Richard Davenport

February 25, 2024 – Second Sunday in Lent

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

            In our experience, coming up with a name for your kid is really hard.  As God created and established the workings of the world, society, and family, he gives parents the job of being stewards for their children.  Naming things is one of the duties given to humanity and is the first thing we see Adam doing as he cares for the world God has given him. That’s made more specific for parents and children.  The first astronomer to see a new nebula out there in space can put his stamp on it. The first biologist to discover a new species of frog out in the Amazon gets to lay claim to it.  For children, that duty is reserved for parents alone.

            It’s a huge responsibility.  Like anything else, some people care nothing for the responsibility and name their children any dumb thing that comes to mind.  But, for everyone else who takes the job seriously, it really is a big deal.  It’s the first, and arguably the most important, gift a parent can give a child. 

            We had a terrible time coming up with boy names we liked.  We had a couple of girl name options we could both agree on, but God, naturally, saw fit to give us a boy instead.  So there we were, sleep deprived, dealing with this new, wriggling, crying person and we still had to give him a name.  Would we go with one of the popular names of the day, helping him to fit in with his peers?  Would we name him after some big celebrity, in the hopes that some of that fame and fortune might rub off on him?  We eventually went with Paul, hoping that his Biblical namesake would be someone he would resonate with and look up to.

            The Old Testament reading for today is a little odd for a couple of reasons.  Last week we had the passage from Genesis 22 with Abraham and Isaac.  Now we’ve backed up a bit to several years earlier.  It’s a little weird to be going through Abraham’s life out of order, but the focus of our readings is always the life of Christ. Whatever Jesus is doing today, the Old Testament reading will help highlight that in some way.

            So what’s going on in Jesus’ life today?  Well, he and the disciples are discussing who he is. In with all of that, we find that it doesn’t matter so much what everyone else calls you, the question is: what does God call you?  There’s quite a bit more going on in the Gospel reading than just that, but the Old Testament reading picks up that idea. 

            Aside from the fact that we’re reading Abraham’s life a bit out of order, it’s still a little odd that God would rename him. What was wrong with his name?  It was a perfectly good name.  It wasn’t as if his name was some kind of insult or profanity.  He wasn’t name after someone with questionable morals or reputation.  Granted his name, which means “great father” in Hebrew, perhaps wasn’t so accurate yet, but still, God thought it needed to go.

            This kind of thing really rubs our modern sensibilities the wrong way.  “Who are you to tell me who I am?  What gives you the right to decide something for me?  That’s for me to decide.  You don’t get a say in who I am or what I do.” 

            You see this sort of thing more so nowadays than in generations past, I think.  These days, with the transgender epidemic, the problem crops up everywhere.  Usually when the church wades into that particular debate, it’s on the matter of creation and sexuality.  How did God make us?  What does it mean to be a man or a woman?  Can a man really become a woman, or vice versa?  The general answer to all of that is:  God made us.  Whether he made you male or female, that’s what he made you and that is a special gift he has given to you.

            The one thing that rarely comes up is the name. Whether Tony turns into Tonya or Mary turns into Marvin, each of these people has thrown off their old names and embraced new ones.  They won’t even respond to their old names unless forced to.  They even refer to them as “dead names” because that name is no longer associated with me.

            It tells you something about what’s going on in the minds of these folks when the first and one of the most important gifts they’ve ever received is now dead to them.  It says something about what they think of their loving parents who gave them that special name as well.

            All of that isn’t so much about the name as it is about the person.  Whose person are you?  For those particular individuals, their names, the gifts given to them by their parents, are some of the casualties of the whole transgender mindset.  Even if you’ve never thought about changing yourself so radically, the idea of being your own person isn’t exactly a new one. As things usually go, the rules only apply to you when you want them to or when someone forces them on you.  When someone does impose rules on you, the only question is whether the fight to throw them off is worth the effort. That’s really what transgenderism is all about, throwing off the rules and restrictions so I have control over my own life.

            A little gossip here and there so you can influence and control your own social circle, sleeping around because you don’t need anyone to tell you want constitutes a healthy relationship for you, a lazy attitude at work or school because you get to decide what qualifies as a job well done and what doesn’t.  The list goes on. 

