Your Name is not an Accident

            On Judgment Day ‘When the Roll is Called up yonder’ by what name will you be called?  Does it matter?  I think it does.  Why?

            Let’s back up for a minute.  Let’s think about Judgment Day.  What might it be like?  In my NIV Bible in Rev. 20:11, I find the following:  Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it.  In verse 12 St. John continues:  And I saw the dead standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Another book was opened which is the book of life.  The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.  In verse 15 he saw that if anyone’s name was not written in the book of life he was thrown in the lake of fire.

            So, let’s imagine for a moment what Judgment Day might be like:  Here is one scenario:  I envision long lines of people standing in front of God seated on the great white throne.  In front on tables are all the books in which the deeds of the people are recorded.  In the center front stands an Archangel with the opened book of life on a table.  An Angel, perhaps with several assistants, standing before each of the lines will ask their name as each person approaches, open the book to that name, looks over their many sins quickly, then check to see if the person’s sins have been forgiven; and if their name is written in the book of life.  All those whose names have been recorded in the book of life will be told to stand before the throne where God will pronounce them Not Guilty.  They will then stand off to the side watching the proceedings.  Every time another Saint is pronounced ‘Not Guilty’ I’m sure they will shout Halleluiah!  For those whose names are not found written in the book of life they will probably give a collective gasp of horror as those persons are immediately taken to be thrown into the lake of fire.  Now, when the Angel asks your name what name are you going to say?  My name is Charles William Holcomb, but my parents always called me Bill.  At work and at church I use the name Charlie.  At various times in the past I have been called Chuck, and at least one person called me Billy Charles.  My Little Sister always calls me Billy; the other sister calls me Bill.  When I was baptized down in southeastern Oklahoma in the icy cold Mountain Fork River by my Father, who was a Methodist Preacher, he said, “Bill, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost”.  Most assuredly we do not want to give the Angel an incorrect name because He might not find it written in the book of life, and before you could even say wait a minute you might end up in the lake of fire.  Just think for a moment how busy the Angels will be; and whether they will have time for you to dither around thinking of the correct name to give them.

            Now, because I am a human, and try to think practically, I wonder how this throng, which consists of all human beings who have lived since Adam—although I suspect perhaps Moses, Enoch, the Twelve Apostles, St. Paul, and some others I haven’t thought of have already been judged blameless—will be organized.  Obviously some sort of organization will be required.  I remember from my early years in the US Army when payday rolled around, since the payroll was in alphabetical order by rank, that was the way we had to stand in line to be paid, thus making the Payroll Officer’s job easier and faster to perform.  I always thought the lucky guys were the ones whose names began with A or B, but at least I was somewhere near the front middle of the line, and not back with the Zs.  So I conclude that each of the lines will need to be alphabetized, i.e., the first line on the left will be the As, next the Bs, and all the way to the Zs on the right side.  The people in the individual lines will also be in alphabetical order, e.g., in my line, the Hs, the front will be the Has, and right on down the line to the Hos, and continuing to the Hxs, although I doubt if there will be any of those.  Naturally this alphabetizing will be used through all the letters in the name so that the last of the Hs will be the H---zs, and I know there are some of them.  Married women, to avoid confusion will need to use their husband’s surname.  Come to think of it some of these lines will be shorter than others.  I’m sure at least in modern history there are not many surnames beginning with X and maybe not very many beginning with Q or perhaps U.  The secondary sort, to use computer lingo, would be by family groups.

            This will work.  I know it will.  It worked for the US Army, and it should work for the end-times.  Now comes the tricky part.  We have everyone organized by surname and family group, but how many different given names are there for each surname?  In my case, the Holcombs there are many.  I know that there are Absalom Holcombs and Zephaniah Holcombs, because I have seen these names while researching genealogical data.  My Mother’s name was Lucile; my Father’s name was Charles, and my sisters are named Jo Ann and Mary Kay.  So once again it will be necessary to have everyone queue up in alphabetical order by their given name. 

            Wait a minute!  What is your given name and when did you get it?  Who gave it to you?  Was it just a whim of your parents?   In olden times the husband always selected the name of his children.  It was his right to do so.  It is done differently today.  I remember when I and my wife named our children we did it very carefully.  Before they were born we selected names from a book which identified the characteristics of the name, characteristics which we hoped would be attributed to the child in the future.  Today almost always the child is given a name which is recorded on its birth certificate before leaving the hospital.  Notice what God says in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart”.

            In most Christian Churches today people are baptized as a sign of their Christianity; in the Lutheran Church this is done as soon as possible after birth.  Other churches prefer that baptism occur later in the child’s life.  In Luke 2:21 I find on the 8^th day when it was time to circumcise him he was named Jesus, the name the Angel had given him before he was conceived.  I equate the presentation of the child Jesus to God at the Temple to modern baptism.  I believe that baptism is the event which causes the person to be marked with the seal; the event which causes your name to be entered into the book of life.  We Lutherans believe baptism is a Sacrament, a Holy Act of God in which God’s promise is combined with an earthly element.  In Eph 1:13 it states: having believed you were marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.  In Trinitarian churches baptism is done with water, and in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The Pastor pronounces the child’s name and states:  I baptize you in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  In Mark 16:16 we find that whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.

            Is it possible that your Baptismal Name is the one which will be written in the book of life?  In Luke 10:20 it is written that we should Rejoice that your name is written in Heaven.  As we see above the Lord Jesus was named even before conception.  It seems plausible to me; so plausible in fact that I intend, when the Angel asks my name, to say proudly, my baptismal name, Bill Holcomb.  Since I know that my name is written in the book of life I do not have to fear the second death, will be pronounced ‘Not Guilty’ and will go stand with my Mother and Father and all my Christian ancestors to see my descendants as they are judged, and found, I hope, Not Guilty, as well.  As I said before, I do not think that your name is an accident; I believe our names were chosen for us even before we were born.