Names

Good morning everyone,

I hope you will have an enjoyable and productive day!

You may have noticed by now that Mark, the girls, and I all have different last names. Mark is a Merryman. Kenna and Hanna have their father's last name, Berg. I use my maiden name. While there had been many many generations of McClures in centuries prior, my grandfather had two children, a boy and a girl, so only my father carried on the family name. Then my father and mother adopted two girls. When my sister and I both got married, the name McClure disappeared. I decided several years ago that I really missed my last name. I had been a McClure much longer than I had been married into the Berg family. While I had been adopted and am not genetically related to any McClures, I felt like a McClure. I have the family crest on my wall at home. My great-aunt has traced the family heritage back to the Old Country. So, I changed my name because McClure carries meaning for me. I have no birthright to the name, but I claim it and it holds important meaning and memories for me.

Our name of "Christian" works the same way. In baptism we are adopted into the family of God. We become a child of God. We become a brother or sister to Jesus the Christ. Yet, we have no right to be children of God. We are sinners. We continually turn away from God. However, God is a God of grace and mercy. Through grace we are saved by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Because of Jesus being fully human and fully divine and sacrificing himself for our sins, we get the privilege to call God, Daddy, and Jesus, brother. We did not save ourselves, but in baptism we are lovingly adopted by God. In the fourth chapter of Galatians, Paul writes,

4-7But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, "Papa! Father!" Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.

I look forward in the coming months to hear the stories of your names. Who are you named after? Where did your family come from to move to Red Springs? What children do you have that are named after your great-aunt or favorite uncle? However, I encourage you to never forget your true name, the name given to you by grace and through sacrifice, beloved child of God.