"Beloved is your Name"

Sermon 01.1010
“Beloved is your Name”

Before we get into the meat of the sermon, I want to ask the mothers –both old and young - in the congregation. Once you found out that you were pregnant, be in two years ago or 40 years ago, what did you do after you relayed the news to your spouse?

My guess is that you almost immediately began to think about what to name the baby. Some of you knew that your son would be a junior, and others knew that a favorite family name that would be used. But I’m willing to suggest that many of you bought books about baby names, had arguments with your husband about who wanted what, and in some cases, went home from the hospital with a blank birth certificate until you had just the perfect name for your beloved child.

Today’s passages from both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament talk about names. And their importance.

Isaiah’s text from the Hebrew Scriptures reports that God said, “I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine.

I have called you by name. Names have changed a great deal since the time of Isaiah and there’s a part of us that many wonder just how many names God can keep up with. In the year 1950, the most popular names were as follows:
1950 2009
James Mary Ethan Isabella
Michael Linda Jacob Emma
Robert Patricia Noah Olivia
John Susan Aiden Ava
David Deborah Logan Sophia
William Barbara Jackson Madison
Richard Debra Jack Chloe
Thomas Karen Ryan Abigail
Mark Nancy Jayden Addison
Charles Donna Matthew Emily

If you go to a baby name listing, it may begin with Aadi and end with Zan, and I challenge you to tell me if these are boys or girls named. There are all the names in between, like Virginia, and Nathan and Leroy and Katherine. God knows all of them. All of them. To give you just another taste of how many names are out there in the world, I put my own name into a google search and within .42 seconds I found that there were over 3,000,000 hits for Karen Lovelace, and that’s the regular spelling of Karen. Not Karin or Karyn. But God has no problem in remembering any of them.

Many of you can testify that names are particularly important when you are in trouble. What happens when you don’t clean your room or take out the trash or dry the dishes? (wait for response) Yes, one of your parents or guardians would use your entire name. “Timothy Peter Lovelace” I would call out, “You are going to miss the school bus if you don’t hurry. And if you have multiple children, I’ll also bet that you have run through all of them at one time or another before finally reaching the right name. Today our work is simple: the only name we have to remember is Beloved.

The passage from Isaiah speaks of God’s claim on the Israelite people, but it as powerful to us today. I have created you, I have formed you, God says. It doesn’t get more intimate than that. The God who made the asteroids, the sparrow, the earthworm and the glaciers also has fashioned us – mere mortals. And the next 4 verses are that of such a loving parent that I can’t imagine any better description that we could employ. “Do not fear, I have redeemed you, I have called you by name. You are mine.”

“You are mine.” The divine has told us that we belong, that we are held, that there is someone who loves us even when no one else does. How incredible to hear these words coming from a sacred being!! We are God’s beloved creation. My first image is always a mother or a father holding a child and whispering these words. But those of us who are no longer children still need reassurance from time to time and this is the passage to pull out. God knows your name, whether it is Elmer or Melissa or George and God cares equally for you as well as all the others. As the saying goes, if God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. I’m not sure if Sears makes a model big enough to hold them all.

But hear again, the promise of the God who has claimed Shirley and Anna and Lois, Frank and Harry and Terry:
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned and the flame will not consume you.

Not only are we God’s beloved, we are protected, guarded, shielded from harm. The God who has formed us and created us does not leave us helpless, but declares that we will not endure trials by ourselves. Named, claimed, and saved. No one in your life – not your spouse, your parents, your children or your partners can even come close to the grip that God has on our lives.

The same scene is repeated in Luke’s text concerning the Baptism of Jesus. In the first century, baptism was not originally a naming event, but a purification washing ritual, and interestingly, even in the UCC book of worship, there is no phrase that asks the name of the child.

But God turns the washing of Jesus into a naming occasion. The Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove, and the voice of God comes from heaven, saying, “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased. The claim on the life of Christ Jesus is that he is the Son of the living God and his name is Beloved. Just as God loved Jesus, Jesus loves us. Beloved. There are many names in baby books that mean beloved, but curiously, the actual name of Beloved does not appear.

The Greek word for Beloved is agapetos. We get our word, agape from it, which means the greatest love that anyone can have. It is selfless love, unconditional love, the kind of love that protects from the storm and the fire. This is the love that God has given us through the gift of his Son, Jesus the Christ, name above all names. The Beloved.

The good news from today’s readings is that there is someone called the Beloved who calls each of us beloved as well, even if our given name is Gail or Judy or Steve or Danny. That person has claimed each of us, whether we are Millie or Amy or Frank or Rudy. We serve a God who has redeemed us, and given to us a Son who loves us enough to accompany us through troubles, misery and pain. Jesus will take the time to walk with every one of us - Sandy and Sheila, Loretta and Leonel, in times of peril and danger and will ensure that his children emerge unscathed and whole.

God says in verse 4: “I am with you because you are precious and my sight and honored and I love you. Do not fear, for I am with you. When was the last time we said something like that to a beloved person in our lifes?

This passage assures us that no matter what situation is in your life right now, no matter what is happening with work, friends, neighbors or relatives, you have a lifelong companion who is Jesus and you are beloved to him. We are God’s beloved people, even as Jesus is God’s beloved Son because we are heirs through Christ.

No matter how fashionable name changes are through the years, there is no need to worry about a certain one making the top ten list. The name of the Beloved, the Son, Jesus our Savior, has not changed in over 2000 years, nor will it ever. We can stand on that promise.

God has redeemed all, claimed all, and has not forgotten all of our names. For this we give thanks and praise, that we are beloved in the eyes of the Almighty. Amen.