What's In A Name?

Scriptures:     Revelation 7:9-17, Psalm 34:1-3, 11-22

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16, 32-39, 12:1-2  Matthew 23:1-12

You may have seen the E-surance commercial a year or two back:  three older women are in a living room.  We’re to understand that one of them is trying to figure out how to use Facebook.  One of them says, “Instead of mailing people my vacation photos I post them to my wall” – as it happens, not her wall on Facebook, but her living room wall, which indeed is covered with taped-up photos.  A few minutes later, one of the other women says something she doesn’t like, and the first woman says, “I unfriend you”.    The other woman says, “That’s not how this works.  That’s not how any of this works.”

In our Gospel reading today, Jesus could probably relate.  He’s been in Jerusalem debating with a bunch of religious leaders who are more interested in defending their own turf than in serving the people – as Jesus says, they pile heavy burdens on their followers, but won’t lift a finger to help them.   Jesus notes that these leaders are always putting themselves forward, wearing religious ornamentation to distinguish them from ordinary people, and jockeying for a seat at the head table of every banquet.  They think they can impress God, just as they try to impress those around them.

Jesus isn’t impressed.  He tells his disciples that because of the office they hold, his disciples should respect the religious leaders, but not to follow their example.  Their distinctive religious ornamentation – long fringes and phylacteries, which are boxes worn on the forehead and arm containing scripture verses – combined with their sense of self-importance only serves to make them look ridiculous, like pompous clowns – they may as well have worn fake red noses and funny hats.  Like the woman in the E-surance commercial, he points to their self-serving ways and their clamoring for attention, saying “That’s not how this works.  That’s not how any of this works.”   He goes on to tell them not to call anyone their teacher or even their father, because the only one to whom they should look for instruction is Jesus, and the only one to whom they should look for parental guidance is God in heaven.  He tells them that the greatest among them will be their servant; that all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

So our Gospel reading today gives us examples of how not to win God’s favor and how not to be remembered favorably in the community of faith.   Our reading from Hebrews gives us examples of people who were faithful – Noah, Abraham, Moses and many others.  These people by and large did not seek position, did not seek any kind of leadership role.  They were just going about their lives when God interrupted them and called them to service.  Instead of praise, they often were rewarded with ridicule – like Noah building an ark when there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, or Abraham and Sarah uprooting themselves in their old age to journey to a place they didn’t know, a place that God promised, or Moses walking away from comfort in Pharoah’s court to lead his people to freedom – with those same people questioning him and complaining about his leadership every step of the way.  Many were rewarded with suffering, such as the prophets who were persecuted and killed for their faithfulness.

Toward the end of the reading from Hebrews, there are some other names listed that may be less familiar.  Many are listed in the book of Judges, in the Old Testament, a book which tells of a time in Israel’s history which was like the wild wild west, when there was no central authority and everyone did as they pleased.  Gideon won a famous battle against the Midianites with a small group of 300 men.   Jephthah was the son of a prostitute, who won great battles against the Ammonites and later the Ephraimites.  He had made a vow to God that whoever came out of the door of his house to meet him, he would sacrifice as a burnt offering – and it turned out to be his daughter.  Pastor Dave’s note – don’t try this at home.   Barak won a great battle against the Canaanites – though it turns out that the leader of the Canaanites, Sisera, was killed by a woman with a tent peg.   From Sunday school you might remember Samson, who was renowned for his strength, but who lost his strength when a woman named Delilah cut his hair while he slept.  Samuel was the last of the judges, who anointed Saul, the first king of Israel, and later at God’s command turned against Saul and anointed David to succeed him – and David is seen as Israel’s ideal king, to whom none of his successors could hold a candle.

We may dimly remember some of these stories from Sunday school; some we may have forgotten, and some we may have never learned – and if you read the book of Judges, you’ll learn all sorts of interesting things, many of which you don’t want to try at home – as I said, the time of the Judges was a lawless time, like the wild wild west with an occasional sheriff riding into town to restore order, only to have things fall apart after they rode off into the sunset.  It was a blood-soaked time in Israel’s history, and the stories reflect that reality.  But for those listening to Jesus, these were national heroes, and those listening to Jesus would have known these stories as well as we know stories about George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.   

