Wha'cha Gonna Call Him?

"May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, and the God of their father, judge between us." Genesis 31:53

Wha'cha Gonna Call Him?
By Rev. William Dohle

Names are powerful things. Of all the things parents give their children, their name is I believe one of the most important.

Choosing something that fits the family situation, the child themselves, and where you're from is key. Choose a name that's ordinary or common and there will be LOTS of kids sharing their name. Choose a name that's a little too strange and the child will bear that out for life. But just the right name can help define the person throughout their life, both for themselves and for others.

But what do we call God?

If someone were to ask you to swear by God's name, to show your sincerity, what would you call him?

Jacob was asked to do just that. After his father-in-law, Laban, catches up to Jacob, Laban makes a truce with Jacob. In a place called "Mizpah", named that because Laban said: "May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other." There Laban he tells Jaob: "If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with you, remember that God is a witness between you and me." Of course Jacob swears to keep Laban's daughters safe.

Then Laban says: "This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that i will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side and harm me." Thus marking out the boundary-line between Jacob and his father-in-law.

Finally, to seal the deal, the Bible says : "Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac."

So... why call God "the Fear of his father Isaac?" What was behind this name?

Was Jacob remembering how, because of God's command, his grandfather almost killed his father on Mt. Horeb? Was he remembering that incident?

Or was there something else that he was remembering that scared him about God? Maybe the stairway to heaven wasn't as blissful as it seems?

Whatever the reason, Jacob swears by "the Fear of his father Isaac" making me wonder... what do you call God? And where does that name come from?

Is God the God of your ancestors? Of your mother and father, your grandfather and grandmother? Is God the God of your family? Do you trace your connection with God, as Isaac and Laban did, back through the generations to your grandfather or your great-grandfather? Does their faith live in you? Do you define God through their experiences?

Or perhaps you have your own experience of God that define who God is for you. Maybe God is the God of your suffering and pain. God is the God of your cancer, your heart problems, your painful shoulder, your hurt knee. God is the God who has stuck by you through your pain...and that is how you know him.

Or maybe God is the God of the Rock Concert and the high moments of your life. Maybe you found God at church, in the sermon, Holy Communion, or the people around you. Is God defined for you to be the God of your church? Is that how you know God?

I know God through Jesus, who has stuck by me throughout all my life. I have seen his presence in both the rough moments and the smooth ones. I find him in Holy Communion. I find him in worship. I find him when I sit down quietly in Scripture. I find him outside my doors, in the faces around me.

I call him Jesus. I call him Savior. I call him Lord. What do you call God?

God beyond all names, since creation you have moved over the waters and now, in this time, you reveal yourself in Jesus Christ. Open our eyes that we might see your presence and know you for ourselves, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.