John 1. Verses 6-8, 19-28 In the much repeated advert for Sipsmith’s gin the goose takes you round the distillery and says of the process worker dealing with the juniper, “no body knows his real name. I just call him juniper guy. The chap replies “My name’s Craig”. Names are important

On the third Sunday of Advent the Church invites the disciples of Christ to consider John the Baptist and his role in the story of salvation. He appears on the scene and many people seem rather baffled as to who he is. “Who are you?” they ask. “Are you Elijah ?” . “No” John answers. “ Are you one of the prophets?” he answers again “no”. “Then who are you?” the crowd ask. To be mistaken for Elijah sounds like John appeared to the people around him to be a bit like Elijah. And I don’t mean he looked like him because no one would know that. But his words and approach sounded rather like Elijah. He was obviously regarded as being like one of the earlier prophets. Indeed, though he denies it, he appears to be a prophet, standing in a tradition of prophetic figures. Who are you is a searching question.

“O that you would tear open the heavens and come down….to make known your name” (Isa 64.1-2). What’s in a name? In past times, far more than nowadays, a person’s name was really important. It was chosen carefully. Remember the concern Moses expresses to know the name of the one who calls him to go to Pharoah. Tell him I AM has sent you. That name is mysterious in itself. And Jacob who wrestles with a mysterious figure to discover the name of his combatant and suffers a hip joint dislocation in the tussle. He is desperate to know the name of the one he wrestles with. Names were really important in ancient times. To know the name of someone meant you had some knowledge of them. Revealing your name to someone entailed a degree of vulnerability and intimacy. A person’s nature and identity was disclosed in some significant way by knowing their name. I remember once preaching at Skinningrove and speaking of my father and grandmother who had been born there. In an off the cuff comment I gave my grandmother’s maiden name of Corner and I could see the scales fall from one lady’s eyes. I commented on my great uncle John Corner who was a well known character who went by the nickname of Firey because like all the Corners he had ginger hair. Despite the fact that I look a bit like him with the Corner nose and that I have a ginger beard, she had not made the connection. I could see in her face a recognition (almost an epiphany) of who I was and how I fitted in to those she had known from times past. She saw me in a different light.

More common in past times than now, children were often called after previous generations of their family; so, it is not uncommon for the child to take their father or mother’s name as their middle name, as I was given. Christopher Charles Humble sons of Charles Humble. Sometimes it can be more convoluted than that and we might be called by the same name, after a relative from further back in history. Let me tell you a story of a musical event I went to once in York where choir members from various choirs attended. At that time I used to sing in a madrigal group. I was introduced to someone as the choirmaster of Kirkbymoorside Parish Church. I told him that my great great grandfather was buried in his churchyard and he asked “what was his name?” I replied “Christopher Humble” . “And what is your name?” he enquired. With a twinkle in my eye I replied “Christopher Humble”! The first Christopher Humble was born in 1829 and he was actually called after his grandfather The Revd Christopher Roberts, born 1760 who was in fact the son of Christopher Roberts. So Christopher goes back more than 200 years as a line of descent. This is an example of the fact that In some family’s the names keep repeating themselves for generations.

For example, both my grandfathers were named after their great grandfathers, because their mothers held these men in very high esteem. My paternal grandfather was named Richard Leonard Humble after his uncle and great grandfather Richard Humble and Leonard after his mother’s mother’s father Leonard Thompson who brought up his grandchildren. So the name Leonard lived on in my grandad for 180 years but longer than that because Leonard Thompson of Great Edstone York NR was the son of Leonard Thompson stretching back about 200 years!

More or less the same thing happens with my maternal grandfather who was named John Sowerby Hart father his mothers mother’s father John Sowerby. And the name went even further back because John Sowerby was the son of John Sowerby born 1750??. The name lived on because my uncle was named after his father as John Sowerby Hart and he died in 2007, thus the name lived for well over 250 years.

Sometimes choosing a name is tactical move. My mother’s cousin was name William Mead Harrison because the Meads were the original owners as yeoman farmers of Hill House Farm in Lealholm and the last Mead died without children so my grandmother’s uncle inherited the farm, William Harrison. He died without children and his nephew another William Harrison inherited the farm. His son was named William Mead Harrison to keep the family name going, possibly to stake a claim that the farm had a continuity stretching back to the Meads, which his grandmother was. He died in 2014 about 140 years after the last Mead died. The farm is still in the Harrison family now.

