In church last Sunday I played a game with our Sunday school kids. I passed out nametags and told the children to put them on. They were dismayed. A few even protested out loud.
I wasn’t upset. I had expected their refusals. You see, the children weren’t handed their own names. They were given a classmate’s. We were playing a “mixer” game, intended to get the kids to interact. The children had to find the rightful owner of the badge they held. They were more than willing to make the exchange.
The kids didn’t like the idea of wearing someone else’s name. They had their own names and those were the tags they wanted. It didn’t make sense to have others call them by a name that wasn’t their own. And they also figured out that they wouldn’t respond when someone called them by the wrong name.
Hearing your name spoken by another person suggests some level of intimacy between you. The person knows you well enough to call you by name. To hear it called by an acquaintance means they’ve remembered you. When your name is announced at the doctor’s office, you know the staff has prepared for your visit.
Your name may be enhanced by an endearment (my buddy, my best friend) that indicates a special rapport. Perhaps your beloved has given you a pet name that suggests a playfulness in your relationship. But when he or she calls you by your given name, there is a unique connection. Intermingled within the call there is an affection that could only come from one who knows you so well.
Names are important to God. He instructed Joseph to name his infant “Jesus” …for He will save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). The Son carried the name that meant Savior. And when Jesus had accomplished His mission God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name (Philippians 2:9). God gave Him the name of highest honor. No title—President, Emperor, Czar, King—is greater than the name of the Son of God.
If we lowly humans derive so much pleasure from hearing our names…what must God feel when He hears His name or His Son’s name? Delight in our praises? Patience with our doubts? Compassion for repentance? Disappointment with our curses?
Psalm 9:10 says, Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
This verse speaks of the intimacy of relationship, of knowing the character and integrity of the one who is called. Knowing the Lord—especially as the name above every name—leads to trust. Being able to call out His name is confidence in His willingness to save, in His loyalty to always answer the cry. And there is the assurance that He responds.
Don’t you think it must delight God to hear His children call His name? To know that they are coming to Him trusting that He will answer? If the children were pests and bothers wouldn’t He ignore their cries and pleas? Instead He never rejects them. He hears His name and He responds.
Oh, and my name? I’m Anne Riegler. Also known as Pastor Mike’s wife, Miss Anne, and a variety of those beloved pet names. These are some of the names I respond to. You’ll be getting to know me better in the coming months. And once you do, I hope you’ll use my name.
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