HONOR GOD’S NAME—Exodus 20:7, Ezekiel 36:16-28
(optional children’s sermon: Use a Coke can. The Coca Cola name is so valuable, that if anyone uses the name without permission, they can be sued. God’s name is more valuable!)
(Project on the screen: What is the most valuable brand name in world? [Source: Interbrand.com]) The name of the brand is its image…reputation…a promise of quality.
A trademark is protected, because it represents the essence, the reputation, of the product or company.
God’s Name represents HIS ESSENCE and HIS REPUTATION
The name of God stands for who he is. For example, Psalm 124:8 says, “Our help is IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, the MAKER of heaven and earth.” Isaiah 30:27 says, “See, the NAME of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; his lips are full of wrath, and his tongue is a consuming fire.”
Even more, God’s name is his reputation. Psalm 8 begins and ends with, “LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.” Psalm 135:13 says, “Your NAME, LORD, endures forever, your RENOWN, LORD, through all generations.” In the parallelism of Hebrew poetry, God’s NAME and God’s RENOWN are the same.
Because God’s name is his reputation, God acts to preserve his good name. Psalm 104:8 celebrates how God brought his people out of Egypt: “He saved them FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE, to make his mighty power known.”
The New Testament picks up the same themes, applying them to Jesus. At Pentecost, Peter invites his hearers to enter into a relationship with God through faith, saying, “Everyone WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD will be saved. (Acts 2:21) The Apostle Paul says that when Christ returns, “AT THE NAME OF JESUS every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)
God’s name is the most valuable name in the universe, because it stands for God himself. As Peter said in Acts 4:12,”There is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
God’s people must honor and protect the name of God above all other names. That is why God said, “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” (Exodus 20:7)
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO NOT MISUSE THE NAME OF THE LORD?
• Obviously, We should not SPEAK the name of God lightly or without meaning
The third commandment does not refer to vulgar language. Vulgar language IS offensive to God, as Paul says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths…Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place.” (Ephesians 4:29, 5:4)
This commandment is about something else; it tells us not to speak of God lightly or without meaning.
We hear God’s name spoken without meaning all the time (OMG—“O my God” or “Jesus Christ.”) It is strange: A common word for manure is not allowed on broadcast TV, but using the name of God lightly is totally acceptable to the censors!
Jews were so serious about not taking the name of God in vain that they would not even say “Yahweh” (or Jehovah), for fear of using the Name in vain. When they came to his name in the Scriptures, they said aloud, “Lord.”
Because the name of God represents his actions, we should also be careful not to take lightly what God does. For that reason, we don’t use casually words like “hell,” “damn,” or “mercy.” Even words like “God bless” might be said without meaning.
Jesus pointed out that substitute words for God should also be avoided when trying to give weight to a promise: “Do not swear…by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.”
Perhaps the worst place to speak the Name of God without meaning is in worship! If God’s people say or sing God’s praises without meaning, or go through the motions of prayer speaking pious words, God would rather have them shut their mouths! Jesus quoted Jeremiah 29 when he said of the Pharisees in Matthew 15:9, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.”
If we are saying all the right words but not really taking God seriously, our words are truly in vain. If we the leave sanctuary unchanged, to dishonor God in the world, GOD’S NAME is dishonored. The commandment goes beyond what we say.
• We must not dishonor name of God by our ACTIONS.
In Ezekiel 36:16-21, God says, “Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions…So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the LORD’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.’ I HAD CONCERN FOR MY HOLY NAME, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.”
You are going down the road, and some idiot cuts you off for no reason. Maybe they make an obscene gesture as they do so. Then you see a fish on their vehicle, or a church logo on the back window. Not cool! Are you embarrassed for Jesus?
We represent God to the world. We bear the Name of Christ (Christ-ians). Our actions reflect his brand.
There is a story that, as Alexander the Great was celebrating one of his victories, guards dragged a young soldier before him. The young man had been charged with deserting his post, and now he was to receive his sentence. The normal sentence was death, and the young soldier was on the ground, trembling.
Alexander asked, “Soldier, what is your name?” Weakly, the man stuttered, “Alexander.” “What is your name?” Alexander bellowed. “Alexander,” the young man whispered. In a flash, the great ruler was upon him, lifting him by his tunic, staring him in the face. “That’s my name!” Alexander roared. Then softly, he said, “Soldier, you shall live. But from this day on, you must change your conduct, or you must change your name.”
If we take the name of Christ, but we cut corners in business dealings, gossip unkindly, or only live morally when it is convenient, what are we doing to the name of Christ? If we are uncaring, judgmental, self-centered, or downright nasty, while claiming to live for God, what effect will it have? Romans 2:24 puts it bluntly: "GOD’S NAME is blasphemed among the nations because of you." SOBERING!
HOW CAN WE KEEP FROM DISHONORING THE NAME OF GOD?
Trying harder is good, of course, but it might not be enough. Words slip out. Anger flares. Good intentions slip. At the core of our being, we are not as perfect as God is. It is not as easy as zipping our lips!
Where does all of that come from? Jesus said, “From within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.” (Mark 7:21-22)
The problem is within us. Swearing comes from our desire to impress people with colorful expletives Coarse language comes from vulgar thoughts. Anger originate deep inside. Shameful actions come from greed, self-centeredness, or rebellion against God.
God’s commandments reveal our sin, not so that we will wallow in our unworthiness and failure, but so that we will seek God’s help.
God says in Ezekiel 36:21, “I had concern for my HOLY NAME.” God’s people had profaned his name by their actions. What will God do? He promises to clean them up and show the holiness of his name by his mercy: (Ezekiel 36:23-29) “I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
This is an amazing text, because God revealed to Ezekiel what only became clear in the New Testament. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water [cleansing] and the Spirit.” Cleansing from sin is through the blood of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit was given to all believers at Pentecost. Through the blood of Jesus and the Spirit within, hearts are changed.
Christians live every day by water and the Spirit.
We confess our sins and failures as we become aware of them, and we become clean as we accept forgiveness through Christ. We allow the Spirit of God to penetrate deeply into our hearts and minds. The Spirit gets to the root of why we dishonor God, our brokenness and sinful nature. We pray for deliverance, and God delivers us, for the honor of his Name.
We fill our lives with God and his goodness. Paul instructs us in Philippians 4:8, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.”
We practice honoring God by word and deed, supporting each other. Colossians 3:16-17 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
WE CAN ONLY KEEP THIS COMMANDMENT WITH GOD’S HELP!
God shows us how great he is, as we read the Bible. The Name of God becomes holy to us.
We are in awe of the blood of Christ, which washes not only our mouths, but the depths of our hearts.
The Holy Spirit of God purifies our heart, our mind, our will, and even our mouth and actions. Our greatest desire is to honor his Name.
With joy, we bear the Name of Christ, to the glory of the Father, through the Holy Spirit. Amen.
