Naming the Lord

“Don’t name the farm animals,” Marie’s dad told her.  “We may be eating them soon!”  Naming is ownership, an affirmation that the one named is special and unique.  Naming ceremonies are observed world-wide, and announce that a brand-new entity has a home, a reason to be alive, and some personal expectations attached to the name.  Even naming the Enemy diminishes their awe and power, for now we “know” them–and their foibles…  Naming the Other removes them from the vague and unknowable, and brings the relationship into a personal reality.

Readings for the upcoming weekend enflesh our human yearning to “know” God.  An often-read passage from Acts 9:1-20 is the dramatic story of Saul (later to be known as St. Paul) being violently confronted by the Holy near Damascus as he was on his way there to persecute followers of Jesus.  Blinded by heavenly light, Saul asked our question, “Who are you, Lord?”  The drama continues with Ananias, a Believer, reluctantly going “into the den of the lion” to restore Saul’s sight.  Healed and baptized, “immediately [Saul] began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God’.”

Another book we’re reading during the Easter Season is THE REVELATION TO ST. JOHN, this week in the 5th Chapter, verses 11-14.  Here is a vision of heaven, with angels and all the company singing with full voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”  Naming the attributes of Jesus is central both to our worship and to the way we conduct our daily journey:  if we can say these things about Jesus then our ethical walk and moral stance will reflect this Naming.

The Gospel is read from the “postscript” to John’s account, perhaps appended for the comfort and integrity of the community which grew up around John.  Chapter 21:1-14 is one more story of the disciples’ failure–or reluctance–to recognize the Lord.  Only when the Man on the Shore tells them where to fish does John come to and says to Peter, “It is the Lord!”  Once again the Risen Christ has broken into Business as Usual –if we can recognize him.  “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not put it out.”  Naming the Lord continues to comfort and inflame the faith community.

Central UMC has a name-tag Sunday once each month, where members & guests alike are to own their names.  This lifts me from “the creepy old guy that sometimes sings in the choir” to the proud bearer of the name my parents chose for me.  Some of us mutter that “everyone knows my name”–but that’s untrue.  We need to identify the Other; we need to identify ourselves.  Mostly we need to Name the Lord, in whom we “live and move and have our being.”

God Bless Us, Everyone!            Horace Brown King

My thoughts on selected readings for the upcoming week can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com.