Psalm 20, John 17 September 14, 2008
The Names of God, Part 1
“To Know Him By Name”
Rev. Meagan Boozer
On June 13, 1957, my mom and dad named me Cicely Meagan Messner. I was named Cicely after my mom’s sister, Meagan after one of my mom’s friends, and obviously Messner – taking the name of my parents. Having a first name that wasn’t my ‘main name’ was quite a pain in the neck once I got to school. Actually, my parents inflicted this pain on each of their 4 children (we all go by our middle names). I remember walking into school on the first day, whether it was 1st grade or 4th grade, and seeing the names of the students taped on the front of the desk. There never was a Meagan. Always Cicely. And so, I would have to explain that I didn’t go by Cicely, even though it was my first name. All of those forms you had to fill out in school, and pretty much anywhere else ask for ‘first name, middle initial.’ What was I supposed to do? Well, I figured it out: I would write my first initial, and middle name – ‘C. Meagan’ instead of ‘Cicely M.’ From a very early age, I had to know who I was. I had to be willing to do things differently. My sisters and brother are like that, too.
Naming our children was tough business. We wanted their names to connect to their heritage, and we wanted names that sounded okay with Boozer. Pretty tough. Kathyrn Ely Boozer, our first born. Katy was named for a dear friend with a middle name that was also both John’s mother’s maiden name and my grandmother’s maiden name. Molly Timbrook Boozer, our second born. Molly was of course named for my mom, and we also used John’s grandmother’s maiden name for a middle name. Douglas Shannon Boozer, uses John’s father’s initials DSB. Shannon is John’s middle name, it was John’s father’s middle name, and his grandfather’s his middle name, and so on. You can imagine the names that were suggested to us that would go with Boozer. Ima. Youra. Sheza. Yeah right. A few weeks ago I was honored to be part of the installation service for the new co-pastor at Falling Spring Presbyterian. When I arrived, there was a pastor from New Jersey whose name I didn’t know. I stuck out my hand and introduced myself, “Meagan Boozer.” “Oh yes, I remember seeing that name in the bulletin,” he said. “I know, I know. Rev. Boozer – not the greatest combination on the planet,” I replied. “My name,” he said, “is David Joynt. Reverend Joynt. I think we make a fine pair, Rev. Boozer.”
Names can make us laugh, can’t they? Names can also be given to us by our friends – nicknames. Most people around here don’t know who you’re talking about if you say, “George.” But if you say, “Buck,” they know you’re talking about Elsie’s man. Ray Coons is only known as Butch. Carl Shoemaker is known as Pud. Eleanor Groce was known as Boostie. Let’s have a little quiz here. I’ll say a nickname, and you tell me who I’m talking about.
Stormin’ Norman – Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf
The King – Elvis Presley
Wilt the Stilt – Wilt Chamberlin (basketball player)
The Bus – Jerome Bettis (football player)
Machine Gun Kelly – George Kelly Barnes
The Big Hurt – Frank Thomas (baseball player)
Ol’ Blue Eyes – Frank Sinatra
How many of you remember the movie Dances with Wolves? In the movie, the soldier portrayed by Kevin Costner befriends a tribe of American Indians. Seeing him frolicking on the plains, the Indians name him ‘Dances with Wolves.’ There was a main female character who was quite a strong personality. Her name was ‘Stands with a Fist.’ That tells you something about her, doesn’t it?
If you were going to give yourself a name in the style of the American Indians, what would it be? What name would your spouse give you? Your parents give you? Your kids give you? What name would the people who are around you most give you, that would accurately reflect your true character?
Names, like the nicknames we mentioned, and the Indian-given names, can tell you something about the person. The nickname ‘The Bus’ revealed someone who was ‘coming through and picking up people along the way!’ When you heard the name ‘The Bus,’ you knew something about the person of Jerome Bettis; you learned something about the focus of his life. Even if you didn’t know Jerome Bettis personally, you could still know something about him by learning his nickname, ‘The Bus.’
