You may not have a name sounding as magnificent as one on the passport of a German immigrant to Philadelphia.  He had a middle name for every letter of the alphabet from Adolph to Zeus plus a last name of 540 characters.  Needless to say, he shortened it, and was commonly known as Hubbie Wolfe, though officially it was said he signed his name Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff, Sr.

Your Christian name was given you in Holy Baptism.  It is not just a common name, middle name, and surname.  You are given the very Name of God.  Christian baptism is in the Name of the Father and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  God's holy Name is your birthright.

It's too bad we virtually never use each other's full baptismal names.  I can't remember anyone ever addressing me as David Howard Reed except perhaps my parents when I was in trouble.  Imagine if we Christians at every greeting would speak each other's full baptismal name.  Suppose every conversation, every undertaking, and every consolation was reinforced by our baptism and the knowledge that Christ is present to give us everything His Name means.

Most of us probably say we're not very good with names.  But each of us has the name of Christ to speak, and His name is the foundation of all of ours.  Even if we simply greet and treat one another as a Christian and every other human being as someone for whom Christ gave His life, that extends infinitely further than reading a name badge.

Being a child of God is not a label.  It is our life.

There is something profound when our names in Christ are sounded.  For example, in a Christian wedding service the bride and groom are addressed with their full baptismal names.  It is not for simple formality.  Christ is the substance of their life together.

I understand we trim names for convenience and simplicity.  We condense even handsome names like Robert to Bob or Barbara to Barb.  That's nothing wrong unless the substance of a name is not to be found.  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is not a nickname.  The privileges and gifts granted to us by Him do not come "in name only."  There is genuine substance to them.

In Scripture, Daniel sings, "Blessed be the Name of God forever and ever."  Daniel doesn't merely intone the word "God."  He confesses in full.  The entire song expresses the Name.  Every line, every syllable, and every vocable communicates the substance of that Name.  Indeed, all of Scripture is nothing other than the revelation of God's Name.

God's name goes on and on.  It is proclaimed and recognized in the waters of the font, in the announcement of sins forgiven, and in the cup of salvation.  His name flows from Alpha to Omega and is given to you.  By eternal wisdom and might God reveals the knowledge of His name.  He knows what is in the darkness and shines the light which dwells within him.  God makes known the wonders of his Name by Christ's incarnation and virgin birth.  The expression of His name is the Gospel itself.  The Name is cross-bearer; the Name is the atoning sacrifice for our sins; the Name is Lord and glory of the Father.

All this is bound within your baptismal name.  Christ considered this more significant than wielding the powers of heaven and earth.  More valuable than authority or invincibility was being named a Christian.  Jesus told the seventy-two who returned from their journey of sharing the Lord's healing and peace with the cities of Galilee, "Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20)

The world abbreviates the Holy Name, once in a while mentioning God in careless informality.  But the world has no acquaintance with the Name in all its richness, power, grace, and beauty.

The church however, takes up this name as our theme song, our entire expression and very breath.  We confess the Name in creed and conduct knowing the Name of God is forever and ever. 

The Name we celebrate is the full revelation of God Himself, and those of us who have been baptized into Christ rejoice that God did not just give us a moniker; He gave us Himself.