A New Name
Well this is a very exciting day in the life of the
church. There are a lot of people in today’s service that we’ve recognized, and
all of them in some way are at a launching off point, a place of new
beginnings. You know, I find it really neat in the scriptures that often times
when somebody comes to a place of new beginnings in their lives, God gives them
a new name. Abram became Abraham. Simon became Peter. Saul became Paul.
In the Catholic church, at the time of confirmation, it
is traditional for those being confirmed to choose a new name, usually a
Christian name, like the name of a saint or something. And while we don’t
normally do that in the United Methodist church, I think there is a special
kind of significance behind it that has a very profound meaning.
In the times in the Bible where God gives someone a new
name, not only are they at a place of new beginnings, but often times a
covenant has been made, or a new commission has been given. And it is at this
point when God says, “You now have a new name. This is who you will be from now
on.” The amazing thing about this is, it doesn’t matter what you’ve been like
in the past, when you come to this place where God gives you a new name, that
is who you now are, and your past has no bearing on who you will be. Abram
really wasn’t a follower of God until God spoke to him and said, I’m choosing
you, I want to make a covenant with you, and from now on, you are Abraham. His
wife Sarai became Sarah, even in the midst of her doubt, God said, forget all
of that, I want you to be the mother of nations.
Simon was rough around the edges. A fisherman. Poor,
temperamental, prone to saying and doing stupid things, but when he confessed
that Jesus was the Christ, Jesus said, you a blessed, and from now on you are
Peter, which means “Rock,” and on this rock I will build my church. Who Peter
had been previously no longer mattered.
Saul was perhaps worst of all. He was persecuting
Christians. Having them killed. Bringing cases against them. He was there when
Stephen, the first martyr was stoned. And yet after Jesus met him on the road
to
Did you know that God is still in the business of
changing names? I think it’s one of his favorite things to do. Do you remember
what Jesus says in Revelations? Revelation 21:5 says, “Look! I’m making all
things new.” Our God loves making all things new, he loves to change our names.
Isn’t it true that often times our biggest obstacle in
doing something great, something big, something new for Jesus is our past? Our
regrets? Our baggage? “I can’t do that…you don’t know what I’ve done.” “I can’t
teach others…I’ve done terrible things myself.” “God can’t use me…I’ve done too
many things wrong.” We let the stuff of our past, the mistakes we’ve made,
hinder us from doing new things for God.
What if Abraham had done that? What if he would have
said, “No, God, I can’t go to
What if these people had held on to their past, and let
it determine their worth? God isn’t like that. He doesn’t look at the past and
say, “Because you’ve done wrong, you can never do right.” Instead, he ignores
the past, looks at the future, and sees the potential in you. And to illustrate
his point he says, “Look, you are no longer the person you used to be. You are
a new person.” Like it says in II Corintians 5:17: If anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!
Who you were doesn’t have to have any bearing on who
you are and who you will become. What you have done doesn’t have to dictate
what you will do. Your past doesn’t have to enslave you. In fact, our God is in
the business of freeing you from your past.
Today is a day of new beginnings. Today is a really
good day to get a new name. Today is a good day to look at the person you were
yesterday and decide, “I’m just not that person anymore,” and to let God give
you a new name.
So what will your new name be? Maybe your new name is
“freedom,” because you let go of whatever enslaved you before. Maybe your new
name is “hope,” because today you realize you can be more than what you’ve let
yourself become. Or maybe your new name is “peace,” because you have decided
that you are not going to let the trouble and violence and destruction of your
past define your future.
But whatever it is for you, I pray that your new name
is also, “Child of God.” There is no better name to have than Child of God.
We serve a God of Second Chances. A God who likes to
give new names and new beginnings. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, or who you’ve been, or how
far you’ve fallen. You can never be so far gone that God can’t bring you back.
Today is a good day to come home. Today is a good day for a new name. What will
yours be?
Pastor Dan Metzger
Van Buren United