Scripture: Genesis 2:19-20; Philippians 2:6-11; Exodus 3:14; John 3:16 Series: 2021
Part of the ‘Songs of the Bible’ series, this sermon meditates on Genesis 2:19-20, where God brings the animals to Adam to be named, asking ‘What’s in a name?’ via Juliet’s balcony speech. Drawing on the diversity of words for ‘dog’ across languages, the pastor argues that naming is a God-given power and duty rooted in the imago Dei: to name is to relate and connect, not to control. God’s own name is too holy to speak (Exodus 3:14), yet God exalts the name of Jesus above every name (Philippians 2:6-11). Adam is read as a type of Christ: where Adam named the animals, Christ has named each person beloved, mercy, love, child, not mistake. The point is not the letters but who stands behind the name, Christ who knew and loved us before our parents did. The call is to receive that name and share it with others, with an invitation to Pub Theology.
Illustrations: romeo-juliet-whats-in-a-name, dog-across-languages, viking-with-a-chihuahua, child-learning-to-speak-and-read, naming-our-children, kids-sing-the-song
June 6
God Told Adam and Eve
So the Lord God formed from the fertile land all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky and brought them to the human to see what he would name them. The human gave each living being its name. The human named all the livestock, all the birds in the sky, and all the wild animals. Genesis 2:19-20
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
Romeo:
Aside Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
Juliet:
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet; .
My friends, we’re continuing the series on songs of the Bible that looks through the scriptures in a way guided and retold in music. There are a lot of explicit songs in the Bible, but it all can be turned into song. For God’s love for us is so great that we cannot help but sing. Today we are looking at Adam and Eve in the Garden and the naming of all the animals. A moment ago, we heard the famous speech from Romeo and Juliet from the balcony. And now we have this question: what is a name? Because we have this moment early in the Bible, when God has created all the things and created animals and created the birds and the stars and created humans and made humans in God’s image. Imago Dei, this is so central to how we understand our connection and relationship with God. We are not just slaves to God or puppets to God. Because we are made in the image of God, we can be friends with God; God desires to be with us. Historically, we understand the image of God as our ability to contemplate God and the things of God. It is not our intelligence, not our IQ, not our memory, but the ability that anyone, no matter what age, no matter what ability we may have, can think about God and what is good and what is beautiful. And so after this, after creating Adam and Eve, God gives them a purpose to name things. What language does Adam use? Adam was obviously communicating with God, but theologians and scholars have debated about this for centuries, rabbis have debated about this for centuries, whether it was Hebrew itself, proto-Hebrew, or a heavenly language of some sort. I can’t solve that today, but it is still important to think about: what were the names that Adam gave? Now, we have names in different languages for different animals. A dog, for instance, Dog in English is different from the Greek word for dog ko-on. This is different than the Hebrew word, kelev and the French word, Chien, or the Chinese word, Gou. All these different languages relate to our word in English, dog, but are still different and not the same. Okay. For instance, in German, the German word for dog, Hund, is the root of our English word hound, English is a Germanic French language, Hund translates into Dog, but they’re not the exact same. When a lot of these languages began to develop, there weren’t as many canine breeds as there are now. And so there’s a way that Hund refers to certain dogs, and that it doesn’t refer to others because there was no concept of other dogs. For instance, the old Norse word for dog was Rakki. There was no concept of a Chihuahua in old Norse . Imagine a Viking with a Chihuahua. I don’t know what they’d do with it. It probably would not be pretty,. But being able to name and describe a reality is so powerful. When a child learns to speak and learns the names of things, it’s just astonishing. And when they go through this stage of development where they just pick up words over and over again, it’s phenomenal. When a child learns to read, it is miraculous because this whole world is opened up to them in way. And it’s like, before that time, all they could experience was visual stimuli. And now in the world of their mind, their imagination is opened up at a completely different way because of these words, The early scriptures were most likely oral in nature. They were told. The stories were told in specific ways. They were transmitted and listened to. They were spoken of at the temple. The names matter, the name of God matters. We don’t name God. And the Bible does not give a name to God, but to the other creatures. God offers God’s name to Moses. I am that I am, but the name of God is so holy, so set apart, that we are not supposed to ever say it. Some have said that the reason we don’t name God is that to name something is, in a sense, an act of control and if we could name God we would be God because we could control God. I don’t totally buy this argument. We named our kids, but we don’t control them. And yet, what is in a name? Why does the name matter even if it is in a language that has been lost to us. Why does it matter that animals have names? Why does it matter that God has a name? Why does it matter that Jesus has a name? In Philippians 2, there’s a song that Paul sings that many scholars believe was a hymn of the early church from even before Paul was writing. “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:6-11 ESV
At the name of Jesus, every knee bows. At the name of Jesus every tongue confesses. The name of Jesus matters. Getting back to the song and Adam and Eve naming the animals, what we need to remember from this episode in creation is not the specific names that Adam used. We can can put in our names, like turtle and whale and rabbit. The point is in the naming, the point is in the language, the point is in the gift and the duty that we have in this world to remember that there is a purpose in how we see and understand the world. To name something is to relate to it, to connect to it. More than control, a name offers a relationship. To name a child is to offer it a way to relate to the world. God offers us a duty as God offered it to Adam, to observe, to care for the world, to be stewards of the world. Not to treat creation as a tool for our own benefits, but as a blessing, as a gift from God .And to hold the name of Jesus above all of these other names. Adam functions in a unique way for Christians. Adam is not just the first human, or someone long ago or like the greatest of grandfathers. We read of Adam in light of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior. And so we see in him a type, a figure of Christ. In a way, Adam doesn’t make sense until we see and understand Christ. With the realization that God so loved the world that he sent his only son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life, we see in Adam naming the animals a prefiguration of Christ calling each of us by name. Whereas Adam named the rabbits and the whales and the turtles, Christ has named you. Yes, your parents named you, or you renamed yourself or the state of Texas knows you by one name, But deeper than that, Jesus has named you. Your name is mercy. Your name is love. Your name is child. Your name is not mistake.
At the name of Jesus, we understand God’s love for us. Christ’s name is above all names because we find ourselves fully and truly in Christ’s name. The point is not the five or six letters, but who is behind it. Because Christ is alive, because Christ has revealed himself to the world, through the scriptures, but also to us and our own places. We know that the names that we have been given represent something deeper than just an address on a form or a phrase in a computer. Your name means even more than the people who named you because before even your parents knew you, Christ knew you and loved you. Adam named the animals. Christ has done more. Christ has named you beloved of God.
When we read this story or sing this song, we remember Christ’s love for us. Kids like it when I sing it. It’s funny. They pick it up pretty quickly. There’s a delight when they get it, when they get the joke. I think as well, there’s such a delight in our eyes when we get it, not the joke of a song, but the reality of Christ’s love for us. That aha. If you haven’t felt that yet, I’d love to talk to you more about Christ’s love for you. I’d love to hear of your own experiences with God, maybe your doubts about God. That’s what pub Theology will be about. A chance to ask questions and answer questions from positions of humility. But that aha is offered because while Adam named the animals, Christ has named you. And more than that, Christ has named the others in this world. And our call as Christians is not just to accept what has been given to us, but to step out and share that promise, share that name above all names. To share the delight in being loved and forgiven. Christ has named you and you are loved.
In the name of the Father and the Son the Holy Spirit. Amen.