Sunday 12/29/13 Freeville/Homer Ave
UMC’s
Sermon Title: “Jesus becomes a Nazorean”
Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Isaiah 63:7-9
New Testament Scripture Lesson: Hebrews 2:10-18
Gospel Lesson: Mathew 2:13-23
Welcome and
good morning once again, on this the First Sunday after Christmas. Today is
also the Fifth-Day of the Twelve-Days of Christmas. These Twelve-Days of
Christmas, as many of us know the song all too well, ends next Sunday on
January 5th.
During these
Twelve-Days of Christmas, many of us travel to and fro to see family and
friends. Some of us travel just for Christmas Day itself, while some of us just
travel for New Year’s Eve itself. Further, some of us travel the whole time, and
some of us travel a little before or a little after the Twelve-Days of
Christmas.
Perhaps for
some of us, we go back the place of our birth. Perhaps when we drive back into
that town or city of our birth, we remember various memories and parts of our
childhoods. Or maybe we go instead to where a member of our family currently
lives, or maybe we go somewhere that we have never been before. Given all of
this, does it matter where we go during Christmas time? Speaking in even more
broad terms, does it matter where we go or are during any other time of the
year?
For example, is it better to go to
New York City, to go to Dallas, Texas, or to go Atlanta, Georgia? In addition
to this, we could get into a friendly debate over what the best city or place
in America is. Also, if we are not from this area, do we consider our identities
as being from our place of birth, or where we live now?
For me, I was born in the Northern
Illinois town of Woodstock. When I tell people this, they usually think that I
am somehow connected to the band the Grateful Dead, or that this whole town is
full of hippies. I assure that Woodstock, Illinois, is not the same as
Woodstock, New York.
Yet when I was in fourth grade, I
moved with my mother to Orange County, New York. You see then, I was born in
Woodstock, Illinois, but much of my childhood and my more formative years were
spent in Monroe, New York, down in Orange County. Given all of this then, one
could ask me, “Paul are you a New Yorker, or an Illinoian?” The funny part
about this is hypothetical question, is that I had to look up what people from
Illinois are called. So if you have ever wondered, someone from Illinois is an “Illinoian!”
So, I was born in one place, but
raised a good percentage of my life in another place. Historically speaking,
many people were named or are known based upon various things. For example, the
famous British Sea Explorer and navigator Henry Hudson, is now connected with
the Hudson River and the Hudson Bay that are named after him. While Henry
Hudson was British, we have sort of adopted him into being from our neck of the
woods, on this continent of North America. Yet Henry Hudson was not from Canada
or what is now the United States. Even so, for most of us, we see his
historical identity as being intertwined somehow with us here in America.
Another example is the Spanish
explorer and conquistador Juan Ponce
de León, who got the 'Ponce de León' part of name from a man he was descended called
Ponce Vélaz. Ponce Vélaz was a
nobleman from the province of León, Spain, and as such this famous
explorer and conquistador Juan Ponce de León, took part of his name from a
famous Spanish nobleman that he was related to. So he took part of a noble
name, and also took the place of birth of his noble ancestor’s name, as well.
William
Shakespeare famously put in his classic play Romeo and Juliet, “What’s in name?” For example, if you were a Kennedy, a Rockefeller, a Carnegie, a Walton,
a Bush, a Trump, and etc., would that name matter more to you or to others? Does
it matter where you come from? Does it matter what you are named?
Well this
day in age, someone’s name and where they are from means very little to some
and yet means a lot to others. In the days of Jesus Christ however, your name
and your place of birth meant a lot. So much so that when the prophet Isaiah in
the Old Testament reading from this morning said that, “he became their savior.”
Yet according to the Old Testament prophecy the savior or the Messiah had born
in Bethlehem. You see Jesus the Christ had to be born in Bethlehem, the City of
David, in accordance with the Old Testament prophecies. It is very interesting
that the Roman Emperor of Caesar just happened to have called a census or
population count near the time of Mary giving birth to Jesus.
Even though this is all true though,
many of know that one of the names for Jesus is Jesus of Nazareth, not Jesus of
Bethlehem. You see, I can identify with Jesus here, in that my place of birth
or my Bethlehem was Woodstock Illinois, but most of my childhood was spent in my
Nazareth or Monroe, New York. If I were using the old fashion Spanish naming
system I would be Pablo or “Paul de Monroe,” which means Paul of Monroe. I was
born in Woodstock, Illinois though, so shouldn’t I be “Paul de Woodstock?”
