Today a name does not seem to mean much. We glibly ask, "What is a name?" As children we chanted, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names can never hurt me." A person's name is only a label, a mark of identification. A name answers the question, "Who are you?" Because a name seems to mean little in our time, some give their children odd names. One had the name "Miss Ima Hogg." One mother named her daughter "Alpha Omega" because she was her first and hopefully her last child. A black child was named "Nevaseena" because her father died before her birth and he had never seen her. No wonder 50,000 people go to courts annually to have their names changed.
In the Bible it is the opposite. A name is most important, as important as the person named. In biblical thinking you do not have a name; you are a name. That is why God chose the name of his Son. Gabriel told Mary that she should name her child "Jesus." On this first day of a new year the church celebrates the naming of Jesus when he was eight days old, the time of his circumcision. In the church the greatest and most popular name is Jesus. On crosses and paraments and in windows you see IHS, the first three letters of the Greek word for Jesus. A professor studied the names in Reader's Digest for 20 years and found Jesus the name most often used. Why is this so? Why is Jesus' name so important that we set aside this day to honor it? What does the name mean to us today as Christians? Because of Jesus, a Christian does not only have a name but is a name. A name for a Christian is not only for identification but also for the purpose of identity.
What You Are
First of all, your name defines your nature. It does not only say who you are but what you are. In the Bible one's name is the same as his nature, character and the sum total of his personality. Your name is you, your very being, what makes you. Because of this a man's name and nature are one. Despise a name and you despise a person with the name. Exalt a name and you honor the person.
This is the case with the name of God and Jesus. Humans have always had the problem of learning God's name. Since humans cannot fully know God, God's name cannot be known. When God called Moses to go back to Egypt to deliver the captives, Moses asked, "What shall I say when they ask me, What is his name?" God replied, "I am who I am." The Hebrew Bible does not have the vowels in the name of God to prevent man from pronouncing or misusing it: YHWH. They used a substitute name "Adonai" which is translated "Lord." The name of God was never to be spoken because it was synonymous with the nature of God. Because of this relationship of name and nature, we can understand the holiness of God's name. God is holy and thus God's name is holy. To misuse God's name is a grievous sin, for an irreverent use of the name desecrates God and is blasphemy. To misuse and abuse the name is to violate the holy nature of God. This was so important that God gave Moses as one of the Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain ..." In our profane culture, we seem to have forgotten this commandment. In daily conversation, in literature, and on the stage we hear God's name taken in vain at a rate of almost every other sentence. In the days of Watergate the nation was stunned and shocked when they read the transcripts of President Nixon with repeated blanks and the explanation, "Expletive Deleted." A Christian will have no part of this and will refrain from any use of God's name except for prayer and worship. God's name is to be used with a sense of awe and respect and with a holy reverence. Because the name and nature are one, we can understand, too, the power of God's name. If the name is the same as God's nature, we know that God is all-powerful. As a God of omnipotence, there is nothing too hard for God, not even the impossible. Knowing this, we pray in Jesus' name. Here is the power of prayer, not in the words or act of praying but in the fact that the prayer is made in Jesus' name. Because of Jesus, God hears and answers our prayers. If our prayers are according to God's will, God has the power to answer our prayers.
The power of Jesus' name is demonstrated in healing. Christians have always brought healing to people, just as Jesus did when he was on earth. When Peter and John saw a cripple at the Beautiful Gate, they healed him by saying, "In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk." The healing done today by Christians is not done by any personal magnetism or special knowledge, but it is made possible by the very power of Jesus' name. In our time we are concerned about exorcising the devil in people. The need for getting the devil out of devil-possessed people was brought to people's attention by the classic movie The Exorcist. In that picture all the doctors and all the psychiatrists and all the pills and drugs could not drive the devil out of the 12-year-old child. Priests were called in to help her. The devil was finally driven out by the holy name of Jesus. This is because the name of Jesus is identical with the nature of Jesus. This nature is good and holy, and the devil cannot tolerate such holiness. He flees when Christ comes.
A Change Of Name
What is the case with God's name is also true with a person's name. Your name gives you your character, not only who but what you are. It is not your family name but your given name that describes your nature. When a person's name is too far from a person's personality, we usually give the person a nickname. For years a prominent Georgia politician was known as "Sloppy" Floyd. Apparently the Apostles were not satisfied with the name "Joseph," for they named him "Barnabas," meaning "Son of Encouragement." When a person's nature changes, his name is changed. After Abram's call, he was known as Abraham. Jesus changed the name of Simon to Peter meaning "rock." After his conversion Saul was called Paul. Harry Golden, editor of the Carolina Israelite and writer of the best seller, Out Of Africa, served a term in federal prison for mail fraud. When he was released, he decided to live a new life, moved south and changed his name.
