Hey, What's Your Name?

I once had no name

I just existed.

I was created.

Unlimited Possibility

Then I was named

"Michael"

An angel

I was to be close to God.

That’s ok.

It fits.

I would want that without my name

At least I think so.

Then came "William"

A middle name

A family name

I was a son

I carried a legacy

A responsibility

Before I took a breath

I had a history

Then One More

This one wasn’t picked.

It’s weight

I was to be "Droege"

I have family

People who have participated in my DNA

Who want to have say

I have to carry this name on

I haven’t yet seen light

Felt cold

Yelled

But I have a job.

Who was I before my name?

When I was just possibility?

Who was I before I was “the pastor’s kid”

Did I have an identity before I was “the kid whose dad died”

“The man of the house”

Who says that to a kid?

Who gives them that kind of name?

I want to remember who I was

Before I had my names

Before I was "nerd"

Before I was "skinny"

Before I was "burnout"

Before I was "abused"

Before I was "pastor"

Before I was "father"

Before I was "husband"

Before I was "disappointment"

I was possibility

I want a new name

I want a name that fits

Drive me to the desert

Let me bury the name tags of my history

Cry with me

Then lets laugh

And dance

Speak no more our names

I’ll just see myself in your eyes

That will be my name

Only we will know.

Yes...weakly

Saying yes.

I find it one of the most difficult things I do in my life.

Saying yes means commitment.

It means I owe something.

I’m way happier with no.

No means I get to go do what I want

When I want

With who I want

Yes means you get to decide something about my life.

What I do I now do with you

For you

Because of you.

I really don’t like yes.

Unless I trust you.

Saying yes to someone I trust means something different.

Saying yes to you means that good things will come as a result.

Because you know me best.

You wouldn’t ask me to do something that would hurt me.

You want good things for me.

You know how to get those good things to me.

I think I’ll believe that someday.

Hello...this is Michael

I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to see Slumdog Millionaire. I saw Jon Stewart interview the lead charecter this past week and was reminded what an amazing movie I was able to see crammed into my nearly front row seat at the theater. Slumdog is one of those “films” that caused people to kind of curl their eyebrows when you tell them what you are going to see tonight. As I was heading out the door a teenager asked me what I was heading out to see…

”Notorious”? (The story of the Notorious B.I.G.)

“Underworld” (vampire movie NOT involving anyone named Cullen)…?

"No, Slumdog Millionaire”

"Is that even a real movie”?

Yes kids…and what a movie.

So, quick breakdown...

Jamal, an 18 year old from the slums of Mumbai, gets onto the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”.

Yes…It really exists.

He does something that no one else has been able to do…win.

The fact that a kid from the slums is able to answer each of the increacingly difficult quesitons is cause for accusations of cheating. As Jamal tells his story, it’s revealed that he is so much more than a kid from the slums. Jamal’s experiences - most of them horrific - have given him the answers to the questions, but that’s not why he is on this show. Jamal is on the show for love….the kind of love that movies are supposed to be about.

See, when they were young, Jamal met a girl named Latika. From that moment he bagan to love her. When he lost her, he bagan a life devoted to finding her. Life had taken it’s toll on her - everytime it seemed they could be together life separated them again. Latika spent her life abused, mistreated, and never seen as anything more than a commodity to be traded and used for the pleasure of others. Jamal always saw her for who she truly was. He saw her beauty, the wonder that is her. Even with the choices she made in her life that seemed to welcome abuse without resistance - Jamal still saw the little girl who was caught in the rain.

Jamal’s story is of a good man on a reletless search for the one he loves - the one for whom he has chosen to be responsible. There seems to be no obsticle too big to find her. When he finally does he meets a woman who has resigned herself to her life. In many ways she had given up. She didn’t know she was being saught or believed she would be found. The first time he finds her is as an orpahn - and he chooses her. The next time he finds her she is a prostitute - he still chooses her. The next time he finds her she is the girlfriend of a gangster - he still chases her. Even though she had given up hope - Jamal always believed.

So, not only was I blown away by the size and scope of the love story - but I could clearly see our love story there. We too are saught by a lover. He has crossed time and space to find us. He has walked through tortures and trials only to find the object of his desire in the arms of others…trapped by our own life choises.

Like Jamal, Jesus knows the answers because of his suffering. Like Jamal, Jesus is relentless in his search...at great personal cost. Like Jamal, Jesus finds us in life choices that no longer demonstrate faith...and still picks us.

See, our biggest problem is that we don’t really believe we will be found - or that God is really looking for us.

One of my favorite scenes is the "phone a friend" scene. Watch Jamal's face. There is sadness as the call is made and no one answers, the world has given up. Then the one voice comes on the line...the voice that is the reason for the call. HIs whole face changes. She has answered his call...and he is overjoyed

"Hello...this is Michael."