Emmanuel – God is with us! 4th Sunday of Advent
Sermon by Emmanuel Suntheni OSB – Fourth Sunday Of Advent – Year A
Sermon And Christian Act In The Word
Theme: “What’s in a Name? Emmanuel – God is with us! “Yeshua” – God saves!”
Point of Reflection: What name would you give to yourself if you were to define yourself and your life purpose? What changes in your life should you make if you were to live up to this name? Act accordingly. The liturgy of the Fourth Sunday of Advent brings together some of the best-known biblical passages. In the biblical sense, a name is more than a designation, it is a word that both identifies and defines the person. To know someone’s name is equivalent to knowing their identity, and, therefore, their mission and purpose in life.
First Reading: Isaiah 7:10–14
Psalm: Psalm 24:1–6
Second Reading: Romans 1:1–7
Gospel: Matthew 1:18–24
Sermon (Reflection): in the Scriptural readings of today we encounter the naming of the Child to be born on Christmas day. Names carry meanings that define life’s purposes. Hezekiah, Paul and Jesus, each played a very particular and significant role in God’s project of saving the world. Hezekiah ensured that the faith in the one true God did not die in the time of the Assyrian crisis, some 700 years before Jesus’ birth. Jesus, God’s own son, brought salvation to humanity through his cross, where he removed the alienating effects of sin.
Paul became an apostle of this good news, caring it out to the whole world, and establishing communities of believers. Those who accepted this message of salvation entered into this new relationship with God through Jesus Christ, they became Christians. This meaningful name describes people who belong to God through Christ. Indeed, Christians are also the ones to whom the Psalmist referred to as those who “receive blessing from the Lord, and vindication from the God of their salvation.”
The first scriptural reading of today describes Isaiah’s prophecy about the birth of a child. The child in question was Ahaz’s own son, soon to be born of his young pregnant wife. This child was to be an ordinary human being destined to serve an extraordinary purpose revealed by a symbolic name given to him “Emmanuel”, which means, “God is with us.” Indeed, Ahaz, an idolatrous king, had a son whose name was Hezekiah. At the first opportune moment, Hezekiah shook off the yoke of the Assyrian occupation and conducted an extensive religious reform. First, destroying all Assyrian features, he returned Jerusalem Temple to its proper function as the place of worship of the God of Israel.
He removed from the land all places where foreign gods were worshipped thus returning the people to their God. Thus, Hezekiah brought back the country and the people to their ancestral faith. The name given to him by Isaiah, “Emmanuel”, perfectly reflects the purpose for which he was born. Through him, God was restored to his Temple, and Israelites were restored to their God. Thanks to Hezekiah, the Emmanuel, the Israelites could once again say, “God is with us.” All of us Christians, we must be Emmanuel(s) that means we must live and act as God’s people.
The gospel of today is describing the birth of Jesus, Matthew focused on the naming of this newly born child. Joseph, a righteous man, “adopted” Jesus, knowing him to be conceived by the Holy Spirit. He did this formally by giving the child a name which had been revealed to him by an angel. The child’s name, in Joseph’s native tongue was “Yeshua”, which means “God saves.” This name, which we today translate as “Jesus”, means that this newly born child’s life purpose would be to bringing God’s salvation into the world. Through Jesus, God will save the world! The name says it all. The salvific mission of Jesus would not be an isolated episode in history. This is why Matthew clearly stated that Jesus, in his saving work, will continue what God had already started with Hezekiah, the original Emmanuel. Like Hezekiah, Jesus’ work of salvation will be about restoring the people to their God, and about mending the divine, thus, human relationship broken by sin. He will “save the people from their sin”, which means that Jesus will remove the barrier of sin that prevents humanity from relating to God and being God’s people. While Hezekiah restored the Temple and the people of Israel to God in the distant past, Jesus, the new Emmanuel, will restore the whole humanity to God.
The second reading of today is the opening section of Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul’s original Hebrew name, “Saul”, was changed after his encounter with the Risen Lord on the road to Damascus. This encounter changed Paul’s life. Saul, a persecutor of Christians and an enemy of Christ, became “Paul”, who defined his new identity and the meaning of this name change through three phrases: “a slave of Jesus Christ”, “an apostle” and “set apart for the Gospel of God.” Paul used these three phrases to comprehensively outline his identity and mission. As Christians with our names, are we set apart? Are we apostles and true disciples? Are we slaves of Jesus Christ? God is calling us with our very names to God’s children set apart as true disciples.
First, Paul belongs to Christ totally, to the point of seeing himself as “a slave” or “a servant.” He considered being a “servant” as a privilege, not a form of forceful and unwanted enslavement. As an “apostle”, he was a man sent on a mission, which defined the way he lived. Paul became an emissary of God, a pilgrim, a man in constant movement to bring the Gospel to the furthest reaches of the ancient world. Finally, he was set apart for the Gospel of God, which defined his life purpose. His fate and entire life were to be focused on the proclamation of God’s Gospel. He had been destined, set apart, for this specific task by God himself. Paul was single-mindedly devoted to carrying out God’s work of spreading the Gospel in the world. Indeed, he became famous for his utter dedication and uncompromising commitment to this mission. As Christians, what are we famous for? Corruption, jealousy, backbiting or good deeds? The name Christian is simply to be Christ-like.
Christian Act in Word of God “I will live and act by my name”
Why were you given such a name? Have you ever asked your parents? Last month just for four days, I visited my home country and I was keen to know why I was given the name Emmanuel, my mother Anabanda simply told me that just before I was born she experienced the love of God who saved her life and she wanted that love of God to continue in the family and being the firstborn she wanted God to be with us, hence, I was called Emmanuel-Mulungualinafe in Chichewa, and Nkosinathi in Zulu.
This points to the reality that names are very important in human history and in every culture. In many traditional societies parents and relatives give a newborn baby not just an abstract name with no meaning, but a name that describes the circumstances of their birth and well wishes for the child. Sometimes adults change their names, as is frequently done by athletes and artists who adopt new names to highlight their style, ability or simply to make themselves appealing to their audiences. Some change names to take on those of their heroes. In some cases, people give nicknames to others to express their characters.
Many missionaries working were given local names that reflected the essential characteristics of their work and mission. People in love, express their love and affection through affectionate names. The servant of God Sr Renolda of whom the Shrine of Ngomewas established in South Africa was given a name as midwife missionary called Mashiyane. The name simply greatly acknowledged how passionate she was with her work as a nurse and the huge role she played in her work.
Many of us were given names of saints when we were baptised. And some of us at school or work are given names. But how many of us know the stories of the saints whose name we bear, and what their names mean to us? In the Bible, names were very important as seen in the readings of today. Without a doubt, naming is a powerful exercise. Let us learn as Christians to live and act by our names during this advent season.
God calls us “beloved children”, precious, valuable and those chosen to reflect God’s image. We bear these names and designations that reflect our wonderful call and identity thus, to be beloved children of God destined for salvation because our Lord is Jesus, “God saves.” These are amazingly transformative names. As Christians, we need to value our names and live and act as the mission of our names.
Action: I will live and act as the name I bear means and reflects.
Prayer: Almighty God we thank you for all the names that each one of us bears. In today’s Sunday-Scriptural readings, your Son is given the name Immanuel which means God is with us. Our names are not given to us by mistake but for the mission. Help us today to realise the mission of our names and that we live and act according to the meanings of our names. We ask this through Christ your Son who is always with us in the union of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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