It is interesting to know that Jesus like
me identified not with the place of his birth in Bethlehem, but to the place he
were he was raised north of Bethlehem called Nazareth. Due to this every
historical book I have every read, always calls Jesus, among the many other
names he has, “Jesus of Nazareth?”
I remember in a seminary class a
student asked one night, “Well professor, if Christ was born in Bethlehem, the
City of David, in accordance with the scriptures, shouldn’t he be called ‘Jesus
of Bethlehem?’ The professor said, “Scripture prophesized Bethlehem as his
place of birth only, but was also called a “Nazorean.” You see the Messiah only
had to be born in the City of David, but not raised in the City of David.
In the Apostle Paul’s letter or
Epistle to the Hebrews from this morning, the Apostle Paul said speaking of
Jesus, “Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sister in every
respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest for the sins
of the people.” Well looking at this scripture, we know that Jesus went amongst
all manner of people. It didn’t matter if the person was a Kennedy or a Rockefeller,
or if they were from Bethlehem. You see to Jesus, when it is all said and done,
we are all his children, and our names, our places of birth, and the places that
we call home all become level and equal at the foot of the cross of Jesus
Christ. Therefore, Jesus Christ came to earth and died not just for the Carnegies
and the Trumps of this world, but he also came and died for you, and for all
people. He came then not just for the people of Freeville and Cortland, but he came
for all of humankind.
Yet, in Jesus
Christ being the savior and the Messiah, he realized that he had to fulfill all
the prophecies of old and all the markers proving and demonstrating that he was
and is in fact, the Messiah. So he is born in Bethlehem, the City of David,
which is also where his father Joseph was born. So Jesus is visited by the three
Magi or wisemen with their gifts of Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Yet shortly
after, the three wisemen and Jesus’ father Joseph had a dream of an angel of
the Lord telling them to leave Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The angel of the Lord
told Joseph, “for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” The gospel
according to Mathew reading goes on to say, “Then Joseph got up, took the child
and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death
of Herod.”
This reality
caused yet another prophesy of the Old Testament to come true that says, “Out
of Egypt I have called my son.” The Christ-Child would then emerge from Egypt. King
Herod though still decided to have all children two and under killed in and
around Bethlehem. These children being killed was also part of the Old
Testament prophecy that said, “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud
lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled,
because they are no more.”
When King
Herod died, and angel of the Lord told Joseph to leave Egypt and to take Mary and
Jesus to the land of Israel, and ultimately Joseph took Mary and Jesus near
Galilee, to Nazareth. The gospel reading then concluded by saying, “There he
made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what been spoken through the
prophets might be fulfilled, “he will be called a Nazorean.” So today then my
brothers and sisters, Jesus the Christ becomes “Jesus of Nazareth.” The name
Nazareth as many of us is in everything from the titles of colleges, to towns,
and etc. Jesus while being born in Bethlehem he was and always will be
historically known as “Jesus the Narorean,” or Jesus of Nazareth.
I want to close this
sermon this morning with a poem called, The World Says, by Mark W. Fields. Here
is how it goes:
“The World says I have no ambition, yet
I hope, I dream. The World says I'm not intelligent, yet I believe I am. The
World says I won't succeed, yet I know I will. The World says my thoughts
aren't important, yet I know they are. The World says my voice won't be heard, yet
I know someone will. The World says I can't live without money, yet I know I
could. The World says I need many friends, yet I only need some. The World says
my Savior is dead, yet I know he lives. The World says many things, yet I don't
listen.”
So my brothers and sisters, “What’s
in a name?” “What’s in a place of birth? What makes where you live now the best?”
These might have been important for Jesus Christ to fulfill the prophecies of
the Old Testament, but whether he was Jesus of Bethlehem or Jesus of Nazareth,
he is still Jesus the savior of the whole world. So no matter what your last
name is, no matter where you were born, and no matter what town or city you
identify with, you are first a foremost a child of God, even if you happen to
be a “Nazorean.” Let us then have an attitude my brothers and sisters, that all
people everywhere are all children of God, even if they didn’t come from the
most affluent family, and even if they didn’t come from the most glamorous city
or neighbor in the country. For we all that believe in Jesus Christ will
inherit the kingdom of God. So no matter what are family name we have, no
matter where we were born, and not matter where will live now, we will all see
the best place in the whole universe, and that place is in heaven. For in
heaven, maybe there won’t be any places of birth, maybe there won’t be any family
names, and maybe there won’t be any best towns and cities. Maybe there will
only be the kingdom, the city on the hill, paradise. Maybe Jesus will just
point to all of us and say, they are all blessed, they are all valuable, and
first and foremost they are all my children. Glory be to the Father, to the
Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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