You might be asking at this time, "What kind of a name do I have? Does it honestly and properly reflect my nature?" Well, maybe your given name of Tom or Mary may not say much about you. But, you have a Christian name which does describe your true nature as a person. You have a Christian name given at your baptism when you received a new nature by the Holy Spirit. This is similar to Jesus' circumcision, a rite that established a covenant with God resulting in the child being made a member of God's people. In like manner, we are born again at baptism when God makes us new creatures in Christ. When we were baptized a pastor spoke our name and said, "I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." You were baptized in the name of Jesus. You now have his nature, his mind, spirit and attitude. Now you are a Christian and you bear the name of Christ. For this reason baptism is sometimes called "Christening"; it is the time when a person is made a Christian by God's gracious act of adoption. Legally we get our name when the birth certificate is sent to our parents, but spiritually we get our name when we are "Christened." This is necessary because we come into the world not as sons of God by nature. Paul teaches that we become children of God only through adoption, and the act of adoption is baptism.
Having a Christian name which denotes a Christian nature, we face a daily challenge to live up to our names. We are to act according to what we are. The Christian life is a process of becoming what we are, bearers of the name of Christ. As a son went off to college, his father said, "Son, remember who you are." When a child, Queen Victoria was told, "Be loyal to the royal in you." Christian, you are somebody because you are Somebody's. You have a Christian name; you are a name, a Christian.
What You Are To Do
In the second place, a name describes a person's work. It shows what he is to do with his life. It explains the purpose, mission and ideals for life. The name describes a person's destiny, God's plan for his life, what he is here for. Jesus' name reveals not only his nature but his work. The name, Jesus, means "Yahweh saves," or "He shall save." This tells us just about all we need to know about Jesus. If he came to save, then he was the Messiah, the Son of God, deliverer and redeemer. Jesus came, as you have heard many times before, to die for our sins. His mission was to reconcile people to God that they might be in harmony with each other. This meant that sin had to be dealt with, for sin means opposition and rebellion to God. Jesus was born to die, and for this reason the cradle and the cross are two sides of the coin of Jesus' life. We cannot help but thank and praise God for Jesus' coming because his mission was to liberate people from their bondage to themselves and their sins. Christ came to bless, to offer mercy and peace to all humankind. His name reveals that his purpose in coming was to bless, to help everyone, to give life to the dying, and light to those in darkness. No wonder we sing, "All hail the power of Jesus' name." "His name is wonderful," a gospel song says. Every Christian can now say that "my goal in life is to do with my life the same as Jesus did with his life." You and I have Christian names received at baptism. Now we have the identical purpose and goal in life.
As Christians we witness to Jesus' name as the means of getting right with God. We call it "salvation" or "being saved." In the first chapter of his gospel, John says, "But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God." The Bible promises "Every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved." Following in the steps of Jesus, bearing his name, Christians are concerned about "saving souls," that is, bringing people to the life and love of God in Christ. How do we go about it? We, like Philip and Andrew when the Greeks came saying, "Sir, we would see Jesus," take people to Jesus. We serve as midwives who help people to be born again as they believe in the Name of Jesus. This may sound too simple and too easy to get right with God, but it nevertheless is true. Life and peace with God come when you put your trust in the Name of Jesus. As Christians it is our privilege to proclaim the name of Jesus that people might be saved.
We also serve in Jesus' name. His name indicated that he was to save his people. He saved them by serving them. With a Christian name that is our purpose in life, too. This answers the question we often ask, "Why should I help people?" There are many reasons, some good and some not so good. But, the best reason for helping people in need is to do it in Jesus' name. That means that we love people for Jesus' sake. We see Jesus in our neighbor, and what we do for him, we do for Jesus. This is the basic and noblest motive for Christian service. If we do it only for humanitarian reasons, we will eventually grow weary in well- doing. That is what happened to the social action program and the civil rights efforts of recent years. We ran out of steam and the train of human progress has slowed to a halt. We do not help people because they are worthy of help or because they are lovable. We help them in the name of Jesus. The Master said, "Whoever gives a little one a cup of water in my name, he shall not lose his reward." A father and son were walking down a busy street on Christmas Eve. An unshaven dirty old beggar clutched the arm of the father and begged for money. The boy backed away in repulsiveness. The father said, "Son, this is Christmas Eve. You shouldn't treat a man like that!" The boy replied, "Dad, he's nothing but a bum." The father answered, "He may not have made much out of himself but he's still a child of God." Taking a dollar out of his pocket, he continued, "Give this to the man and tell him you are giving it in Christ's name." Reluctantly, the boy went after the beggar and said, "Excuse me, sir, I give you this money in the name of Christ." In utter amazement, the beggar took off his hat, and bowed graciously, and said, "And I thank you, young sir, in the name of Christ."
If we bear the name of Christian, we will live daily in Jesus' name. In all of our actions, in the daily chores at home, work or school, we will do everything in Jesus' name. This means we will do all in the mind and spirit of Jesus -- honestly and cheerfully. Paul urges us to do this: "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus ..." A woman went into the office of a cemetery manager and complained, "I can't find my husband's grave. I know he's buried here." The manager asked, "What is the name?" "Thomas Jackson," she replied. Looking through his card index, the manager said, "We have no Thomas Jackson but we do have an Elizabeth Jackson." "That's him," she affirmed. "Everything's in my name." We, too, can say everything is in God's name, for this is God's universe and we are the children of God. Likewise, we Christians do everything in Jesus' name. We praise his name; we pray in his name; we heal in his name. To be saved we believe in his name. And some day, God willing, we shall die in his name. Until then we live to make his name glorious.