June 25, 2000 Exodus 20:7
“What’s in a name?”
INTRODUCTION
Last Saturday, Tammy, Victoria, Ben, Erica and I decided to go on a picnic together up at Prickett’s Fort State Park. It was the first time that we had been there except just to drive through it one time last year. As we went into the different buildings in the fort, we discovered many interesting details about the history of WV. We were told that there were many such forts as that one located in the park. When Indians or some other enemy was attacking, the people would escape inside the walls of the fort for protection. Prickett’s Fort received its name from the family that owned the land – the Pricketts. I suppose that the nice thing about that is that as long as the fort is around, everyone will remember the family name. We also learned that Nutter Fort was named that because the Nutter family had a fort much like the one the Pricketts had. The fort is gone, but the city still bears the family name. I wonder though how many people actually think about the family – the Nutters – when they drive through or talk about Nutter Fort. The significance of the name and where it came from probably never crosses their mind. According to the listings in the phone book, there are still a lot of Nutters around, but as far as I can tell, there is only one Nutter family that still lives in Nutter Fort. Probably most of them don’t even think about the significance of their family name and the name of the city that wears their family name.
As we continued our tour of Prickett’s Fort, we went into the home that used to be occupied by Job Prickett. The tour guide there told us that there was going to be a free production of Romeo and Juliet in the park amphitheater that night at 8:00. So we decided to come back that evening to watch it. Probably the most famous scene in that play by William Shakespeare is the balcony scene. Juliet is bemoaning the fact that the man that she loves, Romeo, has the wrong last name. He is a Capulet, and Juliet is a Montague. That’s a real problem since the Capulets and Montague’s were enemies. Juliet’s father would have never allowed a relationship between the two lovers. As she thinks about all this, wishing that her beloved would have any last name but Capulet, Juliet says these words: “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”
So far in our study of the Ten Commandments, we have dealt with the first two. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” & “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image [or idol]”. The first asks the question, “Who is going to be the master of your life?” The second asks, “How big is your picture of God?” This morning, we are going to deal with the third commandment – “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” or “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord thy God”. This command and our study of it should cause us to ask ourselves the question, “How much respect do I have for God and His name?” and “What am I doing to bring honor or dishonor on that name?”
Now this is one of those commands that some of you in here can see immediate implications in your own life. Others of you are getting ready to turn down the hearing aid and shut off the brain because you don’t see how this message impacts you. You have a comparatively clean mouth. Well stay with me for a little while because I hope that by the time that we get done this morning, you will see that this impacts more than just your mouth. And I hope that you will also see that we all have some work to do.
There are at least two different areas in which the name of God can be used “in vain”.
1. You can misuse God’s name through your speech.
We’re going to play a little association game. I’m going to say a name, and you think about the first thing that comes into your mind. [Kevorkian, IBM, ACLU, Clinton, Earnhardt, Braves] Names are more than just a way of finding someone in the phone book. Eventually, a person or an organization’s name comes to symbolize the kind of character that that person or organization possesses. How many of you when you were picking names for your children would not give a certain name to your child because every time that you heard that name, it reminded you of someone from your past who was not exactly what you wanted your child to be? I’ve never met a girl named “Jezebel” or a boy named “Judas”. I have a suspicion that the reason for that is because the actions of those persons so marred the name that they carried that no one today wants to use those names. James Williams of Beaumont, TX, promised his wife Cosandra that she could choose the name for their baby girl. "Just before we got married, Cosandra told me that she wanted our child’s first name to contain parts of every family name ever used," said Williams. "I didn’t think it was too great an idea, but I agreed to compromise. We decided I would name the boys and she would name the girls." Early in September Cosandra had a baby girl. The baby is called Jameshauwnell, short for an unpronounceable, 1,019-letter conglomeration of names (as in The Calgary Herald, Sept. 19). Some of us should be very glad about the family that we were born into and the family name that we inherited. One very unfortunate young man was born into the “Stink” family. When he grew into an adult, Charlie Stink was constantly being advised by his friends and co- workers that he should have his name changed. Finally he agreed, and went to court to have the process completed. The next day back at work, his associates inquired, "What did you have your name changed to?" He answered, "for the life of me I can’t see what difference it’s going to make! I changed it to George Stink."
