Ten Commandments for Today
07/28/2002 - Take God Seriously
This morning we want to talk about how to treat God's name. Names can be funny things, can't they? Paul Dickinson has spent his life collecting strange and unusual names and has even put them together in a book called Names . Over the years he's discovered that sometimes names can be prophetic and actually say something about the outcome of a person's life.
According to Dickinson, in 1941 two men were executed in the electric chair in the Florida State Penitentiary and their names were Will Burn and Frizzle. He discovered that a boy named Joe Bunt grew up to be a baseball coach. Dan Druff became a barber. And Jeff Treadwell became a podiatrist. Two guys whose last names were Goforth and Ketchum grew up to become partners together in the police force. Will Crumble became a plaster contractor. Zoltan Ovary became a gynecologist. And P. P. Peters became a, you guessed it, urologist.
Sometimes names are prophetic and really fit with the person or the thing being named. But sometimes they don't fit at all. My favorite mismatched name came out of the newspaper ad that read, "Lost. One Dog. Brown hair with several bold spots. Right leg broken in an auto accident. Rear left hip hurt. Right eye missing. Left ear bitten off in a dog fight. Answers to the name 'Lucky.'"
What's in a name? A lot can be wrapped up in a name, especially if your name is God. God's name is significant. God's name has meaning. And God cares very much how his name is used. He wants us to take his name seriously.
Today we continue our series called Ten Commandments for Today with a look at the third commandment found in Exodus 20:7. If you have your Bible turn with me to Exodus 20:7, You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
We're learning in this series that the Ten Commandments were given by a God who loves us more than we can imagine and who wants to improve the quality of our life. The Ten Commandments are not arbitrary rules dropped down from heaven to make our life miserable. They're not meant to restrict us and take the fun out of life. They're tender commandments, given to us by a God who knows how life works and wants to set us free from the things that can hurt us and destroy our lives. They come to us from a God who says, "I want you to be my treasured possession. I want you to be a kingdom of priests. I want you to be a holy people."
In the first commandment, given in Exodus 20:3, God says, "Worship me exclusively." You shall have no other gods before me. God says, "Put me first in your life, in every part of your life. I am the only God worth worshipping. Don't worship your job, your money, your spouse, your kids, your pleasure, your hobbies, your body, yourself. Don't put anything before me. Those gods will all fail you when you need them most.
In the second commandment, given in Exodus 20:4, God says, "Worship me correctly." You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Last week, we learned that the second commandment doesn't prohibit artistic expressions of God. God wants us to use our creative gifts to glorify him. Instead, it warns us not to reduce God to an image that we worship like Israel reduced God to a golden calf. It warns us not to make metal images or mental images of God that shrink him down so that we can control him and make him like us. We will become like the God we worship and so we need a full photo album of all that God is. And we need to pass that photo album down to our kids because what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us and will be the most important thing about them. This commandment has generational implications.
Now in the third commandment God is saying, "Take me seriously." You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. Some versions read, You shall not to take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
This morning I'd just like to ask and answer three questions about the third commandment. I want to keep it simple enough that even adults can understand it. First, what does this commandment mean? Second, why is this commandment given? And third, how do we obey this commandment of God? Because I don't know about you, but I don't want to get on God's bad side, I don't want to be guilty of misusing God's name anymore than I already have. This is one of those commandments that probably nails every one of us.
So first, what does this commandment mean? The third commandment is saying there are severe consequences for anyone who uses God's name in a vain way, in an empty way, in a profane kind of way. The word "profane" comes from the Latin word "profanum" which literally means to be outside of the temple or to be out in the street. Don't take something as sacred as the name of God, throw it out into the street, make it common and trash his reputation. You're not going to get away with it.
Over the centuries the Jewish people had so much reverence for this commandment that many of them refused to even pronounce the name of God, although that's not what this command is forbidding. At first, they refused to say it around non-Jews, around pagans, because they felt that God's name was so pure that it would be contaminated if it were even spoken into the same air that a pagan was breathing. That's how holy, that's how separate they felt God's name was.
Eventually, they stopped saying his name altogether, even among themselves. So when they wanted to refer to God, instead of saying his Hebrew name Yahweh, they substituted the Hebrew word Adonai which means "Lord or Master." When they prayed it wasn't, "Dear Yahweh," it was "Dear Master." When they talked about God, it wasn't Yahweh, it was Lord. They refused to say his name.
You can still see that in our Bible today. When the word LORD is written in all capital letters it's being used to translate the Hebrew word Yahweh, which is the name for God. When the word Lord is written in upper and lower case letters the actual Hebrew word behind it is Adonai.
