WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Cornerstone Community Church
May 4, 2014
Have you ever heard someone’s name and thought to yourself, “now that’s a name!” It
was a name so powerful that no matter how hard you tried you couldn’t get rid of the name. I am
drawn to a movie from the early turn of the millennium that won multiple Academy Awards
including best picture and best actor; the movie in question is Gladiator. The main character is
played by Russell Crowe the star of the recent controversial film Noah. In the movie Crowe’s
character is certainly a man to look up to and a man who indeed has a powerful name; his name
is Maximus. I am assuming considering the age of the movie most of you are familiar with the
plot line so I’m not worried about having to post a spoiler alert. Maximus served the Roman
Empire as a general of the armies of the North. The murderous new Caesar Commodus sends
Maximus away to be killed because of his knowledge of Commodus’ evil deed in killing his own
father. After narrowly escaping death at the hands of Roman soliders Maximus finds himself
sold into the life of a gladiator. In one of the most powerful scenes of the movie Maximus
reveals his identity in front of the crowds at the Coliseum and Caesar himself who had assumed
he was long dead. As he announces his name you get a sense on the value of this man’s
character as he states, “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of
the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the TRUE emperor, Marcus
Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance,
in this life or the next.” ooh in your face Caesar. What a powerful name and it was so powerful
that in the following scene Maximus is surrounded by his closest gladiator companions and one
of them comments, “You have a great name, he must kill your name before he kills you!” And
that’s what’s in a name…it doesn’t matter if you cannot live forever you can still live on in the
memory of your name.
You know my wife Sarah and I recently went through an exercise in choosing a name
when we debated, sometimes ad nauseam, the merits of certain names for our soon to be born
son. We thought of family names, trend setting names, Italian names and so on. I really liked the
name Giovanni yet Sarah fell in love with the name Luca. We played the rhyming game with his
potential middle name matches and we shelved some names to revisit later and others to keep
praying on. Now there’s no need to point out the obvious result in the naming of our baby boy
because clearly I assert my male leadership and family headship in the home… but just for the
record so everyone knows this is the first time little Giovanni is listening to his daddy preach.
Okay so I didn’t win that name game but to show how I infiltrate a situation his middle name is
Christopher so it’s a conciliation prize I guess! But why did we spend so much time on a name,
is it because names are significant of character? Is it because names reveal your future path in
life? Is it because we wanted to choose a name that he wasn’t vulnerable to being teased about?
Why do we take such stock in names?
As a child I was called different names by those around me, some sweet and affectionate
names like “pumpkin”, “nino”, “huggies” and yet there were other names like “plate” that were
really hurtful even though they were meant to lightly tease. I suppose I should justify why the
name “plate” was sort of derogatory. From the moment I was born the doctors knew there was
something not quite right with me, and you are all thinking we could have told the doctor the
same thing! But seriously the pediatrician immediately noticed that my head had a potentially
life threatening or at the least debilitating shape. My soft spots had fused closed and as a result as
I grew my head would grow abnormally oblong resulting in a restricted space for my brain to
grow and develop. This would lead to slower cognitive abilities, developmental issues and if
severe enough a shortened life expectancy and mental retardation. The doctor suggested to my
parents just one day post delivery that I needed to have surgery on my skull in order to ensure
my head and brain grew properly. So at two months old I went under the knife and the surgeon
inserted a small Teflon spacer that became known as a plate to those around me. So there is the
origin of the name “plate”, kids called me this because of the small surgical piece of Teflon I had
inserted between my skullcap which saved my life. By the way, my right arm and hand were the
supposed fork and my left arm and hand were supposed to represent a knife, the only thing
missing was the napkin and glass, apparently none of my body parts sufficed for those pieces of
the dinner set. I lived with that name for years as a kid, but as any name that you’re teased with it
dies over time and you can hopefully move on from it.
