Story - 2 elderly women in a church were discussing the problems of growing older.
One said, "The worst thing is when your memory starts to go. I've known you all my life, and I can't think of your name. What is it?"
The second lady thought for a moment and said, "Do you need an answer right now?"
Another man, struggling with forgetfulness, visited a doctor. “Can you tell me your name?” The man (directing something in the air with hands) “Arthur.” “OK, but what’s all this?” “You know – ‘Happy birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, …’”
Good Sunday School teachers also give attention to the names of people in their class, like
Lynne Hartke, Chandler, AZ. She says
While serving as a missionary in northern Canada, I was making an attendance chart for my Sunday school class of young native Americans. Things were going well until I came to one 9-year-old boy. "What's your name?" I asked.
"Zachariah Messtowageesic," he answered.
I gulped and asked how he spelled his last name.
He said, "Just like it sounds."
Names matter. And, according to the 3rd command, God’s name matters – a lot.
The general topic is PROFANITY – again we’re looking at a command that’s concerned with the way we relate to God - an OT command that has to do with God’s nature, His likes and dislikes, and what we need to know to be pleasing to Him today, not just a command for BC Israelites.
Our word “profanity” is from 2 Latin words that mean “out of the temple.” There’s a real word picture there that helps us understand what it means: imagine it – One day, in a court appearance, Jim Horn runs into a courtroom judge’s chambers while the judge is gone, and he finds that robe. So he takes it and puts it on, and he wears it into the trial. In fact, he just wears it all day – and when he arrives at home that evening, he’s still wearing that judge’s robe. Shame on you, Jim! Now, what has he just done? He’s taken something that’s special, that’s intended to be used only in a very special way, and he has treated it like it was just common.
That’s what profanity is – it’s taking what is supposed to be holy and set apart, and treating it like it’s common.
The Lord told Aaron and the other priests: Leviticus 10:10 “You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean,”
But when something is profaned, it causes us to say, “Hey, that’s out of place. That belongs in there!” So we arrive at the third command in God’s Big 10. Where does God’s name belong when we use it?
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.
Is God just touchy about the way we speak? Well, yes, He is, but it’s deeper than that. A person’s name represents the person. The way we regard a name or react to a name or use a name says something about the way we think of that person attached to that name.
Needless to say, God’s name is misused fairly commonly. Here’s 5 ways. Most of us here will feel OK about the first 2 – they’re “out there” when it comes to the way God’s name is misused. Then there are 3 more that we’ll need to check in ourselves. So, be asking as we go over these, “Am I somehow profaning the name of God?”
Ways the Name of God is misused
1. As a Curse
God’s name is holy, still for some people that Name is called on to damn. What could be more unholy, more out of context, more profane, than damning someone in God’s name? Besides that, who ever granted us the right to order such a thing? Jn 3:18 says that’s up to the individual person, not me or you. People are condemned – are damned – because they don’t believe in the name of Jesus.
2. As an Exclamation Point
Have you ever heard someone misuse the Lord’s name and then apologize by saying, “I didn’t mean anything by it”? That’s just the point. God’s name shouldn’t be used unless we do mean something by it.
Our language says a lot about us
Matthew 12:34-37 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
Ill – Col. Harlan Sanders, of KFC fame, accepted Jesus late in his life. He had spent most of his life being a person who used the Lord’s name for an exclamation point. He said, “Becoming a Christian cost me half my vocabulary!”
Now, these are the ways “the world” uses God’s name in vain. This is the language of prime time sitcoms and bathroom walls. Once again this week we could say, “Well, there’s another of the Big 10 I’ve got down. 3 out of 10. Not bad so far!” But I want us to look at some other ways that God’s name is profaned just as much…
3. As a Weapon
This is when we attach God’s name to something He didn’t sign. Like when someone says, “God told me to tell you…” or “God wants me to…” when really God didn’t or God doesn’t. It’s spiritual forgery.
Ill- The line workers of 2nd shift are disgruntled. They want a raise. They want longer vacation. They want better insurance. While they’re at it, they want company cars and a profit sharing program too. A few of the workers put their demands in a pretty strong letter directed to the company CEO. You wouldn’t have made the demands, and you would have used much kinder words. But at the bottom of the letter, it’s signed: “The line workers of 2nd shift.”
