William F. Schnell

August 6, 2006

I suppose I have now been here long enough to begin confessing shortcomings that I never would have confessed when I first began.  I must confess that I am terrible with names.  When I begin a new pastorate it takes me forever to learn people’s names and, even when I have learned them, I sometimes forget them at the most awkward moments.  In Dale Carnegie’s monster best-seller, How to Win Friends and Influence People, he devotes an entire chapter to name recognition that is entitled, "If You Don’t Do This, You Are Headed for Trouble."

However name recognition is a natural ability that not everyone possesses in equal measure—sort of like rhythm or eyesight.  I happen to be name-challenged.  I can’t help it.  Eventually I pick up people’s names, it just takes me longer than most.  When I met Helen Perttula the first thing she said to me was, "I want you to know my name."  Her name I picked up real quick.  I also quickly pick up the names of folks who cook for me for some reason.  Sometimes I associate a new acquaintance with a thing that reminds me of their name.  But mostly I just fake it—and probably not very well.

On the other hand, I happen to be a near-savant when it comes to face recognition.  I never forget a face.  I can meet a person one time for the briefest moment and never see that person again for ten years.  But then if we happen to share an elevator and I glance at that person, I will immediately realize that we have met before.  I will say, "I know you from somewhere."  After we begin sharing where we grew up, went to college and so forth, invariably a point of commonality will emerge that confirms my recognition.

However if I had the choice between being gifted at face recognition or being gifted at name recognition, I would choose the latter because virtually everyone appreciates being remembered by name.  A name proclaims who we are.  Not remembering a name is almost insulting because it suggests someone else is not very memorable.  In my case it is a matter of brain dysfunction, but it is hard to convince others of this.  So I wish I was better at name recognition.  But please, do not come through the line today and ask me if I can recite your name because pressure compounds my problem.

In some cultures, names signify something about a person.  A Kevin Costner character was named, "Dances With Wolves," because that is how certain Native Americans first encountered him.  Likewise, in biblical cultures, names were more than identifying labels, which is why name changes often occurred to signify a corresponding change in a person.  Jacob’s name meant, "He who grasps at the heel," because he was grabbing his twin brother’s heel when they were born, ostensibly to supplant him as the first-born and get the benefits that status entailed.  But by contending with God’s other children he was contending with God.  Therefore his name was changed to Israel, which means: "He who wrestles with God."

In our text for this morning it is the name of God himself that is the focus of our attention.  Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?" (Verse 13).  This conversation between Moses and God is part of a larger discourse where the latter is calling the former (from out of a burning bush no less) to lead God’s people out of their bondage in Egypt and on to a land of their own—a good and spacious land flowing with milk and honey.

This being a rather tall order since the Israelites are a slave race in Egypt, Moses begins balking. "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" he asks (3:11).  In other words, "Why me?"  Further, "If I presume to be a divine messenger with an outrageous message the Israelites are going to want to know your name. ‘The Egyptian sun god has a name,’ they will say, "Ra."  The surrounding nations have a fertility god named "Astarte."  Who is this god of our fathers?  What is his name if you are on such personal terms with him?’"

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."  This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’" (Verse 14).  What kind of a name is that?  I can imagine Abbott and Costello having a "heyday" with that routine.  One asks the other:

"Tell me what God’s name is."

"I AM."

"You are what?"

"I thought we were talking about God."

"Yeah, tell me his name."

"I AM."

"No you’re not."

"Now you’re talking about me again.  I am not I AM."

"No one could be more confused than I am."

"God is confused?"

If we are feeling confused about God’s name, Jesus certainly provides no clarification in the quote at the top of our bulletin: "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58.  That does not make sense, grammatically or otherwise.  It is almost as if Jesus and God are intentionally trying to confound our understanding and, in fact, I think they are.  If a name helps us get a handle on who someone is, then I think we are to understand from God’s name that he is way to big, and we are way to small, to get a handle on who he is.

People with killing certainty about who God is are usually the ones killing others in his name.  People who presume to know God through and through, who presume to know exactly how he communicates and what he communicates, who presume to grasp God’s positions on complex social issues, who presume to speak authoritatively for him, who presume that they are "in" and that everyone else who takes a different approach are "out"—these people with such killing certainty scare me because their god is only as big as they are.  The God of our fathers is incomprehensible, inconceivable and unimaginable for the human mind to fathom.

