Naming and Circumcision of Jesus

Collect

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was circumcised in obedience to the law for our sake and given the Name that is above every name: give us grace faithfully to bear his Name, to worship him in the freedom of the Spirit, and to proclaim him as the Saviour of the world; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion

Eternal God, whose incarnate Son was given the Name of Saviour: grant that we, who have shared in this sacrament of our salvation, may live out our years in the power of the Name above all other names, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Readings

Old Testament

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them,

The Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;

the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

Numbers 6.22–27

Psalm

1 O Lord our governor, ♦
how glorious is your name in all the world!

2 Your majesty above the heavens is praised ♦
out of the mouths of babes at the breast.

3 You have founded a stronghold against your foes, ♦
that you might still the enemy and the avenger.

4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, ♦
the moon and the stars that you have ordained,

5 What is man, that you should be mindful of him; ♦
the son of man, that you should seek him out?

6 You have made him little lower than the angels ♦
and crown him with glory and honour.

7 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands ♦
and put all things under his feet,

8 All sheep and oxen, ♦
even the wild beasts of the field,

9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea ♦
and whatsoever moves in the paths of the sea.

10 O Lord our governor, ♦
how glorious is your name in all the world!

Psalm 8

Epistle

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

Galatians 4.4–7

Gospel

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Luke 2.15–21

Sermon on Naming and Circumcision of Jesus

Today is another festival, one of the many feasts of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church at this time of year – it is a celebration of an event in a Jewish boy’s infancy, his naming and circumcision. This would be the equivalent of a christian infant’s baptism, when we gather to welcome a baby into the fold of the Church, when we make the promise to the child of acceptance into our own lives as well as entry into the Kingdom of God.

I wonder why there are not more parties for the child. Why don’t we madly rush about shouting the good news of the child’s birth AND his acceptance into the people of God. In the gospel story, we hear about the grand announcement of the good news of the messiah’s birth, but no one makes anything of the naming of the child. The gospel reading makes this disjunction very clear.

Today we read about the shepherds visiting the manger. They shouted about Jesus’ birth from the moment they saw the angel and the multitude of the heavenly host praising God despite their anxiety and fear. They ran down into the town announcing the good news. They crowded around the manger where the child lay, then, poof, they disappear. There is only silence where once there was raucous delight. The scene changes abruptly. At one point the shepherds were there, then they are no longer mentioned and the babe is being named and circumcised.

After this long passage about the shepherds, there is only one sentence concerning the naming of Jesus and the fulfilment of the Law. That is no different from today – we all make a big thing about a child, but when they are named in church, not much is made of the fact. The community of faith is not involved, is it? Perhaps the immediate family gathers to wet the baby’s head, but the wider community, whether of faith or not, has nothing to do with the child’s taking its place in the world with its name. Quite often we only just hear by chance how we are to address the child. The rowdy shepherds have gone away and no one is gaily celebrating the naming of Joseph’ and Mary’s new-borne.

The churches are complicit in this downgrading of the naming and baptism of our infants. How many times do we have a baptism in the context of a public eucharist, in the midst of our giving thanks to God, through the sharing of the cup, within the gathering of the whole community of faith?

Jesus, like our children, was brought to the centre of the faith. Jesus went with his parents to the Temple on the eighth day to fulfil the Law quietly without lots of friends. Our children do appear in church but not often as quickly as the eighth day.

When our children are presented in the local centres of faith, it is “private”. The select group gathers around the child and the baptism of the baby occurs among the close family. No one else needs to be part of the event. It is much like the faith we all say we have – it is very private. We don’t normally stand up to give a testimony of our faith, unless you’re that odd duck who likes to dress up in an ancient frock and lead worship like me.

Private faith – that is really rather an odd thing, isn’t it? How can the core of our lives be “private” – never to be revealed? When we talk about authenticity, don’t we mean that the inside is the same as the outside? That there is nothing hidden in an authentic life? Everything is, if I may use the word, “transparent” about the authentic person – there can be no duplicity – the authentic is there in front of you without doubt.

I cannot say one thing and mean another. For instance, I cannot say money doesn’t matter to me and be a miser. The degree of discrepancy can be as great a gulf as the sea or just the merest hair’s breadth, but if the gap is there, it will always separate the true from false self. Though I have the tongue of an angel, but speak not through love, am I not merely a clanging cymbal? How can I be true when that crack is part of my being? We all know from Bargain Hunt that a good piece of ceramic or crystal will sound hollow and dull if it has a fault even the tiniest crack. – Such a piece, never rings true. I think we can apply this test to our own lives, don’t you?

If there is a separation between my public and my private self, how can I sound a true note? How can I speak with angelic feeling if I have no love? Paul was speaking of authenticity long before the philosopher coined it in his writings. They speak of the same thing, don’t they?

Both would wish each of us would unite the whole of our lives into a single entity. The philosopher tells us that crack in our lives is a chasm of immense proportions, even if it is not visible to anyone else. It is the fault line along which our hearts will break. We have to make a leap to unite our lives, away from the false into the true, from hate to love, from indifference to kindness.

With that leap to authenticity, to wholeness, we rise with the angels into the sky to sing “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth, to people of good will.” The people in whom there is no sin are the people of good will. They are pure of heart, their hearts will never be broken.

That cracked heart which was perhaps about to break, has leapt. It has re-formed itself with that leap. Now it is whole. The reformed heart will always stand tall and proud. It is upright and whole. Now that it is re-formed, it is much stronger. The reformed heart lives a new life, full of joy and love. The reformed rejoice in the Lord always.

We are naming Jesus today. Let us cut out all sin from our lives, that we may be able to sing with the angels. Let us be re-formed – reformed – in peace as the angels declare.

I wonder if that is why we read the lesson from Numbers today.