Martha Koystra.

She's all over television, bookstores and magazine stands. Everywhere you look, she's dispensing advice about designer decorations and exquisite entertaining. But who is this diva of

domesticity? You know her as "Martha Stewart."

How about Gordon Matthew Sumner? Turn on the radio, and you'll hear him singing under a much simpler name -- "Sting."

Leslie Townes Hope? A comedian, best known to the older generation as "Bob Hope."

Have you ever read a novel by Chloe Anthony Wofford? There's a good chance you have, although the name on the cover was "Toni Morrison."

What's the deal with all these name changes? How do you move from Chloe Anthony Wofford to Toni Morrison? It's a mystery.

Sometimes celebrities change their names to make them simpler, more memorable, and less alien to certain ears. Actress Jennifer Anistonapoulos became Jennifer Aniston, actor Alphonse d'Abruzzo morphed into Alan Alda, and director Allen Steward Konigsberg became famous as Woody Allen.

But other times, names change simply because certain names have POWER. Does "Roy Scherer" sound like a leading man? Hardly. But as "Rock Hudson," this actor became a star (Andrew Heenan, "Real names of Famous Folk," www.famousfolk.com, October 3, 2000).

The name games continue today. Imagine that you are a marketing executive at Nike, and you have a choice of choosing one of two spokespersons. Whom would you choose: An Eldrick? Or a Tiger?

Eldrick Woods, the winner of the last three major professional golf championships, is today stalking his fourth in a row, the Masters, a tournament he has already won once. But Eldrick somehow doesn't work. Tiger does. Tiger has power.

The strength of a name is nothing new to those who are students of Scripture. In the book of Genesis, Jacob wrestles all night with a divine being near the river Jabbok. Jacob holds tight to the supernatural man and refuses to let him go -- unless he blesses him. The man does so by changing his name from Jacob to Israel, a name that comes to be understood as meaning "The one who strives with God" (Genesis 32:22-32).

There is power in the name.

Later, Moses encounters the Lord God at the burning bush and asks for his name. God answers "I AM WHO I AM," meaning that his very selfhood is tied to his mighty acts, and he will be exactly what he will be throughout the course of history (Exodus 3:13-15).

"I AM," says the Lord. Can't have a stronger name than that.

But it isn't only the ancients who find deep significance in particular names. James Bruning, a psychologist at Ohio University, has studied naming for over 30 years, and knows that names can carry the weight of expectations. His advice to parents testing a name for their baby is to put some adult signifier in front of the name to see how it works. Like Mr. or Mrs. ... Doctor ... or President. Doing that, he says, knocks off a lot of possibilities.

For instance, would you cast a ballot for "President BUFFY Sanders"? Would you want HER finger on the nuclear button?

Now this may sound prejudiced -- especially to those of you raising daughters named Buffy. And it is. But new studies are showing that people's prejudices about names might affect a particular person's chances for career success. According to Steve Mirsky in Scientific American magazine, it appears to be important for men to have masculine names and for women to have feminine names. Hank, for example, is not only a definite guy name, but is a strapping, red-meat-eating-type of guy name. Francis, on the other hand, is rated among the most feminine of men's names. It's no mystery why Francis Albert Sinatra chose to hit the stage as FRANK Sinatra. Frank comes across as much more masculine than Francis (Steve Mirsky, "Name Recognition," Scientific American, September 2000, 112).

I realize that these sorts of judgments are offensive. They truly are. But research is simply showing us what we've long suspected: Names have POWER. When I was growing up, I always felt better when my buddies called me "Hank" -- it seemed much cooler than my given name "Henry."

Slipping back into Scripture, we discover in today's passage that Jesus is making preparations to enter Jerusalem. In need of a colt, he sends two disciples to fetch an animal that he knows will be tied up and waiting for him. "If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?'" advises Jesus, "just say this, 'The Lord needs it.'"

Is there power in this name, "the Lord"? Apparently so. The two disciples hit the road, find the colt, begin to untie it, and quickly encounter the animal's incredulous owners, who ask, "Why are you untying the colt?"

"The Lord needs it," they reply. Which is all the colt's owners need to hear (Luke 19:28-34).

Moments later, Jesus is riding the animal toward the city, and a whole multitude of disciples are praising God for all the deeds of power they have seen, using words that are both fascinating and revealing: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" (vv. 35-38). They praise God for all Jesus' deeds of POWER, and cry out blessings on the one who comes in God's NAME.

See the link? Power and the name. It's inescapable. At this point in the divine drama of Holy Week, the focus of everyone's attention is the one who could easily have been called "Tiger Jesus."

He is so much like today's superstar golfer, going for his fourth consecutive championship at the Masters in Augusta. Jesus has been given the name of king, Messiah, and Christ -- and these names work because they fit his awe-inspiring actions and sterling reputation. The applause is deafening as Jesus approaches the clubhouse beyond the 18th green -- riding a colt instead of a cart -- because everyone is thrilled to see this Tiger who is coming to them in the power and name of the Lord. They expect him to be the king who will crush the oppressive Romans, to be the Messiah who will make their domestic troubles melt away, to be the Christ who will create a utopia for all his chosen people to enjoy.

But the Palm Sunday gallery of disciples is forgetting that he is not simply Christ the king. He is also Jesus -- a name which means Savior -- "for he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). It is only later in the week that the crowd discovers that Jesus' kingdom is not of this world, and when they face this fact they find their expectations shattered.

After all, they prefer Tiger. Now they get Eldrick. The applause stops, and the endorsements disappear. They give "Eldrick Jesus" to the Romans, to crucify as a traitor.

Every one of us is a part of the Palm Sunday crowd. So we have to wonder: What is the name of Jesus to us? What does it signify? For some, he is not much more than a self-help guru. For others, he is synonymous with a "health-and-wealth" theology of prosperity. For still others, he is a liberation leader or a cosmic king or a compassionate friend.

But remember: The power is in the name, and the name Jesus means "he will save." If the Jesus we praise today is anything less than a Savior, then we have lost sight of who he was and what his mission was all about. Jesus has come to save us, from the power of sin and death and any other force that opposes the gracious and life-giving will of God.

It is because Jesus is our savior that we baptize children in his name. In the name and the power of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we have brought two children this morning into the Body of Christ, into the Christian community. Their parents and we, as a congregation, have stated our faith in Jesus, and we have put our faith in him as Savior and Lord.

We just need to remember that Jesus won't always come to us as a superstar Tiger. Some days, he'll look more like a suffering Eldrick, mocked and abused and nailed to a cross by a crowd all too quick to criticize and condemn. But even then, he's our Savior. Even then, our challenge is to follow him and obey him, as unfashionable and politically incorrect as it may appear to do so.

So, enjoy the Tiger for today. But prepare to meet Eldrick Jesus in the days to come, especially on Thursday and Friday of Holy Week. He's the one who calls for your allegiance. And he's the one with the power to save. Amen.