The Promise of a New Name
Lent 2 – March 4, 2012
Names are powerful. Names are valuable. Names are important, because they are such a deep part of who we are and how we are known. It is rare for people to change their names, because they are such a central part of our identity. Even when it's part of the tradition, it's hard to get used to the idea of having a different name. I remember when I got married, I had to think for a long time about whether or not I wanted to change my last name, or if I should keep my original name or maybe do the hyphenated thing. Even now, there are times when I slip and almost introduce myself by my maiden name or sign my old signature. And if a last name is hard, it's even harder to imagine changing our first names. Learning to respond to a new name, having to remind old friends and loved ones of your new name... it's a challenge.
The Bible is filled with stories of people and their names. Names, even more then than now, carried meaning. Knowing a person's name told you who they were, where they came from perhaps, or even something about their character.
The Bible also has many stories of people whose names are changed. Jacob becomes Israel, Simon becomes Peter, Saul becomes Paul. So today too, in our Old Testament reading, we have the story of how Abram and Sarai become Abraham and Sarah.
Now Abram and Sarai first show up near the end of chapter 11 in Genesis, and then right away as chapter 12 begins, we hear God's call to Abram to leave behind his country and kindred and everything he had ever known to go to the land God would show him. And this call came with a promise, that God would bless Abram, so that Abram would be a blessing to others, that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him. Abram is 75 at the time. 75 – a time of life most of us are stable and steady and don't really want to pick up and move, and yet off they go, not knowing the end of God's road for them. Abram and Sarai aren't perfect, but they are faithful, and bold to follow where God leads. As we catch up with them in chapter 17, Abram is now 99. Sarai is 90. They must think they are headed towards retirement, that they have finished the work God had set out for them to do, and then – God shows up. God appears to Abram, making a covenant with him and with Sarai and with their offspring after them. God promises to give Abram a son – by Sarai, who is 90 years old, remember! - and that their descendants shall be numerous, and as if to prove it, God changes Abram's name. Abram means “exalted ancestor,” but God calls him Abraham - “ancestor of a multitude,” even before he has a son! And Sarai isn't left out! She too, is given a promise, a promise that though she has been barren and is way beyond the age of bearing children, she will bear a son, and with that promise, she too is given a new name.
These new names, Abraham and Sarah, these are the names that they are known for throughout the rest of history. These names, the names God chooses and gives to them as a sign of God's covenant with them, are a daily reminder. Every day they have to remember to call each other by these new names after decades together with the old ones – and every time they speak these new names, they are reminded of God's promises to them, of God's relationship with them – and these are the names we still know them by today.
During this season of Lent, as we seek to return to God with our whole hearts, as we try to follow God's call wherever it may lead us, as we work to bring our lives back into line with God's will and desire for us, it is good for us to hear these stories from the Old Testament. It is good for us to be reminded of the many ways God commits to God's people, to hear again about the covenants God made, to see God reaching out to Noah and his family last week, and to Abraham and Sarah and their descendants this week, and next week it will be the people of Israel wandering in the wilderness after they escaped Egypt. Over and over again, we see God taking the initiative to bridge the gap between God and humanity, to draw us close again when we fall away – always before anything that we have done. We see in these stories God choosing imperfect people to carry out God's plan for the world, God choosing to work through frail human beings.
And all this talk of covenants in the Old Testament reminds us that God has made a covenant with each of us, as individuals and as a community of faith. In the moment of our baptism, God claims us. God promises us that we are chosen, accepted, forgiven, loved - forever. No matter what we may do or fail to do in the future, God will not abandon us. This is God's covenant with us. We are washed in water, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and marked with the cross of Christ forever. And with that promise, we are given a new name: Child of God. It is a reminder of who God says we are, even when we are tempted to return to our old names, our old selves, our old ways. Child of God – that is the name that God gives us. That is the name that we will be known by throughout all of history. That is the name written next to our given names in the Book of Life. Jesus confirms God's promises in his life, death, and resurrection. He repeats it in the meal that we share – “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sins.” For you, Child of God. This covenant, this name – they are a gift and a blessing. May we go and be a blessing to others.
Amen.
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