The Holy Name

Every January 1, a reminder that our Lord was named. The songs in this post are all a part of the the 1990's Penumbra Theater productions of Langston Hughes's "The Black Nativity." (Though the selected recordings are not from those outstanding performances.) In "The Black Nativity" - as we saw it in the Twin Cities in those years - the roles of Mary and Joseph are danced (classical), silent, and a little remote . . . until the Baby Jesus is born. Then, the Holy Family "takes on flesh" and becomes part of the community on stage. I always loved that transformation.

Music is an odd medium, perhaps, in which to celebrate Incarnation. So maybe that is why the "gospel" tinge of today's selections feels so right. The Eternal Lord is given a very earthly name. Oh! what a wonderful Child!
 

Introit:

Behold, the dwelling of God is with mankind. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them, and be their God.

(Revelation 21:3)

Psalm 8

O Lord, our Lord,

    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

    Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

    to still the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,

    and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

    and crowned him with glory and honor.

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

    you have put all things under his feet,

all sheep and oxen,

    and also the beasts of the field,

the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,

    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Exodus 34: 1-8

The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. ² Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. ³ No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” ⁴ So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. ⁵ The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶ The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, ⁷ keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” ⁸ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.

Carol: I Wonder as I Wander

Philippians 2: 9-13

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

¹² Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Anthem: What You Gonna Call Your Pretty Little Baby?

Luke 2: 15-21

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Gospel Song: Jesus, Oh What a Wonderful Child

Prayer:

Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus tobe the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Collect for the Holy Name, January 1, from The Book of Common Prayer (1979)