So in the Hebrew language Exodus 20:7 literally reads, You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
The Jewish scribes, when they were copying manuscripts of the Scriptures, every time they came to the name of God, they would put down their quill, leave their desk, wash their hands, come back to the desk, pick up their quill, write the name of God, then put down their quill again, leave their desk, wash their hands another time and then come back and continue copying the rest of the sentence. That's how much reverence they had for God's name. Even today, many orthodox Jews refuse to write G-o-d. Instead they write G-d.
Now again this commandment is not forbidding us to speak the name of God. We can say "God" or "Yahweh" or "Lord" or "Jesus." That's not the danger. All week long we've been speaking God's name at our house in our Kid's Klub telling neighborhood children how much God loves them and what Jesus did for them on the cross. We've been using God's name rightly. The third commandment is warning us not to misuse God's name, not to speak it in a vain, empty, meaningless way. That's what this commandment means.
Now second, why was this commandment given? Why is God so concerned about how his name is used? Because behind every name is a reputation. And God is very concerned about his reputation. Just like you're concerned about your reputation and I'm concerned about my reputation. God's name represents his reputation. It reveals his identity and God will not allow his reputation to be damaged without consequence.
Think about it for a minute. When I mention a name you immediately think of a reputation. When I say the name "Adolph Hitler" you don't think of a fun loving, happy go lucky kind of guy do you? No. You think of an egotistical maniac, drunk with power, who was responsible for the death of millions of innocent people.
When I say "Mother Teresa" you think of just the opposite. You think of a compassionate, self-sacrificing frail little woman who poured her life into the lepers and street people of Calcutta, India. In a nanosecond you think of the reputation behind the name whether it's Adolph Hitler, Mother Teresa, Michael Jordan, Madonna, your mother, or God. We can't help but connect an identity with a name.
Names are so big for God that often he would change people's names to reflect a change in their identity. In the Old Testament, God changed Abram's name from "exalted father" to Abraham, which means "father of a mob." He changed Jacob's name from "supplanter," to Israel, which means "God fights" for you.
In the New Testament, Jesus changed the name of one of his disciples from Simon to Peter, which means "Rock." Impulsive Simon was going to be a rock for God. Jesus himself has a very significant name. His name means "Savior." That's who he is. That's his identity. Names reveal our identity so God says, "Don't misuse my name and trash my identity."
Jesus knew how important God's name was. In his most famous prayer, the Lord's Prayer, he says, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed or holy be your name. It's interesting that the first three commandments are found in that first sentence. Our Father, no other God's before me, who art in heaven, don't bow down to an earthly image of me, holy be your name, don't treat God's name as less than holy. Jesus is saying, "I want people everywhere, all over the planet to reverence and respect your name, to honor your reputation."
Do you know what God's name means? Last summer we did a whole series called The Names of God and we saw that God has many names for himself. It takes more than one name to communicate the whole photo album of who God is. But his primary name, the name God is using in the third commandment is Yahweh. And it literally means, "I am." When God appeared to Moses at the burning bush and said, "I want you to go back to Egypt and rescue my people." Moses said, "No way. I can't go back there again. I tried that before and I almost got myself killed. And besides who am I going to tell them sent me. What is your name?" And God speaks from the fire in Exodus 3:14 and says, "I am who I am. Tell the people, Yahweh, I am, sent you!"
"I am." That sounds like a funny name. What does that mean? It means that when we're in a tough spot, like Israel was in Egypt, and we feel like there's no way out, God says, "Remember I am with you." It means that when you feel like your whole world is caving in and collapsing around you and you cry out, "God's what's happening? God where are you?" God says, "I am right here for you." It means when you walk into a threatening situation and people are looking at you, God says, "I'll be there. I'll be what you need. I am all over your life. You can't get away from me. I hold you in my hands. I am a part of everything that is happening to you." God's name reveals his identity.
So, third, how do we obey this commandment? What does it mean to us today? Well, immediately we might think of cursing, using God's name or Jesus Christ's name in a vain, empty way. And that's clearly a violation of the third commandment and one way we've probably all broken it. I know I have. It's interesting to me that when we stub our toe or hit our thumb with a hammer or get stuck in traffic we're not tempted to say "Oh Buddha!" Or "Hare Krishna!" Or "Joseph Smith!" It's God's name, it's Jesus name that we take in vain. That's a signal to me that this is a spiritual issue. The Bible says in James 3:6, The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
Taking God's name in vain as an expression of anger is a serious thing that God will hold us accountable for. It's a sin for which we need to be forgiven. Don't say, "But everybody else is doing it." That's true. We live in culture where it seems like everybody else is doing it. But when we say that we're trying to reduce God and make him in your image. Instead, God wants us to agree with him on this and make us in his image.
