September 5, 2022 – Exodus 3:14, The Funny Shape of Faith

 “… say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you” Exodus 3:14

“Find yourself a Christian Sunday school in Saudi Arabia and the little kids will be singing about Allah. “Wait a second,” you ask, “isn’t Allah the name of the Muslim God?” Yes, it is. Muslims, Jews, and Christians all trace their roots back to the God of Creation, the God of Abraham and Sarah. “Hold on,” you exclaim, “what’s going on here?” Allah is Arabic for God. When Arabic-speaking Christians say “Allah,” they mean “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” There are many names for God in the Bible. Watch for them. Sing them. Use them to talk to God in prayer.” (Laurie Hanson. The Funny Shape of Faith: Devotions for the Rest of Us (Kindle Locations 257-259). Kindle Edition.)

You Say “Tomato”, I Say “Tomate”

Lost in translation. Autocorrect. Trying to communicate with our friends and family today is getting more and more complicated. People rely so much on phones and texting and computers and email that the “art” or having a face-to-face conversation seems a thing of the past. Recently an older member of my family sent me a text that had a lot of autocorrected words it was hard to decipher what they were trying to say. Sometimes when I am trying to understand what people are trying to tell me I feel as if I am a “code breaker.”

Names are important. They were important in the Bible and they are important to us today. I used to visit a parishioner a few years back who, invariably, when I was praying for her, I would forget her name. It became so embarrassing to me I would panic even when I repeated her name over and over again in my head. 

Even though Christians worship our G-d in “Three Persons’, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, there is no reason for us to get confused about which name is most appropriate to call our G-d. We can call G-d: Allah, Jehovah, Abba, Father, Jesus, the Advocate….on and on it goes. What matters most is that we are meditating on and praying to G-d – no matter which name we use.

Let us pray,

Lord G-d, no single name is big enough to describe you. Thanks for being so complex and thanks for remembering my name. Amen.

Pastor Dave