So whether names invoke thoughts of bravery as the title of the current series we are in
here at Cornerstone does, or whether names cause you to tremble and fear like Dracula its
evident names have great significance and power. Lets take a look at some examples of
characters with great names from our Scripture that will help illustrate just what is in a name.
The ancient near east was the location of the first name we are going to unwrap this
morning. Names had a different sense a few millennia ago. Names really meant something in the
ancient near east and Abraham’s name meant so much to the future people of Israel. Lets pick up
our Bibles or Bible apps and turn to the first book of the Bible, Genesis. As you are finding
chapter 17 which we will look at shortly let me first refresh your memories on Abraham’s story.
He was born in a time when the people did not know who the one true God was. His father Terah
was not familiar with the God of the Bible so there was no rich heritage of spiritual leadership or
wisdom passed down to Abraham yet God was ever present because he knew the heart of
Abraham, who was then known as Abram. Abram married Sarai later to be called Sarah and
that’s when he encounters the God of his ancestors first hand. God begins to work in Abram’s
life all along promising him that he would father many offspring, yet for years no offspring came
and Sarah was barren and unable to conceive. Abram took matters into his own hands in his late
80’s and fathers a child by his wife’s servant, yet God still promises Abram an offspring and
many at that from Sarah’s womb. So now lets look at Genesis 17 to grasp the significance of
Abraham’s name, here’s the first text of the morning:
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to
him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my
covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on
his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be
the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but
your name shall be Abraham,[c] for I have made you the father of a multitude of
nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and
kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you
and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting
covenant…
(Genesis 17:1-7 ESV)
There it is, Abraham means the father of many nations, and as you trace the lineage of the
Israelites back it all starts with Abraham and his covenant with God. In fact there is great debate
amongst Muslims and Jews alike as to the true offspring of Abraham. Muslims argue that
Ishmael, the son of Hagar and Abraham is the true offspring of God’s covenant with Abraham
and Christians and Jews both affirm Isaac is the rightful heir of the covenant. But amidst these
quarrels is hidden a truth, Abraham did father many nations and in fact the two largest religions
in the world, Christianity and Islam, which total nearly one half of the entire population on earth,
all trace their roots back to Abraham, the father of many nations. So it should be clear to see, the
name of Abraham surely lived up to its significance.
The second name we want to take a look at is a character we should all be familiar with
considering we recently experienced Good Friday and Easter together. This character was
radically transformed between those two events and his life would never be the same after
Easter. Peter’s first encounter with Jesus was one of skepticism, here’s how Luke records it…
and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were
washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's (we know him
as Peter), he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught
the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered,
“Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the
nets.”
(Luke 5:2-5 ESV)
Can you just sense the sarcasm here? Oh sure Jesus, if you had been on the water this
morning you’d know better than to ask such a ridiculous thing like take the boat back out into
those fishless waters and try and bring in some fish. I mean we have the latest in fish finding
technology, sonar and all and you think that just because you come on board with your carpentry
background that you know how to fish… ha, I laugh at your request, well at least on the inside I
mean we just met and I don’t want to be rude. And of course Peter’s intuition was dead on here
right? Lets read on…
And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets
were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help
them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when
Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a
sinful man, O Lord.”
(Luke 5:6-8 ESV)
Well that backfired on Peter but it just shows the condition of his fledgling spirit. Though
he doubted in the beginning and there was even that rough spot around Jesus’ arrest, Peter unlike
any other apostle except maybe Paul stood tall for the Gospel and his Lord Jesus. Peter was
solidly convinced that Jesus was God and even until his death he held firm. Peter was solid sure
in his convictions for Jesus and so sure Jesus was God incarnate that he wouldn’t allow himself
to be killed in the same manner as Jesus so he requested to be crucified upside down as biblical
historians tell us. So do you know what Peter’s name means? It means Rock or Stone, and in
Peter’s case it describes a man whose spirit and life after the resurrection of Jesus was rock solid!
