Names
It’s interesting the names kids come up with for their grandparents. Sometimes my kids will give me a hard time coming up with the names they’re going to give me when they have kids. Names like Pappy, Gramps, and Big Daddy just doesn’t do it for me. Hopefully I’ve got a few more years until we have to figure it out.
But it does make me wonder…
What’s in a name?
We’ve already started decorating our house for Christmas. You probably won’t even believe this… but me and my daughter Emma started listening to Christmas music back in September! That’s how much we love Christmas! 🙂
I think our family has about seven different Christmas trees we set up and decorate at our house. Then there are the lights, the snowmen, and… SANTA!
There’s another guy that has a lot of names.
The name Santa Claus is actually Dutch and refers to Saint Nicholas who was the patron saint of children.
Saint Nicholas is a Greek name. He was a 4th century bishop known for his generosity and kindness.
Then you’ve got Kris Kringle, a German name (Christkindl) which actually means “Christ Child.”
The French name Père Nöel and the Italian name Babbo Natale both mean Father Christmas.
All those names for one person, depicted in different places in different ways all around the world, but when we say his name we immediately know the hope and joy he brings at Christmas.
What’s in a name?
There’s actually a lot in a name. Or at least there can be.
A name can bring hope, it can bring joy, it can bring comfort, it can bring a sense of peace, it can bring so much light into your life.
Unless… unless you feel like there’s just too much darkness around you. Unless there’s just too much grief. Or too much despair. Or too much hardship. Or too many problems. Or too many unanswered questions.
But even then there can be hope when you hear the right name.
Nearly every classic Christmas movie shares the same plot line where it seems like all hope is lost until… until everyone learns that Santa is on the way!
What name, when you hear it, your heart is filled with hope?
The Problem?
The problem we’re up against is the same problem people of faith have been up against for centuries.
There is a real and present darkness at work in our world.
And this darkness has left and is leaving a lot of people WITHOUT HOPE. That’s what darkness does.
This is the situation in Israel when a man by the name of Isaiah was the prophet of God.
Listen to his description of the situation:
Isaiah 8.20-22
20 Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. 21 They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven 22 and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.
The people of God had turned away from God and because of this, they were completely in the dark. Not only that, they were facing trouble and anguish and dark despair.
In a word, they were WITHOUT HOPE.
9.1 Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.
Because of the disobedience of the people, because they had turned away from God, because they had chosen to worship other gods, because they had forgotten God who had delivered them from Egypt, provided for them over and over again in miraculous ways, been faithful to them even in the midst of their unfaithfulness, these people, the people of Israel, were experiencing a darkness and despair unlike anything they had ever known before.
They were suffering under Assyrian oppression. Their lands had been invaded, their property and lives destroyed, friends and family had been killed or carried off into captivity and slavery.
They were living in utter darkness and without any hope.
The Good News?
Yet, Isaiah arrives on the scene as a prophet of God and he begins speaking of a future time, of a day coming when something is going to happen in Galilee that no one right now could even dare to hope for or dream of, a time in the not too distant future when this land that is covered in darkness and despair will be filled with glory.
What could Isaiah possibly be talking about?
Wherever they look there is darkness and despair! (8.22)
There’s trouble around every corner and no one has any hope.
Ever been there?
Have you ever felt like every where you look there is only darkness and despair?
Like there’s trouble around every corner? You don’t even want to check your text messages, your email, or answer your phone because you know if you do all you’re going to hear about are more problems, more unsolvable issues, more unanswerable questions and you feel like there is no hope of anything getting any better. Not really. And not anytime soon. If ever.
If that’s you, if you’ve ever been there, if you know that feeling, that darkness, that despair, can I share with you the words that Isaiah shared with the people of God some 3000 years ago?
Here’s what Isaiah said…
2 The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
a light will shine.
Isaiah 9.2
How Is That Possible?
You might wonder how that’s even possible?
Especially if you’re in the middle of a broken relationship. Maybe it’s your marriage. Maybe it’s a friendship. Maybe it’s with a child or a parent. But it seems hopeless. It feels like you can’t win. Nothing you do is right.
You might wonder how that’s even possible?
Especially if you feel trapped in some addiction or habitual sin. You’ve tried everything you know to get out of it. You’re strong for an hour, a day, maybe even a week. But that old temptation catches up to you again and before you know it you’re right back down in the darkness of that pit you worked so hard to get out of.
You might wonder how that’s even possible?
Especially if you’re feeling overwhelmed by life. All the plates you have to keep spinning, it’s all too much. The pressure, the anxiety, the fear you feel, you get to the end of every day feeling more exhausted than the day before and you’re not even sure how that’s possible. You feel the weight of the world on your shoulders and you can’t remember the last time you smiled, you laughed, or you had a good day.