When you see a copy of it, you say, “Hey, I didn’t sign that!” That’s exactly right!
Be careful where you sign God’s name for Him! That means when we say something is from God, we had better be sure it is!
Rick Atchley in Sinai Summit says, “If you are a teacher, and realizing that [you are bringing a word from God] doesn’t send you to you knees, perhaps you should stop teaching.” God’s name gets misused as a weapon.
4. As a Cliché
Have you ever done this? It’s those moments when we use the Lord’s name, not meaning anything evil by it, but not considering what it is we’re saying, “The Lord works in mysterious ways.’ “Oh, well, praise the Lord!” or “Hallelujah!”
Now, we mostly don’t struggle with this, because here on Sunday morning so few people would dare say that! Let’s ask if we’re using His name as a cliché.
5. As an Endorsement
This is where God’s name gets attached to something just for the sake of credibility and personal gain.
This is a tactic of the advertising world. If I can just get some famous person to appear alongside my product, it will increase sales.
So, God’s name gets used like that of a celebrity. But, tell me, is God really honored when I turn in the yellow pages and see “Praise the Lord Gutter and Siding Co.”?
If someone is taking God’s name and attaching it to something for personal gain, that’s a misuse.
There’s a whole market place out there for Christian bookstores and Christian musicians that need to exercise caution and ask whether or not they are using God’s name in this way.
James says that if a man can control the things he says, he is able to keep his whole body in check. Those are fitting words for us to consider this morning, because profaning the name of God isn’t just a tongue matter.
Among all the OT books, no writer has more to say about profaning God’s name than the prophet Ezekiel. He was prophet to the 2 remaining tribes of Israel as they fell away from God and were ultimately overrun by the Babylonians in 586 BC. He had a lot to say to Judah about what they were doing wrong. No prophet ever wrote more about profanity – only it wasn’t just words God was concerned with. God’s name was profaned in a variety of ways…
• They weren’t keeping the Sabbath
• They rejected His laws
• The followed idols
• They brought foreigners into the temple
The simplest summary of it all goes right to the heart of what profanity means:
Ezekiel 22:26
Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
God cares about His Name. He wants it regarded as holy, not common. So
Ezekiel 36:20-23
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 house of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone. "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 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 show myself holy through you before their eyes.
God cares about His name and the way we use it.
We could stop there, and have the Big 10 just remain that big list of “things we’re not supposed to do,” or we could consider some right ways to use the Lord’s name and have those be “things we’re supposed to do” that we take with us this morning.
Right ways to use His name
1. As a Claim to Authority
Just like God’s name is misused for a false endorsement, we need to be using His name for a right endorsement. In fact, if we fail to appeal to God’s name for authority, to what do we appeal?
Ill - 1998 The daughter of a preacher was asked to give the closing prayer at her high school graduation. A Jewish student was asked to give the opening prayer. The principal asked the preacher's daughter if she’d refrain from using the name of Christ in her prayer, "lest someone of other faiths be offended." She said she’d be glad to omit Christ's name from her closing prayer if the Jewish student would mention Christ's name in his opening prayer, "so that I and those of my faith not be offended." She was allowed to give her prayer as originally planned.
Acts 4:12. Peter and John have just healed a man who was born unable to walk. The people are amazed. The Jewish leaders are angry. "By what power or what name did you do this?" So Peter takes the opportunity to answer that question:
Acts 4:10-12
“know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is "'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.' Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
When we baptize someone, there are several variables about which the Bible is silent: how deep is the water? Is that indoors or outdoors? Who should do the immersing? Should the person be face up or face down? How long should we hold them under?
But there’s one thing that can’t be a variable: the name. When someone is being baptized, it’s done by the authority of the Lord, not anyone else. It’s done in the name of the Father, Son, and HS. That’s because the name carries the authority.
Today, as we urge people to become a Christian, we do that “in the Lord’s name.”
When we act, as individuals or as a Church body, let’s use the authority of that name. If not, we’ve misplaced our whole purpose.
Colossians 3:17
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.
2. As a Reason for Integrity
Ill – More than once in history someone’s name has led to a memorable scene. A soldier in the army of Alexander the Great is going to be disciplined for disorderly conduct. He is brought before Alexander. “What’s your name?” he’s asked. “It’s Alexander.” And Alexander the Great told him, “Either change your behavior, or change your name.”