Speaking of rocks and stones, there is another name that we are all familiar with that has
great significance Scripturally. Our very own Cornerstone Community Church is a name with
meaning. Sure it sounds cool and the whole three C’s could stand in place for a Sesame Street
Lesson on that letter but the name wasn’t chosen for that purpose. It represents what we want to
be about and who we want to reflect. You know, Jesus was referred to as the chief Cornerstone
and if you look into what that meant it reveals why our name means so much. Let me give you a
few scriptures that point to Christ as the chief Cornerstone:
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the
saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole
structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
(Ephesians 2:19-21)
You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was
rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living
stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy
priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that
please God. As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen
for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” Yes, you
who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him,
“The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.”
(1 Peter 2:4-7)
The cornerstone was the foundation stone of a building, without it the rest of the stones would be
unsecure and the structure would likely collapse. But with a proper cornerstone in place the
foundation and integrity of the building would be solid and would stand the weather and the
people who would come through the structure. Cornerstone has stood the test of the last two
decades and we are still here. We have seen economic downturns, national disasters, the loss of
loved ones, people leaving the church, we have experienced pain and sorrow and yet we have
witnessed many births, marriages, reclaimed lives and restored marriages, healings, fellowship,
kindness and love all in the last two decades and there is no sign of us stopping our mission now.
Our goal is not only to help genuine doubters to become true disciples but its to take those
disciples and make them disciple makers so the church can continue to grow and impact our
culture. We have a job here at Cornerstone, we have to build a foundation as our name says, a
foundation in our area in this city and beyond that stands up for life, affirms the value of
marriage and fights for Christian values and ethics in our culture. The fight is now and we must
take a stand in the name of Christ.
There is one more part to our church name and again it wasn’t selected as a catchy
gimmick. Community is what this Christian life is all about. From the very infancy of the church
in Acts community was a vital part of the success of our blossoming heritage. Here’s a quick
reference of the type of community the early church embodied:
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many
wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were
together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and
belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day,
attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their
food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the
people.”
(Acts 2:42-47)
Did you ever sit here on a Sunday and think, this place feels so familiar, it feels like
home? Did you ever wonder why we are linked so close with one another? Did you ever think
that we are a family? We are all family this morning. Not because we share the same last name
or bloodline but because of the same blood that was shed for all of us at Calvary. That’s why we
gather today and every Sunday. We gather to worship Him, to celebrate Him, to listen in here
and share out there in the lobby and throughout our morning how He has changed us. We do this
all as a family, a family united by the God who gave everything to bring us together. Do you
agree with that this morning brothers and sisters? Raise your hands if you do. Do you believe
that you are in the presence of family bonded in a name, that this morning you are in the
company of people who just like you God thought it right enough to shed His blood that you
might be forgiven of your sins, the real ugly stuff too, the sorts of things you’re too embarrassed
to admit, the things you believe if people knew about you they would run in the opposite
direction as opposed to embrace you. But this name is not just a soapy towel to wash away those
stains and dirty marks but its an invitation to fellowship and new life, not just life in the here and
now, but life beyond your final breathe, beyond your last heartbeat. You have been invited for an
eternal fellowship, with the great I AM, with the savior of the world, with a name that sadly is
used more today as a curse word than the name of the one who was the cure to the curse that was
placed on mankind as a result of Adam’s sin, it’s the name of a heavenly king who gives us
everything. His name is life, His name is forgiveness and grace, His name is mercy and love, His
name is Jesus! This is who we come to worship, this is who we come to adore! Jesus, say his
name with me church, JESUS, say it again, JESUS, again church family like you are giving Him
all of you and all of your praise, JESUS! He is the one, He is the reason for the hope that we
have, the reason why in the darkest of times we have a light that still shines, beckoning us to
come, urging us to persevere, driving us forward to restoration and life, life everlasting. This is
the name we adore, His name is Jesus, and as the band comes for one last song this morning
would you join me and stand church family, united in one name the one name that bonds us
together, to pray to Him and worship Him and shout His name, the name of Jesus!