Kept in the Name

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

To be in the name of someone or something is no light matter. When the president of the United States of America speaks officially, he speaks in the name of 310 million Americans. When the Pope speaks ex cathedra, he speaks in the name of God, allegedly. When a lawyer enters a plea or brokers a deal, he speaks in the name of his client. In this spirit, the president of the Republic of Ireland is, by constitutional limitation, not allowed to speak officially or to leave Ireland without express permission of the Irish Parliament. To bear the name of someone is a weighty matter, and certainly even more so when it is the Name of God that you bear, which indeed you do.

In today's Gospel lesson, we listen in on a conversation between Jesus and the Father, in which Jesus intercedes for us, saying, “Holy Father, keep them in Your name.” Jesus has given you the name of God, and it has been engraved upon your forehead and heart with the waters of Holy Baptism. Therefore, now Jesus prays that the Father would keep you in that same holy name, along with all that means.

That Jesus prays for you in this way is no small matter. You need this protection each moment of every day, because the powers of sin, death, and the devil are arrayed against you. The devil would like nothing better than to wrest you from the safety of God's Name and Church and to fracture your unity with Christ and with His Body.

St. Peter warns you in today's epistle lesson to be sober-minded and watchful for the devil, who prowls like a roaring lion, ready to devour you at the first chance he gets. But in order to devour you, the devil must separate you from the flock. Like a flock of sheep, you are safe if you are within the group, but once you are separated and isolated, there is no one to protect you. Therefore, the devil's greatest goal is to break you away from this holy fellowship.

You are at a distinct disadvantage in this fight, because your members have already been corrupted with the sin that infects us all. Because of this, you are naturally wont to wander away, to listen to strange voices, and to forget whence you come. However, the Name of God is still emblazoned upon you, and you still know the voice of Him who called you out of darkness.

But when you fail to hear and heed the voice of your Shepherd, it becomes easier and easier for the devil to break you away from the flock and isolate you. The unity of the whole Christian Church is perfect, even if her members individually are still faulty. You are kept in the unity of the one holy, catholic, and apostolic faith, not by purity of your intellect or heart, but by the faith given to you in Baptism and nourished in the Word of God and the Supper of Christ. However, when you start to forsake those things for the comfort of the pillow, for the chores waiting in the hog barns, for the family that wants you to visit, the voice of the Shepherd seems to grow more distant, more faint.

It is the devil's sworn intention to destroy you, and to do that he needs to get you to disassociate yourself from the name which has been engraved upon you. He will use every trick in the book to turn you away from the faith which you have been given and isolate you from the one who gives you every good gift. And you will follow, because the flesh is weak. And when the voice of the Father calls unmistakably, you will have no answer for Him.

Take heart! You have no answer for your sins, but Jesus Christ has already answered for them on your account. Jesus has interceded for you before the Father, and secured for you a not-guilty verdict. By offering up Himself for you on the cross, Jesus Christ has paid the debt owed for your redemption and restoration. He has become the guilty one who was punished for your sins. Therefore, He has made you the righteous one who inherits the riches of the Father. Because you inherit all good things through Christ, you also inherit the name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In this name you are baptized, and in this name Jesus prays that the Father keep you each and every day. This is the name of the living God, the Lord of Hosts, and there is no other name under heaven by which we may be saved.

This name placed upon you is not a mere symbol. The intercession of Christ for you causes the Father to give you all that is due for the name which has been placed upon you. He calls you righteous. He forgives your sins. He cleanses you from all unrighteousness. He feeds you with the Bread of Life. He prepares for you a place in heaven among the company of the saints.

Furthermore, the name of God placed upon you causes God to give you the faith to believe that all this is true. You have confidence in the salvation won by Jesus for you because it is imparted to you by the Holy Spirit who was given at Pentecost and who was poured out upon you in your Baptism. He has been at work in you ever since, bringing growth to that seed of faith, causing it to bloom and grow and to bear fruits of repentance and thanksgiving. In Him, in the grace that He gives, you live and move and have your being. And all the while, Jesus continues to intercede for you before the Father, asking Him to keep you in His name. Father, hallowed be Thy name!

What is more, you can be sure and certain that, as surely as God is the Lord of heaven and earth, He will keep you safe and secure in His name and kingdom for the sake of Jesus Christ. And Jesus has not, and will not stop interceding for you before God. His intercession for you began long before you were even a whisper in the wind, when He cried out, “Father, forgive them!” and when He pleaded, “Glorify Your Son.” For the glory of God is shown chiefly in showing mercy to us poor miserable sinners. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, that we might become reconciled to God and become His dear children. Jesus pleaded with the Father that, even as terrible as His passion would be, He be given over into death in our place, so that we might receive His life.

And what is the Father's answer to our Lord's pleas? The answer, ringing out from the courts of heaven, is Yes! The Father of all life says, Yes, my Son, I will honor your pleas for mercy upon the children of man and forgive their sins for Your sake. To whom the Son gives life, it shall be given. To whom faith is granted, life will spring up. The one who bears the name of God, he shall live in the grace of God.

Therefore, because the Father has placed you in the hands of Jesus Christ, who was sent to give you eternal life, you have the certainty of salvation. Because You bear the name of Jesus Christ, you have His life in your bodies. Because you have been marked as one redeemed by Christ the crucified, your sins are forgiven. Your redemption is secure. Your debt is obliterated.

And because you bear the name of Christ the crucified, you need fear no evil. At the roar of the devil, you can flee for refuge to the God of Jacob, who is our mighty fortress. Though the devil prowl about as a roaring lion, all eager to devour you, one little word can fell him. That word is Christ. The name of God engraved upon your heart marks you as under the power of God the Lord, and where God is, there Satan cannot abide. When Satan comes upon you to assault and devour you, flee for refuge behind the great sword and shield of our valiant champion, Christ the Lord, who has already defeated the powers of darkness.

And now, because you are engraved with the name of God and equipped with the shield of His Word, you can ward off the attempts of the devil to divide you and distance you from your heavenly Father and the Body of Christ. When the flames of fear and despair come near you, you can douse them with the Word of God, which stands forever. When the devil tries to hold before you your past sins, you can show Him Christ, who has wiped them away. When you are weak, then Christ is strong for you.

And so, you can live secure in the promises of God that He will never leave you nor forsake you, because no one who belongs to Christ can be taken away from Him. Nothing in all creation can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing can obliterate the Name of God engraved upon your forehead and upon your heart. Nothing can negate the forgiveness of sins which is about to be poured across your lips. The Word of God remains forever. Blessed be the name of the Lord, from this time forth and even forevermore.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Christ is risen! Alleluia!