You know my name

Choosing names for children is rife with difficulties. Today we are less likely to burden our children with the names of grandparents, uncles and aunts. There are mercifully few Arthurs, Archibalds, Basils, Beryls, Normas, Cynthias, Dorises in schools today, though they too were popular in their day. There are even websites today for those who want to make up names – there is an apparent ‘science’ to it.
My own children were blessed with Lebanese, Polish and Maori names after endless debate and reflection. They’re still unusual, and in my sons’ cases, somewhat rare.
The Hebrews chose proper names that were descriptive or prophetic, they often carried a sense of the spiritual, capturing something of their dependence on God (e.g. Joshua/Jesus means the Lord is our salvation).
In days gone by, we only knew adults – other than relatives – by their surnames. Everyone was a Mr or Mrs. Only relatives or intimate friends called adults by their first names; so it was always a privilege to be invited to call an adult acquaintance or senior staff member by their first name. Addressing others required deference and respect.
When Moses encounters the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15), he hears a voice calling out to him. The voice announces that it is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God then calls and sends Moses to free his people from the hands of Egyptians. When Moses asks by whom he should say he was sent, he is told, “I am who am” – Yahweh – has sent you.
Thus the God who had been revealed himself to Abraham a half millennium earlier, now discloses his own name, and such is the respect for this name, it is still considered holy and unutterable by the Jews and for most Christians to this very day. Where Yahweh is found in the scriptures it is usually replaced by THE LORD (in capital letters).
And this is the intimacy to which you and I are also invited: for while his name may be unutterable, we know it; and this God continues to speak to us through the burning bushes of our everyday life. You and I too are called and sent by this same God to rescue the poor and suffering.
The names we give our children must last a lifetime and be remembered by the generations yet to be born. Choose carefully! This Lent remain vigilant to the voice of God: he will call you by name.