The name of God

Scripture: Exodus 3:1-15 and Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b  • Jeremiah 15:15-21 and Psalm 26:1-8  • Romans 12:9-21  • Matthew 16:21-28

Naming is important to us.  In the Jewish tradition, baby boys are named at a brit milah on the eighth day after their birth. Girls are named within the first two weeks. Common Ashkenazi custom maintains that girls should be named when the father is called up to the Torah on a Torah reading day closest or close to when the girl is born, although practice often has baby girls named at the Torah reading on the first Shabbat following birth. A resurgence in recent generations of the less popular simchat bat ceremony for naming baby girls has recently taken hold in many modern Orthodox Ashkenazi communities. In our tradition, the name of the child is announced at baptism when we joyfully welcome and receive the child as we renew our baptismal covenant. God charged Adam with naming the animals.

This week we are given the name of God. Last week Peter was blessed and given the keys of the kingdom when he confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. In Exodus, when Moses asks the name of the God who will deliver his people, he is given the answer "I am Who I am, and I shall be Who I shall be."John's gospel contains several "I am" sayings of Jesus. This week Peter is rebuked by Jesus when he seeks to deter Jesus from his mission, as he looks on the Lord from a human perspective, as opposed to the divine perspective of the redemption and deliverance through a suffering God, who lives and dies with us, and is raised to new and everlasting life. Consider Susan Butterworth's "A Paradox of Faith."

This week's epistle from Paul to the Romans is one of my favorites. It teaches us about vengeance. Consider The Rev. Dr. Peter Marty's "Trusting God to Settle Scores." 

We also read about Moses and the burning bush. How did Moses overcome his excuses to become the leader of the Hebrews ouut of bondage in Egypt? Read The Rev. Amy Richter's "Unquenchable Love."

When Jesus rebukes Peter for Peter's comments when Jesus says that Jesus must suffer death and humiliation, after praising Peter for confessing Jesus as the Messiah, Debie Thomas, in "Losing and Saving," offers thoughts on what Jesus means about suffering and loss, especially relevant in our culture today.