Deserving of Respect: What does it mean to misuse God’s name or to take the Lord’s name in vain (Third Commandment)? It means far more than being careful not to swear. Christianity is based on a relationship with God. And in this relationship (just as in any healthy relationship), our thoughts about God and our attitudes toward God matter a great deal to him. The way we represent God’s name to others matters as well. There is only one God; he is worthy of our worship and deserving of our respect. Recorded on Feb 12, 2023, on Exodus 20:7 by Pastor David Parks.
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Ten Commandments: Learning the Law of Love is a sermon series on the most influential legal code in human history. Why should we learn about the Ten Commandments today? Because they reveal God’s will for how human beings ought to live: to love God with all our heart and love our neighbor as ourselves. Ultimately, the law of love points us directly to Jesus.
Sermon Transcript
All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus. And today, we’re continuing a sermon series on the Ten Commandments. [Ten Commandments slide] The way of Jesus includes a unique message of what is wrong with the world, of who God is, and what he’s done and is doing to rescue and redeem people in Jesus. Christians call this message the gospel or the good news of Jesus. But if the gospel is true, then we’re called not just to believe it, but to learn the way of Jesus. And the way of Jesus includes a new set of morals or an understanding of what is right and wrong according to God. Ultimately, we’ve said that this new way of life can be summed up as learning to love the Lord our God, heart, soul, mind, and strength; and to love our neighbor as ourself — that’s what the Ten Commandments are all about. So far, we’ve had a couple key takeaways that help us better understand the Ten Commandments. First, we must remember that ancient Israel was saved by the grace of God first, and then they were given the Law. So obedience to the law wasn’t the way of salvation, but rather, it’s the way God wants his people to function after rescuing them by grace. Second, we must remember that Christians do not pick and choose which commands or laws in the OT of the Bible we follow today based on our preferences or biases. There are different categories of law in the OT: civil, ceremonial, and moral laws. And while the civil and ceremonial laws are no longer in effect, we are still obligated to obey the moral laws, including the Ten Commandments, because they reveal how God wants all people everywhere to live. So with all that, if you have a Bible/app, please open to Exodus 20:1. We’ll read through the first three commands and then unpack the third of the Ten today.
Exodus 20:1-7 (NIV), “And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an image 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. 7 You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”
As we’ve said, the book of Exodus, written about 4,300 years ago, by Moses, the prophet and leader of ancient Israel, describes a key turning point of history when God rescued the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt and entered into a covenant relationship with them, which included giving them the Law. Eventually, God would bring them into the land he had promised their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The first command established monotheism in history, that there is only one God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Yahweh God, the one who had spoken in the past, and the one who called Moses to his task from within the burning bush, he was not just one of many gods/goddesses, or even the first among the gods, he is the only one. So Israel was not to combine their worship of Yahweh God with any other. This exclusive relationship with God is the start of everything in the Bible, but is also the foundation of learning right from wrong because this is the fundamental reality of our universe: there is only one God. Second, building on the first, if there is only one God, then he is the only one who would be worthy of our worship. But because he is the Creator, holy and transcendent over his creation, his people were commanded not to make any images representing him for us in their worship of him. They were not to do this because it would degrade him or distort their understanding of him. The making of images or idols for use in worship was very common back then. It may seem somewhat foreign to us, but as we saw last week, modern people are still very much tempted to worship and serve created things in the place of the Creator God. These first two commands lead us, again very naturally I’d say, to the third, and to how we not only think about God, but also how we represent him to others. Let’s look at this again, look back at v. 7.
Exodus 20:7 (NIV), “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” Ok! So, even if you aren’t that familiar with the Bible, you might recognize the older translation a little better: “You shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” Now, my first observation is that the name of God, that is Yahweh, the personal name God revealed to his covenant people, is used twice here. That is significant. As I’ve said, whenever you see the word “LORD” in all caps in the OT, that is translating the divine name. Replacing the name, Yahweh, with the title, LORD, is meant to be respectful on this very command not misuse the name of God. My second observation has to do with the word name. In our culture, we name our kids based on whatever we think is cool or whatever we like. There isn’t usually a deeper story/significance to it. The most significance for a name today is how it might be connected to other relatives in your family. But 4,300 years ago, names had a lot more significance. They often reflected something about the character or the experience of the person. A name wasn’t just what you were called but represented who you are. And if that was the case for human beings, how much more would it be the case for the one true and living God? The name of God wasn’t just what God was called, but reflected his character and his deeds and all of his divine nature. To disrespect the name of God was to disrespect God. So it’s no small wonder that it would matter to God how we use his name. I guarantee it would matter to you if someone misused your name, even though are names don’t have as much significance as they once did. If overheard someone saying, “Oh, you’re being such a David!” I would have questions…and other things to say, probably. It would be disrespectful to me to use my name like that. But still, what does it actually mean to misuse the name of God or to use it in vain? Most people think the third command is saying we shouldn’t use God’s name in any sort of swearing or vulgar language. And that’s certainly part of it, but there’s so much more to it than simply keeping our language rated G. The reason is this: there are two Hebrew words translated as “misuse” here. One word means to lift up/carry/bear something and the other means in a vain/empty/worthless way. So misusing the name of Yahweh God literally means we should never lift up or bear the name of God in a vain, empty or worthless way.