Sometimes children are named after footballers. The young mother in Naples who named her baby eg Deigo Armado Maradona Junior gave us a bit of a clue as to paternity! Sometimes children are named after the whole team if they are very successful! or other famous people or even battles. I smiled as a noticed a gravestone in Loftus cemetery recently from the nineteenth century when the child was called Horatio Nelson followed by the family surname. I wonder what teasing the boy received at school and whether he liked going to sea!

The one for whom we watch and wait in the season of Advent is of course Jesus Christ. His name was announced by an angel according to Luke 1.31 who tells Mary that he is to be named Jesus. She did not get to choose the name herself! And so, when he is named on the eighth day at his circumcision according to Luke 2.21, he is called Jesus and reference is made again to this name being given by the angel Gabriel. When John the Baptist was born there is a dispute about what he is to be called because Elizabeth says “his name is to be John” and the people are struck by consternation because no one in the family goes by this name, it is breaking with tradition. Zechariah who has been struck dumb is called for and he writes “his name is John” Luke 1. 59-66 and this naming unlocks his father’s tongue and caused amazement to be spread abroad.

In an age when being a number, a statistic is often how people feel about the systems that control our lives, people knowing our names and calling us by name is important. The Methodist Church’s membership guide is entitled “Called by name” refering back to Isaiah 43.

In a more significant sense, anyone baptised in the name of Trinity, is enrolled into a company of disciples of Christ. In a very real sense, we bear his name. So, as we journey through these days of Advent may we fulfil our high calling as followers of Christ, bearers of his name, witnesses to his life and light in our daily lives.

Isaiah desires that God will tear open the heavens and come down. This is exactly what we proclaim happens in the mystery of the incarnation that we are preparing to celebrate “the word became flesh and dwelt among us” Jn 1.14. God comes down to be among us in the form of a human being as a vulnerable baby. As Christians we are named after Jesus Christ our Saviour because we were baptised in his name and enrolled as his disciples. We belong to Christ, called by his name, commissioned to serve him in our lives. His name is the name we are charged to glorify not our own. So, I wonder what sort of a name we are known by or what sort of name our church community/organisation has within the local neighbourhood? As “Craig” in the Sipsmith’s advert reminds us names are important.

Christmas Holiday Club - meet the puppets!! 

