“HIS NAME IS YOUR NAME”
Saint John 16: 23-30
Rogate: 6 May Anno Domini 2018
Father Jay Watson SSP
Today is Rogate, the fifth Sunday after Easter. Rogate mean to call (Latin: “rogo”) And for a disciple that means to call upon the Name of The Lord. Not some generic “god” or some all-powerful deity…but rather the God/Man Christ Jesus. Infinite emphasis on “JESUS.”
“In that day” meant for the “12” those days before His suffering and death—before the Atonement for the sins of the world which The Christ made on the cross at Calvary. And also, the short time of Holy Saturday and then into the hours of the day of His Resurrection from the dead. But from the moment He showed Himself to them on Easter evening, when He breathed upon them and commissioned them “in His stead and by His command” it was no longer “that day.” It was the New Day. For in His ordination of The Disciples they became The Apostles. His “sent ones” were also given the promise that The Holy Ghost would come upon them with a miraculous flourish of Gospel for the Gentiles—The Promise of upcoming Pentecost. In their touching and handling of The Lord’s sacred wounds—His Body—they were truly given, fed, sealed, and baptized in His Name. For His Holy Name Jesus was now so much more than the New Testament version of Joshua. Now its etymological meaning “Savior” took on literal and metaphysical reality! The salvation that makes all things new.
Obviously, the Disciples had asked their Rabbi many things in the preceding three years of their catechetical formation. From asking Jesus “what did that Parable mean” to “Lord can I step out of this boat and come to you.” What The Christ meant was that now that He would soon be invisible to His flock, now that He would soon take possession again of His Throne of Glory at the right hand of majesty, that they would now pray, teach, preach, Gospel, Gospel with + Water, Absolution, and Bread and Wine in His Name—Savior! And that this Name above all Names would be their status, their “marching orders” into all the world, their dying creedal confessional cry as they would be martyred, and their entire Baptismal Identity not just as Apostles, but as Saints and Brethren of God!
And also with you.
Yes, like King David you were conceived in sin, that is, from fallen sinful parents did you come, as the stain of Adam follows and adheres to all mankind. But at the holy + womb of the church you were given a new name. In a way it’s like the pass-word, the secret key—which is Christ, the “Key of David” Who opens all the Scriptures. When The + Name of Jesus was washed on to you and in to you, in the flood of faith and river of rebirth, you now and forever have a new and eternal status. Christ Jesus is in you and you are in Him. When you pray The Heavenly Father, you do so “in” Christ Jesus. Thus, you always, ALWAYS, pray “in Jesus’ Name.” This is praying in the Savior’s Person—the Savior and in His purpose—Saving! It is the will of The Father that “all men might be saved and to come into the knowledge of The Truth.” [1 Tim. 2.4] And The Blessed and Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, hears you.
The Name of Jesus is not just some free-floating butterfly emotion flitting here and there. It is a dynamite of power and authority and not just an individual denominating personal pronoun. It is not meant to reduced and trivialized; to be put on bumper-stickers, wall art, and the lips of those who blithely and daily “take it in vain.” The Name is Christ’s saving acts here and now at Augsburg and at all His Church’s parishes! It is your family and personal + Name. It is your own Genesis 1 creating and constituting name as well; as you receive His forgiveness, strength, and peace by His Words and Holy Supper. It is that which authorizes His called and ordained representatives to assist you in always guarding, treasuring, and staying in The Word—the Scriptures to be sure—but also The Word above all words, the status and life (now and hereafter), and the Name above all names. JESUS!
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of The Holy Ghost
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