The Names Say Something

The daily readings for the season of Advent are meant to be thought provoking and also, I think, they are meant to make us look into ourselves and think on a personal level how and why we are ready for the coming of Jesus. 
There was a bit of a misprint, I think, in our Advent companion book that was given out at our parish, because the gospel reading it quotes for today is actually tomorrow's reading.  So, as I was startled and confused, I decided to just go ahead and read both.  Being in the mood I was in this morning, the names on the list began to speak to me in a way they haven't before. For example...Abraham.  Okay, he is the greatest patriarch in the world. He was chosen by God to be the father of the chosen people, right? Well, what popped in my head was...Abraham--didn't have enough faith to keep himself from sleeping with Sarah's maid. Jacob--along with his mother, tricked his father into giving him, not Esau the birthright and blessing that was not his for the taking. Rahab--my favorite harlot...and so on.
Why did my brain go there? Then I started really thinking about it. I began to see these people as people in need of a savior. People no more astounding than you and me. People who have names, like ours, that say something about themselves.  At this point in our lives, we have already established a reputation. When people hear your name, they automatically associate specific things. 
None of us are too bad to be called by God to a purpose. None of us have strayed so far that He wouldn't welcome us with open arms.  Abraham was impatient, and lacking in faith, but he was also the father of nations, whose descendents are as many as the stars in the sky.  He wasn't perfect, he needed a savior, too.
So, I was then thinking to myself.  The genealogy of  Jesus, that traces him to Abraham, is filled with names.  Each of those names say something of their greatness and of their shortcomings. It didn't stop with Jesus, though. It has continued now in a history of faith genealogies for two thousand years of names.  Now those names include mine and yours, and all of the other men and women in the body of Christ.  What does our name say about us?