| December 31, 1999 | Safe Under The Name | Luke 2:21
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
There certainly is much excitement in the world on this night. The turning over of the calendar from 1999 to 2000 has many people anxious. Quite a bit of the excitement has to do with the Y2K or Year 2000 computer problem. This problem has its origins in the early years of computers, when resources were very tight and expensive, so only two digits were used to represent the year for dates that computers worked with. This is similar to how we abbreviate the year when we speak, and call the current year 99 rather than always saying 1999. What will we abbreviate the new year as?
There was quite a bit of concern over this computer issue, and rightly so, for such critical applications as medical equipment, elevators and buildings, and airplanes and air traffic controllers. A mistake in one of these could mean death, so it is good to be concerned. Much effort seems to have gone into preparing for this date change and there does not seem to be much cause for concern today.
However, general anxiety continues. More recently, we have been prompted with concerns about terrorism. With so many people excitied already about the date change, it would be a perfect time for terrorists to strike and invoke general panic and hysteria. So, our government seems to be taking extra measures and we can find some security in this.
Some are concerned that this date change will signal the end of the world. Some who look for Christ's return, as we should be, are expecting it to happen tonight. One local church is offering a video tape viewing tonight on the subject of the book of Revelation. They must expect some part of the prophecy of Revelation to be fulfilled, or they are just hoping to draw people into the church because they are anxious.
We know, as Christians who look to God's Word as our sole source of truth, that no one will know the day or hour of the Lord's return. Thus, if someone else tells you it is going to be tonight, you can be certain that they do not have knowledge of this, but are merely making a guess. If they claim to have knowledge, then you can consider them unreliable, because we know that no one will have such knowledge.
Now, does this exclude the possibility of Christ returning tonight? No. In fact it could happen. We are told to be prepared for His coming, which will happen as a thief coming in the night, that is, as a surprise. It could happen now. So, what shall we do? What do we do to prepare? Shall we run around in a panic? No, we need not panic at the thought of our Lord's return. We know that our own preparations are inadequate, and that we fully count on Christ preparing us. He prepared us by His death upon the cross. Then, as we look for His coming, we can have confidence that we are fully prepared. When it comes, we can lift up our heads for we know our salvation is drawing near. There is no need for fear.
Many are very excited about this date. It is good to be cautious because there are many unstable people. No, if you feel you are one of these unstable people, then just calm down! Later, I shall share the Words of our Lord which give us peace and tranquility in the face of anxiety producing situations.
First, let us consider this question: What is all the excitement about the date anyway? It seems to represent a significant change. We get all those zeros and a new first digit. Many are calling this the millenium change. That is not quite true. A millenium is a 1000 year period. Now, the current calendar started numbering years at year 1. The second millenium would begin 1000 years later, at year 1001. The third millenium would begin a thousand years later in 2001. So, according to our calendar, this is not the start of the next millenium. That will be next year.
Others would look at the date and say this is 2000 years since Christ's birth. The creators of our current calendar, working several hundred years after Christ's ascension, had the intention of setting the years as years since Christ's birth, but they were off, by four or five years. According to the actual dates, first Christmas was about 2004 or 2005 years ago. We already missed the 2000th anniversary.
How about the setting of the time of the beginning of the New Year? Actually, that was done arbitrarily also. Before the current calendar was established, the celebration of the New Year was held in the Spring. The creators of the calendar we now use decided to move the celebration of the New Year to the date we celebrate Christ's circumcision, eight days after His birth, or January 1.
So, even the start of the New Year is a date chosen by humans. Therefore, it cannot force God to do anything on that day and it would be superstitious to think some other even must happen on that day.
Interestingly, in other cultures the first day of the New Year is often an important religious celebration. The ancient Middle East had many groups doing this, such as, the Sumerians, Akkadians, Hittites, and Babylonians. They all celebrated the New Year in a big way. The Babylonians had a elaborate eleven day celebration which included much ritual and the reading of their creation legend. Their celebration was at the date of their New Year, in the Spring, and included fertility rites.
Perhaps it would be better for us to celebrate a religious festival at the New Year rather than a secular one. This is what we do, in fact, do, for January 1 would be the day of Jesus' circumcision based on December 25 as the date of His birth. Eight days after birth was the required day for circumcision. At His circumcision, Jesus would have been given His name-"Jesus."
So, this evening is set as a day on the church year calendar called, "The Even of the Name of Jesus." Tomorrow is set as the day to celebrate "The Circumcision of Our Lord." It is good to focus on the name of Jesus in the Eve of the New Year, for the New Year is simply a human event. It passes and we move on. The events of our Lord's earthly ministry, however, have an eternal impact. They transcend or go beyond the events of our life and influence our eternal future.
So, let us tonight discuss the name of our Lord. We really want to consider the name "Jesus." "Christ" is actually a title and not His name. It has the meaning of "anointed" or "chosen" one. "Christ" means the same as "Messiah." The name "Jesus," on the other hand, was the one given to Him at His circumcision. It is the same name as "Joshua." It comes from the Hebrew phrase "Yeshua," which means "Yahweh saves." "Yahweh" is God's name, so "Yeshua" means "God saves."
So we have in the very name of Jesus a statement about our salvation having its source in God. His name says to us that we have the kind of God who is wanting to save us. He is the "saving type."
This certainty connects to us tonight as we perhaps deal with fears of what is to come. All of us have such fears, whether it is of what is to come tonight, or further into the future. In the face of those fears we take the name of Jesus.
Ultimately our fears find their foundation in our desire to know our standing with God. Does He find me acceptable? Will He care for me? Will I face punishment? These fears arise in the face of the God's Holy Law and His demand for perfect obedience to that Law. Our fears are natural. And we also fear the future.
In that name of Jesus, however, we have the words to calm our fears. We have the name above all other names which teaches us that we have a loving God who does indeed save us. The name of Jesus teaches us what is recorded in other words elsewhere in the Scripture.
NIV Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
NIV Romans 8:31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
NIV Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In that name of Jesus and in Scripture's witnesses, God teaches us that He doesn't want us to be afraid. We need not fear our sins for Christ took them to the cross. We need not fear the future for our Lord saves us. We need not fear the New Year and Y2K for the Lord saves us from these troubles too. Jesus, when He defeated sin, death, and the devil upon the cross, took all our fears away. He removed the reason for the fear.
Our fears are conquered, because, as the reading from Romans said, "We have received grace through His name." Because of His name "Jesus," God has shown us pardon for our sins.
The reading from Numbers shows how God's name was to be placed upon the people. It is the same as our benediction or final blessing used today. When God's name is placed upon the people He promises He will bless them. In the same way, for us to have the name of Jesus placed upon us, means to come to hear and know the good news. That good news brings us blessings, provided we do not reject it.
Jesus' parents followed the directions the angel gave as to how to name the child that Mary had delivered. They named Him Jesus. The Lord saves. Indeed that is what Jesus did for us. Now, on the eve of a New Year, we can rest safely in that same name. We can know that that name represents God's protection and love for us. We can rest safely under the name, trusting in the one named Jesus to rescue us from every evil and deliver us into eternal life. "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety," concludes Psalm 4. So we rest in peace, free from all fears, in the name, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.