Now, this command runs in two different directions, one pointed inward and the other pointed outward. First, the internal direction: This command forbids us from misusing the name of God in our own heart and mind. We must be careful our thoughts and emotions about God are both true and appropriately respectful. Let’s think about our thoughts first. So first, breaking this command might look like being careless, apathetic, or just lazy in our commitment to learn more about God — about his character/nature, about his person/works. I was definitely reminded at the EFCA Theology Conference this past week, that it takes so much work to grow in our understanding of the character/nature of God. Theology is the study of who God is and what he has done as he has revealed to us by his word and his works. It’s worth it, of course, but it’s hard work! But in our relationship with God (as in any relationship), there’s a huge difference between trying or even struggling to understand God, and not caring or being bothered to try. It says a lot about the quality of your relationship with someone as to how much time/energy you’ll spend trying to understand them. This is why we study the bible. This is why we continually point people back to the gospel of Jesus. This is why we are committed as a church to gathering and living our lives under the authority of the word of God. Because we want to know what is true about our great God; we want to know him. Second, let’s think about our feelings. In addition to the truth of our thoughts about God, this command also includes our attitude towards him, how we feel about him. If we fail to do this, it isn’t just rude, it’s insane! Let me give you an analogy. Imagine being shipwrecked out in the middle of the ocean. You’re floating there, knowing you’ll die unless you are somehow rescued, and quick. But then, just before the end, along comes another boat sailed by someone, you find out later, somehow knew you were in trouble and were going to die, so they came, at great personal cost, to save you. And then, imagine how messed up it would be if after being saved, you just sat in their boat, scrolling on your phone, because you just kind of wanted to focus on your life and your needs. Not only would that be rude, it would be insane, and so disrespectful, but that’s how many people feel about God. Like he owed us salvation. So here are some diagnostic questions to help us discern how we’re doing with this. Are you excited about God or is he kind of last on your priority list? Or are you overly familiar with him? Have you become so used to the idea of God that you have even inadvertently taken him for granted? Has God shrunk down in your imagination to be so little and so non-threatening that he fits in your pocket like an accessory? Does God never seem severe to you? Does he never correct you? Do you never see that he is supreme and infinite in his power and being? If so, you might have a sentimental little God of your own making than the one true and living God. This would be a gross misuse of the name of the Lord in your own heart and mind. So first, how we think about God and our attitude toward him matters. And we must be careful, thoughtful, and respectful of him even within our own minds and hearts.
But what about the other direction, not just inward but outward? Well, second, how does the third command relate to how we treat other people? And it is here that the concept of bearing the name of God in a proper way connects to a thread that runs all the way through the bible. From creation on down, God has always wanted people, made in his own image and likeness, to both enjoy a relationship with him but also properly represent him in/to the world. Even here, just before giving ancient Israel the Ten Commandments, God told his people: Exodus 19:5–6 (NIV), “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation meant that they were set apart for the Lord’s special use. They were to fulfill the role of the priesthood for all the nations on the earth. They were supposed to bear the name of God and accurately represent him out into the world. They had received the revelation of his word and the divine name. But it was never intended to only be about Israel. Israel’s blessing was intended to be a light to all the Gentiles. Of course they never properly fulfilled this role. They saw their status as the people of God as more of an us/them distinction, not as a ministry to reveal to all peoples the glory of Yahweh God. So as we read through the history in the OT after the giving of this law, we see generations of failure in Israel of properly bearing the name of God. Until the coming of Jesus, it looked as if this redemption project of God was also a failure. But then, in the person of Jesus, we at last see the fullness of the truth of who God is. “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” (Col 1:15). In John 17, Jesus is praying to God the Father before his death on the cross and says, “I have made [your name] known to them [meaning to his disciples], and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” (Jn 17:26). In Jesus, we receive a true picture of the character/nature of God, of God’s goodness and holiness and love. In Jesus, we see the person and works of God, including creation and salvation. In Jesus, and by faith in Jesus, we can not only enjoy a relationship with God but also experience the love of God poured out into our hearts, the very love that the Father has for the Son and the Son for the Father. Jesus said that becoming his disciple includes being baptized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. When this happens, you become a Christian, bearing the name of Jesus. The Apostle Peter wrote, “…if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” (1Pe 4:16). Once you start to pull that thread of bearing God’s name, you start to see if everywhere, from Genesis through Revelation.
So Christians, today, even though we are under the new covenant established through the body and blood of Jesus and through his death and resurrection from the dead, we are once again, called to bear the name of God in a way that is good/proper/true. And we’ve seen that this relates first, to govern our inner thoughts and attitudes toward God and about God — to our willingness to learn the truth about God and in our respect and healthy, reverent awe in our attitude toward him. But second, this reality that in Christ, we bear the name of God, this relates to how we interact with other people, to how we speak about God to others and how we represent him to them as well. We are now ambassadors for Christ. We represent him. We carry his name into every conversation and culture and time and place. If God had a company branded shirt or team uniform we’d need to wear it wherever we went. This is both the fulfillment of what God wanted for his people at Mount Sinai, to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. But also what God intended for his people from creation on down. But also what the Lord is doing among his people even today by faith in Jesus and the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. So today, do you know that in Jesus, you bear the name of God? Do you understand what a serious privilege and responsibility that is? If so, then may we together, as a church, be a people who are careful and respectful to God, and truthful about him to a world that is lost without him. Why? Because God is great/good/holy/loving and there is nothing and no one in all the world, even in the whole of the cosmos, who is like him. There is only one God, he is worthy of our worship, and deserving of our respect. And next week we’ll see that we can rest in him. What good news. What an amazing God we serve. Let us pray.