I am thankful for Nametags.

Scripture: Isaiah 43:1-7

“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. ²When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. ³For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. ⁴Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. ⁵Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; ⁶I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth— ⁷everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

A person’s name is a sign of their individuality and connection to their identity. I feel respected and important when in a large setting and people new to me remember my name. I am grateful for the small gesture of wearing a nametag so that those who had a better memory of faces but maybe not of names can reconnect those two parts of who I am. I am grateful to be in new situations and others are wearing nametags too. It’s an equalizer that says we value you as a part of this community whether you’ve been here for only an hour or 30+ years. And to know our Lord God knows us as intimately as the text from Isaiah reminds us all is humbling indeed. And to hear that claim not only that God knows us but also claims us as God’s own is something I am forever grateful.

Prayer

O Holy One, our Savior who has called each of us by name and claimed us through the waters of baptism, we say thanks. We stand in awe that we have such an irrevocable redemption and all-encompassing love through Christ Jesus. May that call to be your disciples be one that we say ‘yes’ ever time. In his precious name, Amen.