What's in a Name? (Nov. 6, 2010)

Shannon and I began talking again last night about what we are going to call Mei. For the past few months we have had this conversation. The concern is twofold: 1) Mei is really a girl’s name here in China and if he does ever get to come back here in the future for an extended time we don’t want to set him up to be ridiculed over his name. 2) We will name him Samuel Mei, but if we call him Mei will it make it more difficult for him to feel like he is a part of our family and culture? We have figured out finally that Mei is his “family name” after the city he is from – Meizhou. All the children at his orphanage have the same last/family name for this same reason. Shannon believes that what we choose to call Mei at this point will be a big deal to him someday and I agree.

We had this conversation last night before I began reading my Bible reading for the day. I arrived at the conclusion that I did not care what we called him because the thing that really mattered was that I got to call him “son”. That is the most important part! What we call him really is not a significant issue to me.

So I began reading my One-Year Bible reading plan. I was reading two days worth of the plan since we flew right through Friday and 11/5 and I did not read on the plane. In the OT reading I am in Ezekiel. I had read through 12:1-15:8 when I took a break for a moment. During this short break I prayed, “Lord, I really don’t care what we call Mei. We have not asked you if you have a name you would like us to use. You name him! If you have a particular name you want us to use you make that clear and we will use it.” In my mind I had envisioned falling asleep like Sarah in the Bible and having a dream where the Lord speaks and gives us a specific name. That is not quite what happened, but close!

After my short break and my prayer I sat back down and picked up where I had left off…with Ezekiel 16:1. This is where I felt the Lord speaking clearly to me about what we should call Mei:

16:4-5 – These verses speak of Israel being abandoned at birth: “on the day you were born, no one cared about you…no one had the slightest interest in you, you were unwanted, dumped in the field and left to die.” These verses are so similar to Mei’s situation! Because of the way the Lord chose to create Mei his parents abandoned him at birth. They left him on the steps of a government building in Meizhou. They at least left him where he could be found and hopefully cared for by someone, but the bottom line is that his parents abandoned him and left him all alone after his birth. His situation is very similar to the depiction of Israel’s situation being described here.

16:6-14 – But the Lord came by, saw Israel lying there abandoned and left to die, and He had compassion for her. He gave her life, helped her thrive, and she grew into a beautiful jewel (vv.6-7a). The Lord pursued a love relationship with Israel. He initiated and entered into a covenant relationship with her. Israel became His beautiful jewel – His bride (vv.7b-8). The Lord provided for Israel. He washed off the blood (afterbirth) she was lying in and cleaned her up. Since she was an infant she could not clean her self so Abba did for her what she could not do. Abba also provided for her the finest clothing and best foods. She grew and her beauty increased more and more (vv.9-13). Israel’s “fame soon spread throughout the world because of [her] beauty.” The Lord “dressed [her] in [His] splendor and perfected [her] beauty.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken (v.14)!

The Lord saw little Mei lying there abandoned and the Lord had compassion on him. He gave him a chance to live and had him placed in a good orphan institute here in China. The Lord has been with Mei all along. Though his parents abandoned him the Lord stayed with him all along (Psalm 27:10). The Lord is pursuing a love relationship with Mei and some day he will enter into a covenant relationship with the Lord. From the beginning we have been saying “Mei’s story for the Lord’s glory.” Mei’s story will spread throughout the world because of the beauty he possesses in the Lord’s eyes – Mei’s story will spread to increase Abba’s glory. God will take care of him and will perfect Mei’s beauty for His own glory!

Samuel Mei Deavers is his name! We will call him Mei! Why? Because the Sovereign Lord has spoken. The Lord says, “By calling him “beautiful” I will use him to draw attention to the fact that all men are beautiful in my eyes regardless what others may say about them. I want all men to know they are beautiful to me and that even through the world around them may abandon them I will never abandon them. I want to all men to join me in a covenant love relationship where they are my beautiful children! Call him Mei – which means beautiful and resilient! He will remind men that they are beautiful in my eyes and of that I desire to have them be my beautiful children.”

Beauty goes so much further than just what we can see on the outside. Beauty is within! We are worried how others might receive him if he has a girl’s name and how he might fit in if he has a Chinese name in an American family and culture. The Lord says, “I am the Sovereign Lord! I want him to stand out! I have set him apart! Trust me!”

We will call him Mei. His life will be a witness to the amazing love Abba Father has for all men. His story will bring Abba glory and will draw others to the Father whose love is not conditioned by what is seen on the outside. Since we are all born saturated and stained by sin we are filthy and ugly in the eyes of a holy God who cannot tolerate sin. Sin is disgusting to Him and He has every right to look at us in our disgusting state and turn His back to us. But He does not do that at all. In spite of the deformity sin has placed on us the Lord looks at us and says, “Ahhh, my beautiful creation! Let me take you in and clean you up and call you my beauty – Mei – beautiful!”