there's a new rendition of the hymn "O For a Thousand Tongues" by David Crowder we played today at vintage. There's a chorus (verse? i dont know) that says:
"there are so few words that never grow old...Jesus".
and we repeat it a few times in the song and it flipped me out-triggered this old memory. here's why.
All the things I knew of Jesus was from the girl who said "Smile! Jesus loves you!" as you found out you flunked your last mid term. Think about it-i was praying to a name that was not a usual English word. You don't (probably out of reverence) hear kids named Jesus (not Je-sus, spanish version but pronounced Gee-zus). You don't (unless you are a Christian or a person who is interested in religion) use "Jesus" in a sentence. You just...don't.so sometimes, early in my faith, i would brain storm alternate names for Jesus that were more common. and laugh and think, what if the man that was crucified on the cross, in today's time was named John. We'd be singing, "There are so few words that never grow old...John" in a worship gathering. Or these days, Ethan's and Aiden's are ALL OVER the place. So what if Jesus' name, in today's time, was Aiden."There are so few words that never grow old....Aiden". Aiden would be our name of choice, writing worship songs in his name. Ok, this is kind of psychotic, i know, but follow me. (p.s. this posting is honestly what went through my head as a new Christian. I'm sorry i was a little afraid and maybe a little demented).
But you what is crazy-is that in Jesus' time, JESUS was the popular name. There were probably 9,000 Jesus' alone in Jerusalem. I wonder if the early church sat around and sang in Greek songs about Jesus. and if so, were they weirded out singing about a name so common? Did they wish His name was something more unusual so they could distinguish it better? Or if someone went up to a person and said "Jesus changed my life" and the person had to go "Wait...Jesus of where again? Which Jesus? Oh, the guy who was crucified? Yeah, Jesus of Nazareth. Yep, heard about Him". And walk away and think, gosh-if only Jesus had a bit more of an unusual last name, like Bacon. (haha.)
There are so few words that never grow old...because Jesus is so unusual-that name is unusual for our time. That name has changed the course of history (well, being God, and all, He could). and over the last 12 years (on march 22nd) that name...has never grown old (even if I wanted to give Him a name makeover in the beginning).
5 comments:
I find it interesting that people say "JESUS CHRIST!" when they swear. They may not believe in Him, yet they know when they say those words it is powerful and makes a point, because many hold Him in reverence like we do. Kind of an unspoken respect, I guess... What u think?
Hi Sarah! Yeah, I can definitely relate to NOT wanting to say the name "Jesus". Or sometimes even "Christian". For some reason "Follower of Christ" sounds less intimidating and more intellectual...
Thanks for sharin!
gibby: yes. i agree with you. i like the idea "unspoken respect". i think people will be offended if i rotate that particular swear word into my vocabulary, but who knows? maybe we could start a cultural revolution?
trina: yay! you have a blog identity too! i love "follower of Christ" as it sounds like we have done our research on what faith we believe in. "Christian" unfortunately has the connotation that we haven't done our research and we are just blinding following. Or it's just a class that we define ourselves by, not an actual "practice". I agree-thanks for your thoughts and look forward to more! :)
You know, I've hung out with you so much lately in an (albeit rabbit-traily) organizational frame of mind. I think of you as Super Sarah, my organization maven.
It's so great to hear what you have to say about all the other things too-esp. this stuff about the name of Jesus. It reminds me of Revelation when the rider on the white horse appears, and he "is called Faithful and True.... He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.....his name is the Word of God.......On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (Rev. 19:11-13,16)
you are so sweet Rosa! you probably wouldn't want to see my house right now. I feel like an organizational nightmare! :)
i love the imagery of Revelation. I think it reminds us that Jesus is bigger than His "name". He is bigger than the things I get hung up on. it's beautiful. Thank you for sharing this beautiful scripture.
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