That "Name" Thing Again - Acts 3:11-26

...why are you amazed at this,

and why do you look so intently at us

as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety?

Peter later places the power in the name of Jesus.  When I meet someone new, and I am introduced to them by name, I try to connect something with that name.  It is a game I play that helps me remember their name.  But, in a way, as it helps me recall a name, it also helps me recall a presence or better yet, an encounter.  Peter's faith is grounded in a "name."  Jesus is the name.  And with that name is power and presence and being and healing.   There is so much in a name.

The temptation for me is to come in my own name.  When I give in to the temptation I believe that I have the power, the strength, the piety…to make something wonderful happen.  This beginning part of the Acts of the Apostles reminds me over and over again that I am a witness to the power of a name, that is so much more than a name, so much more than my name;) 

"O Lord, how wonderful your name in all the earth!"  Psalm 8:2