Hellooo, Jesus!
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through him. — Colossians 3:17, adapted (NRSV)
The Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama tells of attending Sunday Mass and sitting near a woman holding a three-year-old boy on her lap. The service proceeded as usual until the celebration of the Eucharist. A bell was rung, and then the priest blessed and held high the Host for all to see.
All was quiet until the young boy, using his outside voice, proclaimed, “Hellooo, Jesus!” When he realized every eye in the church was fixed upon him, he said it again, more loudly still: “Hellooo, Jesus!”
When it the last time you greeted the holy presence with such unbridled joy?
It’s not that we’re afraid to say the name. I hear it all the time, most often outside of church, usually spoken not in greeting, praise, or petition but in exasperation, disgust, or anger. And I can’t help but wonder when and why the name of Jesus became an epithet.
The more important questions, of course, have to do with the holy man himself. Are we so ashamed of all the wrong that’s been done in Jesus’s name that we’ve disassociated ourselves from his radically inclusive love? Are we so focused on avoiding white Christian nationalism’s authoritarian Jesus that we fail to see the suffering Christ in our neighbor?
And still there is that name. Have I grown so accustomed to hearing it as epithet that I’ve forgotten how precious it is?
Prayer
Hello, Jesus. You always come running when you hear your name, no matter why or how it’s said. May I say it more often, with joy, wonder, gratitude, and even love.
About the AuthorVicki Kemper is the Pastor of First Congregational, UCC, in Amherst, Massachusetts, and a spiritual director.