Jump Start # 2896

Luke 12:8 “And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man shall confess him also before the angels.”

On Fridays, we produce a weekly podcast. It is generally themed for a month. Our Friday August theme is: “God’s B-team.” We could call them second chair, or second string or even, the JV squad. We know the names and the stories behind Abraham, Daniel, David, Paul, Peter and of course our Lord. But there are many people who played significant roles in the Bible story, that we are not even given their names. They are known to God but not to us.

I thought about this passage today as we produced our first in this B-Team series. Confess Jesus here and He’ll confess us there. For us, it’s before men. For Jesus, it’s before angels. Earthly and Heavenly. Now and later. Jesus will confess us. What a thought that is. Most of us could walk down the street and no one would even notice us. We could pass by important people and they wouldn’t call out our names. They don’t know us. The President doesn’t know you. The governor doesn’t know you. For many who work in a large corporation, the CEOs do not know them. But our names are important to us. When mispronounced, we kindly, but firmly correct the person. When misspelled, we point that out. Some of us have difficult names to pronounce. Some of us have unique spellings to their name. But our names are us. They identify us. When we hear our name, we perk up, we pay attention.

Now some thoughts:

First, the name of Jesus is much more important than our names. He is the glorified God who came to earth for our salvation. He is our redeemer and our hope. History can forget our names and life goes on. We forget the name of Jesus, we are in trouble.

God understood how sacred His name was. Do not curse it. Do not blaspheme it. Understand how precious and special His name is.

Second, to confess the name of Jesus, is much more than saying, “I believe in Jesus.” Some say that once, right before they are baptized and then that’s it. We confess Jesus by choosing to follow Him and by demonstrating a righteous life based upon Him. We confess His name when we pray. We confess His name when we sing. We confess His name as we preach. We confess His name as we take the Lord’s Supper. “In the name of,” has significance in the Bible. It means ’by the authority of.’

Third, Jesus confesses our name as one who belongs to Him and who dwells with Him in Heaven. When Jesus confesses you, He will not confuse you with someone else. He will not mispronounce your name. The Lord knows you. The Lord has loved you for a long, long time. The Lord wants you to be with Him in Heaven.  If Jesus already knows us, why is He confesses us? Could it be to introduce us to all in Heaven? Could it be to show His grace and why we ought to be there? Could it be that He likes saying your name?

Fourth, our confession of Christ is visible. It is before men. It’s not done in a secret place. It ought to be beyond the walls of the church building. Because of our confession of Christ, others might confess Him as well. Others might want to know what we see in Him. We confess. Others witness that.

Both of my grandfather’s first names started with O. Both were unusual names. One was Omer and the other was Otto. I didn’t know Omer well. I loved Otto. People called him “Toe”. One of my sons carries his middle name. Why parents name their children what they do is sure interesting. Some put a lot of thought into it. Others, seem rather impulsive.

More important than our names are our character and our walk with the Lord. Some may never know your name, but they will taste of the generosity and service that you have extended. Such is our podcast series. Unknown to us, but what a trail of faith, hope and goodness.

There seems to be an order to our passage. We confess first, then Christ follows. It reminds me of a hymn, “Each day I’ll do, a good deed…”

Roger