St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Wesley Chapel, FL
Preacher: The Rev. Adrienne R. Hymes
Feast of the Holy Name/Year A: January 1, 2023
Gospel: Luke 2:15-21
One of my favorite things to do when I am in London is visit what seems to be ancient churches on every main corner. In the midst of ordinary activities, of people walking on the street, drinking coffee, talking, and texting, church bells, simultaneously, ring out from multiple churches.
The surround-sound bells are very loud, and from the first tolling of the bells to the conclusion, the sacred sounds of the church break into peoples’ everyday lives. Whether or not people realize it, the body of Christ, is made manifest in the world through the church, actively interrupting mundane, human lives on busy street corners.
These holy collisions are happening all around us, if we have eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to receive. No doubt, many of you have experienced your own moments where the line between the sacred and mundane seemed to blur, even disappear.
In those moments, room enough is made for you to be swept up in God’s divine presence, even as the world goes on around you, business as usual.
Now, typically when we hear the word, “collision,” an image of two, or more, moving pieces, that would normally not come together, have done so in an unexpected, often violent and destructive way. I invite us, however, to consider a different perspective on collisions.
Today, we continue to focus on the incarnation of the divine God in the human person of the infant Jesus, when the two realms—the heavenly and the earthly—unexpectedly collided. This holy collision did not violently destroy; it was peaceful, creative and restorative.
Whenever there is a “collision,” there is usually a resulting mark or focal point—proof that the two moving pieces did, in fact, come together in some noticeable way.
The focal point, resulting from the impact of the coming together of the cosmic and the earthly realms—is the birth of Jesus Christ.
We celebrate God’s inbreaking into human history through this miraculous birth of God’s only Son—a birth that left the irrevocable “birthmark” of Jesus Christ, on and in this created world, and in the souls of all humankind.
And, we celebrate the birth of the Christ child because, for mere mortals, life eternal with God was made possible through him.
In hearing our gospel passage in the second chapter of Luke, you might have wondered, “Did I miss something?”
Unfortunately, the lectionary drops us into a passage that feels incomplete; like it’s missing the backstory, although you may recall what was happening in this birth narrative leading up to our passage.
In fact, we are only told about what happened when the angels left the shepherds in the field, not when they appeared to the shepherds. It feels incomplete.
In this chapter, the Emperor had ordered a census requiring all to go to their hometowns to be registered. Since Joseph did not have the option to register for the census online, like we did, He and Mary made the journey from Nazareth to his hometown of Bethlehem to ensure their registrations—ordinary.
While it would make sense that Mary’s delivery of the baby, would be a focal point, Luke uses only two verses to tell us about the birth of Jesus. The holy collision happened, and if one happened to blink, they would have missed the shift in human history, set in motion when hope was born into this broken world.
In the brief seven verses of our passage, we are forced to focus on another ordinary scene, turned extraordinary, by the birth of Jesus.
The narrative abruptly calls our attention to another ordinary scene, with the shepherds on the margins of society. These shepherds were going about their ordinary tasks of tending their flock by night before an angel of the Lord appeared to them announcing the birth of the Christ child, accompanied by a choir of angels singing praises to God.
This holy collision between the divine angels and the ordinary shepherds—resulted in a “big bang” which imprinted on the shepherds’ souls, the irrevocable “birthmark” of Jesus Christ.
That “big bang” also created evangelists who shared their witness with others so that all who heard it were amazed.
But wait, in the final verse, there’s yet another abrupt shift that takes place from when the shepherds return to their ordinary community, bearing extraordinary news, to what would be a typical, normal and expected occurrence—the naming of the male child.
According to the Law of Moses, all male infants were to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth.[1] It was also customary at this time for family and friends to witness the naming of the child.
So, for Jewish families, this naming of the male child would be an expected, normal practice. But here’s the extraordinary part, embedded within the ordinary custom; which might be missed.
The naming of the infant Jesus was extraordinary because he was given the name by the angel (the mouthpiece for God), not before he was born, but before he was even conceived in the womb.
On Christmas Day, we heard that from the very beginning there was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”[2]
John’s prologue reminds us that before the created world came into being, Jesus, whose name means “he saves,” existed, before all time, and was born into this created world to save God’s people from their sins.
Like the shepherds in the field, and like those who witnessed the naming of the infant, you and I are ordinary human vessels, uniquely purposed by God to carry the extraordinary news, and with great enthusiasm, “Go tell it on the mountain”[3] that Jesus Christ is born, as the hymn says.
And, we must be intentional about showing up in this world as Christ incarnate for others—in order to make him known to those who do not yet know him.
On this side of the cross, we have the advantage of knowing that through our baptism, we are children of Almighty God, and we have the great responsibility to tell all people about the good news of God in Christ—that in the birth of Jesus, there was a holy collision that did not destroy human life, but saved life and gives, eternal life with God.
On this eighth day after the birth of Jesus, the Church observes the Feast of the Holy Name.
As we go about our lives, meeting ordinary people, doing ordinary things, may God powerfully use us to collide with the mundane, so that all may refocus our gaze on Jesus Christ.
Let us boldly proclaim the name of Jesus, the one whom God highly exalted and gave the name above every name…so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.[4]
Amen.
[1] (Leviticus 12:3)
[2] John 1:1
[3] Hymn 99, 1982 Hymnal
[4] Philippians 2:5-11
