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"Descended from David ... designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness ..." so Paul writes of the One who is to come; the One we are expecting (Romans 1:3, 4); the designated Son of a designated God come to a designated people. God reveals himself in power; we humbly and imperfectly place names on what we see and feel. God designates a Son and the Son designates a people.

Designating/Naming

What we know of our world and of God is as human as life itself. From the beginning of time we have been naming. Frederick Buechner describes his favorite teacher, Old Testament professor James Muilenburg. Muilenburg's popular Intro to Old Testament course was held in the largest lecture hall at Union Theological Seminary.
Students brought their friends and those friends brought friends until the place was standing room only. Striding about the lecture hall, as Buechner describes it, he was a professor who "never merely taught the Old Testament but was the Old Testament. He would be Adam, wide-eyed and halting as he named the beasts -- 'You are ... an elephant ... a butterfly ... an ostrich!' " -- Adam naming, and we have been naming ever since.1

We have named this season "Advent." It is a time of preparation, of expectancy. The Bible says that the birth of Jesus came at God's appointed time. God set the time and we named it. It is little wonder that in the time of year when days are shortest and when we long for the coming of the light, Jesus is born and we name him the Light of the World.

In all kinds of ways we name this season "Holy." Cedar evergreens remind us of the royalty of Christ: Christ the King.
With its sharp points and red berries, holly, even in the midst of our festivity, foreshadows the crucifixion. And the hard candy shaped for a shepherd's staff turned on its head becomes a "J" for Jesus; added to its rock of ages hardness is a red stripe because his blood was shed for the sins of the world, thinner red stripes for the stripes he received from the Roman soldiers and sometimes a green stripe to remind us that Christ is a gift from God.

So God comes into the world in revelation, powerful and true, and we name what we see.

Think of Moses standing on a hillside, a fugitive from Egypt, tending his father-in-law's sheep. There is a bush which burns but is not consumed. Moses stands transfixed at the site. "Moses, Moses, take off your shoes for the ground on which you stand is holy ground." And Moses falls on his face, for no one can look upon the face of God and live. "What shall I call you? By what name will you be known?"
Moses asks.

"I am who I am."

"How will I know how to find you?"

"I will be with you. In the wilderness I will lead you: a pillar of smoke by day and at night a pillar of fire."

When we stand in the presence of God, we take off our shoes; we fall on our faces. We receive a name which is too holy to be spoken, so we wrap words around its edges: Rock of Ages, cleft for me; Infant holy,Infant lowly; Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. We think of Rock, Refuge, Fortress, Shield, Refiner, Purifier, Shepherd, Judge, King.
It is true that the One who caused that bush to burn on a hillside long ago is divine and in the earliest of times his name was considered too holy to pronounce at all -- YHWH.

So two millennia ago, those who were wise looked into the heavens and followed what they saw there, traveling west, sensing God was about to do something new -- a new revelation from the One we have received and named. "God With Us in a new way," the designated Son of God.

How Are We Designated?

So, how are we designated; how are we chosen? People are chosen all the time: chosen to walk on the moon, to sing the national anthem on opening day, to bake the cake, to host the party; chosen for adoption; chosen to read the Christmas story.

Many would recognize Boomer Esiason as a quarterback in the National Football League, but not many would know Cheryl, his wife. Cheryl and Boomer know that some children seem to be chosen differently. In 1993 Boomer and Cheryl Esiason established the "Heroes Foundation" after their son Gunnar was diagnosed with a fatal genetic disorder -- cystic fibrosis.

When children such as Gunnar have been chosen to go into a battle at such an early age, it is not because they are being punished or cursed by God. It is because they are a gift; an inspiration. They are here to challenge us to open our eyes to life's frailties, its contingencies and just how precious it is. They are here to teach us -- they are our heroes.
-- Cheryl Esiason2


So God decided to do something new: to send his Son and to name him, much as we name our children. He sent the long expected One in an unexpected way. God sent his Son and designated him Emmanuel, Savior, Shepherd.

