name of Jesus Christ to heal; not to wound.  I pray that Christians may understand that the Name of Jesus Christ is not a supercession of all other religions and philosophies, but that the life of the Name of Jesus Christ is about love and inclusion.  I pray that the Name of Jesus Christ will give us every reason to embrace others who are different; instead of being every excuse to exclude.  I pray that in 2012 Christians will proclaim that Jesus Christ is alive by our desire to be authentic in our relationships with God, others and ourselves.

St. Benedict wrote his Rule for beginners.  It means that every day; even after a day where we failed miserably to proclaim the Name of Jesus Christ; we get up and we begin again.  This is also why year after year, God gives us the 1st of January.  A New Year to begin again.

Amen.


Prayers

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 and the Holy
Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.  (Collect for the Feast of the Holy Name, Book of Common Prayer, page 213).

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully
restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may
share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our
humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Prayer of the Incarnation, Book of Common Prayer, page 252).

Gracious Father, we pray for they holy Catholic Church. Fill it
with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt,
purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is
amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in
want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake
of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior. Amen. (Prayer for the Church, Book of Common Prayer, page 816).

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is
hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where
there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where
there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where
there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to
be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is
in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we
are born to eternal life. Amen. (Prayer Attributed to St. Francis, Book of Common Prayer, page 833).