What's in a Name?

The beginning of the fall (umm, if you can call what we are currently experiencing "fall") always brings with it the start of new activities and a new school year. This year we are lucky enough to have all three of our kids at different schools - yay for me! That means three drop-offs and three pick-ups, what oh what was I thinking?! It also means three different sets of parents to introduce myself to. "Hi, I'm Rachel, (insert correct child's name here)'s mom." Add in the swimming, soccer, and karate extra-curriculars and I am swamped with new people!

Sometimes I meet new people with - gasp- no kids around. Maybe at church or on date with Jonathan. Then I get to be the other half of a couple. "Hi, I'm Rachel, Jonathan's wife." That's a good one.

On occasion I'll be promoting some sort of Orphan Care thing or other at church. This past Sunday I was running our Orphan Care/ Missions table at Welcome Back Sunday. That day I got to be Rachel the Orphan Care girl. I like that girl.

How we introduce ourselves says A LOT about who we are. Are we a mom, dad, doctor, lawyer, husband, wife, single gal or guy, minister, delinquent, phd, cpa, longhorn, aggie, what? What do we want people to know about us right away when we first meet us? Its seems to be the key information, the most important about us - I am Rachel, mom of 3, wife of 1, orphan advocate. I guess that about sums me up.

Now, how does God introduce Himself over and over and over again? Its interesting. You would think it would be something like, "I am God, MIGHTY and EVERLASTING". That's what I would do if I were God. Or maybe something like "I am God, BOW TO ME MY MINIONS." But surprisingly He doesn't use either of those. Instead, our God, who is indeed mighty and everlasting, who indeed does deserve our worship and adoration, is introduced as a defender to the vulnerable. Why? Because this is one of the main things He does in the world.He identifies with the powerless and then takes up their cause.

Psalm 68:4-5 He is a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows

Deuteronomy 10:17-18 The Lord your God defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the immigrant, giving him food and clothing.

Psalms 146:7-9 He executes justice for the oppressed gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, He lifts up those who are bowed down, He loves those who live justly.
The Lord watches over the immigrant and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but He frustrates the ways of the wicked.

And just who are the powerless again? That quartet of the vulnerable that we talked about earlier, the widow, orphan, poor, and alien. In modern times we can see that it expands to the refugee, the migrant, the slave, the elderly. I love this about God! He has every title there is, every name in the book, and yet He chooses to be introduced and known as the defender of the fatherless. He chooses this and we are to be like Him.

Does Jesus change this? What do you think? How do you introduce yourself to others? Let me know!