The Name Says It All - A Deeper Dive
Message Recap
In this week’s message, “The Name Says it All,” we examined three main themes. First, we followed up the conclusion of our sermon series Crazy Happy by looking at how our choices bring us closer to God and how choices play a part in the season of Lent. We are required to make choices to get through our daily lives. Despite being the children of an all-knowing and all-powerful God, we are allowed to use our minds and sense of reason to follow our own path. Sometimes - hopefully, most of the time - we make good choices with outcomes that bring us happiness and enhance our relationship with God. Other times, however, we choose poorly and must endure the consequences. Choices that honor God help us bear the Fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
We’ve now entered the season of Lent. It is a time of preparation, repentance, and contemplation. We often place a great deal of emphasis on giving up something for Lent as a sacrifice. It is our small way of honoring the sacrifice Jesus made when he gave his life for us. As honorable as it is to give something up, it may be better to focus on starting a new spiritual practice or restarting a practice we have stepped away from. We often admit that we could spend more time praying and reading scripture. If we use Lent as a time to return to these practices, we grow closer to God and add a discipline to our lives that honors God daily.
Our second theme had us contemplating the question, “Why exactly did God send Jesus? What was the goal?” We considered a story by the Danish theologian and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard for an illustration. The story is about a wealthy and powerful prince who falls in love with a young woman who is a mere commoner. She is poor and lives in the most undesirable part of the city. Yet this man, who wants for nothing, is so taken with her that he is prepared to go to any extreme to win her favor. He plans to give up everything he has so he can dwell among the common people, hoping she will fall in love with him on her own. He could have just as easily used his power and authority to force her to marry him. But he knew deep down she could never be forced to love him. So instead, he sacrificed what he had, so the young woman would fully appreciate his commitment to her. The story ends with the couple marrying. The man admits to his new wife what he has done, and they live happily ever after.
God sent Jesus to the world as a common man; fully human and capable of experiencing the same suffering as the people who followed him. God chose to draw people to him with love rather than forcing them into a relationship through divine authority. As followers of Jesus, we stand in awe of the sacrifice made on our behalf.
Finally, we looked at the names given to Jesus. The prophets of the Old Testament foretold that Emmanuel - God with us - would dwell among the people and reconcile them to the Father. The stories of the Old Testament often described God’s presence through places. Temples, rooms within the temples, and altars were all built with precise specifications to please God and to serve as an initiation for him to dwell among them. The prophets promised Emmanuel would reveal God’s presence where everyone could see.
The name Jesus is a little more complicated to translate. It is derived from various words in Hebrew and Aramaic. A number of Bible scholars conclude that the accurate translation is “God rescues” or “God saves.” Both of these names, Emmanuel and Jesus, were given with purpose and intentionality. The Gospel of Matthew records the specific instruction given to Joseph:
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
The name Jesus’ says it all: when we choose to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, we are saved from our sins - past, present, and future.
So, how do we tie these three themes together? That’s the subject of our Deeper Dive.
God Is Still Present
Over the past several weeks, we have spent much time discussing freedom of choice. Of all the gifts God has given us, the freedom to use our minds to determine our own path is likely the most generous. Like the young man in Kierkegaard’s story, God knows that forcing his people to love him does not result in authentic love. However, the consequence of this freedom is that just as we’re free to choose God, we’re also free to reject God. But even those who reject God are in his presence.
The rules changed when God sent Jesus to save the people of the time and all future generations. No longer was God confined by man to a specific physical place. God was and is among us. The Holy Spirit, the third part of the triune God, remained an active presence when Jesus ascended to Heaven. The Holy Spirit is working within all of us even now.
Some skeptics would suggest God no longer exists or ever existed at all. How else would you explain the problems in the world? The violence, poverty, suffering, and hate must result from a God who has forsaken his people. Why would a loving God allow bad things to happen?
Again, we return to the freedom of choice. Evil exists in the world because people choose to do evil things. Jesus reinforced this idea when he said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34). Jesus came to create division between those who believe and those who do not. We have the freedom to choose on which side of the divide we will stand.
As we continue through this Lenten season, let’s all remember the love and sacrifice behind the names Emmanuel and Jesus. Let’s consider the God-honoring choices we can make every day to draw closer to God. When faced with difficult, seemingly impossible situations, let’s turn to God to guide us. If there are old hurts or ongoing sin that prevents us from being fully reconciled with God, let’s turn them over to him and release our burdens. Most importantly, let’s choose to live our lives in such a way that honors the name of Jesus and reflects the presence of God in our lives.