The Rev. Robert P. Travis
The Feast of the Holy Name –10:00am Service, Church of the Ascension, Knoxville TN
RCL 1/1/2015
Text: Numbers 6:22-27, Psalm 8, Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 2:15-21
Sermon Text:
It is good to be back in the pulpit,
Preaching for you after a long time away.
And it seems appropriate that I would begin my new season of preaching on our New Year’s Day celebration.
It is a new year, and a new season of life for all of us!
I commend you all for beginning your New Year
in this way,
for putting your hopes for the New Year
in the hands of the Lord.
By doing so you are a part of the tradition that many
Anglicans observe in other parts of the world.
When I was younger
I got to experience this at an Anglican church
in the Bahamas,
where this Eucharist would begin around 11pm
on New Year’s Eve and continue
into the first hours of the New Year.
It was a special gathering of those who were committed to following the Lord Jesus,
and it stood in witness and contrast
over against those who celebrated in purely secular ways.
By worshipping on this day, we state our willingness
To share in the Kenosis of Jesus.
That word may be strange to you,
But it is a very significant word in Christian Theology,
Kenosis is what is described in that famous passage
From the letter to the Philippians that we read today.
Kenosis means self-emptying,
And it is what the Word,
The second person of the eternal Trinity,
did for us in His Incarnation, by becoming Jesus,
“He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,
Being born in human likeness.”
And as if that humility were not enough,
“He humbled himself further, and became obedient to the point of death,” as we all know
“Even death on a cross.”
Notice that what comes next is a great word, “Therefore”
Because of this humility,
Because of His self-emptying,
Because of His kenosis,
God highly exalted Jesus,
and gave him the name that is above every name.
Because of his willingness to empty himself,
Of all that was good and powerful,
To identify with us and with his creation,
Jesus found his true self, his true power,
And became exalted as Lord over all.
In an amazing way,
we are all invited to participate in this self-emptying,
this kenosis.
Much as we are invited to follow Jesus in other ways.
While I was away from you all,
Part of what I was doing was exploring what Kenosis means for me, by giving up the work that I love to do,
And entering into a sacred space and time
of prayer and study,
I emptied myself of much of what gave my life meaning, and was challenged to find God,
without so much of what I do for God
defining that relationship.
I spent a great deal of time in Centering Prayer.
And a big part of what centering prayer tries to accomplish,
Is the emptying of the false self and its programs for happiness, which so often dominate our lives.
These programs for happiness often revolve
around one or more of these centers
in our psychological experience of life,
Security and safety,
Affection and esteem,
Or Power and Control.
So often these basic areas drive our emotions and our lives, and by giving up our attachments to them,
We find a deeper peace, and love for God
and for those around us.
We seek a similar kenosis to what the Word showed us,
In becoming Jesus,
So that similarly, we might find our true self,
And become united with God, and our neighbors in a deeper, more loving way.
But of course Centering Prayer is just one way of expressing that intention, that all-important consent,
To let God do what God will do with our lives,
To give up ourselves to God’s purposes,
So that we can find our joy, and peace in God alone.
As we enter this New Year
along with the rest of the world around us,
let’s focus less on resolutions that keep us
Enslaved to a false sense that if we just do more,
We can become better people.
And let us turn instead to a recommitment to give up ourselves to God,
and let God show us our true selves
so that we can live completely for God’s purposes.
That way his name, becomes our name,
His life becomes our life,
And his joy and peace,
Become our joy and peace.
This year I hope you find your true self in kenosis,
By sharing in the self-emptying of Christ.
Happy New Year!