The Fame of His Name

Posted on Nov 2, 2014

Mention the name Wayne Gretzky north of the 49th parallel (and to be fair, in some places south of the 49th parallel as well) and everybody knows immediately who you are talking about. Even after his retirement from professional hockey over a decade ago he is still a household name in many places. To many adoring fans he is known simply as “The Great One”.

Wayne Gretzky is a person of renown; a person of acclaim. He is famous. And why is he is famous? He is famous because of the feats that he performed on the ice; in his day, owning almost every scoring record there was to own, and winning four Stanley Cups over the course of his stellar career. He is famous because he impacted the game of hockey with his intelligent style of play. He is famous because he was a pleasure to watch; an excellent skater, and passer, and play-maker.

People talked about the things they saw Gretzky do, the feats they watched him perform, and rightly so. They were remarkable. They were worthy of conversation, of acclaim. For the avid hockey fan, even if you weren’t a fan of Gretzky, you couldn’t ignore what he was doing. You had to talk about it. To not talk about his record-smashing fifty goals in thirty nine games around the water cooler the morning after he accomplished it against the Philadelphia Flyers would have been too obvious in its inappropriateness. Even if you weren’t a fan, you’d have to join the conversation.

Gretzky’s accomplishments on the ice were so spectacular that the circle of his renown spread beyond the world of hockey, to the sports world in general, and even beyond that into the wider circles of society. Wayne Gretzky is truly a person of renown; a famous person.

There is One who has done something even more significant, even more noteworthy, than anything that Wayne Gretzky ever accomplished. In fact, this One has done something more significant than anything that anyone has ever done. This One has done the most notable thing that has ever been done or that could ever be done. This One has accomplished a feat of infinite, absolute and perfect significance; an accomplishment so indescribably significance that it causes any and every accomplishment that Wayne Gretzky ever performed, or, for that matter, that anyone has ever accomplished, to pale into absolute oblivion.

The feat that this One has accomplished is to glorify the God of heaven perfectly, absolutely and completely. This One has honored the Father without fail. He has done the pleasure of the Father to the full. He has perfectly trusted and obeyed the Father. Glorifying the God of heaven perfectly is the greatest possible achievement that could ever be performed—and this One has done it.

For that reason He is worthy of renown. This One is worthy of acclaim; of infinite, absolute and perfect acclaim. He is worthy to be the center of every attention, the affection of every heart, the topic of every conversation. It is just that He should be so. It is unjust that He should not be so; that he should be over looked, that He should be passed by, that He should not receive the attention and the acclamation of every tongue in heaven and in earth and under the earth.

The feat that He has accomplished is so significant and He is so worthy of acclaim that to devote ones entire lifetime, every second of every hour of every day of every month of every year of their life, to promoting his honor by broadcasting what he has done is the highest occupation one could ever possible possess; the highest calling one could ever answer. To throw the twig of your life on the bonfire of his blazing glory, to add your time, talent and treasures to the promotion of his honor, is the most significant thing you could ever do with your three score and ten. So significant is that which he has done; so worthy of acclaim is this One.

Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord . . .”—Philippians 2:9-11

Pursuing the fame of His name,

Pastor Guy