Name above All Names

I wrapped up a delightful book of advent meditations today by bestselling author and master storyteller Walt Wangerin Jr. Arranged in simple calendar fashion, the daily devotions began on December 1 and concluded on January 6, which is the twelfth day of Christmas (according to western liturgies), and is also the day Epiphany. Perhaps what I’ve enjoyed most is the fact that this particular resource kept Christmas going for me long after we’d unwrapped the last gift. I have to admit that I’m often guilty of boxing up my Christmas musings with the last overstuffed crate of decorations. And yet, the nativity story has barely begun when the 25th of December draws to a close. True, the shepherds have gazed upon the tiny one in the manger, but so many others have yet to see Him. Simeon, Anna, the Magi and the nameless others whose faith or sheer curiosity propelled them to behold the stable-born King first laid eyes on our Savior well-beyond the tidy timeline that we use to mark our traditional Christmas celebration.

And so, today, I lingered in the story a bit longer than usual. I stepped out of the stable and pondered the significance of the eighth day of baby Jesus’ life, the day his name was proclaimed for all to know. Eight days later, when the time came to circumcise the child, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb (Luke 2:21). Jesus or Yehoshuah in our Savior’s native tongue, means God will save. Undoubtedly it is a name “almighty and completely unique,” Wangerin writes, “since there is no other name under heaven by which we may be saved.” And yet it is the common name by which Mary called her firstborn to supper; the name the young Savior’s siblings surely shouted in both glee and anger; the name Joseph uttered when he wanted to garner his eldest’s attention as he spoke above the din of hammers in the family carpentry shop. Jesus: the name used to both revile and revere; the name that condemned God’s only son to die and the name that will one day cause EVERY knee to bow ( Philippians 2:10). Oh, how I love the name! I’ve spoken it, sung it, whispered it, sobbed it, and shouted it. I’ve witnessed prayers answered by it, demons frightened by it and children mesmerized by it. It is the name on which I’ve staked my life, the name upon which I’ve pinned my heart, and the one name that has NEVER let me down. How thankful I am for a Christmas Savior born to live… to live up to His name!

The One Who Lives up to His Name

When the pace of life has depleted my soul,

And my passion and vision has waned,

I receive all I need from El Shaddai.