What’s in a Name?

The sermon preached by Fr. Ernie on Sunday, January 1, 2023.

What’s in a Name?

by Ernest Boyer

Happy New Year!

You may think that the most important thing about today is that it’s the first day of a brand new year. Yes, that is important.  But according to the church calendar, even more important is the fact that today is also the Feast of the Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, according to the church calendar, today we’re here to celebrate Jesus’ name.

You may ask: why is that important? It’s a good question. I mean, in his play Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare has Juliet ask, “What’s in a name?” She then goes on to say, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” which suggests that a name doesn’t make all that much difference. But is that true? I’m not so sure. What if, instead of a ‘rose,’ we called it, say, a ‘thorn flower’? Would we feel the same about it? Would the ‘thorn flower’ then be the subject of quite so much poetry, do you think? I wonder. Somehow, I don’t believe there are many lovers who would welcome being compared to a ‘thorn flower’ no matter how sweet it smells.

No, the fact is names are important. Names don’t just label us. They stand for who and what we are, and it can be uncomfortable when a person begins to feel that their name doesn’t actually fit with how they see themselves. In Native American culture it’s common to take a second name when you enter adulthood — a name which then becomes your real name. This isn’t done lightly either. It’s not a matter just of sitting down somewhere and running through a list of possibilities in your head then selecting the one that sounds best. No, it’s much harder than that. It involves a vision quest. It means that the young person must go off by him or herself for four or five day and during that time they see no one. Nor do they eat. Instead they meditate, open themselves to the world of the spirit, and wait for dreams to show them who that are and what name they should take. It’s a demanding, transforming process, and most who return have changed in some important way. They have come to see themselves differently. And with that vision comes a new name, their true name, a name that they will then carry in their heart.

Other people who are not Native Americans have a harder time if they feel that their name just doesn’t fit. They too can change their name, but in this case it becomes just a legal matter and not a spiritual one, and it doesn’t always work out as well. I recently came across a couple cases that make this clear. The first involves an Ohio woman named Sheila Crabtree. She hated her name. She grew up feeling that her name was ugly and that it just wasn’t her. As she told the judge when she applied for a new name in 2014, “I feel like I’m a free-spirit. I love fun, and [having a new name] is what I need to make my life complete.” She really wanted her name to be sexier, she said. That’s what she told the judge. It had to be sexy. That was essential. Reluctantly, the judge agreed and approved her choice. From that point forward the woman formally named as Sheila Crabtree became known as … Sexy Crabtree.… I wonder how that worked out for her. 

And then there’s the story of Sam Smith. For Sam, the problem wasn’t just that he believed his name wasn’t sexy enough. It was far than that. As far as Sam Smith was concerned his name was …just… plain… boring. He longed for a name that would really stand out. As a result, one day in 2016, after what he admits were “probably to many drinks in the pub,” he came up with the perfect solution. Accompanied by his friends he went directly to the municipal court. He entered the court as Sam Smith, but when he came out he was the proud owner of a name that did in fact stand out. His new name was … Double Cheesburger.  His friends, colleagues, and father all welcomed the change. They found it funny. Not his mother or fiancée, however. In fact, the future Mrs. Cheeseburger was particularly upset. “My fiancée is fairly reluctant about marrying a Cheeseburger,” Mr. Cheeseburger admitted sadly. “I guess no girl ever dreams of spending her big day marrying a man named after a couple of paddies enclosed in a bun.”

These stories are true, by the way. I know that their true because I found them on the internet. I located them on a site called “Mental Floss,” which is chock full of information of this sort — things which are as trivial as they are addicting to read. 

The point is that names do make a difference. Take Hebrew names, for example. Have you ever noticed how many Hebrew names end in e…l? Think of it. There’s Samuel. There’s Michael. There’s Rachael. There’s Gabriel. There’s also Daniel, Israel, Joel, Nathaniel, Ishmael, Immanuel. There’s Hazel. And that’s just a selection.… Why is that? …Well, it’s because “el” is short for Elohim, which is the Hebrew word for “Lord,” the name that Jews used, and continue to use, as a stand-in for the name of God, which Jewish tradition says should not be said aloud. In other words, all these names have God’s name as part of their name. The meaning of Michael, for example, is “the gift of God.” The meaning for Gabriel is “the power of God.” The ancient Israelites knew what power the right name can have, so they often included God’s name as part of their own to show their deep connection to their God.

Jesus’ name has the name of God in it too. Jesus’ name in Hebrew and Aramaic was actually Yeshua. Jesus is how Yeshua was written in Greek. Yeshua begins with the first letters of Yehoweh, the otherwise unpronounceable name of God usually written with the four letters YHWH. The rest is the word for salvation. In other words, Jesus’ name means, “God saves” — a truly powerful name to carry, and exactly the right one for who he is and what he does.

It may seem strange to devote an entire day to honor a name — even Jesus’ name — but there is a deeper wisdom at work here. By honoring the name we honor the person. There is good reason, after all, that the Lord’s prayer begins, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name…” That’s where we start. We go from there. It all begins with honoring the person. First, we honor God. After that we honor the next person we meet … always the next person, whoever it is. We do that by cherishing their uniqueness. We do that too by cherishing their deep connection to all that is.

What’s in a name then? Everything. It doesn’t matter whether that name is Ernie, or Gabriel, or Michael, or Gail, or Francine, or Anthony… or even Sexy Crabtree or Double Cheeseburger, it’s who we are. And who we are is part of God. AMEN

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