Ill - I can relate to that feeling. There was a man in Hillsboro, OH whose name is Sherman L. Nichols. No Joke. And Sherman L. Nichols had a reputation as a rascal. During the time that we lived there, I received a couple of phone calls from the state District Attorney. I also received overdue bill notices, and something having to do with state taxes that were overdue – all of them because of my name. I kind of wish he’d change his name!
God expresses a similar desire!
In II Tim., Paul mentions some men named Hymenaeus and Philetus. They’ve gone astray. They haven’t lived up to the name.
2 Timothy 2:17-21
Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness." In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
Realize what this means. When I put on a Christian T-shirt, when I stick a bumper sticker on my car or one of those little fishes on my trunk lid, I’m giving myself something to live up to – if I’m conscientious.
Ill - I remember my brother Ken, while he was in college, would occasionally write to me and at the end of his letters he would put this note to his younger brother in high school: Remember who you are and remember Whose you are. Guess what I frequently told my kids as they went off to school - remember whose you are. Remember that your last name is Nichols – remember even more that you wear the name of Jesus today.
Here’s how much this matters. This morning, if you’re a person who’s living a life of rebellion against God, how I would address that all depends on your name. If you haven’t taken on the family name, if God is not your father, if Jesus is not your Brother, if you’re not adopted by the Holy Spirit into the family of God, then I don’t have a basis to expect godly living from you. Paul wrote,
1 Corinthians 5:9-11
I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
Sometimes we act so shocked that people who are of the world act like it! We’re foolish to expect godly behavior from ungodly people! But we’re equally foolish when we expect it or tolerate it from people who call themselves followers of Jesus! If you’ve made that choice, if you’re wearing the family name, if you call yourself a Christian, then I can call on that name as a reason for you to live with integrity – and you can do the same for me!
3. As a Call to Intimacy
When Moses asked God to tell him His name, God told him something like YaHWeH – it means “I am that I am” or “I was, am and will be.” Ancient Hebrew used no vowels. Those sounds were filled in by the reader as he read. Devout Jews were so afraid of verbally misusing God’s name, they wouldn’t speak it. As a result, we can’t know with certainty how to pronounce God’s personal name today. So, did that honor God’s desires? Did God’s name end up being used as He wanted? No, Israel still profaned it, and the right way to use it was lost.
Ill - Each first Sunday of the month we ask everyone to put on a name tag. Why wear a name tag? Simple. That name tag is an invitation to familiarity. If I’m wearing a name tag, I’m inviting you to some kind of connection with me – to either call me by name or to at least know my name.
And when I write my name on that name tag, I don’t write “Sherman Stanley Nichols I.” In fact, I don’t even go by “Sherman.” Like many other people, I go by a “nickname,” and here’s why: it’s more personable. It’s an invitation. We do this all the time. “My friends call me ‘Sherm.’” And, if my wife calls me “Sherman…” it usually doesn’t mean something good! It means I’m in trouble, like when parents use all 3 names of a kid. “Andrew Philip Nichols…” Uh-oh.
When God talks about using His name, when He tells us what it is, it isn’t just a warning about misusing it. It’s also an invitation to intimacy. He doesn’t give us His name so we’ll be afraid to pronounce it!
Ill – When a lady is married, she typically takes on the name of her husband. I’m not sure where that tradition came from. I only know that it’s another indicator of intimacy. Husband gives wife a new name. Wife receives new name. Husband and wife belong together, and that common name is another indicator of it.
Do you see how much the Lord has invited us to know Him, to be associated with Him, by giving us His name for our own? It’s a call to intimacy.
When Moses asked God about His name, God in effect said, “Here. Here’s My wonderful name. Call me this. Know Me on this level.”
When we use God’s name, it changes us. Used rightly, it affects the way we live. It’s hard to wear the name of Jesus and not have your life affected by it.
Conclusion:
So, right now, let’s talk about that name and where it fits into your life.
Romans 10:12-13
…there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
This morning, you can leave here, afraid to misuse God’s name, and living with the delusion that as long as you don’t do that, you’ve done all that you needed to please God – or you can answer His invitation to know Him. You can call on that name. You can acknowledge Who He is by appealing to Him to become His today. You can ask Him to place His name on you. You can have Him unashamed to call you “Brother.”