Near the end of the summer 4 years ago, nearly everyone in the southeast was routing for the Braves as they played in the world series. Everyone except the fans of the team they were playing against and also a group of protesters located outside Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, GA. Do you remember who the group was and why they were protesting? It was a group of Native Americans who were protesting the use of the name “Braves” by the Atlanta Baseball team and the tomahawk chop action that the fans used. Did they have a legitimate complaint? Yes and no. It is kind of degrading to see what you consider sacred used as entertainment. But on the other hand, the Braves were the best team in the world. I wouldn’t mind being identified with them. Nonetheless, these Native Americans were upset because from their perspective, their name was being used in an improper way.
Now, I’m going to do something very cruel this morning. I’m getting kind of thirsty up here with all this talking that I’m doing, so I snuck me a little drink underneath here before I started this morning, and I’m going to pull it out and drink it in front of you. (Don’t you just hate that when preachers do that!) It’s not water either. I have me a cold Dr. Pepper. [take a drink] As I look at this can and the name that is on it, there‘s something interesting about it. There’s a little TM after that name. Do you know what that stands for? It means “Trademark”. That means that the name of this soft drink is the sole property of the company. They own the name and all rights to its use. What would happen if I took a cup of water, added some caramel coloring to it and some sugar and then slapped a Dr. Pepper label on it and tried to sell it to the public? I would probably get sued. The reason that I would get sued is because I had put the same name on my product that was on their product. Well, what’s the problem with that? What’s so important about a name? The name stands for who you are as a company. Everything that you are as a company – your entire reputation – is wrapped up in that name. Therefore, you get very agitated when someone uses that name in an inappropriate way.
I have a friend who is the quality control manager for a company that lays blacktop. He’s the guy that makes sure that the product that the company is putting out always lives up to the standards that they have set for their work. Why do companies have quality control managers? They want to do everything that they can to maintain a quality product with every customer that they deal with so that they can keep a good name – a good reputation. I learned while I was working at a fast-food restaurant that a customer who is satisfied with their meal will probably recommend that restaurant to one other person. But a customer who is NOT satisfied with their meal will warn SEVEN other people to stay away from the restaurant. A good reputation – a good name – is vital to the growth of a business. Companies are very jealous of their reputations. By that, I mean that they work hard to keep their reputation strong. If their reputation goes down, so does their business. For that reason, they get very upset when people use their name without their consent or on an inferior product like my version of Dr. Pepper.
Now, having looked at how companies feel about the significance and sacredness of the names of their products, how do you think God feels when we use His name in an improper way? I think that it makes Him very angry. The latter part of Exodus 20:7 says that He will not hold guiltless anyone who misuses or takes in vain His name. To put it in legal terms, he will not drop His suit against those who use His name in an improper way or without His permission.
To “take in vain” means to use God’s name in a careless or flippant manner. It means to treat it with no more respect than any other word in the English language. So when something amazing or shocking happens, rather than saying, “Wow!”, we might say “O my God!” without even thinking about the fact that we just spoke God’s name. It’s as if has become just another word in the dictionary. I know a person who constantly says that phrase – “O my God!” In fact, she would say it several times in a row when shocked by something or when scared. When that person was confronted with the fact that she was using God’s name this way, she said that she didn’t even realize that she was saying it. It flowed from her tongue without her ever thinking about the awesomeness of the God to whom she was referring. Just as a company’s whole reputation and character is summed up in its name, so God’s name and the use of it should point to how awesome and wonderful He really is.
Now, I’m getting ready to open a very big can of worms. Some companies are so desirous to piggy-back on the reputation of a well-known company that they will take the well-known company’s name and altar it just enough so that they don’t get in trouble but not altar it so much that consumers don’t recognize the product. [bring in a can of Dr. Perfect] This is exactly what we do with God’s name. We don’t want to get in trouble for using God’s name in vain, so we add a few letters or remove a few to make it sound not so bad. I’m talking about words like “gosh”, “golly” and “je”. The first two are alterations on the word “God”. You don’t have to take my word for that either. Look them up in the dictionary. It says “an exclamation of surprise or wonder; euphemism for God”. Do you know what a euphemism is? It’s a nice-sounding word that we use for another word that doesn’t sound as nice or wouldn’t be appropriate. “Passed away” is a euphemism for “death”. It sounds nicer. So since we don’t think it sounds too good to use God’s name in vain, we’ll keep ourselves out of trouble by substituting “gosh” or “golly”. Those sound better. The last of the three that I mentioned –“je” – is not listed in the dictionary, so I’m doing a little bit of guesswork about where it comes from. Maybe someone thought they were even going to be more careful than their friends who used “gosh” and “golly”, so they just used the first letter of “God” – “G”. Or maybe it is the first two letters of the name of God’s Son – “Je”. And then I thought, “maybe it is a shortened form of the old expression ‘jeepers’”. You remember that word don’t you. That’s the word that the characters on Scooby Doo always used. Most of you are my age or older, so you probably remember an ad on TV for sunglasses that had a jingle that went like this: “Jeepers, creepers; where’d you get those peepers? Jeepers, creepers; where’d you get those eyes?” If it is a shortened form of jeepers, there couldn’t be anything wrong with it. Could there? Dictionary definition of jeepers: “a mild exclamation of surprise, emphasis, etc.; euphemistic alteration of Jesus”.