The greatest purpose that God has for the lives of all those he has created, is for us to know Him – for God knows that when we know Him, we can’t help but love Him, and we will want to glorify Him. As our Creator, God knows that in our knowing, and loving, and glorifying, we find true joy and deep peace. Is there anyone here who can testify to this truth – that knowing and loving and glorifying God brings true joy and deep peace? How about the opposite? In my life, when I choose to place what I know as the final word on something, instead of holding onto what I know about God as the final word, that’s when I am living without joy and apart from peace.
When John and I decided to have children, we certainly didn’t hope that our children would grow to ignore us, use our names as swear words, and do pretty much the opposite of everything we taught them was right to do. That was not our hope. We hoped that our children would grow to love us more as they got to know us more, and then would want to spend quality time with us.
This is what God wants for his children, too.
This is precisely why we are embarking on this new series of sermons on the Names of God, for it is my hope, that as we learn more about who God is, that we will love Him more, and want to spend more minutes of our days in fellowship with Him.
Listen with me now to Psalm 20. Notice the use of the word ‘name’ in this Psalm:
The LORD answer you in the day of trouble!
The name of the God of Jacob protect you!
May he send you help from the sanctuary,
and give you support from Zion.
May he remember all your offerings,
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices.
May he grant you your heart’s desire,
and fulfill all your plans.
May we shout for joy over your victory,
and in the name of our God set up our banners.
May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.
Now I know that the LORD
will help his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with mighty victories by his right hand.
Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses,
but our pride is in the
name of the LORD our God.
They will collapse and fall,
but we shall rise and stand upright.
Give victory to the king, O LORD;
answer us when we call.
There’s power in the name of God. There’s protection power in his name. There’s revelation about God’s character as we study his name. There’s important information in each of His names that will give us what we need on those days when nothing else is breaking through.
Listen now as I read parts of the prayer Jesus prayed for believers found in John 17:
“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me.
25“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Jesus is showing us by the double emphasis on God’s name and on oneness in this prayer, that intimacy with God and with God’s people is increased as we learn more about God by knowing him by name.
Throughout the Old Testament, God introduces himself to his chosen people through various names or titles – both those that he gave to himself and those that his servants were inspired to give to him, or to the place where he appeared to them. The different names of God serve to identify and describe God, but they also challenge us to live changed lives, giving us hope, reminding us of our heritage, and encouraging us to continue the journey of faith.
I read a story of a deer hunter and a wild rabbit. I don’t know if it is true or not, but I like what it teaches us for today. Wild rabbits are normally of afraid of people, but this one rabbit, on this one day, actually came out of the brush and ran straight for a hunter. The rabbit crowded up against the legs of the hunter, getting right between his boots, and shook. At first the hunter was nothing but stunned by the rabbit’s behavior, but then he started looking around trying to figure out what was what. Finally it became clear: out of the brush came a weasel. When the weasel saw its prey sitting at the feet of the hunter, it stopped. The rabbit, obviously exhausted from the chase and only moments from death, forgot its natural fear of man, and sought safety between the boots of this stunned hunter. Well, the hunter did not disappoint the rabbit’s newfound trust in him. He raised his rifle and shot into the dirt just a couple of feet from the weasel. The weasel dashed back into the forest, now in fear of its own life. After a few moments, the rabbit hopped back into the forest.
God wants to be the one we run to in every up and every down moment of our lives. Proverbs 18:10 proclaims, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.” I pray that the more we come to know of God as we learn his names, the more quickly we will run to him, and invite others to run with us.
Starting on September 28th, the Sunday when we come together to worship at 10 a.m., and then remain together for intentional prayer and conversation about our future together as a congregation, we will look at a different name for God each Sunday until the start of Advent on November 30th. We will learn about Elohim, the Creator; El Elyon, the God Most High; El Roi, the God who Sees; El Shaddai, the God who Comforts; Jehovah Rapha, the God who Heals; Adonai, the Lord is our Master; Jehovah Nissi, the Lord is my Banner; Jehovah Mikoddishken, the God who gives true Sabbath Rest; and Jehovah Jireh, the God who Provides. There are many other names for God revealed in Scripture, but these are the ones we’re going to focus on during this fall season. I trust we will all come to know God more so that we can love him more deeply and bring glory to his holy Name. That sounds good to me, how about to you? I’ll pray for you, please pray for me. Amen.
