Friday will be our daughter Hannah’s birthday. Before she was born we called her banana because her boy name was going to be Ben, and her girl name was Hannah. We just combined the two potential names. Often, I still call her banana. There is incredible power in being the one to name another person.
Who named you? We talked about this at the jail with some of the women who came for Bible study. One woman shared that her older brother wanted Indian in his baby sister’s name, so her mother granted his wish. She was proud of her name. Other’s spoke of the importance of their names too.
Several years back I opened the Bible study at the Chum Drop In Center one Wednesday morning with that question about naming. People’s responses were powerful and deep. One young native man shared that his name was Christopher, but he never used it. He called himself Chris. For him, Christopher had too many images of Columbus and the conquering of native people.
Another man shared about how he grew up in school with the name Leslie and was often teased. Now he was known as Les, but that name didn’t fit either. He said it made him think less of himself, and that maybe he would go with the name “more” from now on. Another man shared how his birth certificate just said baby boy and his last name. He had to go to court to get his first name added. He said it cost him something to do it. Our names are deeply part of us. Our names cost us something too.
Jesus’ name cost him a lot. An African American spiritual sings out, “O Mary What you gonna name that pretty little baby?” The gospels have two birth stories. Luke which we usually read on Christmas Eve puts the accent on Mary. But Matthew’s account centers on Joseph, a man of obedience and deep faith. According to Matthew’s version it is Joseph who names the pretty little baby.
At first, Joseph is confused and hurt. Mary is pregnant but not by him. His love for her is deep. So instead of making a spectacle of her, which could have included a public stoning, he decides to send her off quietly. It is after this decision that he dreams.
Joseph dreams a dream of angels, of the Holy Spirit, of a son and names. He could have shrugged it off, perhaps bad food from the night before. But the dream lingers and pushes him on. He dares to hope in the dream’s possibilities. He names his son, Jesus, which means God saves. Even before Jesus is born he is transforming relationships, pushing his father out of his comfort zone and into grace. Joseph names the baby Jesus. He and Mary’s love saves.
Also, before waking from his dream another name for this baby is revealed to Joseph. In Matthew we read, “Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, “God is with us.”
This is the heart of Matthews gospel; God is with us. For Matthew, Emmanuel is the first theological statement about who Jesus is and it will also be his last. Matthew ends his Gospel with,
“Remember that I am with you always, to the end of the age.“
God is with us. Yes, even now when our world seems to be falling apart. Joseph’s world certainly was. It is a word we need to hear again and again. It is our dream too and it helps us to go on.
Christmas really is about the power of naming. So, “What are you gonna name that pretty little baby?
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