Do you remember Gomer Pyle? He would always say, “Golly”. What was he trying to say when he said, “Golly”? He wasn’t saying anything at all, because the word had no meaning to him. He was just using it to show shock or surprise. It’s kind of like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – it’s a word to say when you can’t think of anything else to say but a word that has no meaning of its own.
God’s name when used in these ways has lost its significance and glory. It no longer points to Him. It has simply become a point of punctuation and exclamation like a period or exclamation point. God says that He will punish – his words are “not hold guiltless” – anyone who uses His name in this way.
If you’ve got your note sheet before you or some other piece of paper, I want you to write down the following three questions:
1. Can I be a witness? Can you be a positive Christian witness to the people you encounter each day if you are misusing God’s name?
2. Should I say something? Suppose you have a co-worker or neighbor who consistently misuses God’s name. Do you think that it would be appropriate for you to say something to them about it? Let me throw a wrinkle into that one. Would you say something to a man who was misusing the name of your wife, girlfriend, or daughter?
3. What should I listen to? What should be our response to books, television shows, music and movies where God’s name is repeatedly misused? How many times is too many? Does it have any effect on our spiritual lives if we choose to read these books and view these shows? It is in this area, I must confess, that I am weak. I like action shows. The problem with that is that a lot of times, those kind of shows also have a lot of bad language. I recently remedied much of that problem. I bought a device - I’ve told you about it before – that cuts out almost all of the bad language that comes through the TV. It cost me $100. Was it worth it? As far as movies go, there are internet sights that you can go to to find out what kind of language is used in a movie before you ever go. Then you’re not faced with having to get up and leave a movie after you’ve paid $20 for your family to see it. Would you get up and leave? Which is more valuable to you – the correct use of God’s name or your $20?
Some of you up to this point may have never thought about some of the words that you use or that you allow into your home through TV and other media. But now I am forcing you to at least consider the possibility that a portion of your normal conversation is an offense to God. God doesn’t like his name used in a derogatory or even thoughtless way any more than you would. Be careful what you say.
2. You can misuse God’s name through your lifestyle.
The nation of Israel carried around the responsibility of bearing God’s name. Remember, when Israel joined into the covenant, they became God’s people. (Exo 19:4-6 NIV) ’You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 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.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." This covenant means that God promised to provide for them and protect them. But it also meant that they bore the responsibility for carrying God’s name to the rest of the nations of the world. When others looked at Israel, they saw God’s people. They got an idea of what God was like. They carried God’s reputation with them just like every can of Dr. Pepper carries the reputation of their parent company. You bear your parents’ name. Your parents may have said something like this whenever you got into trouble: “Don’t you know that what you do reflects on us and on the family name?” The actions of Israel didn’t just reflect on Abraham, their ancestor. Their actions reflected on God and God’s name because they were God’s people. How did they live up to their role as the bearers of God’s name? Turn to Malachi 1:6-14 [find Matthew 1, and turn back a few pages to the left]
“shut the temple doors . . . useless fires . . . not pleased with you” (vs. 10) – something is going on that is upsetting the Lord, so much so that the Lord wants the doors of the church to be shut up tight
“accept no offerings” (vs. 10) – wasn’t even willing to accept the offerings that they gave
“My name will be great . . . “ (vs. 11) – God’s intention in choosing Israel as His people was so that the nations could look at Israel and would praise and magnify God’s name because of what they saw God had done in this group of people – how he had taken one man, made him into a great nation, rescued that nation from slavery, and then had given them a beautiful land.