The Names of God, Part 1
“To Know Him By Name”
Rev. Meagan Boozer
On June 13, 1957, my mom and dad named me Cicely Meagan Messner. I was named Cicely after my mom’s sister, Meagan after one of my mom’s friends, and obviously Messner – taking the name of my parents. Having a first name that wasn’t my ‘main name’ was quite a pain in the neck once I got to school. Actually, my parents inflicted this pain on each of their 4 children (we all go by our middle names). I remember walking into school on the first day, whether it was 1st grade or 4th grade, and seeing the names of the students taped on the front of the desk. There never was a Meagan. Always Cicely. And so, I would have to explain that I didn’t go by Cicely, even though it was my first name. All of those forms you had to fill out in school, and pretty much anywhere else ask for ‘first name, middle initial.’ What was I supposed to do? Well, I figured it out: I would write my first initial, and middle name – ‘C. Meagan’ instead of ‘Cicely M.’ From a very early age, I had to know who I was. I had to be willing to do things differently. My sisters and brother are like that, too.
Naming our children was tough business. We wanted their names to connect to their heritage, and we wanted names that sounded okay with Boozer. Pretty tough. Kathyrn Ely Boozer, our first born. Katy was named for a dear friend with a middle name that was also both John’s mother’s maiden name and my grandmother’s maiden name. Molly Timbrook Boozer, our second born. Molly was of course named for my mom, and we also used John’s grandmother’s maiden name for a middle name. Douglas Shannon Boozer, uses John’s father’s initials DSB. Shannon is John’s middle name, it was John’s father’s middle name, and his grandfather’s his middle name, and so on. You can imagine the names that were suggested to us that would go with Boozer. Ima. Youra. Sheza. Yeah right. A few weeks ago I was honored to be part of the installation service for the new co-pastor at Falling Spring Presbyterian. When I arrived, there was a pastor from New Jersey whose name I didn’t know. I stuck out my hand and introduced myself, “Meagan Boozer.” “Oh yes, I remember seeing that name in the bulletin,” he said. “I know, I know. Rev. Boozer – not the greatest combination on the planet,” I replied. “My name,” he said, “is David Joynt. Reverend Joynt. I think we make a fine pair, Rev. Boozer.”
Names can make us laugh, can’t they? Names can also be given to us by our friends – nicknames. Most people around here don’t know who you’re talking about if you say, “George.” But if you say, “Buck,” they know you’re talking about Elsie’s man. Ray Coons is only known as Butch. Carl Shoemaker is known as Pud. Eleanor Groce was known as Boostie. Let’s have a little quiz here. I’ll say a nickname, and you tell me who I’m talking about.
Stormin’ Norman – Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf
The King – Elvis Presley
Wilt the Stilt – Wilt Chamberlin (basketball player)
The Bus – Jerome Bettis (football player)
Machine Gun Kelly – George Kelly Barnes
The Big Hurt – Frank Thomas (baseball player)
Ol’ Blue Eyes – Frank Sinatra
How many of you remember the movie Dances with Wolves? In the movie, the soldier portrayed by Kevin Costner befriends a tribe of American Indians. Seeing him frolicking on the plains, the Indians name him ‘Dances with Wolves.’ There was a main female character who was quite a strong personality. Her name was ‘Stands with a Fist.’ That tells you something about her, doesn’t it?
If you were going to give yourself a name in the style of the American Indians, what would it be? What name would your spouse give you? Your parents give you? Your kids give you? What name would the people who are around you most give you, that would accurately reflect your true character?
Names, like the nicknames we mentioned, and the Indian-given names, can tell you something about the person. The nickname ‘The Bus’ revealed someone who was ‘coming through and picking up people along the way!’ When you heard the name ‘The Bus,’ you knew something about the person of Jerome Bettis; you learned something about the focus of his life. Even if you didn’t know Jerome Bettis personally, you could still know something about him by learning his nickname, ‘The Bus.’