Having said that, God does allow us to encounter him in the mysteriously burning bushes of life.  He does allow us an occasional and momentary glimpse of his blinding glory now and again.  He does seek to stretch our feeble human understanding, and I think he is trying to stretch it here.  God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation" (Verse15.

Now do you suppose this is the name by which God has been remembered from generation to generation?  No.  This is the last time we hear God referred to as I AM until the quote of Jesus at the top of our bulletin.  That is the last time in the Bible God is referred to as I AM period.  We do not refer to God as I AM.  We call him Father, Almighty, Lord and so forth, but not I AM.  I think that is a mistake because it distracts us from the kind of stretching God wants us to do with his name.

God tells Moses, "I am the God who was—the God who was with your fathers when they had need for divine direction, provision and protection.  I am the God who will come again to gather you with your people at the last hour and welcome you into the glory of the kingdom of heaven on high.  And just as I WAS and I WILL BE AGAIN, so I AM even now to deliver and defend.  You do not have to fear Pharaoh, you do not have to fear the Egyptians, you do not have to fear the unknown into which I am calling you because I AM—I AM eternally present, I AM always with you in the here and now, I AM the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

I AM is a helpful name for God because it reminds us of what we tend to forget.  It is not so hard looking back and seeing how God has operated in our past to bring us to this day.  It is not so hard looking forward to envision calling us home to heaven when our days on earth are done.  But it can be hard to find God right here in our present, especially in the circumstances that we do not want to happen or that we do not understand.  But the name God has given us for himself reminds us: "I Am with you, I AM there for you and I AM able to redeem all things—even the tough times you are enduring.  So do not lose heart.  I AM!

To visually express God’s self-proclaimed name in our bulletins I have typed the title of our message and creatively used the bold print feature in such a way as to bring I AM out of HIS NAME. I do not know how well it worked or if you noticed that, but I have another creative way to keep I AM in mind.  The Hindus practice a form of meditation that uses a mantra, or repeated scriptural text.  Contemplative Christians have also used repeated texts of scripture as a form of meditation, the recitation of the rosary for Roman Catholics being perhaps the best-known example.

Today I would like to offer you a mantra I have been using of late from God’s Holy Word, and also an opportunity to begin silently reciting it in your minds.  The text of Scripture is this: Be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).  When cares are pressing me down a bit, or when anxious thoughts disturb my peace, or when unproductive attitudes intrude upon my consciousness, I find that repeating this biblical mantra helps to restore my sense of spiritual balance.  Again, the mantra is this: Be still, and know that I am God.  Be still, and know that I am God.  Be still, and know that I am God.  Let us contemplate these words in silence.

by Nichole Nordeman

Pencil marks on a wall, I wasn't always this tall

You scattered some monsters from beneath my bed

You watched my team win

You watched my team lose

Watched when my bicycle went down again

And when I was weak, unable to speak

Still I could call You by name

And I said, Elbow Healer, Superhero

Come if You can

You said, I Am

Only sixteen, life is so mean

What kind of curfew is at 10pm?

You saw my mistakes

And watched my heart break

Heard when I swore I'd never love again

And when I was weak, unable to speak

Still I could call You by name

And I said Heartache Healer, Secret Keeper

Be my best friend

And you said, I Am

You saw me wear white by pale candlelight

I said forever to what lies ahead

Two kids and a dream, with kids that can scream

Too much it might seem when it is 2am

And when I am weak, unable to speak

Still I will call You by name

Shepherd, Savior, Pasture Maker

Hold onto my hand

You say, I Am

The winds of change and circumstance blow in and all around us

So we find a foothold that's familiar

And bless the moments that we feel You nearer

When life had begun, I was woven and spun

You let the angels dance around the throne

And who can say when, but they'll dance again

When I am free and finally headed home

I will be weak, unable to speak

Still I will call You by name

Creator, Maker, Life Sustainer

Comforter, Healer, my Redeemer

Lord and King, Beginning and the End

I Am

Yes, I Am