WHAT’S IN A NAME?

One day while I was relaxing in my mother’s womb, she and my father decided to go to the movies. My mother took an instant liking to the lead actress, so she decided that, if her baby were a girl, she would name her after that movie star. So, whether I like it or not, here I am, a black priest from Trinidad named after a white actress from America – June Allyson.

Take a moment, if you will, to think about your name.
Do you know the story behind your name?
Do you have a biblical first name – like Sarah, Esther or John?
Does your last name reflect your ethnicity, social standing or line of work – like Hernandez, Rockefeller, or Kennedy?

Our name isn’t given in a vacuum. It is rooted in our family’s history and tradition, but it can also point to a hope that others have for our future. So eager parents may hope that Luke will be “one who brings light or knowledge,” Sophia will be “wise,” and Peter will be “a rock or stone.”

For the Israelites, naming someone is a significant event – one which cannot be done by just anyone. This is because they believe that those who have the authority to name something or someone also have power over the one being named. Recall that in the second creation story in Genesis, “the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.” (Gen. 2:19). Remember that in the burning bush incident in Exodus, “Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the Israelites and say to them. ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them? God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’”(Ex. 3:13-14). Only God has the authority to name God.

Today is the eighth day after Jesus’ birth. Mary and Joseph, in fulfillment of the Jewish law, take him to be circumcised. It is also the day when he will receive his name – but neither Mary nor Joseph gives the child his name. Instead, as Luke reminds us, his name was given by an angel – an angel sent by God – “before he was conceived in the womb.” (Lk. 2:21b). Only God has the authority to name God.

The name Jesus reveals the promise, the hope, the dream of God. The Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, Jesus means “God saves” or “God will save.” The name Jesus is rooted in Israel’s history, but that name also offers hope – the hope of a brighter future for the Israelites – but not for the Israelites only. It is for all who believe in God’s promise to send the One who can save us from all that enslaves us.

What thoughts and feelings come up for you when you hear the name Jesus?
Is he the One who shows you what God is like?
What does he mean to you?

In his remarkable book, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, theologian Marcus Borg reminds us that “images of Jesus matter (p.1) . . . what is at stake in how we think of Jesus is, to a considerable extent, how we think of the Christian life” (p.119). Borg recognizes that his image of the pre-Easter Jesus – as delineated from the post-Easter Christ – is very different from the popular image of Jesus. He contends that even Jesus’ “own self-understanding did not include thinking and speaking of himself as the Son of God whose . . . purpose was to die for the sins of the world, and his message was not about believing in him. Rather, (Jesus) was a spirit person, subversive sage, social prophet, and movement founder who invited his followers and hearers into a transforming relationship with the same Spirit that he himself knew, and into a community whose social vision was shaped by the core value of compassion” (p. 119). Here is Someone who knows what it’s like to be human, someone who cares enough to come alongside us to save us from all that enslaves us.

Our image of the Christian life is crucial to how we live out that life. All of us were given the name “Christian” at our baptism, revealing the unbreakable bond between Jesus and each of us, and between us and all who share our name. Like it or not, we are united with Jesus and one another for the rest of our lives.

Our family name, “Christian,” reveals to us and others who we are – our identity; whose we are – the family we belong to; what our purpose is – the overarching goal of our lives, and what our values or characteristics are. Our identity, values and purposes – as individuals and as a community – are meant to be the same as Jesus.

Over the years, I’ve been given a number of bookmarks with my name, its meaning and a Bible verse attached to it. So, I was taken aback by an incident that occurred on the Friday before Christmas. I went to a delightful party at the home of one of our parishioners, and, even though I don’t tolerate alcohol well, I decided to have a couple glasses of wine. By the time I left the party, I was feeling quite merry – not drunk, but pleasantly warmed in my body and spirit.

As I was driving along, I saw flashing red lights in the distance. Within a few minutes, I came upon a temporary “Stop” sign that had been placed on the side of the road. Well, I didn’t understand what was going on, but I stopped. I saw policemen talking to drivers on the other side of the road. I figured they’d be asking for my license and registration, so I got those out and waited. The line behind me grew longer and longer.

Eventually, a friendly officer came over to my car and asked me if anyone had spoken to me yet. I said “no,” said I didn’t know what this was about, and made a move to hand him my license and registration. He didn’t take them but asked me if I had had anything to drink. To drink? Then it clicked – he didn’t mean Coke or Pepsi. Without missing a beat, I blurted out “No. I was at a church party!” I smiled with a mixture of wonder and delight as I continued my drive home – not because I didn’t have to walk the straight and narrow line, but at the irony of what I had blurted out. You see, “Allison” means “little truthful one.”

God knows we are not perfect. Like my blunder that night, all of us stumble and fall on the journey to live into our family name, “Christian.”

Some of us are reluctant to identify ourselves as Christians because we fear being grouped with some of our brothers and sisters who have very definitive, unwavering and completely certain ideas of what Christians should believe – about political, social and sexual issues. Unfortunately, the attitudes and opinions of this segment of Christians, with the aid of the media, appear to define all Christians. But how will that change unless you and I state that we, too, are Christians, but we are “the other Christians . . . the ones who believe differently from many of the ones you’re exposed to in the media?”

After all, who among us has changed his or her last name because of something a parent or sibling did – something that made us a bit ashamed of carrying that surname? No, I suspect we try to show that we are different from the one of whom we are ashamed – we do our best to show folk that not everyone in our family is like that.

How can we do any less as Christians?
Will we allow a few folk to so intimidate us that we are willing to deny our family name?
Will we let others speak for us or will we stand up and speak for ourselves?

On the front page of last Thursday’s Courant, staff writer Jeffrey Cohen wrote about “A New Dream for Downtown” – a dream of filling the area around us with apartments, condos – and even a new sports and entertainment arena.

How to manifest Jesus to those who will be filling those spaces?

What will our name, Christian, and our community, Christ Church Cathedral, come to mean for them?

And in this New Year, how can we continue living into our name so that all who come through those doors will be delighted to share our family name?