New Years's Day - Name Above All Names

Pastor Phillips’ Sermon
Sunday, January 1, 2012

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Please pray with me. Heavenly Father, we thank you for a new year, a new year filled with promises kept by you, a new year with potential of blessings and great things done in your name. We pray that you bless us as we are beginning this year in your house. Bless us, teach us, strengthen us to live our lives for you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

How did your plans for 2011 work out? When you think back over the year, you probably stood at this point a year ago and had some pretty exciting ideas and plans and dreams and hopes. It kind of makes me think of Mary and Joseph and their plans, the plans they had originally. “Oh, we’re going to get married.” They probably had met sometime before and they got engaged and they probably daily had conversations like most couples about to get married, about what it’s going to be like, how they were going to map out their future. Joseph’s going to be a carpenter, Mary’s going to use her skills and talents to bless their home and, if in the event children come along, they would just love to be parents. Joseph would be a great dad. Mary would be a great mom. They probably even speculated what kind of names they would come up for their kids. That was their plan.

God had a better one. It probably didn’t seem like it when He first began to reveal it to them, the angel appearing to Mary, Mary being pregnant, Joseph trying to figure out what’s happening. “How can this woman I love be pregnant? We haven’t had sex. How can she be pregnant?” It must have broken his heart when he first found that out.

By law, he had to break off their engagement but he didn’t want to expose her publicly so he had it in his mind to do it secretly. Then God sent him an angel and brought him up to speed. “Don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife. What is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” I think if anybody other than an angel was giving him that message, it would have been pretty tough to receive. But the awesome presence of an angel made it possible for Joseph to hang in there and to listen and to understand. This wasn’t a problem of sin. This was the promise of God kept for all people. What is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

Then he went on to say, “She will have a son and I know you had some names in mind but no, His name will be Jesus because He will save His people from their sins.” The name Jesus means “The Lord Saves.” His name is who He is and what He does. The Lord Saves, that’s the name of Jesus.

We don’t have a full description of all of Joseph’s emotions and reactions, but we know it was a challenging time. God was changing their plan to His plan, and it began with this message about the baby, “You will give Him the name Jesus, which means The Lord Saves,” and that’s the first point today. The name Jesus has the power to save us eternally.

Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” It’s only one name. In our society today, and not just now but for many years, it’s been tolerant and pluralism and multiculturalism and all these different things that make it a sin to have convictions and a specific belief. But the bible is very clear. There’s one name. There’s only one. It’s not a multiple choice question. This is a one name answer. There’s no other name under heaven given to man by which we must be saved. We’ve heard these words before. We get the concept.

I want to drill it home a little bit more. Colossians 1:13 tells us what this means, “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.” I don’t know if you’ve ever been rescued. I have and I know that at the moment I was rescued, I was not able to rescue myself and that’s our condition spiritually without Jesus. We are incapable of rescuing ourselves, but God, in His infinite love and compassion and mercy, sent us His Son. We celebrated that birthday just last Sunday and every day really. He sent us His Son to rescue us from dominion of darkness. That’s what we’re all born into. We’re born in that dominion. We need to be rescued and brought out of it. “God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.” Again, that’s a familiar concept for us, right? We know. We’re Christians. We’ve been saved by the blood of Jesus, by what He did on the cross. We know those things.

But it’s not just knowledge. It isn’t for our family right now. Just a few days ago, we lost a loved one. This is not a direct relative, but it’s my brotherinlaw’s father-in-law and he had battled cancer for a long time, all summer, all fall. We were thankful that he made it to Thanksgiving, thankful that he made it to Christmas but we knew this was coming. We also knew he was a strong Christian man and that he had been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son that God loves. These words are real for us, probably for you, too, because I know some of you have lost loved ones recently. These words bring us comfort and hope. “The name of Jesus has the power to save.”

That name also has all honor and authority, as it says in Philippians 2:1-11, “Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being likeminded, having the same love, being one in spirit and one in mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit; rather, in humility value others above yourselves. Not only look into your own interests, but each of you should look to the interest of others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus who, being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, rather He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, being found in appearance as a man. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on the cross. Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

It’s a very powerful passage. It talks about humility. It talks about the humility that Jesus showed and how He emptied Himself of all His divine privileges to be our Savior. But it also talks about the day when He comes back, that every knee will bow, not just my knee and your knee. Every knee will bow. Of all those people who rejected Him, of all the people who said, “I don’t need you,” all those people who thought Christianity wasn’t any value to them, their knees will bow, too. Every knee will bow. Every knee because He has all authority and in His name, all creation will bow.

