Names

Genesis 17:5-6 and 5-17 -  No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.  I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. …… And God said to Abraham, "As for Sar'ai your wife, you shall not call her name Sar'ai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her; I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her."  Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" 

Our names are more important than you may think.  They are more than just a gathering of letters…pronounced just the way our parents intended.   Our parents chose that name especially for us…sometimes with great thought…sometimes with humor I really don’t understand…and sometimes with wisdom…because the consulted the father.  Sometimes we are very lucky…like me…and we receive a name that we love….because we were given as a present the name of a respected and loved family member…like my aunt Barbara Esther.

Sometimes….God has such a special task or mission for us that the earthly name our parents gave us needs to be changed….to a name that has authority…a name that has been lengthened to show God’s will being carried out in our lives. God begins this curious practice with the changing of Abram and Sarai’s names… his chosen vessels…to show his authority to be in total control of their lives…to show how he can transform what we used to be…into what he needs us to be. And so Abram stops being the ‘exalted one’ that God had promised a son…and becomes Abraham …the ‘father of nations.’  And Sari gets to drop that label of barrenness…that curse of the world that said she was unworthy to bare children as God changes her name to Sarah…’princess’ and wife…the woman God chose to bare the child he told them to name Isaac …the child that would fulfill the promise of God.

And so life is enriched and blessed and the two people who laugh at the thought of God’s crazy plan to make an elderly couple parents….who have tried to weld together an Earthly way to fulfill a promise they received…finally end their waiting.  They have believed all along…but made the mistake of trying to fit God into an Earthly window.  They forgot the supernatural powers of the Lord to create a beautiful world….to create life from dust…and to destroy it again with one command from his mouth. They forgot that God was waiting for his perfect time...to bring about the great plan of salvation…so he could finally give everyone the opportunity to know him…and love him….and obey his law. 

Some of us are lucky enough to be born with the name God intended all along.  He gives our parents the perfect name for  us…and then spends countless days…organizing our lives to mold us into what he wants us to be. He uses each failure…each mistake…each doubt…and each squeal of joy to sculpt us on his master potter’s wheel.  Like Isaac…our names were chosen by God and someday we will be a great vessel…chosen to do God’s great work.

Father….thank you for your great gift of life…and the name you placed in my parents mind for me. Help me Lord to grasp every moment of existence you grant to me…and seek to find the task you have placed me on this Earth for. I thank you for the name you gave to me so long ago…help me to see the importance of that choice…help me to see the meaning of every letter…help me to grasp the task you have planned for me.  Help me to wait on you to work your plan…no matter how long…no matter how hard.  Amen.