New Year's Eve - 2013. Holy Communion, 7 PM Central Standard Time.

Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the Temple to fulfill the requirements of the Law. It was the custom to give the baby a name at this time, and this Baby was already named by God through the angel – Jesus.

Jesus means salvation, and this word is found throughout the Psalms and many other places. In many places we can substitute Jesus the name for the term salvation and it makes perfect sense. In other words, God was preparing His people for His Son being salvation for His people.

And so we end prayers in the Name of Christ, as He taught us to pray. Notice that generic religion forbids this. People are urged at massive gatherings to bow their heads in silence (no prayer) and in one instance, to “pray to whatever God you believe in.” Those solemn words by the un-offending chaplain at the university was a tribute to polytheism – all gods being equal.

But believers pray to the one and only God, through Christ alone, not through any other agents.

Names are powerful. We get someone’s attention with that individual’s name, not with Hey You. And every soul has a name.  The naming of Jesus is a beautiful transition from the era of the Old Testament to the New Testament, something we take for granted.

God chose Paul to preach this transition, from the demand so of the Law to justification by faith. In fulfilling this Law, Joseph and Mary displayed their faith in God. Human reason could have made them think they and the Baby were above all that now, with so many divine Promises.

Human reason is not contrary to faith, but people often put reason above faith and judge faith through reason. They say, “I cannot believe this unless it is reasonable.”

The Christmas story is just the opposite. One miracle after another prompts the individual to acknowledge the effect of the Word – God has done this. Only He can work this way. I believe in His love and mercy as shown in the birth of His Son.

Yesterday I read the biography of Theodore Schmauk, a forgotten Christian leader. I was able to get a rare book in perfect condition for only $10. It was signed by an equally famous (at one time) leader – Luther D. Reed. When I was in seminary, everyone studied Luther Reed about worship. Now they study the guitar and bongo drums. Reed put his bookplate in the book – naming it as his book – and signed it.

When I was reviewing Schmauk’s life earlier, I was astonished by his whirlwind of accomplishments. That prompted to get the book to find out more. And I did. He lost his little sister due to her fragile health, and he spent most of his life going from one near fatal crisis to another.

When Schmauk was a nationally known leader and writer, he led a workshop in teaching Sunday School. He sat on a tiny chair (he was a very large man) and held his little audience of 5-6 year-olds in rapt attention. He was as lost in the story about Jesus as they were. His role was planting faith and building faith in the hearts of those children.

When I read some of his statements in his letters, it was like reading from the greatest works of the Christian leaders. He always connected the teaching of the Word with the work of the Holy Spirit, and that was how he conducted his life.

Lenski wrote long ago, “Programs come and go, but only one thing builds the Church – the Word of God.”

In contrast, I heard one highly visible church leader say, “Get baseball going. That is how we got all our new members, from the baseball tournaments.” I wondered how St. Paul would have responded to games as the foundation for the Kingdom of God. Doubtless it would have prevented the apostle from being driving out of towns, arrested, and facing capital punishing.

Reason says – forget troubles. Use tricks, hooks, and gimmicks to please people.

Luther saw this temptation, because the Reformation seemed to move in reverse after it went so well at first. If he had counted the numbers, as they do today, he would have given up. He even saw how his own people were letting false doctrine rise up and take over during his own life.

The question is not, “Are we successful because we look at results that please us?” but rather, “We trust that God’s Word will always achieve His purpose in powerful, effective way, but according to His time and His purpose.

Our tendency is to merge human reason with our emotions, a dangerous mix. It is more obvious among college students, who imagine that their experience trumps what someone might conclude from research and many decades of experience. Thus younger adults will say loudly what others say in a more subtle fashion – “You have upset me, so you must be wrong.”

This is where the Word takes our human reason and pitches it overboard. That reminds me of when I was going against a tiny guy in judo. Only he had a brown belt. I had him locked up until I suddenly (and effortlessly) became airborne, landing on the mat several feet away.

The Word says to us, “You thought God should work your way, but He chooses to work His way.”

Nothing says this better than the Savior born of a Virgin in a stable and honored only by poor working men at first. Various aspects of the birth of Christ make people stumble, as God intends. It may be a prophecy from centuries before. It may be the simple item of Virgin Birth.

I have known many different people, active in the church as leaders, who simply rejected the Virgin Birth of Christ. I had lunch with Herb Children, the former head of the ELCA. When he published on the topic, he changed it from the Virgin Birth to Christ being born of an unwed mother (factually wrong on two counts – Joseph and Mary were married, plus the denial of the Virgin Birth).

Methodists changed their hymn to reflect this rationalism – “Offspring of the Chosen One” instead of the offensive (to them) “Offspring of the Virgin’s Womb.”

The real offense – the Big Miracle – is God becoming man. What they are really saying is – Jesus is only a man. The Incarnation is the miracle of miracles, greater than Creation.

The Word teaches us this – because human reason cannot accept it. No one can prove it through reason and likewise any so-called proof based on reason will suffer from that weakness.

The Word is so powerful that we know its truth and experience it as well. The Nativity shows us how reason clings to salvation by works, but faith receives and enjoys the Promises of God,