What's In A Name?

Exodus 3:1-15

“What’s In a Name”

01 October 2017 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel

Does anyone here know what their name means?

Until a few days ago I didn’t really know the origin of my name or its meaning. Apparently, Charles comes from the German name Karl, meaning man. An alternate way to define that name is that it means army or warrior. The name became popular when Charlemagne became famous. Charlemagne actually comes from Charles the Great. How’s that for a powerful name.

Then I looked up the meaning of Russell, my middle name. That one has a very different meaning. It’s actually a surname, or last name, that comes from French meaning little red one. Odd as I’ve never had red hair, and can’t recall anyone in my immediate family with red hair either.

Perhaps it’s time to start following my wife’s advice and go by Charles rather than Russ.

Though after living in Singapore, maybe I’ll combine the two and be the king of the little red dot.

I was intrigued so I started looking into the history of our names and learned how important our surname, last name, or family name used to be in culture. Back in the Middle Ages, the family name was commonly used to denote one’s occupation, appearance, or location where they lived. Smith was usually a one who worked with a metal such as a blacksmith, goldsmith, or brownsmith. Taylor comes from those who were tailors. Brown comes from the color of one’s hair. Hill and Green come from places where the family resided or originated.

There are some names that describe where someone is in the family pecking order. Johnson comes from son of John or John’s son. If we want to shorten the name Johnson we get Jones. Williams comes from son or descendent of William.

I found this all fascinating because I’ve never really been one to derive meaning out of my name, or the name of others. If I ever delved into my family history it was the genealogy and the stories that were passed down. I remember my dad telling tales of the distant relative that was a horse thief, or the princess of the Blackfoot Indian tribe.

But, this passage focused me on names and the power and meaning of those names. Beyond just identifying what one’s vocation in life or their home land, the Bible, especially the Hebrew Scriptures, are full of names with rich meaning.

Let’s look at the names we’ve heard the last two weeks. Adam can translate as from the earth. Eve can translate as living one or source of life. Isaac can translate as he laughs, based off how Abraham and Sarah laughed at the thought of having a child at their old age. Rebekah can translate as connection or to couple or join. Esau can mean red one, which depicts the color of the stew for which he sold his birthright. Jacob means supplanter or one who follows on another’s heels. He was the second of twins after all. Later, his name is changed to Israel, he that strives with God or is ruling with God.

Names are important in the Bible, and God will change people’s names to signify a change in their role or status within leading Israel. Because of the importance of a name we see them repeated over and over as well as used to describe the family from which someone descended. Names serve as a marker in a shared story, a place with which we can connect and enter.

We still do this in modern times. While the name itself doesn’t offer a description of a person’s characteristics, vocation, or appearance someone’s name provides details about that individual and who they are and their back story. When we meet a new person most of us will ask who they know that we may know. We use those common names among us and the connections they derive to include a new person into our story and to mark the place where the fringe of our story, entered into the background description of that person’s story.

 

Moses comes from the root word meaning to pull up out of the water. Fitting name given his story. He was born illegally and his mother placed him in a basket hidden among the reeds where Pharaoh’s daughter found him. What is shocking about this is that her father is the one who gave an order to kill every newborn Hebrew boy. So in a bold act of civil disobedience from the midwives and his mother that let Moses live to a daughter and her court standing up against Pharaoh, Moses lives. Ultimately to stand up against Pharaoh and free Israel from bondage. Pulled out of the water to stand against the king.

Moses is allowed to live at great risk to many people and grows up in Pharaoh’s house. He somehow knows that he is Hebrew and not Egyptian. While out one day he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, had enough and killed the Egyptian. This caused him to flee. He eventually stands up for a group of women at a well (there’s that water thing again), marries one and becomes a shepherd. All the while, God is listening to the cries of the Israelites in Egypt.

One day, Moses meets God. Not face to face for that would be too much to handle for a human. God appears in a burning bush that was not consumed by the fire. During this conversation, God tells Moses that Moses would be the one to free Israel from Egypt. Moses wants nothing to do with that endeavor and keeps finding excuses to not go to Egypt. As a tactic to get out of this assignment, Moses is clever and asks God for God’s name. But, how will they know you sent me, Moses asks. How do I get them to follow me?

So, God gives Moses the divine name. I am who I am is how it reads in most translations including the one we used today. We can also translate from the Hebrew as I will be who I will be. I don’t think this dual use was accidental. God gives a name that means God is and will always be. We see God today through God’s actions and work in the world and we will continue to see God in the future through God’s work in the world. Alpha and omega, beginning fulfillment of the world. In today’s passage, we are all invited into this story through not just any name, but the name.

It’s of note that in the next verse, the writer uses the tetragrammaton to describe God. This can also be conceived as a conjunction of was, is, and will be. Again, God is timeless. If you remember from a the last time we discussed God’s name, it is four consonants (yod, heh, wav, heh) that together are unpronounceable and sound like breathing. In this way God is always there and we say God’s name with every breath.

God is telling Moses, I’m with you and I’ve got this. You tell everyone else I’ve got your back because I am all there is and all there ever will be. Look around, I am there. Two songs sum up this idea beautifully. The first by Mark Shultz has the lyrics, “I am the universe, I am in every heart, I am where you are.” Also, Bebo Norman sings: “I am in the shade, I am in the light that love has made, I am in the cold, I am in the warm, I am in the center of your storm, I am in the fire, I am in the flood, I am in the marrow and the blood, When you cannot stand I am.”

Our names matter. God’s name is the name above all names because it is the name that was, is, and will be. God’s name is all encompassing because God is all encompassing. God is all around us speaking to us in wondrous and mysterious ways. Sometimes through a burning bush or other miraculous sign, but mostly through others or the still, small voice of God. God speaks God’s name to us to comfort us, inspire us, provoke us, comfort us. God’s name is powerful and matters.

God is always with us. God will be who God will be and we are part of that story as we utter God’s name with each breath we take. When we breathe in and out the name of God we connect our story with God’s story. By becoming part of God’s story our story matters and we too are given the tools, inspiration, motivation, and comfort we need to do the work of God in the world. We are always saying God’s name and always part of God and God’s plan in the world. Through God’s name we matter.

You can listen to sermons from St. Andrew's Military Chapel here.