Name Above All Names

Sermon at St John The Baptist Felixstowe  – Christmas Day – 25 December 2023

Text:  a child has been born for us, a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.   (Isaiah 9v6)

God give you peace my sisters and brothers.

‘A child has been born for us’.

For almost all people the birth of a child is Good News. Even in dark times, perhaps especially in dark times, the cry of a new born child at their birth is a cry of hope and possibility of a better life for all.

At Pushchair Pitstop not one but two of our wonderful families of volunteers have new babies to celebrate this Christmas. Vicky gave birth to Lincoln and also Zamanva and Julie had the gift of Matteo, who is a ‘Rainbow Baby’ after their previous miscarriage. Both babies will be cherished by our Pushchair Pitstop family and will literally grow up inside St Edmund’s church as the three mummies help other families find ‘comfort and joy’.

‘A child has been born for us’.

Childbirth brings us much joy as, at this dark time, we need the hope of a new baby. But what are we to call this child brimming full of joy and hope?

Amongst the Zulu people of Southern Africa the gender of a new baby is perhaps somewhat over prioritised. If the first-born child in a family is a girl they may often be given the name ‘ntombi’ which means simply ‘girl’. If, by chance, the second child of the family is also female it is not unknown for them to be named ‘Ntombifuthi’ which translates as ‘Girl again…’

This is not just a predilection of traditional culture.  It seems that, though we know it doesn’t (perhaps should rather say ‘shouldn’t) matter, the gender of children yet to be born is becoming even more and more important.  Witness the proliferation of Gender Reveal parties amongst expectant parents.  But regardless of this and still;

 ‘A child has been born for us’.

If for a moment we can put aside concerns about the gender of a new baby, what do we do when it comes to choosing a name?  This can be difficult and challenging.  Do we give the child a name from our family tradition or do we give them a ‘new’ name?  Do we pay homage to the past or do we look to the future?

Yet still ‘A child has been born for us’.

So we turn to the child ‘born this day in the City of David’ and the names Isaiah gave Him long before Emmanuel came to live amongst us.

‘Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ 

What difference do these names make for our journey home towards God.  

What does it meant that ‘A child has been born for us’?

Let’s look at these names one by one. Not just at the names but also at the adjectives that qualify and enrich them.

What does it mean that the ‘child born for us’ is a Wonderful Counsellor?

There are many many different sorts and types of Counsellors.  I know that I am not always a good, let alone a ‘wonderful’ counsellor but I do have a sister who is a Social Worker who is much more skilled than I am.  Both of us know the challenge of counselling is to not be too distant from those whom you are helping whilst at the same time not being so close to them that all perspective is lost.

Jesus, who is Emmanuel, God become Human, is able to hold this tension together and we find that we worship one who both understands our plight but also calls us out of the pit of our own making.

‘A child has been born for us’.

This child born for us is not only God in the flesh but a Mighty God. 

Too many of the gods, (down the years and to our current era) that humankind has worshipped are not at all ‘Mighty’.  They are gods who are empty of power and authority. Gods whom Dietrich Bonhoeffer described as a ‘God of the Gaps’.  Gods who we treat like slot machines at the arcades along Felixstowe Promenade.  Hoping that the next pull of the lever will give us the answer to prayer we desire and, when our supply of Two pence coins run out, we give up on god altogether.  

This is not the God we worship! We worship a Mighty God who steers us through the infancy of a faith that believes we can control God by promises and petitions, sacrifices and oblations, and brings us to a place of knowing that we are loved without condition and without compromise even if that leads our ‘Mighty God’ to a ghastly death on a cross.

‘A child has been born for us’.

Wonderfully, gloriously, we have come to learn the God we worship is not for a season only. Today in the minuteness of the ‘Babe lying in a manger’ we see the God who is an Everlasting Father. We worship a God who, like the Duracell Bunny, will not give up on us and, despite our wilful waywardness, will never ever let go of us.

‘A child has been born for us’.

And to end, in the midst of a world that is as overflowing with as much, if not more hatred and violence, as it was when Mary and Joseph had to flee from their temporary home ‘Away in a Manger’, we are promised that we will live under the reign of the Prince of Peace. We do not worship a Prince who wages war but one who seeks peace.

Later in His life Jesus would teach His disciples the true meaning of being a ‘peaceful’ Prince:

‘…whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.  For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’  (Mark 10v43-45)

‘A child has been born for us’.

Where do we go from here?

We have met today to honour and worship a ‘Wonderful Counsellor, a Mighty God, an Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.’  Can we go one step further?

For me, and for my whole life, though I have stumbled often along the road, the only response I can make is the same as that made by His disciple Peter when some, finding His road too difficult, turned away;

               ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life? (John 6.66-69)

‘A child has been born for us’.

My beloved friends, in the face of such love, such power, such humility, what else can we do but kneel at the manger and, with those who have led the way before us, yield our lives, our being, and our hearts to Him

May this Christmastime bring each of us joy as we surrender our lives and choose to live joyfully under the reign of the Babe of Bethlehem who is our ‘Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ 

This blog ‘Name Above All Names’ is copyright © Andrew Dotchin 2023. 

 It may be reproduced free of charge on condition that the source is acknowledged.

Isaiah 9:2-7: The Righteous Reign of the Coming King

² The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
    on them light has shined.
³ You have multiplied the nation,
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with joy at the harvest,
    as people exult when dividing plunder.
⁴ For the yoke of their burden,
    and the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor,
    you have broken as on the day of Midian.
⁵ For all the boots of the tramping warriors
    and all the garments rolled in blood
    shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶ For a child has been born for us,
    a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
    and he is named
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ His authority shall grow continually,
    and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
    He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time onwards and for evermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.