Holy Name

Year A – Feast of the Holy Name

Philippians 2:1-13

The Rev. Charles Everson

Church of the Atonement

January 1, 2026

When we hear that a woman is pregnant, one of the first questions we ask is, “Do you have any names picked out?”  Parents choose names for their children for a variety of reasons – perhaps they choose the name of a saint in the church that has been particularly meaningful to them, or maybe they choose a more modern name that exudes life and freshness and spunk.

No matter which name is chosen, it is safe to say that parents put a lot of thought and time and energy into the decision of what to name their child.

My name, Charles, was given to me by my parents primarily because it was both my grandfather’s and father’s first name.  In order to distinguish me from the elder Charles’s, I was called Chuck and that nickname stuck until I was 22 years old.  I had just arrived in Paris, France, to serve a two-year stint as a Baptist missionary, and my boss took me to church at St. Michael’s, a Church of England parish with services in English.  The vicar’s name was Anthony, and his wife’s name was Claire (though we lovingly referred to her behind her back as The Queen due to her formal language and mannerisms).  I introduced myself to her by saying, “My name is Chuck.”  She giggled and said, “Oh, that’s so American.”  So I’ve been Charles ever since.

In 1^st century Jewish Palestine, it was common to both circumcise and name boys on the eighth day after birth. The name “Jesus” in Greek comes to us from the Hebrew name that we normally translate as Joshua which means, “The Lord saves.”[1] From the name of Jesus comes good news: God himself has come to save us.[2] 

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, Paul quotes a popular hymn that was sung in the early church. This hymn is essentially a commentary on the name of Jesus.  The first stanza speaks of Jesus starting out being in the form of God, but ultimately humbling himself by becoming human and becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross.  In the second stanza, God exalts Jesus and gives him the name that is above every name, thereby winning the allegiance of those in heaven and on earth (and even those “under the earth”!).[3]

Paul frames this hymn – this commentary on the name of Jesus – by exhorting the Philippians to be of the same mind that was in Christ Jesus, to be humble, putting the interests of others before our own. 

Humility is often confused with humiliation, or letting others walk all over you, but that’s not what it means.  Humility is a “quality by which a person considering his own defects has a lowly opinion of himself and willingly submits himself to God and to others for God's sake.”[4]  Jesus modeled humility by emptying himself, being born in human likeness, and becoming obedient to the point of death. But humility isn’t a virtue that should be exercised only in extreme situations of life and death; it starts in the small, mundane choices of everyday life. 

Saint Benedict, in his rule written to guide the spiritual and physical lives of Benedictine monks, writes humility means that monks must submit to their superiors in all obedience for the love of God.[5]  He goes on to say, “In this obedience under difficult, unfavorable or even unjust conditions, his heart quietly embraces suffering and endures it without weakening or seeking escape.”[6]  At one point in my banking career, I had a boss who was an overbearing tyrant who liked to micromanage and criticize everything I did.  The situation was certainly unfavorable and probably unjust, but I needed this job to feed my family.  I was faced with a dilemma: get emotionally worked up and fester on it at the risk of blowing up at him, walk out in protest, or quietly embrace the suffering and endure the situation.  Another example that comes to mind was a relatively minor issue, but no less relevant.  I have an acquaintance who constantly gets on everyone’s nerves due to his overbearing conversational habits and behaviors.  No one likes to spend time with him out of utter annoyance, but a couple of years ago, he asked me to have dinner with him on a holiday, and I knew that he was lonely and didn’t want to spend the holiday alone.  I would have much rather spent time with my family, but I knew that the humble and obedient response would be to forgo the family feast and spend time with him instead. 

Humility is a virtue that should be practiced in all areas of our lives, both individual and communal.  How can we claim the name of Jesus by practicing humility in our communal life here at Atonement?  In terms of corporate worship, is there something we do liturgically that you don’t care for?  Maybe you hate the sanctus bells, or dislike it when the priest uses an affixed altar rather than the freestanding altar which is how you grew up.  Or think of our outreach ministries.  Does our support for local food pantries, for example, seem like the wrong focus and you’d rather see the church support missionaries in Africa? How might you practice the virtue of humility by putting the interests of other parishioners before your own interests?

In our personal lives, how can we claim the name of Jesus more fully by living a humble life of self-sacrifice?  How can you put your spouse’s interests before your own, or your children, or a co-worker, or a lonely acquaintance, or those who experience racism or oppression in our society?

In just a few moments, as I prepare the chalice, a drop of water will be mixed with the wine, and the ancient prayer will be whispered: “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” That prayer names the heart of today’s feast. The one whose Name is above every name humbled himself for us, and now invites us into his own divine life. On this Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, may we claim that Name not only with our lips, but with our lives – humbling ourselves, putting others first, and allowing God to work in us and through us.

[1] F. L. Cross and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 872.

[2] Brandt Montgomery, "'What's in a Name?': A Meditation for the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus," The Living Church: Covenant, January 01, 2017, accessed January 01, 2017, http://livingchurch.org/covenant/2017/01/01/whats-in-a-name-a-meditation-for-the-feast-of-the-holy-name-of-jesus/.

[3] David Lyon Bartlett and Barbara Brown. Taylor, eds., Feasting on the Word, vol. 4 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008), 110.

[4] Arthur Devine, "Humility," CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Humility, 1910, December 31, 2016, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07543b.htm.

[5] Benedict, RB 1980: The Rule of St. Benedict in Latin and English with Notes, ed. Timothy Fry, O.S.B. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1981), 197.

[6] Ibid 197.