New Year\u2019s Day
\nJanuary 1, 2017
\nLuke 2:21<\/p>\n
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. (NIV1984)<\/p>\n
Dear fellow worshipers of the Christ-Child,<\/p>\n
What\u2019s in a name?\u00a0 In our modern-day American culture there usually isn\u2019t a great deal of significance attached to a person\u2019s name.\u00a0 Take for example the name Steve.\u00a0 By itself that name doesn\u2019t carry a great deal of significance.\u00a0 In the right context, however, that ordinary name can take on a great deal of significance.\u00a0 For example, up until my Mom was called home to heaven, if someone handed her the phone and said, \u201cIt\u2019s Stevie,\u201d that name automatically carried a certain amount of significance for her.\u00a0 One of the privileges I now get to enjoy (albeit not as often as I would like) is walking into a room where my grandchildren are playing only to have them stop what they are doing and run across the room saying, \u201cPapa Steve!\u00a0 Papa Steve!\u201d\u00a0 By itself the name Steve does not carry a great deal of significance to it.\u00a0 In certain contexts, however, a relatively common name does have a great deal of significance.<\/p>\n
You undoubtedly know where I am going with this, my friends\u2014 especially since you know that our text for today is a single verse of Scripture.\u00a0 Our text for today is Luke 2:21, \u201cOn the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Our goal on this New Year\u2019s Day is to see how this seemingly insignificant event gives us an eternally important answer to the question:\u00a0 What\u2019s In a Name?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n First, a little history is in order.\u00a0 When father Abram was seventy-five years old the Lord called him to leave his country, his people and his father\u2019s household behind and go to a country that God would show to him.\u00a0 That\u2019s when the Lord first established a covenant relationship with Abram.\u00a0 In that covenant relationship God revealed that one of Abram\u2019s descendants would be the Promised Messiah.\u00a0 Included in that covenant relationship was God\u2019s promise that one day He would give to Abram\u2019s descendants the land of Canaan\u2014 which then became known as the Promised Land.\u00a0 (See Genesis 12)\u00a0 Twenty-four years later, when Abram was ninety-nine years old, God confirmed His covenant with Abram by changing his name from Abram (which means exalted father) to Abraham (which means father of many nations).\u00a0 At that time God also gave to Abraham an outward sign of the covenant that God had established with him\u2014 the Rite of Circumcision.\u00a0 Every male descendant of Abraham now had to be circumcised when he was eight days old.\u00a0 Circumcision now became the outward sign that even that tiny little baby had been brought into that special covenant relationship with the Lord, the one and only living God.\u00a0 (See Genesis 17)<\/p>\n Luke then proclaims to us today that approximately 2,000 years later, in faithful obedience to the Law of their God, Joseph and Mary had their eight day old Son circumcised and officially named Him Jesus\u2014 \u201cthe name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 What to most people seemed like a relatively common \u2014 albeit important\u2014 ceremony took on eternal significance when that<\/u> name was given to that<\/u> Child!\u00a0 The eternal significance of that Child receiving that name is very clearly brought out in Matthew 1:21 when the angel of the Lord said to Joseph in a dream, \u201c\u2026you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The name Jesus very literally means, \u201cThe LORD saves!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a moment to reflect on what that means, my friends.\u00a0 Circumcision was the outward sign of the covenant that the Lord had established with Abraham some 2,000 years before Jesus was born.\u00a0 In that covenant God promised Abraham that one of his descendants would be the Messiah, this world\u2019s only Savior from sin.\u00a0 Included in that covenant was the gift of the Promised Land.\u00a0 Do you see where I am going with this?<\/p>\n While the name Jesus was a relatively common name among Abraham\u2019s descendants when that name was given to the Child of Bethlehem on the eight day after His birth now <\/strong>that ordinary name took on extraordinary significance\u2014 eternal significance!\u00a0 In fulfillment of God\u2019s promises\u2014 first given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, then carried on through men such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob\u2014 in fulfillment of God\u2019s promises Jesus came into this world to not only fulfill the covenant which God had established with Abraham, but also to establish a new covenant with you and me!\u00a0 Both the old covenant and the new covenant were focused on the very same goal\u2014 the complete forgiveness of all of our sins.\u00a0 Both the old covenant and the new covenant included the gift of a \u201cPromised Land.\u201d<\/p>\n For over 2,000 years the Old Testament Rite of Circumcision brought a child into this special covenant relationship with the Lord.\u00a0 But what about now?\u00a0 How does God bring even a tiny little child into that special covenant relationship with Him today?\u00a0 The short answer to that question is right there (Pointing at the Baptismal font) \u2014 the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.