Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
We’ve all heard the question: “what’s in a name”? For most people it means, ‘when you hear the name of a product or a place or a person, what images or ideas or even emotions well up inside of you’? Here, let’s try it. I’m going to give you three names and look closely at yourself to see what happens inside you in response to these names:
1. Ukraine
2. 9/11
3. Christopher Columbus
Ukraine, of course is a place and we’ve all seen the horrific images, over the past year, of terrible war there. While most of us have never been to Ukraine, we feel a connection to it and the people in their terrible suffering.
9/11 is a date and the events in New York City and Washington changed our world and birthed a new word: terrorism. While most of us were not there when those airplanes crashed that day, we’ve seen and heard enough of the story, we feel a connection don’t we?
Christopher Columbus is the name of a famous person from centuries ago. None of us ever met him but we’ve heard about his famous worldwide explorations. And many of us have been in one or more of the places he supposedly ‘discovered’, perhaps we even call one of those places home!
Now what about YOUR name, my friends. What do you suppose happens inside people when they hear your name?
Here’s one more very important name: Jesus Christ. What images and emotions well up inside you when you hear or read the name Jesus Christ? Let’s rejoin Peter again this morning as he is writing his first letter to people for whom the name JESUS is very significant, in fact that name has been life changing for them! Peter writes: “If you are insulted because of the NAME of Jesus Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you… if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed but praise God that you bear that NAME.“ (1 Peter 4:14,16)
We looked at the first part of that statement yesterday. The word “Christian“ has for centuries been used to describe people who claim some relationship with Jesus Christ. For some people, that simply means they occasionally attend a church that claims to honor Jesus Christ in their worship and perhaps their behavior. For other people, they have roots in a family they thought was “Christian” or they attended a school that was led by ‘Christians’.
For some people the relationship they have with Jesus is deeply personal. It is vibrant, dynamic and truly its life transforming. They are not at all the person they were before they became a follower of Jesus. And of course, there is a very wide spectrum of people associated with the word “Christian”, all over the world, isn’t there? Sadly, over the centuries, a great many terrible things have been attributed to people claiming to be “Christians” and in rare cases, some people have even done terrible things claiming Jesus told them to do those things! May I ask you… what does the word “Christian” mean to you? Do you consider yourself a “Christian“? Are there some people who think you are a “Christian“? If so, what makes them think that? How does that affect how they feel about you as a person?
In Peter’s day, in the mid first century, emotions were running high and people who had any association with the word “Christian“ were usually persecuted or harassed or at least ignored. A very real, often painful price was paid if they allowed themselves to be associated with the name Jesus Christ. Everyday people faced the choice… reject any association with the name Jesus or declare their allegiance to Jesus? Either way the people around them responded, there was no neutrality when the name Jesus Christ was mentioned! How does that compare to where you live today?
What did Peter mean when he wrote: “…if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed but praise God that you bear that NAME.“ As Peter wrote this, I suspect he may have put down his stylus, closed his eyes and remembered his own experience. In the days immediately following the ascension of Jesus, the city of Jerusalem had been turned upside down, for the Holy Spirit of God had come upon Peter and 120 other followers of Jesus during the Jewish Pentecost festival, and they spoke in languages they did not know, proclaiming the story of Jesus to Jews who had come to Jerusalem from all over the known world. (Acts 2)
The Jewish religious leaders quickly did everything they could to stop this new Jesus movement. Peter and the other disciples who were known to have been friends of Jesus were arrested, imprisoned and told to never speak the name of Jesus again. They refused and received the punishment which had been threatened… they were flogged, beaten to a bleeding pulp. It was a turning point, a defining moment in history.
Dr. Luke, the author of Acts, writes this profound statement about that defining moment: “The apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.“ (Acts 5:41) Bleeding men praising God for the privilege of suffering a beating? Now my friends, no matter where you are in the world today, does that make any sense to you? What joy, what honor could they possibly find in their brutal flogging?
These bleeding friends of Jesus remembered Jesus had said something to them only hours before He was nailed to the cross: “If the world hates you, keep in mind it hated ME first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own…If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also… They will treat you this way because of My NAME, for they do not know the God who sent Me.“ (John 15:18-25) It was probably now about 30 years later that Peter was writing his letter. In those 30 years Peter had been arrested and beaten several times. James, one of his fellow disciples, had been executed. The price people were paying to be known as followers of Jesus was getting more and more painful by the day! Do you suppose the words of Jesus rang in Peter’s mind as he wrote his letter to suffering Christians in the first century? Perhaps Peter even looked at some of the scars on his arms and legs, the reminders of his persecutions. WHY? Why such a strong, angry, violent response to the name Jesus Christ?
Well, Jesus explained it, didn’t He? The angry response to the NAME Jesus is a rejection of God, and God’s Truth, God’s Morality, God’s holiness, God’s Justice. But my friends, the Name of Jesus is not simply a word, for there is power in that Name!
The kingdom of darkness MUST submit to the Name Jesus Christ, for He is God the Son; He is the resurrected Savior of the world; He is currently the King of kings and LORD of Lords, reigning from the throne room of God in heaven! (Heb. 1:3) In closing today, listen to what Paul wrote about this glorious name: “God exalted Him to the highest place, and gave Him the NAME that is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11) Now that, my friends, is why Peter can encourage us with his letter… “if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed but praise God that you bear that NAME.“
Do you bear the name of Jesus today my friends? Have you given Jesus your full allegiance as your Savior and your King? Is it a privilege for you to suffer for His great Name and are you anticipating, with great joy, your eternity with Jesus in the Presence of God? Do you understand the power available to you in the Name Jesus?
Let’s take some time right now to invite Jesus to speak His power into our lives, and here’s a song to help you do that as you worship JESUS. . .
Today’s Scripture is 1 Peter 4:14-16.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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