When the 1960s ended, San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district reverted to high rent, and many hippies moved down the coast to Santa Cruz. They had children and got married, too, though in no particular sequence. But they didn't name their children Melissa or Brett. People in the mountains around Santa Cruz grew accustomed to their children playing Frisbee with little Time Warp or Spring Fever. And eventually Moonbeam, Earth, Love and Precious Promise all ended up in public school. That's when the kindergarten teachers first met Fruit Stand. Every fall, according to tradition, parents bravely apply name tags to their children, kiss them good-bye and send them off to school on the bus. So it was for Fruit Stand. The teachers thought the boy's name was odd, but they tried to make the best of it. "Would you like to play with the blocks, Fruit Stand?" they offered. And later, "Fruit Stand, how about a snack?" He accepted hesitantly. By the end of the day, his name didn't seem much odder than Heather's or Sun Ray's. At dismissal time, the teachers led the children out to the buses. "Fruit Stand, do you know which one is your bus?" He didn't answer. That wasn't strange. He hadn't answered them all day. Lots of children are shy on the first day of school. It didn't matter. The teachers had instructed the parents to write the names of their children's bus stops on the reverse side of their name tags. The teacher simply turned over the tag. There, neatly printed, was the word "Anthony." Your name is very important. Although it may have little or no cultural significance, it is such a part of you that, as a kid, you may still recall with sharp pains the agony of tormentors who with a rhyme or a twist would make your name into a taunt or an insult. You may have been raised on the old adage "Sticks and stones may break my bones..." but we know the conclusion is patently false. Names do hurt. The misuse of our name or the nick-name designed to ridicule has a way of leaving marks much deeper and far more painful. A stone will cut and bruise the skin, but a name leaves a welt inside that lasts. Some of you probably remember far more clearly the cruelty of name calling than that punch in the stomach at the playground. Why is this? Because a name carries with it far more than the sound of the syllables. A name points to a perception of reality, a reality that may be true, that affects the way we act or think. A rose may be a rose by any other name, but I doubt your loved one would appreciate being told that you'll be buying a bouquet of Vulture Breath Ivy for your anniversary. Names are important. Lawsuits can be started over the misuse of a name. We have copyright laws which protect names and products from misuse. People are taken to court when a good reputation is besmirched by a scandalous accusation. What about God? If names are important and their misuse can cause harm on the playground or in a courtroom, does God guard His name with any concern? In the 3rd Commandment we see how God places parameters around His name and warns against misusing it.
It is important to see this in light of the first two. In the first we learn that the true God alone is the proper object of worship, we saw who we are to worship. In the 2nd we learn what the proper manner of worship is, that is, how we are to worship. In this we learn the proper attitude of worship. We move from the object to the manner and now to the heart of that worship, our attitude. What is so important about God’s name? God’s name points to God's character In the Jewish culture a person's name was very significant. Names were not chosen just because they sounded nice or because the initials might look good on luggage or because someone wanted to remember dear old aunt Ethyl. Instead, they were chosen with the hope that the person named might one day actually embody the true meaning of that name. In New Testament we find that Jesus renamed Peter from Simon (Sand, Pebble) to Peter (the Rock). Peter was renamed before he lived up to his name. The Early Puritans did this as well; they named their children names like Charity, Hope, Love, Silence. That might have been wishful thinking more than anything. Sometimes parents don't take the responsibility of naming their children seriously enough and give names to their kids that become a real burden for them to bear - like the former Governor of Texas, Jim Hogg, who gave his two daughters the names "Ima" and "Ura." When we see reference to the Divine name, God's name, it is not a reference to magical power or spiritual energy. Rather it is reference to the doctrinal content; it is packed with information about who God is and how He relates to us. In Old Testament God revealed Himself as El-Shaddai, The Almighty One. There is Elohim, a majestic plural name in the Hebrew referring to God in the fullness of His power, The name Adonai points to God as Master. The command here specifies the name, the personal name of God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3: the name Yahweh, meaning the all sufficient, all sovereign, existent one who always hears and responds to the cry of His needy people. It was a name considered to be so Holy that no Jew was ever permitted to speak it audibly. Reverence for the name was so great that centuries later as the Jews copied the Scriptures, they would take care in writing the name. They would take the vowels of Yahweh, which we have here in all caps as "Lord" but would say "Adonai". Two thousand years ago when they added vowels to their writing to help with pronunciation and they would come to this name, they would insert the vowels for Adonai when writing Yahweh; thus they came up with the pronunciation "Jehovah". The actual pronunciation is lost. In ancient times, it was not even permitted to write the name of God in ink unless you were one of the scribes who were constantly re-copying the scriptures, and when a scribe would come to that word, he would rise and bathe himself. Then, he would put on clothes that had never been worn. Then he would go and get a quill which had never had a drop of ink on it. Only then would he write God's name and—after he had finished—he would discard that quill which would never be used again, and he would throw away those clothes which could never be worn again. That is how