            I was reading a political commentator talking about some of the harebrained laws and regulations being enacted these days and one of the things he said is one we Christians understand, even though we continue to fight against it.  He said that, while it is unfortunate how much damage laws supporting things like abortion or transgenderism are, policies that support racism or sexism, and so forth, the one thing to keep in mind is that reality always wins.  God built the world a certain way.  He created us a certain way.  When we do things the way we’re supposed to, life just works a lot more smoothly.  But we aren’t content with that.

            Even from a physical standpoint, we seek to cast off those limitations.  We seek medical technologies and treatments that will extend our lifespans or that will enhance our capabilities.  Steroid users have been on this trend for a long time and continue to be, but more and more ideas come up as our knowledge of medicine grows.  Ideas for altering the very genes that dictate our physical characteristics or using computers, not just to fix parts of us that are broken, but to give us capabilities we never had.

            Reality always wins.  More specifically, God always wins.  He created us.  He designed us.  He knows what our limitations are and they will always be there, no matter what we may try to do about it.  Even though we know those limitations are there, we never stop trying to get rid of them, to throw them off, to undo what others say our life should look like and who we are.

            But where does any of it get you?  People who change their sex thinking it make life better end up making everything worse in a number of ways.  People who spread gossip end up alienating everyone around them. People who sleep around thinking this is how relationships work end up lonelier than before.  People who think doing half the job is sufficient end up with no job, or, again alienating those around them.  People who want to throw off the rules, the restrictions, the laws, even their own name, find doesn’t get better.  It usually gets worse.

            Throwing off our name, throwing off our parents, throwing off all other authorities, we boldly stride out into the world in big and small ways, thinking we can do it just fine on our own.  It all ends the same way.  Eventually you find you are cold and alone, huddling in the darkness. Maybe it’s Satan feeding your fears. Maybe it’s sin that has you so caught up that you don’t realize it until you’ve hit rock bottom.  Maybe it’s death that is no longer something out there on the horizon, but is right there in front of you.  Whatever it is, it’s time to come home.

            God gives Abraham a new name, but it’s not because his old name is inherently bad or defective.  God gives him a new name that comes with a promise.  God binds himself to his Word.  He stands behind it and stakes his reputation as God Almighty on it. God tells Abraham and Sarah that they are part of his family now and that means all of their children are as well. God makes this explicit through circumcision.  At 8 days old, those male children become children of that same promise of the savior God gave their ancestor, Abraham.  It is also the time they were given their names, so that both would go together.

            That same promise continues today.  We look back to the savior who died and rose again and we look forward to his return.  Through baptism, God claims us as his own and gives us his own name, Christian, little Christ, the name that is above every name.  He claims us as his children, as much part of the family as his own Son.

            Just because you have rejected your name doesn’t mean that name has suddenly gone away.  It’s still there.  It’s still who you are.  The name given to you, whether from your parents or from God, is still their gift to you.  Whenever you stray, it is always waiting for you when you come home, along with all of the promises attached to it. 

            That never changes.  It doesn’t matter whether you are a baby, an adult, or elderly and on your death bed.  Here is Abraham, 99 years old, receiving a new name and the promise of a savior who will take his sins away.

            However bad it is, whatever it was that led you to set off on your own, God calls you back, he calls you by name.  Whether it was some big, terrible thing you did, which is now crushing you down under guilt and the threat of death, or whether it’s in small ways throughout the day, God calls you home. 

            Here in Lent, we know that soon Jesus will be going to the cross to die.  He dies to free you from the darkness.  He dies to free you from sin, from death, from all of the terrors of this world. He dies that you may be given his name, his perfect, sinless name and that it may mark you for eternity.

            Come and find relief from your sins.  Come find a place where the fears and terrors of the dark world outside fade away.  Come find peace.  Come find where even death is powerless.  God knows who you are.  He knows you belong.  He knows you’re part of the family, after all, he gave you his name.  His table is set and he has saved you a place at it. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been or what you’ve seen.  Here, in God’s house, you’re family.