I’d like to begin this morning by re-introducing ourselves to you all. Firstly we have our vicar, Edwina. Her name means rich or valuable friend, as I’m sure she is to many. Then we have Brian, one of our Readers, whose name means strong one, or high and noble. Then there’s Pauline, another of our Readers, whose name means small and good, and myself Jan meaning God is kind and merciful. However, not all names necessarily have a positive definition. Cameron, for example, means crooked nose. Personally, I prefer to think of Cameron as an anagram of the word romance. But also this morning we welcome a new family and a new child into the body of the church, as baby Sophie is christened. Sophie, as I’m sure her parents already know, is a name derived from the Greek and it means wisdom. For the rest of us, perhaps you know the meaning of your own name, or perhaps you might like to look it up sometime. Perhaps your name has special associations with a certain time or a certain place. But what’s in a name?
Names are so important, they are what identifies us, what make us each unique, individual, they say so much and the choosing of a name or the changing of a name is important too.
My husband and I went on our honeymoon to Cornwall and stayed in the middle of nowhere near a small hamlet called Carleen. We liked the name and so with it’s romantic connotations, when our daughter was born some years later we called her Carlene after the village. She has never quite forgiven us for this but then I tell her she should be thankful we didn’t take our honeymoon in Grimsby. She calls herself Carly, a modern abbreviation that she prefers.
Our names can define us and yes we can change them, but primarily they are chosen for us and remain with us. In the Bible names often denote a person’s place of origin. For example, we have two Mary’s, Mary of Bethany, from Bethany and the other known as Mary Magdalene or Mary of Magdala from the town of Magdala.
Saul is on the road to Damascus when he encounters God in a most dramatic fashion. Saul has been persecuting the Christians but after his conversion he becomes known as Paul, a new name for a new person, a new life. He is no longer Saul the persecutor but Paul, the follower of Jesus. Another example is when Jesus calls together his disciples and he calls Simon the fisherman, whom he re-names Peter, meaning the Rock, the rock on which Christ will now begin to build his church. Another encounter with Jesus, another new beginning, a new name to denote a new life.
And today marks the beginning of a new life too, as Sophie is baptised into our church family and into the greater family of God. Her parents and Godparents will undertake promises on her behalf until she is old enough to do so for herself. We pray for them all and we pray for God’s blessing, his strength and his wisdom for Sophie as she grows and explores the world and comes to know God better.
Amen
Jan