Luther’s Small Catechism speaks to us about the name of God. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.” It’s the Second Commandment. What does this mean? “We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie or deceive by His name but call upon it in every trouble. Pray, praise and give thanks.” God’s name, the name of our Savior, Jesus, is a beautiful and precious name, holy in all honor and authority. And what we do as Christians communicate how we feel about Him?

Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Finally, the name of Jesus has the power to heal. You might be saying, “Well, Pastor, I know it says that in the bible. Two thousand years ago, Jesus healed the sick, the leper. He brought people to life. He did all those things.” God doesn’t change in two thousand years. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His promises are always true. His power is not diminished by culture or time or anything that we might think would change those things.

Here’s a story about the name of Jesus and the power to heal connected to Jesus. “One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at 3:00 in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John, and then Peter said, ‘Look at us,’ so the man gave them his attention expecting to get something from them.” You know the story, don’t you? “Peter says, ‘We don’t have silver or gold but what we have we’ll give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’ And instantly, the man who was lame from birth who was over 40 years old, could walk.” That’s the power of Jesus’ name. “Everybody gathered around them because they knew this guy. They’d seen him for years sitting by that same gate and they knew this wasn’t some kind of magic trick or fake or anything. ‘This is the guy who can’t walk and he’s walking! He’s leaping. He’s praising God. He’s telling everybody about God. He’s giving glory to God.’” That’s the same guy that always asks for money, makes you feel guilty when you walk by and all that kind of stuff, the same guy. “So then they began to look at Peter and John. ‘How did you do that?’ Peter and John said, ‘Don’t look at us like it’s our own strength that we did this miracle. It’s in the name of Jesus that this man is healed.’ A huge crowd had gathered and they all thought that somehow Peter and John did it with their own ability but no, in the name of Jesus.” And then they went on trial and on and on, they were interrogated and again, they testified, “It’s in the name of Jesus that this man now stands before you healed.”

Not everybody is healed when we say a prayer, and sometimes that causes us pain and we get angry. “Come on, God, I know you can do it. Why don’t you do it?” But sometimes God’s plan is better than ours. Sometimes? All the time, God’s plan is better than ours.

Look at Mary and Joseph. They’re plan was to have a bunch of carpenters or something like that, have a cute little family and just enjoy all those things. God’s plan was to save the world. I’d say that’s a better plan. Sometimes, it’s hard for us to accept God’s plan.

I just want to show you a little bit more about how these early Christians valued the name of Jesus. This is from Acts 4. Peter and John had just been released and now they’ve come back to the body of believers and they’ve all gathered but they’re scared. They’re scared because the powers that be, the Jewish leaders have threatened them and they know they already put Jesus to death so they’re next, so they say a prayer. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our Father, David. Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His anointed one. Indeed, Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your Word with great boldness. Stretch out your hands to perform and heal miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.”

These people had confidence that when they prayed in Jesus’ name, God would do it. We should have the same confidence. He’s our Savior. His name has more power and authority than any other name so when we pray in Jesus’ name, it has power. It has results.

It continues in Chapter 5. They’re on trial again, Peter and John. “They said, ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name.’ ‘What name? Jesus?’ ‘That name. Don’t say it. Do not teach any further in this name.’” That’s what the Supreme Court of the Jews told these guys, the most powerful people in their land, commanded them not to teach anymore. And then they go on to say, “Yet, you have filled the whole world with His teaching with His name.” And finally, at the end of this whole experience, it says, “The apostles left the Sanhedrin,” the Jewish Supreme Court, “rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name.” They were beaten, interrogated, imprisoned and they rejoiced because it was for the name of Jesus. They could think of no higher honor than to suffer in Jesus’ name.

Think about our experience with that, how we use the name of God. Most of the time, as Christians, we’re pretty good with it but, once in awhile, we’re not. Think about how wonderful and beautiful that name is and what it means, The Lord Saves, what it means for you and for your loved ones who have departed from this world and are with Him in paradise. What a beautiful name. What a powerful name. What a holy name and honorable name.

Getting back to Mary and Joseph. They had a plan, but God changed it and, with it, He changed our eternal destiny. Now you and I stand in a relationship of grace with God. We have forgiveness in Jesus’ name. We have the promise of eternal life in Jesus’ name, all because God changed their plan.

Maybe you have plans for 2012, things you want to do, things you want to accomplish, goals you want to achieve. Be prepared to have them adjusted, improved and perfected for your good and for the good of all. In Jesus’ name, Amen.