What’s in a Name?
Introduction
How many babies born in America are named “Adolph”? How about “Saddam” or “Osama”? Do you know anybody named “Judas”?
A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but some names get pretty stunk up by their owners, don’t they?
Of course, the opposite can be true, too. We can have a fondness for a name if it belonged to someone we loved and respected.
Kyle Rote, Sr., was an all-pro National Football League player of the 1950s. He was the captain of the New York Giants for 10 years. After his death, his son, Kyle Jr., said of all the compliments and awards his dad had received, one stood above the rest: 14 of his father’s former teammates had named a son Kyle.
The Good News Bible renders the third Commandment:
7 "Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the Lord your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name.
Literally it is broader than that as the New American Standard translates:
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Before we dive into this commandment, I want to take a brief side trip.
The whole reason we are looking at the 10 Commandments is to help us to learn to live in a way that pleases God.
So we want to see not just the negatives but the positives
That is, we aren’t just looking for things we SHOULDN’T do, but things we SHOULD do.
You know that most of the Commandments (including this one) are stated in the negative: “Thou shalt not…”do this or that.
Whenever God says, “Thou shalt NOT…” we need to ask, “So what SHALT we do?”
If we’re going to use the 10 Commandments to help us in a guide for everyday living, we need to turn them around into the positive.
So what would that look like with the commandments we’ve covered so far?
The First commandment is: You shall have no other gods before Me
If we flip that around, we have something like, “You shall worship the one and only true God, as revealed in the Scriptures.”
The Second commandment is: “You shall have no idols or images of God.”
The positive side of that might be “You shall have a RIGHT concept of who God is.”
Now we come to the Third commandment: You shall not take the Lord’s Name in vain
If we state that in a positive way, we can say, “You SHALL bring God’s name honor” or “You SHALL treat God’s name with respect.”
In general, our culture takes names less seriously than perhaps any other culture in the world or any other time in human history.
Parents often choose their children’s names just because they like the way it sounds.
I know a couple who named their son Dawson, because they liked the show Dawson’s Creek.
But at least they didn’t do what some friends of mind did years ago, when they named their daughter Molly.
Now, Molly is a fine name.
But it also happened to be the name of their neighbor’s dog.
The two couples were good friends and spent a lot of time together.
I don’t know whether they just hoped dog-Molly would die before human-Molly knew any better or what…
But they liked the name, so Molly it was.
There is one arena in our culture where names are very important.
That’s names of products or brands.
If a name has to do with making money, it is protected very carefully
A 1993 book titled: Naming for Power: Creating Successful Names for the Business World.
Names are like weapons: Marketing weapons, which have one main function: To come to the mind of a buyer at the time of a purchasing decision.
I recently read that Vidal Sassoon is suing Proctor & Gamble to get the rights to his own name back
P&G has been using the Sassoon name in their hair care products, and he feels that they aren’t using it as much as they could, which cuts into his royalty payments.
But since he sold them the rights, he can’t use his own name to promote products without taking legal action.
What’s in a name?
When it comes to American business, billions and billions of dollars a year.
What would happen if we treated God’s name the same way a businessperson treats that precious, moneymaking brand name?
Here’s what one writer had to say about that:
One way for a modern American to begin to understand this commandment is to treat God’s name as a trademarked property [i.e., brand name].
In order to gain widespread distribution for His copyrighted repair manual – the Bible – and also to capture greater market share for His authorized franchise – the Church – God has graciously licensed the use of His name to anyone who will use it according to His written instructions. It needs to be understood, however, that God’s name has not been released into the public domain. God retains legal control over His name and threatens serious penalties against the unauthorized misuse of this supremely valuable property. All trademark violations will be prosecuted to the full limits of the law. The prosecutor, judge, jury and enforcer is God.
God has given us the use of His Name – not for our own purposes, but to fulfill His purposes.
He has not “released [His Name] into the public domain.”
That is, only His followers are given the right to use His Name.
And there are rules about how we use it.
What does it mean to use God’s name “according to His written instructions?
First, it means NOT USING God’s name lightly and carelessly
That’s the “in vain” part.
We think of someone who is “vain” as being conceited.
But another meaning for vain is something that’s empty or meaningless.
How many times do we use God’s name in a way that’s empty or meaningless?
It’s just an expression like, “Oh my GOD!”
What if I were to hit my thumb with a hammer and say, “OH BETTE!!!”
I didn’t say anything bad about Bette.
But I didn’t exactly say anything good about her either.
When we use God’s Name in that way, we aren’t exactly DIShonoring God’s Name; but we’re using His name in a way that fails to bring Him honor.
Do you see the difference?
Did you know that Jews, at least conservative ones, will not say “God.”
They often use the Hebrew word “Hashem” which means “The Name”
If they make reference to God in writing, they spell it “G-D” or simply “Gd”
They do that so they will avoid breaking the third commandment.
They’d rather not say God’s Name at all than to say it in a way that might be empty or worse – dishonor God in some way.