You might wonder how that’s even possible?
Especially if the cancer is back. Or the illness is worse than expected. Or the medicine isn’t working. Or the prognosis isn’t what you expected. Or the insurance isn’t cooperating. Or… the list goes on and on. You’re praying for a medical miracle but you’re wondering if God is listening.
You may wonder how it’s even possible for people who walk in the kind of darkness you’re walking in could ever, would ever, see a great light? How? All you see is darkness and despair before you. How could anyone walking in your shoes have any reason for hope?
Isaiah says there’s reason to hope but the reason he gives is not the reason you would expect.
The Reason Hope is Possible
Here’s the reason Isaiah says the people of Israel living in the middle of one of the darkest times the world has ever known could have hope, and by the way… it’s the same reason you can have hope today, too…
6 For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9.6
The reason they could hope, the reason you can have hope, is because of a child.
The birth of new children always brings a little hope into any situation. But this child isn’t any child. And by the way, the darkness they were facing wasn’t just any kind of darkness.
This child that would be born, this son who would be given, would have the ability to carry the weight of the government of the universe on His shoulders. That doesn’t mean he’s going to be president, or emperor, or like any kind of earthly ruler you’ve ever known. NO! He’s going to be the King of the Universe. The Lord of lords. All power and all authority will rest on His shoulders.
He is robbed in majesty and armed with strength. His throne was established from before time began. Psalm 93
He is the great King above all kings. In His hand are the depths of the earth and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His because He made it. His hands formed the dry land. Psalm 95
He alone is great and worthy to be praised! Psalm 96
And Isaiah tells us His name. His name is:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Four Names?
You may think, that’s four names!
And you’re not wrong. In English, it appears that way.
But in the original language this is ONE NAME.
This is the throne name of the One who will come and bring the light that will shine in the darkness.
This is throne name of the One who comes and brings everlasting hope.
This name brings light and joy. This name reverses the curse of darkness and despair. This is the name of the Son who will come to make all things right and all things new!
He is…
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Who Could Live Up to This Name?
You may wonder, Who could possibly live up to this name? Who is coming who could be worthy of this name?
I’m glad you asked! Fast forward about 700 years and there’s this guy named Matthew who’s writing a story about this Rabbi called Jesus of Nazareth. And listen to Matthew writes…
Matthew 4.12-17
12 When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. 13 He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 “In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali,
beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River,
in Galilee where so many Gentiles live,
16 the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light.
And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow,
a light has shined.”
17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
The One Isaiah was speaking of all those years ago, that child that was to be born, the Hope who was on the way, His name is Jesus.
He is our:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His name is HOPE!
Do you know this Hope?
1861 was a particularly dark time in our country. In April that year, the Civil War began.
A year later, Charles Appleton Longfellow walked out of his family’s house on Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and, without even telling his family, he boarded a train bound for Washington, D.C.. He traveled over 400 miles across the eastern seaboard to join President Lincoln’s Union army to fight in the Civil War.
Charley was the oldest of six kids. Less than two years earlier, his mom had passed away after her dress had caught on fire. Her husband, Henry, woke up from a nap to realize that his wife was burning to death. He did everything within his power to put out the fire. In the process, his face was badly burned. So burned he would later grow out a beard to cover up how he had been disfigured by the flames. By the time he put out the fire, his wife’s burns were too severe. She died the next morning.
When Henry realized that Charley had left home to join the army, he wrote to all his friends hoping to secure a spot as an officer for Charley so that maybe just maybe, he would be protected from fighting on the front lines. But by the time Henry had made his request, Charley had already impressed his superiors with his skills as a soldier.
In April of 1863 he fought bravely in the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia, but then he fell ill with typhoid fever and was sent home to recover. By the time he had recovered he had missed the Battle of Gettysburg. He rejoined his regiment in August. It was on November 27, 1863, Charley was shot during a battle of the Mine Run Campaign through the left shoulder. He had avoided being paralyzed by about an inch!
Henry was able to bring his son Charley home to recover. He could hear the canons in the distance. He had lost his wife to a brutal fire. He himself had been burned by the flames. He had nearly lost his son in the war. He was trying to provide for the children all by himself. And now it’s Christmas Day, 1863, when Henry hears something else in the distance. He hears the church bells ringing on Christmas Day.
This day was about as dark as any day could be. Was there any reason to hope? That’s the question he considered as he wrote the words to this now familiar poem.
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
There is Hope
We have Hope. And our Hope has a name.
His name is:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Whatever darkness you’re facing today, here’s what I want you to remember….
There is a Light that outshines the darkness.
As the Apostle John would later say… “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5, ESV)
Would you allow the Light of Christ to renew your hope today?
Would you encourage someone who needs a little hope today?
Today, may we remember…
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
Want more from this Series… Click here.
