One of things most people can quote from Shakerspeare is that questionJuliet is asking herself: "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo? What's in a name? A rose by another other name would smell as sweet; so Romeo would, were here not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owest."

Would he? I wonder. Who am I to question Shakespeare, but I wonder - I am not sure. If Romeo were called something else, would he - have the same perfection, even be the same person she loved.

I wonder if there is not a mystical importance to our names. Our social security numbers are a far more accurate identification, they are unique and not shared with anyone else. Names, our first names, are shared by so many, yet few of us feel the attachment to our social security numbers that we feel to our own personal names.

We generally do not like to see them misspelled or hear them mispronounced. We do not like them forgotten. I can't remember ever being hurt that someone forgot my social security number, or never knew it. I really don't care if people forget my telephone number or address, or date of birth even, but I do that wish people I care about would not forget my name. To forget where I live doesn't bother me, to forget my name is to forget me. If you don't know my name, you don't know me well.

Today, we remember and rejoice that we know the name of our God and Savior.

"And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel when he was conceived in the womb."

Many of us were given our names while we were still in our mother's womb. Parents often choose the name of a child, decide what to call the child if he is boy or if she is a girl, well before the child is born. So, many of us had a name before we had an independent existence.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." I don't believe that for a minute. To call a person a name, which is not his name, but designed to hurt or humiliate usually does hurt. For our name identifies us, defines us, proclaims our uniqueness. The name and the use of the name demonstrates, proclaims, expresses who we are and the relationships we have with one another. Lovers often have special names for each other, pet names, private names, intimate names which are used by no one else, often known by no one else.

Scripture deals in an extraordinary way with the sanctity and significance of names. Throughout Scripture, names are changed by the will of God, as relationships between God and his people change, to show forth a new relationship established through the saving encounter: Simon, who became Peter; Saul who became Paul; Jacob the Patriarch, the father of the tribes of Israel becomes Israel; Sara and Abram, when the promise is graciously given by God, have the spelling and pronunciation of their names changed to reflect the new reality.

In Scripture, the Name has a power and a majesty of its own: Jacob wrestles with God and demands to know his name. He will not let him until he tells him his name - for that is power and glory. God gives Moses his personal name as proof of Moses' authority, as evidence that he speaks with the approval and authority and power of God himself.

The extraordinary intimacy that we proclaim in this Feast is nothing less than that we are on a "first name basis" with our God and Savior. We are in a profoundly changed relationship, because we know his name and are, in turn, called by his name, we know the name of Jesus, we bear the name of Jesus. We are called by his Name. We are baptized into that name, and so, at the very beginning of it all, this Christian life, we have a new relationship through a name, ours and his, and a new relationship expressed in salvation.

The ancient Prayer Book began a Baptism at this very point. The priest demanded directly: "Name this child." The first activity of bringing the child into the everlasting covenant of grace - you are to name the child. Ever after, the Christian Name is bound up in the Christian's redemption, as he was then and there baptized into the name of Jesus, as the New Testament everywhere describes baptism. Knowing his name, sharing his name, bearing his name, does not, like Jacob, give us power over him, but rather gives us power with him, through him, and in him.

The name and relationship are a gift, the gracious saving gift of God, the seal of that, the expression of that, the demonstration of our relationship with God. And it is always and only a gift: The promise given Abraham by God was that God would make a name for him. The sin of the builders of the Tower of Babel and the cause of the confusion and destruction was that "they sought to make a name for themselves."

The name we are given and the relationship bestowed is a gift. We are called by his name, baptized into that name, given a name and called, each by that by that name, as we call him by his name in trust and love. This is the glory of this day - to know to celebrate that there is no more intimate relationship imaginable than that which is proclaimed - we know the Holy Name of Jesus.