"In Jesus Name"

The disciples must have felt pretty good reporting to Jesus that they’d stopped that exorcist from casting out demons in Jesus’ name. We can just imagine the scene that the first verse of our gospel lesson refers to. It may have gone something like this:

Disciple 1: "Look at that guy! Who does he think he is, casting demons out of people in our teacher’s name?"

Disciple 2: Yeah, it’s terrible. He can’t possibly know what he’s doing.  He may even be doing more harm than good since he hasn’thad the benefit of all the training we’ve had. He’ll give Jesus a bad name if somebody gets hurt.

Disciple 1: What’s more, he’s drawing on the Teacher’s power, acting like he represents Him. We’ve got to stop this. I’m gonna go tell him off...the nerve of the guy...using our Lord’s name...

‘Hey there, fellow! We heard you using Jesus’ name to cast out a demon and you’re not one of us. You’d just better stop it, if you know what’s good for you. Now, move along. Go perform miracles somewhere else and in somebody else’s name.’"

Then they tell Jesus about it, probably bragging a bit as they describe how they’ve acted to protect the vulnerable from an untrained lay healer, working on his own. The only trouble is, Jesus doesn’t praise the disciples for standing up for their leader. Instead, Jesus says, to not stop the healer - that acts of power done in His/Jesus name are signs of belief and alliance with Him.

But, what does it mean to do a deed of power in Jesus name? What does it mean to do anything in Jesus name? Does it still have meaning today?

We use this phrase often in prayer. We pray in Jesus name" is or should be the proper ending for all requests made to God. It means not so much that we are reminding got that what He does for us is like it was done for His Son. Rather, "in Jesus name" says we are aligning our will with God’s as Jesus did. "In Jesus name" should be at least in our minds throughout the day as we do our work or study, as we interact with other people, as we shop, and at the conclusion of many other activities. How our speech and actions might change if all that we say and do was mindfully done "in Jesus name." And what a power for good we might be if we did everything in His name.

"In Jesus name" is a powerful phrase. Since even one who hadn’t been a follower of Jesus could cast out demons by using it, think what we could accomplish if we consciously planned and carried out our ministry with it always in mind that we do it in the name of Christ. I don’t mean by this that we don’t do ministry in His name. Rather, I just wonder if we might do even greater ministry if we consciously, intentionally drew on Jesus power when we invite a neighbor to church, pray for a sick friend, listen to a hurting relative, teach a child or engage in some other activity. What miracles might be done if all the decisions at committee and council meetings, all the songs sung or played, all the cleaning, repairing or building, all of the calling and visiting, and everything else we do as a church was consciously done in Jesus name.

Jesus’ name is powerful, but not like some magic incantation such as "Abracadabra" though. Jesus name is powerful because it is the earthly name of the second Person of our Trinitarian God. God has promised that when we call on Him in Jesus name, He will hear and answer. Therefore, when we invite, pray, listen, teach or do anything else in Jesus name, we are calling on God to be with and empower us.

"In Jesus name" also means "representing" or "on behalf of". One of the reasons Jesus had to return to heaven was so that the Holy Spirit could come and empower the disciples. Physically present on earth, Jesus could touch the lives of only a relatively few people. Once He gave His Spirit to the twelve and they shared it with others, Jesus ministry could reach around the world and across the centuries.

In baptism we each received that same Spirit. Jesus’ Spirit helps us believe in the Good News of God’s love for us in Christ and thus be saved. But, His Spirit also calls each of us into a life-long discipleship. That discipleship carries on Jesus ministry wherever we go - whether it is in Cambridge Springs, Edinboro, Meadville, Erie or someplace half way around the world.

Where the idea that Jesus continuing ministry was limited to programs carried out at a church and in a church’s name came from, I don’t know. Jesus never said, "Go build churches and have hungry, hurting, searching people come to be helped by professional ministers." No Way! Jesus sent the disciples out to people and He still sends His disciples, all the baptized, out to do ministry in the world on His behalf - in His name.

The church (and its professional leaders) are there to enable, train, support and refresh disciples. The church is the gathering site where disciples come to share their stories, learn more about their work and impliment larger project, and get recharged, so they can go out again.

The church also reminds disciples that as they do ministry on behalf of Jesus, "in Jesus name" also means that what they do is done with His authority.

When I was a teenage member of our youth group, the national church came up with a program called, "Ambassadors For Christ." It was a very apt program title because an ambassador, as a representative of his country, speaks the words of and with the authority of his national leader. As teen Ambassadors For Christ we were to speak God’s word of forgiveness to other young people. As disciples of Jesus, each of us today is authorized to speak for God declaring His word of salvation. Each of us has God’s authority to carry out Jesus ministry wherever we may be.

The disciples thought the exorcist shouldn’t be doing ministry in Jesus name because he wasn’t one of them, because he hadn’t received special training, because he was doing ministry on his own. Jesus sets the disciples straight. The key was and is, "in Jesus name."