The greatest purpose that God has for the lives of all those he has created, is for us to know Him – for God knows that when we know Him, we can’t help but love Him, and we will want to glorify Him. As our Creator, God knows that in our knowing, and loving, and glorifying, we find true joy and deep peace. Is there anyone here who can testify to this truth – that knowing and loving and glorifying God brings true joy and deep peace? How about the opposite? In my life, when I choose to place what I know as the final word on something, instead of holding onto what I know about God as the final word, that’s when I am living without joy and apart from peace.
When John and I decided to have children, we certainly didn’t hope that our children would grow to ignore us, use our names as swear words, and do pretty much the opposite of everything we taught them was right to do. That was not our hope. We hoped that our children would grow to love us more as they got to know us more, and then would want to spend quality time with us.
This is what God wants for his children, too.
This is precisely why we are embarking on this new series of sermons on the Names of God, for it is my hope, that as we learn more about who God is, that we will love Him more, and want to spend more minutes of our days in fellowship with Him.
Listen with me now to Psalm 20. Notice the use of the word ‘name’ in this Psalm:
The LORD answer you in the day of trouble!
The name of the God of Jacob protect you!
May he send you help from the sanctuary,
and give you support from Zion.
May he remember all your offerings,
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices.
May he grant you your heart’s desire,
and fulfill all your plans.
May we shout for joy over your victory,
and in the name of our God set up our banners.
May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.
Now I know that the LORD
will help his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with mighty victories by his right hand.
Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses,
but our pride is in the
name of the LORD our God.
They will collapse and fall,
but we shall rise and stand upright.
Give victory to the king, O LORD;
answer us when we call.
There’s power in the name of God. There’s protection power in his name. There’s revelation about God’s character as we study his name. There’s important information in each of His names that will give us what we need on those days when nothing else is breaking through.
Listen now as I read parts of the prayer Jesus prayed for believers found in John 17:
“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me.
25“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Jesus is showing us by the double emphasis on God’s name and on oneness in this prayer, that intimacy with God and with God’s people is increased as we learn more about God by knowing him by name.
Throughout the Old Testament, God introduces himself to his chosen people through various names or titles – both those that he gave to himself and those that his servants were inspired to give to him, or to the place where he appeared to them. The different names of God serve to identify and describe God, but they also challenge us to live changed lives, giving us hope, reminding us of our heritage, and encouraging us to continue the journey of faith.
I read a story of a deer hunter and a wild rabbit. I don’t know if it is true or not, but I like what it teaches us for today. Wild rabbits are normally of afraid of people, but this one rabbit, on this one day, actually came out of the brush and ran straight for a hunter. The rabbit crowded up against the legs of the hunter, getting right between his boots, and shook. At first the hunter was nothing but stunned by the rabbit’s behavior, but then he started looking around trying to figure out what was what. Finally it became clear: out of the brush came a weasel. When the weasel saw its prey sitting at the feet of the hunter, it stopped. The rabbit, obviously exhausted from the chase and only moments from death, forgot its natural fear of man, and sought safety between the boots of this stunned hunter. Well, the hunter did not disappoint the rabbit’s newfound trust in him. He raised his rifle and shot into the dirt just a couple of feet from the weasel. The weasel dashed back into the forest, now in fear of its own life. After a few moments, the rabbit hopped back into the forest.
God wants to be the one we run to in every up and every down moment of our lives. Proverbs 18:10 proclaims, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.” I pray that the more we come to know of God as we learn his names, the more quickly we will run to him, and invite others to run with us.
Starting on September 28th, the Sunday when we come together to worship at 10 a.m., and then remain together for intentional prayer and conversation about our future together as a congregation, we will look at a different name for God each Sunday until the start of Advent on November 30th. We will learn about Elohim, the Creator; El Elyon, the God Most High; El Roi, the God who Sees; El Shaddai, the God who Comforts; Jehovah Rapha, the God who Heals; Adonai, the Lord is our Master; Jehovah Nissi, the Lord is my Banner; Jehovah Mikoddishken, the God who gives true Sabbath Rest; and Jehovah Jireh, the God who Provides. There are many other names for God revealed in Scripture, but these are the ones we’re going to focus on during this fall season. I trust we will all come to know God more so that we can love him more deeply and bring glory to his holy Name. That sounds good to me, how about to you? I’ll pray for you, please pray for me. Amen.
