What is the "Name" of God(dess)?

April 14, 2019

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OPENING SONGS

Try to dance, move, sing, hum or play along with this music – or enjoy a meditative listen with deep, mindful breaths

Creation Calls 

READINGS

From Biblical & Hebrew Scripture

Matthew 21:1-11

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

“Say to Daughter Zion,
    ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
    and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Psalm 136:1-16

Praise the Lord! He is good.
    God’s love never fails.
Praise the God of all gods.
    God’s love never fails.
Praise the Lord of lords.
    God’s love never fails.

Only God works great miracles.
    God’s love never fails.
With wisdom he made the sky.
    God’s love never fails.
The Lord stretched the earth
over the ocean.
    God’s love never fails.
He made the bright lights
in the sky.
    God’s love never fails.
He lets the sun rule each day.
    God’s love never fails.
He lets the moon and the stars
rule each night.
    God’s love never fails.

God struck down the first-born
in every Egyptian family.
    God’s love never fails.
He rescued Israel from Egypt.
    God’s love never fails.
God used his great strength
and his powerful arm.
    God’s love never fails.
He split the Red Sea apart.
    God’s love never fails.

The Lord brought Israel safely
through the sea.
    God’s love never fails.
He destroyed the Egyptian king
and his army there.
    God’s love never fails.
The Lord led his people
through the desert.
    God’s love never fails.

From Swedenborg's Theological Writings
Click here for free ebooks of Emanuel Swedenborg's Theological Writings

What is the "Name" of God(dess)?

By rev. Cory Bradford-Watts

We’re told in our scripture reading today that soon before his crucifixion Christ came to Jerusalem with a large crowd. They were celebrating and placing palm leaves before him. And as they did this they chanted, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

What an amazing event, right? To celebrate God living, walking among us: “God with us,” as the meaning of the name “Jesus” describes. Today on this Palm Sunday we celebrate this too! We celebrate the presence of God working wonders in our midst, as he did among the crowds in today’s scripture.

However, like the Israelites, we don’t always see or accept all the important ways that this may be true. We’re told that the city of Jerusalem actually becomes quite stirred and tumultuous by this revelation of God with us, by Jesus’ arrival and the crowds chanting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  As the Lord nears in our lives, we too can get quite stirred up, not knowing or accepting all that it may mean.

If we were there in Jerusalem we may have asked, “Is it true? What does it mean that this man riding on a donkey, healing and preaching social justice, love, and personal transformation comes in the name of the Lord?”

You see, this was quite unlike the idea that many seemed to have about the coming “Christ:” the Messiah, the Anointed King of Kings. Even though the Israelites knew Psalm 136 from today’s service, which told them, “Praise the Lord! He is good, God’s love never fails.” Many still seemed to think that this love should extend only to their group, much like how we can often be today.

Indeed, even today we tend to water-down this transformationally loving Christ into a Christ that we transform for our own loves, for our own purposes. The name “Christ” often becomes one that we use as a tool for isolationism, domination, and rejection, saying that if you don’t believe in this specific name, the historical person of Jesus Christ, then you are going to hell.

Does anyone else think that’s sad? I believe it’s quite tragic really, it’s utterly cruel and horrifying for the name of God to be so mistreated, so misused, instead of being truly celebrated and uplifted for what it is. The name of God is so much more than being reduced to our weapon, and God’s name transcends one pronunciation, one language, one religion, and even one book.

If we look back on history or even on the world around us today, we can see the devastating impact of such mistreatment and narrowing of God’s holy name. Condemnation, war, abuse and genocide, all in the so-called name of God. It’s unimaginable the amount of pain that humanity has caused under this guise, and despite appearances it has not been in the name of God – no, it’s been in the name of ourselves and our selfishness. We narrow our idea of God’s name down because all too often what we truly want to hear is just our own.

In our community, I think it’s this mistreatment of God’s name, warping it for our own purposes, that we help to work against by being intentionally and vocally open and affirming to all, by being intentionally inclusive of other faiths and by warmly welcoming a diversity of viewpoints even within these cyber-walls. In striving to be open, warm, and loving in our personal intentions and actions we seek to receive and show others God’s love, and celebrate with others Jesus’ presence with everyone. And that type of Christ-like presence is what this desperate world truly needs – thus, to magnify God’s name we must magnify her by living as openly and welcoming as he did in the Gospel.

But that still begs the question, doesn’t it – what exactly does “the name of the Lord” mean? Well, like the Quran and the Hindu Vedas, the Bible uses a lot of names to describe God. And, of course, when asked who God was she answered, “I am.” So clearly, we must be talking about something greater than a name in the current day conception of it when we say that Jesus came in the name of the Lord.

Now get excited, because now we get to put on our Swedenborgian theology hats for a moment. The interfaith-Christian tradition that we call Swedenborgianism, points to the idea alluded to in scripture that the name of God is so much more than a specific history or a specific pronunciation of her name. The name of God means God’s qualities according to this theology, God’s name means his character: infinite love, goodness, spiritual health, and wisdom. So yes, the name of God is Jesus, it’s also Jehovah and Elohim as our Bible’s tell us, but only to the extent that when we say those words we mean the personality of God and his loving qualities.

We actually see this idea quite clearly in scripture as well, many of the names for God point to something about her character: Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Scripture loves to call God by what he’s like, even the words “Jesus” and “Christ” have deep meanings behind them.

So perhaps, for Jesus to come in the name of the Lord means that he came with the qualities of God, he came as an embodiment of God and uplifts that embodiment as much as he can in others. Jesus was Divinity in the flesh, you could say, and still today strives to draw nearer to each of us. That’s why he healed people both spiritually and physically: to uplift the health that is God’s name in their lives and to show what it means to come in the name of the Lord. That’s why he taught personal and societal transformation toward health, justice, and love.

So today, let us celebrate and be joyful that whatever we call him, Jesus is with us drawing us closer in the name of the Lord. He’s here, today, on our behalf, so let’s be joyous. Like the crowds in our scripture, let us celebrate and place palm leaves to ease his further procession into our lives.

However, also like the people in our reading, I think there’s often a part of each of us in some turmoil as God draws closer, afraid to release God’s name back to God. It’s natural for us to be somewhat anxious about transformation and receiving Divinity in our lives in a new way, that’s ok and it can even be healthy at times to be wary. But what we should seek to celebrate even in the midst of that passing turmoil and confusion is that God and his infinite love works to pull us closer anyway, smiling, on a donkey, healing, preaching, and caring for each of us. Amen.

CLOSING SONGS

You Know My Name

Chris Cornell

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