deeply the name of God was revered in the ancient Hebrew world. Thus protection of God's name is essential primarily for theological reasons. Each name is an affirmation of faith, and taken together, they all form a confession of faith. The name points to God's covenant The covenant means God makes Himself known. This name is revered because it is more than a grouping of sounds. It is the name God used to make Himself known to Moses. It was the name given to tell the people that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be their God, too. This is the name by which God defines Himself as He establishes a relationship with His people. This name was not discovered by God’s people; it was given to them. The covenant means God is also knowable. This name points to all the promises He makes for His people: that He will be their God and they will be His people. The name implies a relationship. When we meet someone we give them our name: "Hello, my name is..." Ever try to carry on a relationship with someone whose name you do not know? Try not telling your name to someone new (not to a first time visitor, please!). For this reason we like everyone here to wear nametags. There is nothing worse than meeting some- one you've already been introduced to and not know his name. To have the name is to have a relationship. To misuse the name is to abuse the relationship. Glance over to Deuteronomy 12:5. Notice the connection between the name and the relationship. To say God’s name dwells in a place is the same as to say God is there. The connection between name and relationship is seen in our marriages where the wife takes the name of the husband. It is a sign of an exclusive, intimate relationship. How do we misuse God’s name? We misuse God’s name by treating it as something common The NIV is a fine translation, but the verse literally means to lift up the name to emptiness, taking the name in vain, as the KJV says. This word designates anything that is unsubstantial, unreal, worthless, either materially or morally. Just as the previous Commandment forbids reducing God to an image because the image can not communicate truth, so too with our words we can miscommunicate the truth regarding God. 'You shall not pronounce the name of the Lord your God insincerely or thoughtlessly." To misuse God's name literally means to make light of God, to not take God seriously, to treat God as if He is nothing, to act as if He doesn't really exist. To misuse the name is to deny His majesty, His transcendence. Misuse is to treat it as something so common, so ordinary that we obliterate the distinction between us and God. Rather than being something superficial and light, God's name is weighty, important, because God is of ultimate importance. How do we do this? God’s name becomes common in our euphemisms. What we often associate with the 3rd Commandment are curses. Profanity is certainly an affront to God. "Profane" comes from the Latin, meaning "before the temple," that is, something outside the confines of worship. Profanity is debasing that which is good by treating it as useless or dirty. Certainly using God’s name in a curse is included in this command, but there is certainly more. Most people know that such use would not be acceptable, but just as unacceptable is when we use God's name without due consideration and reverence. When we refer to God as "The Man Upstairs," "The Big Guy" or "The Good Lord" or other terms which imply a familiarity beyond which God reveals in His Word, we misinform others as to the nature of God. These are very subtle forms of profaning God's name. You may think this is going overboard, but, men, try this experiment on your wives by calling them "the old lady." See how that warms up the romantic fires. And then report back to me .. that is, if you live! The irony is that in Jesus's time most of the Jews would not even dare say the name of God out of respect for His greatness. But in our day we so casualty refer to Him with such euphemisms because we see Him as so small. We misuse God's name by throwing around His name around casually and flippantly. Some will say things like, "Well, good Lord..." or "My Lord ... what have we here!" Those who say "Praise the Lord" or "Praise God" all the time in their talking or praying are misusing God's name as it is said without thought or content. Some people say the name of God over and over while they pray. "Father we ask you, Father to give us, Father help today, Father...." They almost sound like the high-pressure salesman who uses my name two or three times in every sentence when trying to get me to buy something. God’s name becomes common in our hypocrisy. Since the command here is against misusing God’s name, prohibiting taking it vain or making it as though it were empty, we must recognize we do this whenever the profession of our faith does not match the ordering of our life. To pray or sing without meaning is to use the name vainly. Going through the routine of religious activity is profaning God's name. Sleeping through a sermon as well as preaching a sermon lethargically is nothing but hypocrisy. God hates hypocrisy which here is claiming to be in submission to Jesus Christ as Lord, while not really being in submission at all. And what could deserve the wrath of God more richly than that? The reason some churches do not want to use the Lord's Prayer or the Apostles' Creed with any regularity is out of a fear of taking God's name in vain. But since the prayer or the creed are not the sin, but our cold, dead hearts, we need to admit our sinfulness. Puritan Stephen Charnock said: "It is a sad thing to be Christians at supper, heathens in our shops, and devils in our closets." When we so alter our lives, compartmentalize ourselves so that we can be whatever we need to be depending on the situation, rather than on God's demands, we treat the majesty, the glory, of God hypocritically. We take God's name in vain; we misuse it. We bring disgrace to the name of God when we profess much and possess little. Christ says in Matthew 7:22 "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." In the same way, God through the prophet Isaiah says, "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." God's name becomes common in our trivialities. As I mentioned earlier, the ancient Jews were so sensitive about