It is said that the Hindu people have a thousand names for
God and that the Muslims have ninety-nine name for Allah. In Christianity, we
have largely limited our names for God to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The
titles Messiah, Christ and Lord all have the same meaning, that of military
leader/commander in chief.
In their minds, the disciples had named Jesus, Messiah. The
problem was that their understanding of that name was quite different from how
Jesus understood his work. When he tried to explain clearly that this meant he
would be killed if he continued, his followers did not want to hear. They were
even more reluctant to hear that he wanted them to be willing to follow the
same path.
The name that Jesus gave to himself, son of man, the church
has written with capital letters as with Son of God. But this may not have been
Jesus’ use of the term. At the time it was a common way people referred to
themselves.
The question comes for us today, which stage of development
are we at in our lives of faith as individuals and as congregations. Is our
name the most important thing? Are we clinging to who we are because we are not
yet certain of who we are for God? Have we just moved far enough into the
second stage to be critical of others while not being secure enough to face all
of who we are? Are we willing to die to all that we think we are and think we
know for sure to grow into the wisdom of the mystery of God who is beyond all
names and follow the wisdom of Jesus’ teaching?
Rev Julianne Parker
(for full sermon see sermons page)
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