The Name of Jesus

Last Sunday I preached on a passage in Collosians, chapter three.

One of the songs in the opening set of the service contained these words:
There is strength in the name of the Lord.
There is power in the name of the Lord.
There is hope in the name of the Lord.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

The closing verse of the passage I preached on was verse 17: "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

And with the phrase "name of the Lord" being emphasized, I extemporaneously changed the planned conclusion of my sermon to something that has been on my mind since I attended our pastoral conference in Orlando few weeks ago.

In Orlando, I couldn't help to think that much of the area lives in the name of Walt Disney. The name "Walt Disney" means a lot to me. As a boomer I grew up with The Mickey Mouse club and Sunday nights with "uncle Walt" on TV. We boomers can still hear the words of "Davey Crocket" ringing in our ears. And that Sunday night TV show convinced us that Disneyland must be where Heaven is.

In addition, a couple of years ago I read Neal Gabler's six-hundred page Disney biography, so I got a pretty good insight on what was the man was like publically and personally, and what made him that way.

So in Orlando I could not help but feel that life was in the name of Walt Disney. Our conference and our accomodations were in the Hilton located in the Disney World Resort. Hotels less than a mile away were nice, too. But it was easy to tell that the Hilton and other hotels around us were in the name of Walt Disney, and the other hotels were not. It wasn't that Walt died with a rule book that systematically outlined how life in his name should look like. But his public pesona was is so powerful that we can recognize something that is "Disneyish" when we see it.

That's what the word "name" means in first century language. A person's name is who he is and what he has done for us. Jesus' name is who he is and what he has done for us.

There are simply not enough written rules to define "doing all in the name of Jesus", just like there are not enough rules to define "doing all in the name of Walt Disney". That implies that we have to know Jesus - and know God - since Jesus is the most complete picture we have of God. That also implies that we read the storybook of God, the Bible, as a revelation of who God is, not as a rulebook. And it also implies that our communal worship and fellowship helps us see who God is. Last, but by no means least, Jesus is alive - present with us through the Holy Spirit - to guide us into living in his name.

I'll rewrite some of the opening words in this essay in "Orlando language", and leave it for you to meditate on the parallels:
There is strength in the name of Walt Disney.
There is power in the name of Walt Disney.
There is hope in the name of Walt Disney.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of Walt Disney.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of Walt Disney.