Whenever we speak the Name of God, it should be in such a way that He is honored.
The way we speak is based on the way we think.
If it is easy for us to use God’s Name in ways that are just empty, we may have too small a view of God.
And maybe if we stopped using God’s name in such empty ways, we would use it more in ways that would bring Him Honor.
So one way to take God’s name in vain is to use it in ways that are empty.
Another way we break the Third Commandment is in using God’s Name in false oaths.
Some commentators think this is the main intention here.
I think it is one of many meanings.
As I was preparing for this sermon, I tried to find out what the current laws are for swearing-in witnesses in a court trial.
On TV, you always see witnesses putting their hands on a Bible when they take the oath.
I wondered if, in our pluralistic society, they still actually did that.
While I couldn’t find a specific ruling for all U. S. Courts, I discovered that the normal procedure is to lay one hand on a Bible and to swear “so help me God.”
If the witness is of another religious faith that doesn’t accept the Bible as God’s Word, they can swear on another religious book or in the name of their God.
If the witness is an atheist or doesn’t believe in making oaths at all, then they can give an “affirmation” that they will tell the truth, without any reference to God.
It wasn’t always that way.
In 1831, a judge in Chester County, NY refused to admit evidence from a witness who said he:
did not believe in the existence of God or in the immortality of the soul
The judge reasoned that:
the witness had destroyed beforehand all the confidence of the court in what he was about to say.
The judge thought that if the man didn’t believe in God – and in a final judgment – then he had no internal reason to tell the court the truth.
Enough of the history lesson!
So if we take an oath or make a promise and use God’s Name, we’d better to be careful to keep it, right?
Well, yeah!
When we take an oath or make a promise in God’s Name, and don’t live up to it, we dishonor God’s name
If we don’t fulfill our word, we’re asking for His judgment.
But that brings up another question:
If we make a promise and DON’T use God’s name, are we not quite as obligated to keep it?
That’s exactly the problem that had arisen in Jesus’ day.
In Matthew 23, Jesus says to the Pharisees and teachers of the law:
"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ’If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
They had worked out a whole system of things to swear by – and certain things were less binding than others
Which meant, they could SOUND like they were promising something sincerely, but not take it seriously at all.
It was sort of like when we were kids, we’d say something and then say, “MY FINGERS WERE CROSSED!”
Meaning, I don’t have to keep my promise.
Or some kids would even say they’d had their toes crossed.
Jesus said it was better to not take oaths at all, but to “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.”
That is, we shouldn’t have various levels of truth-telling – because people who say things they don’t mean are hypocrites.
And hypocrisy is probably the most serious way that we can take the Lord’s Name in Vain.
I would guess that each one of you, if asked, “Are you a Christian” would answer “Yes.”
And if you’re answer is “YES” then you are “taking” or “bearing” the name of Jesus Christ with every word you speak and every action you take.
So if you make a promise, and you break it – you dishonor God’s Name,
It doesn’t matter whether or not you said His Name when you made the promise.
You carry His Name with you in everything you do because you are a Christian.
The same is true in every aspect of your behavior
As Christians, we say that the Holy Spirit of God lives in us, which means that what we do and what we say is a revelation of who God is.
Whatever you do or say is a reflection on the very character of God.
I believe that this truth – more than anything else – is at the heart of the third Commandment.
When people want to know what God is like, they’ll look at you, and at me.
If we are honest and kind and good and we give them grace and mercy, then they will think that’s what God is like.
If we are selfish, and greedy and judgmental and rude and critical, they will think that’s what God is like.
Don’t shame the name
Because there are those who are watching you – and judging whether God is who you say He is.
It may be your co-workers, it may be you family
How many kids have left the faith of their parents, because the words they heard didn’t match up to the lives they saw?
You may think, “Well that’s not fair! I’m not GOD!”
Of course you’re not God – but you’re wearing His Name.
That’s what Paul meant when He said
“We are Christ’s ambassadors…” NLT 2 Corinthians 5:20
We are His representatives on earth.
If we send an ambassador to a foreign country and he lies and cheats, or is lazy or a drunk; if he’s rude or cruel or looks down on the people of that country, it’s only natural that the people in that country will say, “Those Americans!”
They’ve judged America based on that one American.
The ambassador has brought shame to America and to all Americans.
He brought shame to the name of our country and our people.
That is exactly the responsibility that we bear when we try to keep the Third Commandment to Honor God’s Name.
If you think, “Oh that’s no problem for me”
Then you really have no idea what that means to represent God by carrying His Name.
But if it feels like an impossibly heavy burden to carry, then congratulations!
You understand what I’m saying.
And I hope you come to this conclusion:
It is IMPOSSIBLE to live the Christian life apart from seeking the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The only way to avoid shaming the name, is by turning to Him for strength.
Call on the Name of the Lord
Only by His strength can you bring Honor to HIS name
Claim His promises and His help
You don’t have to be perfect
But you’d better be humble.
And you’d better extend grace to others.
Don’t shame the name!