But maybe swearing isn't your temptation. Your language is pretty good. You don't curse a whole lot. But does that mean you're off the hook? Well, let's look at some other ways we can take God's name in vain.
What were you thinking about during our worship time this morning? We can misuse God's name in church. Were you thinking about your afternoon plans or your schedule for the week or the fight you had in the car on the way here or were you dialed into God when you were worshipping? I can't tell you how many times I've violated this one. You see we can take God's name in vain when we sing mindless choruses about God without meaning what we're saying, without giving him a thought. Just going through the motions because it's time to sing. Better not to sing, than to sing without meaning. Better not to pray, than to pray without meaning.
That's what Jesus said. When you pray, do you ever just kick into autopilot and say the same thing over and over and over again? I know I do sometimes. Jesus called that vain repetition and said in Matthew 6, "Don't do it." We take God's name in vain when we speak it without giving it a thought.
Sometimes we take God's name in vain when we put words into his mouth. Some Christians love to say, "God told me to do this. Or God led me to do that," even when those things are in clear violation of Scripture. God will never tell us to break his Word. I believe that God does lead us and guide us and prompt us. This church started because God prompted five families to step out in faith. But be careful that you don't put words in God's mouth. Be careful when you say, "God told me to do this," because God may be up in heaven shaking his head saying, "No I didn't!"
Have you ever been called on to the witness stand to give testimony in a courtroom trial? What do you do? You put your left hand on a Bible, raise your right hand, and you're asked these words, "Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?" "I do." That's using God's name in a vow. That's the first thing, by the way, that God had in mind with this command.
In Leviticus 19:12 God says, Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD (Yahweh). To use God's name in a vow and then not to keep it is to profane God's name, to make it common, to strip it of it's meaning.
God doesn't say, "Don't make a vow with name on it." There are plenty of examples of vows in Scripture. What he's saying is, "If you call me into a vow, if you use my name to make something sound more important, or to make your agreement more binding, or to give more weight to your words, I will hold you accountable. Don't call me into something and then pretend you didn't or pretend I'm not there."
In every wedding I perform I ask the couple to make a vow before God to be faithful to one another. And they all do it, because they want their spouse to know that they're serious about what they're doing. They bring God's name into that vow to give weight to their words.
Seventeen years ago I brought God's name into my vow to Jennifer, because I wanted her to know that she could trust me to be faithful to her, to take care of her, to meet her needs and to be the person that she would leave her home for and go through life with. "I Bruce take you Jennifer to be my wedded wife and I do promise and covenant before God and these witnesses to be your loving and faithful husband."
That's a vow that God's holding me to. That's a vow that's motivating me to be faithful. That's a vow that when broken is what makes divorce so painful. God will not allow his name to be misused without consequence.
Those are some ways we misuse God's name, but let me end with three ways to use God's name correctly. Give you three R's. First, respect God's name highly. Use it carefully. Use it lovingly. Use it worshipfully. Psalm 29:2 says, Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Honor God's name. This will affect the way you talk, the music that you listen too, the movies that you watch or let your children watch. How is God's name handled? We've turned movies off at our house, changed channels on radio and TV programs because the language just didn't honor the God we worship. Respect God's name highly.
Second, represent God's name well. We take God's name in vain when we call ourselves Christians, but don't act like Christ followers. We're not going to be perfect. We're going to blow it a lot. But when we do, let's admit it, let's confess it, let's get forgiven for it. 2 Timothy 2:19 says, Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness. Be a good advertisement for the name of Christ. We take God's name in vain when we say we love Christ but don't obey him. Represent God's name well.
Third, rely on God's name completely. Rely on his name for your forgiveness and eternal life. The apostle John closes his gospel by saying in John 20:31, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in his name.
I don't know about you, but I found this commandment was very convicting. It shows me another way I've come up short. It gives me another reason why I need Christ's forgiveness. Jesus said the problem really isn't with our mouth. It's with our hearts. Luke 6:45, Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
So I'd like to close this teaching with a quiet time of confession, a time to get our hearts right before the Lord, a time to receive forgiveness and ask for God to continue to do his transforming work on our hearts so that we can respect God's name highly, represent his name well and rely on his name completely.