Called By Name
Rev. Mark Schaefer
Kay Spiritual Life Center
January 10, 2010
Isaiah 43:1-7; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Isaiah 43:1-7 · But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the north, "Give them up," and to the south, "Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth-- everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 · As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

I. BEGINNING

Boy, seems like just a couple weeks ago we were celebrating Jesus' birth and here we are already: he's all grown up and getting baptized. Time flies, doesn't it?

In planning the lectionary, the church follows more or less the timeline of the gospels it is using, and with the exception of Luke's gospel which has a story of the 12 year old Jesus in the Temple, none of the gospels gives us any information on Jesus' life between infancy and adulthood. We don't know, for example, what his studies were like, how the carpentry business was going, or anything else that occupied his teens and twenties. Usually, when that happens in the Bible it's the Biblical author's way of saying: "nothing of any consequence took place."

But there's more than just narrative flow to explain our coming to this story at this time of year. It seems only right that we should begin our new years with a reflection on baptism. Because baptism is where everything begins.

II. Baptism

We haven't had a lot of baptisms in this community because most of the folks in this congregation come from traditions in which you were baptized as infants.

Now there are a number of different understandings of baptism. Some view it as a ritual cleansing: this is the meaning baptism still has in Judaism, as it did back in the days of John the Baptist. Others, particularly those who practice "believer's baptism" such as the Baptist churches, view baptism as a confession of faith: it's a statement made by the believer of a commitment to Christian faith.

And most of the mainline denominations, of which The United Methodist Church is one, view baptism as an initiation into Christian community. The United Methodist Church's own materials proclaim: "Through baptism we are joined with the church and with Christians everywhere." It is what is the boundary marker for the church. A synonym of the church is "the baptized".

Perhaps, then, we are meant to remember baptism as our initiation into the covenant people.

John Wesley retained the sacramental theology which he received from his Anglican heritage. He taught that in baptism a child was cleansed of the guilt of original sin, initiated into the covenant with God, admitted into the Church, made an heir of the divine kingdom, and spiritually born anew. He said that while baptism was neither essential to nor sufficient for salvation, it was the "ordinary means" that God designated for applying the benefits of the work of Christ in human lives.

And so, during this time of year, we are called to remember our baptisms. We do so with imagery of water and wind, with symbols of doves and lights from heaven. We talk about immersing ourselves in the spirit as well as in the water. But as I looked over this text for today, there was something else that leaped out at me. Something different from all the customary ways of reflecting on this story of Jesus' baptism.

II. The TExt

The story from Luke is an interesting one. There is not much lead up to Jesus' baptism from his own perspective. The bulk of the beginning of this chapter of Luke is about John the Baptist: his message, those who wondered whether he was the messiah or not, apocalyptic prophecy, a word about the political trouble John was in, and then these words:

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

A very low-key introduction to Jesus' presence on the scene. No enigmatic conversation with John as in Matthew, no declaration by John as in John's gospel that Jesus was the "lamb of God". Jesus was baptized among many others and we are told the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And here's where most sermons would focus on the baptism by the spirit. But it's something else that catches my eye:

And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

At Jesus' baptism, Jesus is named . "My Son, the Beloved."

IV. Naming

Now, it is possible that this is a literary allusion to the Old Testament. This kind of thing happens all the time in the New Testament. And to be sure, the Old Testament lesson in the lectionary today is Isaiah 43:1-7:

But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you." Beautiful imagery to reflect on when considering baptism. And yet, there is more to this idea of naming.

Most major religions provide a name change when you enter. In Judaism, one is given a "name in Israel"--the name by which you are known among the Jewish community. Most converts are given the surname "ben Avraham" or "bat Avraham"--son or daughter of Abraham. In Islam, one frequently changes a name, but it is not required--usually only if the name you had before was a "bad" name that would be inappropriate to use on the Day of Resurrection. [2] And under Islamic law, one should not change their family name if their parents are still living, because the Qur'an says that Muslims should "proclaim their real parentage" because that "will be more equitable" in the sight of God. [3]

It's a tradition that is not as common anymore, but naming used to go hand in hand with baptism for us. In fact, you still hear pastors say, when baptizing an infant, "What name shall be given this child?" The parents usually respond with the name that is on the birth certificate. Today, most people who are baptized as adults keep the name they've had the rest of their lives. Even the Catholics, who will often get a baptismal name, will hardly ever use it. But it's one of the reasons why first names used to be called "Christian names"--because those were the names with which you were baptized. Those are the names Christians are known by in the Church.