Shona the Sheep, Tony the Donkey, Sally the Cow & Freddie the Horse

Stanhope YouTube channel

Monday 21st, Tuesday 22nd, Wednesday 23rd 

11.00am 

Prayers of Thanksgiving & Intercession God of glory and light of our salvation, we offer you thanks and praise. By your living Word you called all things into being, breathed into life the desire of our heart and shaped us in your own likeness. Though we rejected your love, you did not give us up or cease to fashion our salvation. You made a covenant to be our God, spoke to us through the prophets, and prepared the way for our redemption. We praise you that in the fullness of time you sent your only Son Jesus Christ. The Lord of eternity, announced by angels and born of Mary, he became incarnate, fulfilling the promise of your salvation. And so we offer you our praise and thanks with all your people on earth and in heaven. Awaiting Christ’s coming to reign we pray to our Lord saying; Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus. Come to a troubled and divided world, bring peace and justice to….... Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus. Come to your Church, in…and all the world; stir us up, bring new life and growth…. Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus. Come to those suffering this day, to the sick, persecuted, oppressed, anxious, lonely and bereaved….. Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus. Come us as we remember those we have shared fellowship with here on earth who have gone from among us especially….help us to be thankful for the lives of those who have influenced us until we come to share with them and all the saints in the fulness of your kingdom in heaven. Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus. Come to us and help us to honour your name by the choices we make, the priorities we have, the words we speak, the deeds we perform and the attitudes we display. As we journey onward help us to shape our lives and our world in accordance with your kingdom values. Maranatha Come Lord Jesus. Amen. The Lord’s Prayer Hymn StF 177/ H&P 241 Lo he come with clouds descending. Dismissal: May Christ the Sun of Righteousness shine upon us and prepare our hearts and souls to meet him when he comes in glory, and the blessing of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be ours, now and always. Amen Darlington District Worship at Home Sunday 29th November 2020 Call to Worship Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed are those who will come from east and west, from north and south to feast in the kingdom of God. Hymn StF 180 / H&P 85 O come, o come Immanuel Prayers God of all glory, you brought the universe into existence, and raised up witnesses to your greatness and love. We praise and adore you. Grant that by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit we may worship and serve you, and praise your holy name, through Christ our Lord. Amen Our Lord Jesus Christ said “The first commandment is “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God , the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul ,and with all your mind, and with all your strength”. The second is this “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”. There is no other commandment greater than these. “I give you a new commandment that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another”. Amen. Lord have mercy. Let us confess our sin to God trusting his mercy and forgiveness. Holy and forgiving God, we have sinned against you and against each other in thought and word and deed. We have turned from your life-giving word, and ignored the message of those you sent. We are unprepared for the coming of your Son. Have mercy upon us and forgive us, that strengthened by your love we may serve you more faithfully; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. “I am making all things new” says the Lord. This is Christ’s gracious word: “Your sins are forgiven”. Amen. Thanks be to God. Old Testament Reading Isaiah 64.1-9 Reading together: Benedictus – StF 792 Hymn StF 183 Praise to the God who clears the way New Testament Reading: Mark 13. 24-37 Reflection “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down….to make known your name” (Isaiah 64.1-2) What’s in a name? In past times, far more than nowadays, a person’s name was really important. It was chosen carefully. It may be that your name was chosen because of a relative who was significant. More common in past times than now, children were often called after previous generations of their family; it is not uncommon for the child to take their parent’s name as their middle name, as I was given. Sometimes it can be more convoluted than that and we might be called after a relative from further back in history - both my grandfathers were named after their great grandfathers, because their mothers held these men in very high esteem. Sometimes children are named after footballers (sometimes the whole team!) or other famous people or even battles. I smiled recently as I noticed a nineteenth century gravestone in a cemetery - the child was called Horatio Nelson followed by the family surname. I wonder what teasing the boy received at school! The one for whom we watch and wait in the season of Advent is of course Jesus Christ. His name was announced by an angel according to Luke 1.31 who tells Mary that he is to be named Jesus. She did not get to choose the name herself! And so, when he is named on the eighth day at his circumcision according to Luke 2.21, he is called Jesus and reference is made again to this name being given by the angel Gabriel. When John the Baptist was born there is a dispute about what he is to be called because Elizabeth says his name is to be John and the people are struck by consternation because no one in the family goes by this name, it is breaking with tradition. Zechariah who has been struck dumb is called for and he writes “his name is John” Luke 1. 59-66. This naming unlocked Zechariah’s tongue and caused amazement to be spread abroad. In an age when being a number, a statistic, is often how people feel about the systems that control our lives, people knowing our names and calling us by name is important. The Methodist Church’s membership guide is entitled “Called by name” referring back to Isaiah 43. (For a reflection on the theme of the Name of our Salvation see H&P 80 / MHB 93) Simon, the outspoken disciple of Jesus, after his confession of Jesus’ identity at Ceasara Philippi is given a new name of Peter, the rock, (Matthew 16.18) with the promise that the Church will be built on this rock. Saul of Tarsus becomes Paul from Acts 13 onwards. Our diverse Christian Tradition includes some traditions where people are given a new name at Confirmation and the tradition of monks and nuns taking new names when they make their final vows. Often these names are to do with saints who have particularly inspired them or it may be simply because someone else already has their name, so they have to choose another! In a more significant sense, anyone baptised in the name of Trinity, is enrolled into a company of disciples of Christ. In a very real sense, we bear his name. So, as we journey through these days of Advent may we fulfil our high calling as followers of Christ, bearers of his name, witnesses to his life and light in our daily lives. Isaiah desires that God will tear open the heavens and come down. This is exactly what we proclaim happens in the mystery of the incarnation that we are preparing to celebrate “the word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1.14). God comes down to be among us in the form of a human being as a vulnerable baby. For a reflection on this mystery see StF 512/ H&P 462 “Stupendous height of heavenly love, of pitying tenderness divine, it brought the Saviour from above…” And so with Isaiah and people of faith down the ages we cry “ everlasting God come down” (Charles Wesley StF 177). So, I wonder what sort of a name we are known by or what sort of name our church community has within the local neighbourhood? Hymn 512 StF/ H&P 462 Stupendous height of heavenly love ___________________________________________________ Our worship sheet this week was compiled by Rev Christopher Humble.

Messy Church Christ the King