Knowing Names

Seeing how knowing names creates relationships

07/15/2021

Ex 3:13-20 Moses, hearing the voice of the LORD from the burning bush, said to him, “When I go to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” God replied, “I am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: I AM sent me to you.” God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the children of Israel: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. “This is my name forever; this my title for all generations.

One of the most natural things to do when you meet someone is ask their name. But that can also be a little awkward. Why? If you are like me, you often forget a name as soon as you hear it. Sometimes people are so pleased when I do remember their names. I have to remind them: “A teacher always remembers the trouble-maker’s names first.” So, don’t be too happy if I know your name.

Another aspect of knowing someone’s name, and a deeper one, is that knowledge gives you a certain "power" over that person. When I call you by name, you immediately sit up and give me your attention. Parents not only know their children’s name, they bestow that name upon them as a first gift when they are born. Hence, parents have almost all authority over their children because they give them their name.

By the way, that is also why children should not call their parents by their name – Paul, Susan, Anthony or Mary – because children do not enjoy that level of authority over their parents. Therefore, both knowing and not knowing (or not using) someone’s name reveals the underlying relationship between two persons. Put simply: names tell us who's who.

In the first reading from Exodus we hear one of the most extraordinary encounters of the Old Testament, and it involves exchanging names. Moses meets God in the burning bush of Mt. Horeb (which is the same as Mt. Sinai), and does the most natural human thing. He asks God for his name. How did God answer? We read: “God replied, ‘I am who am.’ Then he added, 'This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: I AM sent me to you.’” That is an odd name to say the least.

Last night I read the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible commentary on Ex 3:14. It gave a reason for this ambiguous answer. It said: “Still another view interprets the name as God’s refusal to be defined: he is who he is, not who any man defines him to be.” It continued: “Such a rendering would stress God’s transcendence and sovereignty.” In other words, God is saying to Moses that he is not like any other dude or deity he might meet in the desert and know his name.

Indeed, God is in the position of a parent in relation to Moses, his child, the one he has brought into being. God not only knows Moses' name, he can change his name, as God often does in the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments. God, on the other hand, remains unnamed and thus unknown, and therefore Moses wields no authority over him. Moses may call God “Dad,” but he may never know his personal name. Knowing and not knowing a name reveals the relationship between two persons.

My friends, all this business about knowing names carries one very critical consequence. Even though we may know someone’s name, and even enjoy some level of authority over them, that person still remains a mystery and even a miracle. That is, we will never wield total authority over another person. Why not? Well, each human person is created in the image and likeness of God (Gn 1:27) and therefore, we too are “transcendent and sovereign” like God who refused to give Moses his personal name at Horeb.

This is why parents do not have total control over their children (as much as parents would like to control their children), even if they do bestow their name at birth. There is a hidden and holy side of that child that no parent knows nor controls. Only God knows each person’s true name, and he will bestow it upon us in heaven, as it says in Rv 2:17.

Married persons should also remember this about each other, especially when they think they really know the other person and what motivates them and what they care about. There is a side to your spouse that is like God at the burning bush, meaning it is “transcendent and sovereign.” And if you do not respect and revere that part of your partner, someone else will, and your relationship will be wrecked. One of the greatest failures of marriage is realizing how I both know my spouse, and how I do not know my spouse.

Next time you meet someone and know their name, do not feel too proud of yourself. Of course, it is good to call a person by name and it usually reveals a loving relationship. But there always remains far more unknown about a person than what you know, even when you know a name.

Praised be Jesus Christ!