Names are a funny thing. They're completely arbitrary on some level. My first name translates to "dedicated to Mars (the war god)" and my last name to "shepherd". So, together that makes me a warrior shepherd. Like King David. Only with a much smaller apartment.

But it's fairly arbitrary. I was not, in fact, dedicated to Mars. My parents chose the name because it could not be nicknamed. I was not a John in danger of becoming a "Jack", a Joseph to become a "Joe", or a Robert to become a "Bob". Actually, if my mother'd had her druthers, I'd have been named Andrew William Schaefer after her favorite singer. In any event, since most of us are named before we could possibly have done anything to merit a name. If our names had anything to do with who we were when we were named, all our names would mean things like "drools", "cries", "won't let me sleep", or "has no hair".

And yet, arbitrary though they be, names certainly have power. Certainly we all know what it feels like to have our entire name called out by our parents. And what names we use convey so much about relationship.

In the context of this ministry, I never insist on being addressed a certain way. I never liked it when people insisted on me calling them by their titles (as a high school teacher of mine did, insisting that we all call him "Doctor _____"). And I didn't like it when people insisted on me calling them by their first names, if I'd rather call them by their title. People should call me whatever their comfortable doing so. But I do notice that if anyone calls me "Reverend", it tends to be the freshmen. I remember years ago, one of our upperclassmen was leading the Fellowship of Sound and she was talking to one of the freshmen recruits and said, "I guess we can ask Mark about that" and the freshman said, "Who?" "Oh," she replied. "Rev. Schaefer." And generally, students will call me by my first name when they feel comfortable doing so. It is a sign of relationship.

Names carry that power. It's why nicknames can be tremendous signs of intimacy, when one friend uses a shorter name for another. But we also know how we feel when we've been nicknamed by someone we're not close to. It's a breach of the levels of intimacy. Bullies often give people nicknames without their consent or without the requisite intimacy.

In the same way, you'll probably run into someone a few years from now that perhaps you knew as Bill or Will when you were in school together, who now goes by William, because it commands more respect in the workplace.

And so, even though our names are not full of meaning in quite the same way as they might be in other cultures, our names certainly convey meaning and power.

And so, what power can we discern from our baptisms if we think of them as naming rituals? What does it mean for us to realize that at our baptism, not only are we cleansed, not only are we initiated into the community, not only are we immersed in life-giving water and life-breathing spirit, but we are named ?

When I was confirmed, the book we used in my confirmation class was called Remember Who You Are . As the author, now Bishop Willimon, noted, remembering who you were was not about being in danger or forgetting your name. But forgetting your fundamental identity. Willimon writes that the church has two answers to the question of "Who are you?": "You are baptized " and "You are one to whom a name is given ."

Dr. Willimon writes that the name we are given is "Christian"--it is our identity, our calling, our witness.

When we read Luke's gospel, we remember that there is another name we are given as well: "Beloved". A name so fundamental, so powerful, so radical in its implications. A name that reminds us that the eternal, ineffable, omnipotent God loves us, and calls us by name. That we have being not apart from but in relationship with the source of all being, the Creator of all, the Lord of life. That we are known, intimately, by one who calls us, claims us, loves us and names us. That our lives have meaning to the one who gives meaning to all things.

V. END

There are many names we might go by over the course of our lives. Names of intimacy and respect, names of familiarity and names of office. Different labels may be applied to us by ourselves or others. And yet, as we worship this day, we do so in remembrance of our baptisms and all that they mean for us. That we are beloved children of God, formed from the earth, made alive by the spirit, immersed in the waters of life. That as we claim our baptisms, we too may hear the voice from heaven, "You are my children, the Beloved." Remember your baptisms, and be glad.

Notes

[1] By Water and the Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism, http://www.gbod.org/homepage/new_home/baptism/page_1.htm
[2] http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503544938
[3] Ibid.