\u00a0 We are going to go into much more detail on this subject next week when we look at the Baptism of our dear Lord and Savior, so let me give you just a preview today.\u00a0 When a child is baptized with water \u201cin the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 28:19), the Lord God Himself washes away all of their sins and \u201cputs His name\u201d on them.\u00a0 He \u201cadopts\u201d them to be His very own and writes their name in the Book of Life.\u00a0 (See Revelation 20:11-15; 21:27).\u00a0 In other words, through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism even the youngest child becomes a \u201cChristian.\u201d\u00a0 At the very same time this glorious new covenant that God creates between Himself and that child grants that child the privilege of inheriting their heavenly Father\u2019s home\u2014 the Promised Land of heaven.\u00a0 And let\u2019s not forget that this glorious covenant relationship that God established with us at the time of our Christian Baptism is affirmed each and every time we receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion.\u00a0 Jesus Himself reminds us of this when He says, \u201cThis cup is the new covenant in my blood\u201d<\/em> (I Corinthians 11:25).<\/p>\n Right about now you might be wondering:\u00a0 How does all of this tie in with the fact that we have gathered together today to celebrate New Year\u2019s Day?\u00a0 I think there are two answers to that question.\u00a0 First, through the power of the Holy Spirit working in Word and Sacrament you and I have been given the name Christian.\u00a0 As we gather together here in God\u2019s house today, this is a good time for us to look back over the year 2016 and ask ourselves the question, \u201cHow well did I live up the to the covenant name that God Himself gave to me when He adopted me to be His own dear child?\u201d\u00a0 Since I can only speak for myself, I will confess that that I did not always do very well when it came to living up to the privilege of having the name Christian.\u00a0 Thankfully, I also know that our worship services in this New Year will continue to include the Sacrament of Holy Communion.\u00a0 Through this holy Sacrament God Himself promises me that purely by His grace my sins are <\/strong>forgiven and I am <\/strong>His child.\u00a0 My encouragement to you, my friends, is that as you look back over the past year and see that there were times when you did not live up to the special covenant name that God has so graciously given to you, that in this coming New Year you make sure that you plan on receiving His holy Supper on a regular basis.\u00a0 And as you prepare your hearts to receive the Lord\u2019s Supper, my friends, take a moment to remember that the promises of God hold just as true for you as they do for me.<\/p>\n The second way in which this text ties in with our service today is by pointing us ahead to the New Year.\u00a0 As Christians we can look forward to the year 2017 with the confidence of knowing that it is indeed a brand new year!\u00a0 By God\u2019s grace and with God\u2019s guidance we can leave our past behind us and enter into the New Year with a \u201cclean slate\u201d so to speak.\u00a0 By God\u2019s grace and with God\u2019s guidance the New Year gives us the opportunity to live up to the name we were given at the time of our Baptism\u2014 the name Christian.\u00a0 By God\u2019s grace and with God\u2019s guidance the New Year gives us the opportunity to let our lives openly proclaim to the people around us that we are in a covenant relationship the with one and only true God\u2014 a covenant relationship which is based on the forgiveness that Jesus won for us on the cross, a covenant relationship which guarantees that we will <\/strong>inherit the Promised Land of heaven.<\/p>\n What\u2019s in a name?\u00a0 The answer to that question depends greatly on the context, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 By itself the name Steve has very little significance to it.\u00a0 In certain contexts, however, the name Steve does have at least some significance.\u00a0 By itself the name Jesus was simply a name that many of the descendants of Abraham gave to their sons.\u00a0 While that name did indeed express their faith in the fact that \u201cThe LORD saves\u201d<\/em> it was still just a name\u2014 that is, until that name was given to Mary\u2019s Child when He was circumcised on the eighth day.\u00a0 Now the name Jesus automatically has eternal significance!\u00a0 Now the name Jesus automatically assures us that our God has indeed kept His promise and saved us from our sins.<\/p>\n May God grant that as you look back over the year 2016 and as you prepare to enter into the year 2017 that you will rejoice in the seemingly insignificant event recorded for us here in Luke 2:21, \u201cOn the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n May you all have a blessed New Year!<\/p>\n To God be the glory!<\/p>\n Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New Year\u2019s Day January 1, 2017 Luke 2:21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. (NIV1984) Dear fellow worshipers of the Christ-Child, What\u2019s in a name?\u00a0 In our modern-day American culture there usually isn\u2019t a great deal of significance attached […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":759,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758\/revisions\/759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}