The question of who you are often starts with a name. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus is described by many names. Rabbi. Messiah. Lamb of God. King of Israel.

Names get attached to us as we go through life. Some positive. Some negative. My own name means “Light.” I’ve also been called Luke Skywalker. Cool Hand Luke. Crell calls me Pastor Stretch. These all seem to fit me.

Naming is important. The name has to say something about the person we’re trying to label. I have my names from being tall, like Stretch. I love Star Wars, but I don’t know if I love it because I’m named Luke or because the films are just that good. Cool Hand Luke must be because I’m as handsome as Paul Newman. Or because there’s a nonconformist streak in me. Take your pick.

Names tell us something about a person. The name our parents give us, and the names we collect along the way. One of my customers was name Rooster. He was this short guy with tattoos all over. He got this name when he was working in a lumber yard, and the guys would horse around when things were slow. They would fight. He was the most intense and persistent fighter. He would go until he won. Once, he was jumping all over the biggest guy who yelled in exasperation, “You’re like a little fighting rooster! Get off me!” The name stuck. It named how Rooster wouldn’t give up. If Rooster was the foreman, I knew the job would be a big, difficult one that his company knew he could handle. He was well named.

The Gospel of John is like a machine gun of names for Jesus. Jesus is The Word. The Light. The One and Only Son. Christ. The Lamb of God. Rabbi. The Messiah. And that’s just the first chapter! Don’t like any of those? How about Bread of Life. The Living Water. The Gate. The Way. The Good Shepherd. The Great I Am. The king of Israel. The True Vine. The Resurrection and life. The Savior of the World. John keeps going. Metaphor after metaphor to show us how special Jesus is. But we don’t get it. “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.” John 1:10 reads.

Joseph and Mary are given Jesus’ name. In Hebrew, Jesus sounds more like “Yeshua.” Yeshua in our language would be “Joshua.” Another way to say the name Jesus is Joshua. And what does Joshua mean? “YAHWEH is salvation.”[1]

There are two major Biblical figures named Joshua. One has a whole book named after him. He comes after Moses and leads the people into the Promised Land. He wages war, makes Jericho’s walls fall, and is a military leader. That’s what the Messiah was supposed to be. The anointed one who would come and bring a war to end all wars.

Yet the Joshua we get in Jesus wages war using different means. He uses peace. The walls that come tumbling down aren’t physical… they are the walls that separate the Jew and the Gentile. The Religious and the sinner. The men and the women. The insider and the outcast. Those walls are much harder to bring down.

The other Joshua in scripture is a high priest. According to both the prophets Zechariah and Ezra, Josuha son of Yehozadak is the first high priest of the temple following the Babylonian Captivity. He inspires the rebuilding of the temple.

Yet the Joshua we get in Jesus talks about tearing down that temple and rebuilding it in three days. The temple in ancient times was the dwelling place of God on earth. Jesus spends time there, but seems to point to the dwelling place of God being wherever two or three are gathered. That the Holy Spirit will indwell his disciples and be with them until the end of the age.

Jesus is seeking to bring his religion out of exile. All one heard from the religious at that time is everything they were doing wrong and who was going to hell. Who God loved. And who God didn’t. God loves our group, and unless you’re with us, God hates you. It is very human to want to be the judge and determine the fate of people we don’t like. As the street artist Banksy once tweeted, “People who should be shot: Fascist thugs, religious fundamentalists, people who write lists telling you who should be shot.”

The way back to God is letting God be the judge. Our call, our way out of exile to be close to God is through loving service, not looking down our nose through doctrinal purity. We have been freed from that!

Yahweh is salvation! Salvation from the weight of judging who is in and who is out! Salvation from judging who loves God and who doesn’t. For God so loves the World. We have salvation from what binds us. Salvation from the shell game that organized religion loves to play by making you feel guilty. When we feel guilty, we want release from that guilt. The release from the guilt comes by doing whatever the person making us feel guilty wants us to do.

Like this past weekend. A man messaged the church at 11 p.m. saying he was hitch-hiking to North Dakota and needed us to put him up. I wasn’t in town and couldn’t meet him. “You know I could freeze to death! But I guess that doesn’t matter! Blessings!” That is a classic guilt game. And people will play that game and give you names to label you and keep you in a box. Keep you doing what they want. Keep you guilty and dependent on their opinion.

Jesus came to set us free from all that. He comes to give us new names. Beloved, instead of outcast. Blessed, instead of cursed. Life instead of death. Peace instead of violence. Holy instead of sinner. Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Simon saw this. He was brought by his brother Andrew . Jesus looked at Simon and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Peter.” Simon means “listen” or “hearing.” Peter means “rock.” Names are important. Peter is often the first to hear what Jesus means. He’s often first with the right answer. But then he quickly misses the point. He’s a solid guy who tries his best to get what Jesus is talking about, but isn’t always successful.

It is upon him the church is built. And that’s good news. I’m in that same boat. I listen hard to Jesus, but I don’t always get it. It takes time to puzzle out all that Jesus means through his teachings and parables.

But my name Luke means Light. It means that every so often, a lightbulb goes off and I get it. I’m born on the Epiphany. Epiphanies are those Ah HA! Moments! I live for those. For myself… For you. To see the lightbulb go off in your mind. For you to understand and “get it” and share your wisdom. For that is how the light is spread.

A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. That’s how the light can spread in our bleak world. Sharing our Epiphanies. Sharing our Ah Ha! Moments. That’s what I want to seek out in our world.

We’re living in a negative time. So many bad names are swirling. People are labeling others as unAmerican. Inhuman. Less than. Bullies do this. They belittle you with words. They often project their insecurities upon you. That negative talk puts out lights.

Nathaniel tries that. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” And look how Jesus responds! With light! “Here is one who speaks his mind!” He gives a blessing, and lifts Nathaniel up instead of giving him a lecture on how Nazareth is a great place! Instead of saying, “How dare you talk about my hometown like that?!”

Do you know what your name means? Who are you named after? What does your name say about you? Does it fit you, or do you have another name that fits better? What descriptors, nicknames, do you want to be known by?

I would love to hear about those. Names tell us a lot about people and what they are about. On social media this Monday when I post the sermon… post your name. Post what you want to be known by. Or email me. Call the office. Write it on your bulletin and hand it to me. Tell me in the receiving line!

Know your name. For when you know it. No one else will be able to give you one that isn’t yours. And there is great freedom in that. Some would call it, salvation. Amen.

[1] from the roots יְהוֹ (yeho) referring to the Hebrew God and יָשַׁע (yasha’) meaning “to save,” from Quora translation