Have you ever named someone? When we were expecting our children, as is always the case with expectant parents, we asked the challenging question: What shall we name him? Names having to do with faith, family, and friends, we thought. The name needed to have just the right sound -- considering the last name with which the child would be saddled, a simpler name with fewer syllables seemed fitting. We quickly eliminated some of the mulitsyllabic biblical favorites: Aminadab, Josaphat, Ezekias, and Jechonias.

For our first son: Joseph -- the name of a friend's son who had died too young and the name of Jesus' earthly father; Richard --the name of both my wife's father and mine. And for our second son it seemed self-evident that we should give him the name which means "First Man" and David -- the name of a wonderful friend and Israel's greatest king. Elizabeth would have joined us had Adam been a girl, which might have led to our having two "Beths" or a "Betsy" or how about "Liz Luchsinger"?

When Jesus was to be born, the attention of his earthly parents turned to his naming. God made it easier for them by directly providing his name, which is about the only way being the parent of Jesus turned out to be easier than being the parent of an average child. And when God gave Jesus his name, God chose a name, "Jesus," which was a common name among the people of Mary and Joseph's community; a common name for an uncommon baby who through his life would take the common and, in a miracle of transformation, create "the best wine," "bread enough to feed the multitude with fish also" and transform "a broken loaf and a cup into a holy presence" and "a wooden tool of execution into a symbol of life and hope." Jesus, named by God, designated Son, lived up to his designation and to his name.

The Son Designates Others

So God decided to do something new and brought the long-expected One into the world in an unexpected way. His parents were commoners and transient, and soon would be the focus of hostility. And yet he brought hope, and yet he was hope. Of course, this is but the beginning of his story. The designated Son of God comes into the world and designates others. A woman by the well is designated through forgiveness, the blind are made to see, the hungry on the hillside are fed, the lost are found. The designated Son of God comes into the world to designate others and calls them at the seaside from their nets or in the street from collecting taxes. He calls them from their grief, illness, and greed to life abundant in love for God and others. So the designated Son designates others, designates us as his dearly beloved, the sheep of his pasture, his flock, his friends, the ones for whom he lays down his life.

And so we designate him Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace. Then the wonderful love of the designated Son places on our hearts a wonderful love for God's people, and we find ourselves on roads we would not have traveled, in endeavors we would not have pursued, in benevolences which we would not have otherwise found appealing. The designated Son does not send us forth on a forced march, but rather sends us as those who have found freedom, to see as he would see, to speak as he would speak, to heal as he would heal, and to love as he would love.

So our God, whose name is a vessel of holiness, designated a Son and he designated others, designated us. Would you have expected anything else? And what do you expect in this season of expectancy? Or when do you expect it? Jill Dakota tells of a dream-like winter walk on a starry, dark night, very cold, following a path illuminated by red lanterns.

Out of a grove of evergreens as it was beginning to snow, a woman in a red cape and very pregnant, with long golden braids, came to take my arm; to a little log cabin she led me. Tired, we wrapped ourselves in quilts and sat near a blazing fire, drank spiced cider, and laughed like children. I felt cared for and warm like scarcely I could remember. The woman smiled at me radiantly and began to undo her yellow braids. I threw another log on the fire.
At last I asked, "Is your baby due soon?"

And she, with a calm, expectant smile answered, "Oh yes, very soon."3

Our God designates a Son and he designates others, designates us. Would we have expected anything else? And what do we expect in this season of expectancy? And when do we expect it? Is The Baby due soon; our Baby? And what shall we name him? What will you name him when he draws near? -- Jesus, shepherd, savior, friend? Are we soon and very soon expecting the One who Was, and Is, and Is To Come?

Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest; bless what Thou has given us. O designated Son of God, your name is holiness. In the advent of your coming, designate us by your love. Call us from our nets at the seaside; from the streets of collecting treasure. Call us from our grief, our greed, our idleness, and illness to life abundant in your love. Designate us as your dearly beloved, the sheep of your pasture, your flock, your friends, the ones for whom you lay down your life.

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1. Frederick Buechner, Now and Then (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1983), p. 15.

2. Cheryl Esiason, Heroes Foundation (www.heroes.com/sheriff.htm).

3. Jill Dakota, Yule (members.aol.com/JillDakota/yule.htm).