"What's in a Name?"

"What's in a name?" Juliet bemoaned to her lover, Romeo, in Shakespeare's classic play, Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo's family name, "Montague," caused much chagrin for Juliet's parents because it represented an unacceptable union for her with a despised family. Juliet tells Romeo,

"O, be some other name!

What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."
 (Act II, Scene II, Romeo and Juliet)

What Juliet meant is, it only matters what something or someone is, not what they're called.

True, Juliet, but "name" still carries a boatload of significance.

Little Jo Ann of the Yi people in western China

Some boys are named after their fathers, and they bear the tag "Junior" or "III or IV." I even know a family whose son is called "Bob 5,"  fifth of the Bob line. Girls are sometimes given their mother's name.

I have had the unique privilege of bearing the names of both my mother and father. Joseph married Annette, and the union produced their first of three daughters who was named "Jo Ann," a little of mom, a little of dad.

The name "Jo Ann" never caught on in American culture really. As a school teacher for many years, I had thousands of students, including an abundance of Jennifers, Emilys, Ashleys, Megans, Sarahs, Amys, Amandas, but I can't remember even one Jo Ann. The name lacks the star quality and pertness of a "Jennifer" Anniston or "Sarah" Jessica Parker. Cultural "name" trends, spurred by Hollywood, produced only "Joanne" Woodward, and the "name" stopped there.    

Our family has done well by the name. My son and daughter-in-law did a wonderful thing when their first daughter was born. They gave her the name Anna, after Grandma Jo Ann and Great-grandma Annette. Anna is a much lovelier form of the name.

ANNA, third in the "Ann" family line.

Through the years the name "Jo Ann" has been a source of continual frustration when it comes to spelling. "Joanne, Jo Anne, Joann" are a few of the variety of ways the name can be spelled. Employed for 27 years in the same school district, my employer spelled my name incorrectly on my retirement certificate. A close family relative has yet to get my name right on gifts and birthday cards.

Imagine my surprise last month when I opened an email with the above photo of a Chinese girl holding a sign with my name . . . spelled correctly! This child lives in an orphanage in western China. A friend of mine worked at the orphanage for six weeks this summer among a minority group called the Yi people. Because Chinese names prove challenging for the Westerner, my friend gave the children English names. She named this little Yi girl - Jo Ann. No cultural pressure for trendy names there! And small chance that I will forget to pray for my  namesake on the other side of the world.

Yes,  a name bears connection and identity.

Nowhere is that connection and identity of name more significant than in God's Kingdom. In Isaiah 43:16 God says, "I have summoned you by name: you are mine." God knows our names. More than that, He knows the essence of who we are. He KNOWS us.

I love Isaiah 49:15-18: "Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, walk away from the baby she bore? But even if mothers forget, I'd never forget you - never. Look, I've written your names on the backs of my hands." Imagine that. His blood has tattooed our names for eternity on His hands. Simply wonderful.

Your very special name is also recorded in heaven. Those who acknowledge the sacrifice that God made of His Son Jesus for our sins are eternally remembered in the "book of life." Revelation 3:5 says, "I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life but will acknowledge that name before my Father and His angels."

And Revelation 21:27 continues the reminder, "Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will get in."

What's in a name? The sweet grace of our Father's love . . . no misspellings, no mistakes.

Your name - whether a Yi orphan in the remote parts of western China or a retired grandmother in suburban America  . . . on Layton . . . preserved forever with God.