Depending on who and whose you are, there might be a lot in a name.
Do you know what your name means? Or how you got it? Are you named for someone special? Or was it something that your parents picked out of a hat? Was it something that they “just liked” and so they thought it would be a great idea to give it to you?
We all know someone with a funny name and, if you’re old enough, the song “A Boy Named ‘Sue’” written by Shel Silverstein and sung by Johnny Cash brings home the dilemma of having a “meaningful” name. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BttlvcAeNSo) Frank Zappa did it and so did George Foreman – gave their children funny names.
According to answers.com about 17,000 people each year change their name and the number one reason, according to Legal Zoom.com – is because they dislike their present name.
Even names in the Bible were changed – Abram and Sarai were changed to Abraham, which means the “father of many” and Sarah.
Jesus changed Simon bar Jonah’s name to Simon Petra or Simon Peter, which means rock and of course Saul, the great persecutor of the Christians and the one behind the first martyr, Stephen, became Paul, a fool for Christ and the author of many of the New Testament letters.
Names are powerful things! They identify you! They tell the world what family you are from – what about Kennedy or Hurst or Vanderbuilt or Rockefeller.
But what about God? How does that name identify us?
In Galatians 4:5 we are told that we are adopted as children of God.
That is what our baptism is all about – we are adopted as children of God. That day that we were Christ-ened – in other words, we were named in Christ. When we present children for baptism we never use their last name.
This brings home to us the reality that we are children of God and an heir to the kingdom of heaven. In our baptisms, the Holy Spirit has put on Christ onto us. And we receive the blessings from God.
In Numbers 6:27, we are told that God’s put his name on us and as a result we have received a blessing.
So what is a blessing? It is more than just good luck. God is claiming the nation of Israel. God is saying that not only does he dwell in the temple but that he is promising his presence on the people.
In the Old Testament, a blessing carried a lot of weight. It was so much more than just words – it is an action, the passing on of power, the passing on of prosperity. That is why Jacob sought to steal the blessing of his older twin brother Esau (see Genesis 25-28)
A blessing is so much more than giving permission. Think about when your children have asked to do something or when you, as a young child, would ask to have or do something.
After an onslaught of “pleeeeeaaaassseee” we might do so grudgingly – that’s giving permission. “Ok, fine.”
But when they ask for something and we tell them, “Sure, go ahead and have a great time!” – now that is a blessing! We not just giving permission, but we’re giving our excitement and our love and our support – there’s a difference!
So God is saying to Israel, “go ahead, have a great time in the promised land and take my name out into the world – it’s going to be awesome!”
There are six verbs in the Numbers passage and God is the subject of every single one of them:
- The Lord bless,
- the Lord Keep,
- the Lord make his face to shine,
- the Lord be gracious,
- the Lord lift up his countenance,
- the Lord gives
Not only that, it’s personal!
- The Lord bless you,
- the Lord Keep you ,
- the Lord make his face to shine upon you,
- the Lord be gracious to you,
- the Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
- the Lord give you peace.
This is a personal “you” – not “you all” as in community. Perhaps the idea is that as we hear this blessing, we will make it our own, take it personally and then take it out into the community.
Then to put the exclamation point on it, to say one more time that he is the originator of the action, God says, “I will bless them” because my name is upon them.
This is the same name that has been put on us through our baptism and that we take this same personal blessing out into the world. We are his children and we are blessed to be a blessing to those around us.
There is power in that name of Jesus – his very name, “the Lord saves” reminds us that he came to bring us and the entire world salvation.
We are encouraged to pray in Jesus name and in fact that’s how we end our prayers.
There is healing in Jesus’ name, too – Peter and John tried to heal a man crippled from birth who was laid at the at the gates of Jerusalem. But when they evoked Jesus’ name and then commanded the man to get up and walk, he did. (Acts 3)
In Jesus name, we find our purpose, our identity – he tells us as the Father sent him, so he sends us – out into the world to share God’s blessings with others.
Galatians reminds us that God sent the Spirit of Son into our hearts and that we are children and heirs, through God.
In this new year, may we think about
- what it means to have the name of Jesus upon us,
- how it might shape our decisions,
- how it might affect us in our workplace,
- how we might think about our relationships a bit differently
- and how, as children of God, it affects our very actions.
In the name of Christ, Happy New Year!