What’s in a name?  If we don’t know or remember the person, nothing.  For those who don’t know a person, their name is just a random combination of consonants and vowels.  But for those who know and remember, a name reminds us of all sorts of stories, all the things they did, for good and for bad.  Earlier this morning we read a lengthy list of those departed whose memories are a blessing to their families and all whose lives were touched by theirs.   I knew very few of them, and the few I knew personally, I only met near the end of their lives.  But you who requested their names to be printed have rich memories, holy memories, of all they meant to you.  In some way, they live on in your lives, in your thoughts and actions.

Here at Emanuel we have our own list of saints, our own list of those who kept this church going and who shaped the future of this congregation at various points in our history.   We remember our founding pastor, Rev. J. G. Neuber.  We remember Rev. Emanuel Boehringer, who founded an orphanage for Civil War orphans that would move to Womelsdorf and come to be known as Bethany Children’s Home.  We remember Rev John B. Forster, who served from 1883 to 1917, the longest pastorate of Emanuel Church, under which we experienced our greatest time of growth.  Several of our stained glass windows are dedicated to him and his family.  You may not remember the name of Emanuel’s next pastor, the Rev Felix Steinmann, who served from 1918 to 1923, but I do, because he was my great-grandfather, though he died years before I was born.  And many of you remember those pastors who served during your lifetimes, especially the pastor who confirmed you.  Our members of longest standing may remember the Rev George Meischner, who served from 1929 to 1937.  If I remember the stories I heard, and I may be misremembering, he used to play cards with the pastor at All Saints.  His successor, the Rev Victor Steinberg, who served from 1937 to 1949, including the years of  World War II, was beloved by many.   The Rev Ronald Keller served from 1954 to 1959,  and due to his leadership, the Bridesburg Council of Churches came into being.  He was followed by the Rev. Fred Manthey, pastor from 1959 to 1964,  who was pastor for our 100^th anniversary.  Along the way, there were also pastors who didn’t stay as long, for any number of reasons.  Following Rev. Manthey, from 1964 through 1975, Emanuel experienced a fair amount of pastoral turnover, with many pastors who were here for few months, or a year, or two years, and the longest pastorate during that period was that of Rev.  Robert Larson, from 1971 to 1975.   Rapid pastoral turnover generally isn’t helpful to a congregation.  From the late 1970’s to the early 1990’s,  a number of Emanuel’s pastors were seminarians, who went on to serve larger congregations after their ordinations.  The Rev. Lois Ostermayer, pastor from 1976 to 1981 and Emanuel’s only female pastor, and the Rev. Frank Sapp, who served from 1987 to 1992,  were among the seminarians who served the congregation during that period.  The Rev. Dr.  Eugene Grau, a former missionary to Ghana, who immediately preceded me, had a long pastorate, from 1994 to 2007.  He served as long as he was physically able, retiring at the age of 90 when he could no longer manage our steps.  And you’ve put up with me for nearly 10 years.  All of these pastors, those who served long pastorates and those who didn’t, those who were beloved and those who weren’t, had roles in shaping the ministry of this congregation.  And these pastors, beloved or not, would have accomplished exactly nothing, had it not been for the faithful members who filled the pews, cooked the dinners, taught Sunday school, led youth group, maintained the property, cleaned the church, changed the altar cloths and set up communion, gave their weekly tithes and offerings, and otherwise did the work necessary to keep this congregation going for 156 years.

What’s in a name?  On names hang our family histories and the history of this congregation.  But if we stopped with these names, we would no longer be a church, but only a historical society, or a cemetery maintenance society.  What makes us a church is that all these names, the names of our family saints and our Emanuel saints, point to the name of Jesus.  Remember that our reading from Hebrews ends with these words:  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Our family saints, our Emanuel saints, are part of that great cloud of witnesses.  They have run their race, which really is a centuries-long relay race.  They have passed the baton to us, and are up in the stands cheering us on.  It’s our turn to carry the baton – the baton of Christian faith – so that we can pass it on to generations to come.   While we take this Sunday to remember, we have a baton to carry, a race to run.   Hear these words of praise and promise,  from I John 3:1-2:

“ See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.   Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.”

May the memory of our family saints and our Emanuel saints always point us in the direction of Jesus Christ.   May we look to the day when we will be like God, and see God as God is.  May we run our part of the race faithfully and well, to the glory of God.  Amen.