“rising of the sun to the setting” (vs. 11) – all day long
“in every place” (vs. 11) every nation; all parts of the world
God wanted and God deserved for His name to be exalted among the Jews and among all the nations of the earth, but that is not what He received. Instead, the very things which God had instituted to cause His people to honor and magnify His name were treated with disrespect, disgust and contempt. In verse 6, God says that He had tried to have two different relationships with Israel – one as father, and one as master. As a father, he deserves honor; as a master, he deserves respect. But He complains that He has received neither. Instead, everyone in the nation all the way up to the priests had shown contempt for His name.
Contempt means to look down on something as if was totally worthless or meaningless. It’s almost a synonym for “take in vain”. It’s the kind of feeling you get when you go to reach for those leftovers that have been in the refrigerator just a month or two too long. “Nope, don’t guess I’ll be using those for dinner tonight.” They make your stomach turn. How had these people shown contempt for God’’s name? It wasn’t through their words; it was through their actions. [read vs. 7-8] The Israelites were supposed to bring their best animal as a sacrifice. Specifically, the sacrifice was to be a one-year old male lamb that had no blemish or spot, no broken legs, and no disease. Instead, they were bringing the leftovers – the ones that they and no one else wanted. God says in vs. 8 “Try offering them to your governor!” What they were bringing to God supposedly to honor his name was something that their public officials would have laughed at and been offended by. God’s name was supposed to be lifted up and magnified in Israel so that the rest of the world would see what a great God they had and magnify Him (vs. 14b). But instead, Israel through its actions had thrown mud on God’s name so that the rest of the world laughed at their God rather than praising Him. Israel bore God’s name but did so unsuccessfully and unworthily.
God has a new people who bear His name now. (Acts 11:26c NIV) The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. The term “Christian” means “Christ-ones” or “little Christs”. As Christians, we carry around the name of Christ wherever we go. In Acts 9:15,15:17, & I Pet. 4:16, it talks about people who bear God’s name and the responsibility that they had to do it well and in such a way that men would praise God because of their lifestyle. Turn over to I Pet. 2 [read it, and make comments; esp. vs. 12b “that they may see your good works and glorify God on the day He visits us”] We are the people of God. Wherever we go and whatever we do reflects back on God and how the world thinks of Him. When those people at Antioch were called Christians, they wore the name proudly. The reason they were called “Christians” is because they lived like Christ – they were different. It was an honor and a responsibility and certainly not something which was taken lightly. One reason that it was not taken lightly was that to be known as a Christian could very well mean that you would have to give up your life.
How do we treat the title “Christian”? Do we act like that all it means is that we will go to heaven when we die, but it has nothing to do with how we live? Did you know that about 75% of U.S. citizens claim to be a Christian? But how many of them ACT like a Christian? To them, to be a Christian – to bear the name of Christ – means no more than being a member of the Boy Scouts, the Kiwanis Club, or the frequent shopper club at Food Lion! If it meant to us what it was supposed to, then the divorce rate among Christians wouldn’t be virtually as high as the rest of the population. Christians wouldn’t cheat on their taxes if we took seriously the name that we bear. Christians wouldn’t allow pornography into their homes through the internet or the TV if we realized the shame that brings on the name of God. Christians wouldn’t harbor unforgiveness and bitterness toward one another if they truly knew that their forgiveness and reconciliation would bring glory to God. How we shame the name of God that we bear in our lives! I Cor 10:31 “Whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God”
I can take God’s name in vain through my mouth and I can bring shame on His name through my lifestyle. How then are we supposed to treat God’s name?
The PROPER way to use God’s name is to . . .
1. Praise and worship His name (Phil 2:9-11)
2. Reverence His name (Luke 11:2)
3. Declare His name (Matt 28:19-20)
4. Defend His name (1 Sam. 17:26)
CONCLUSION
God’s name is a powerful tool if we use it right. It is a tool for victory. David said as he approached Goliath, “You come against me with sword and spear, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty.” (1 Samuel 17:45) God’s name is tool for healing. As Peter approached the temple, he saw a beggar sitting there. Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give you. In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk.” (Acts 3:6) And God’s name is a tool of salvation. (1 John 5:13 NIV) I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
You got it from your Father, it was all he had to give. So it’s yours to use and cherish, for as long as you may live. If you lose the watch he gave you, it can always be replaced. But a black mark on your name, son, can never be erased. It was clean the day you took it, and a worthy name to bear, when he got it from his father, there was no dishonor there. So make sure you guard it wisely, after all is said and done. You’ll be glad the name is spotless when you give it to your son.