God’s name they refrained from even pronouncing it. But yet in that often weird Christian sub-culture we treat God as nothing more than a marketing gimmick to promote our own moral agenda. We reduce the majestic God of the universe to a cliche on a T-shirt. The proliferation of Jesus Junk is appalling. We see this in shirts that say something as inane as: "God is Rad, he's my Dad," or "This bloods for you!" as a take off on a beer commercial, or "The Lord's Gym - bench press this!" Christian bookstores will traffic in glow-in-the-dark crosses and smiley-face key rings with "God loves you" slogans. The plethora of Christian giftware now on the market has attracted ugly monikers like "Christian kitsch," "holy hardware," and, most regrettably, "Jesus Junk." Major news outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post all have used those terms in recent years in stories on Christian retailing. God’s name is often eroded in popular Christian novels and in Contemporary Christian Music where the King of all Glory is described in terms hardly recognizable in God’s revelation of Himself, the Bible. God’s name is dragged into weight loss programs, aerobic routines, and business planners. We must rethink whether the back end of our cars is appropriate to place the name of the God who sacrificed His Son for our sins. We misuse the name when we treat it as a marketing tool to impress the world with our holiness. When we cheapen God's name by vain repetition, irreverent sloganeering, or by actual cursing, we engage in a violation of the Third Commandment. We misuse God’s name by using it for our control In the ancient world it was believed that to know the name of a god was to control that god. But the God who made us and purchased us as His own can not be manipulated by our use of His name. Yet when we invoke God's name to justify our actions we misuse God's name as we deny God's control. One of the ways in which we profane God's name is to use God - His name, authority, or direction - as a blank check for our own decisions and activities. In the Crusades, the Holocaust, slavery, the slaughter of Native Americans, the exploitation of God's name brings enormous discredit and scandal to the name of God and the cause of Christ in history. The evils in which professing Christians have participated and even created in the name of God (and continue to participate in) set the progress of the Gospel back decades. For this reason we must always beware how we use God's name, to what we attach His name, His cause. It is far too easy to legitimize a task, an ideology, a political tenet, a personal preference by using God's name. We must be particularly wary of this during an election year. It is unfortunately common for politicians to wrap themselves not only in the flag, but to pepper their speech with sufficient "God-talk" so as to project the image of faith without necessarily the content of faith. When Christians pronounce something as morally wrong without clear command from God, God’s name is debased. A candidate's use of God or a reference to an even more vague god of our present culture, "family values" is nothing more than a vain attempt to secure support, and for this reason is breaking the Third Commandment. We then are also culpable when we become captivated by that trivial use of the divine name. Another problem is the use of the name of God in our Christianese. In spiritual lingo that drags God into an unpopular decision, such as when we renege on a commitment, it suddenly becomes God telling us to do this or that - when we want to justify our own desires by saying that God leads us this direction. We must be very careful when attributing to God any decision that is not clearly defined in God's revealed will; otherwise, we are treating the name lightly. What is the remedy? HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND? Accept our misuse of the name Trivializing the majesty of God's holy name is not just done when we hit our finger with a hammer. It can be done while we pray or sing. It can be done when we seem the most holy. The place to start is to own up to the fact that we all stand condemned by this Commandment. Here, as always, the Law has a way of leaving us on very shaky ground. We deserve to be condemned. We can't make ourselves right, or moral enough for God. Accept God's offer of the name In the midst of this command which condemns us, we must always run back to the Cross. Remember that the Ten Commandments are given to God's Covenant people, a people He has redeemed, a people He loves, a people on whom He has placed His name. We bear the name "Christian" because God has placed on us, through Christ's work, a special standing, a relationship - because of what Christ has done for us. Even though we've all broken the Law all the time, and we all deserve punishment because God will not hold us guiltless, He has placed the guilty verdict on His Son to be our Savior. The greatest misuse of the name is to reject the grace God offers in the name of Christ. The solution to our misuse is never seeking to improve ourselves, for that too would be a terrible misuse of the name Christian, for Christ has no place in such a formula as that. Rather the Gospel reminds us that the proper use of God’s name is seen in our simple calling on Him for all we need. When we seek Him, acknowledging our sin and that forgiveness is found no where else than in Christ, it is there and then we honor God’s name as it should be honored. In Acts 2, when Peter stands before the great assembly of people on Pentecost, he reminds his hearers of the simple truth found in the prophet Joel: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." And so he tells those who wish to know what God demands of them: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." He tells them this because, as he explains to the Jewish leaders later: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven give to men by which we must be saved." Likewise to Cornelius, Peter says: "All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name." The offer of the name is illustrated here, at this table, in the bread and wine. As Jesus invites us to eat His Body, drink His Blood, He calls us to seek to make a name for ourselves and find our only hope, our only help, in the name of Jesus Christ. |
