Exodus 20:1-7
1 And God spoke all
these words:
2 "I am the
LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt
3 "You shall have
no other gods before me.
4 "You shall
not make for yourself an idol 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 fathers to the third and fourth generation of
those who hate me,
6 but showing love
to a thousand 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.
(NIV)
I have a
friend in the ministry who was traveling on a jet, going from one city to
another. He was seated next to two
businessmen who were engaged in a spirited, profanity-laced conversation.
My friend
says, "I had finally had it when they began running the Lord's name into
the gutter. I raised myself up from my seat and turned around so that I was
looking down on them from my perch."
Rob said to
the men, "Are either of you in the ministry?"
The fellow in
the aisle seat scoffed, "What would ever make you think that?"
Rob answered,
"Well, I am in the ministry. And I am amazed at your communication skills
in expressing theological concepts.”
The business
men looked at him with a blank stare and finally one of them asked, “What
theological concepts?”
Rob answered,
“You just said God, damn, hell, and Jesus Christ in one sentence. I can't get
all those theological concepts into a single sermon!"
You
shall not use the name of the Lord in vain – that commandment often makes us
think of profanity, and how we use the name of God in front of a profane word.
My
father was most skilled at using those colorful metaphors. He managed some textile mills in the South and
I think he managed the workers with the stern look in his eyes and the cuss
words he would yell out.
But
using the name of God in vain is not limited to profanity, but anytime we use
the name of God as an expression, we use the Lord’s name in vain.
In
the old movie, “Oh God,” with John Denver and George Burns, God comes to earth
as a human being in the form of an old man, George Burns. He has come to communicate his message
through John Denver, and at one point Denver’s character becomes very
frustrated and utters, “Oh God.”
To
which George Burns says, “Yes, what do you want.”
“Oh
nothing,” says Denver
“That’s
why I’m here,” says God or George Burns.
“I want people to know that I’m more than just an expression. I’m
something more.
And
using God’s name as a cuss word, or as a meaningless expression, is not
the only way to use the Lord’s name in vain.
Have
you ever thought about how prayer might be a form of using the name of the
Lord’s name in vain?
Have
you ever prayed a prayer you did not mean, or voice a prayer that meant nothing
to you.
One
year, when I was in High School, my father decided that I needed to spend the
summer being tutored in Math. He decided, without any input from me, that everyday,
I was to go to Mrs. Frank's house to study math.
I tried to talk my father out of it, and
after exhausting my better arguments, I pleaded with my father, "Please,
don't send me to Mrs. Frank. She's got
to be the oldest lady in town. What will I do if she drops dead of a heart
attack?" (That had never happened
to one of my teachers, but I always felt that I had the potential for causing
one to drop dead of frustration.)
"Don't worry," my father said.
"You want be so lucky."
"But why Mrs. Frank," I asked.
"What does she know about math? She's the Latin teacher."
"Oh I'm not talking about that Mrs.
Frank," my father said. "I'm talking about her mother."
So there I was, spending my summer with the
mother of the oldest woman in town.
Everyday, I tried to make conversation in
an effort to change the subject away from math. This was a ploy that usually
did not succeed, until one day when our tutoring session was changed from the
afternoon to a morning session. Right in
the middle of listening Mrs. Frank explain how to approach a problem, I heard
the 10:30 mill whistle.
Now
understand, we were living in a small town, and the mill whistle could be heard
all over town, and it regulated life.
8 am
– time for the first shift to go to work, time for me to go to school.
4 pm
– time for the second shift to go to work, time for me to give up on homework.
Midnight
– time for the third shift, time for me to go to sleep.
But
there was also a 10:30 whistle, and I could never understand why that whistle
blew – nothing happened at 10:30 am. Why
blow the whistle?
"Hey, Mrs. Frank,” I said, seeing my
opportunity to change the subject away from math. “Have you ever wondered why the mill whistle
blows at 10:30?"
"I know why," she said.
"You do? Tell me," I asked.
"It is a call for prayer."
"Prayer?" I was mystified.
"What are you supposed to pray for? Quittin' time?"
"No," she said, "it is a
call for the workers in the mill to pause for just a moment, and for the
community to stop and to pray for peace and an end to the war."
"That's wonderful," I said, with
all sincerity, thinking of the daily television news stories about the horrors
of the then current war in South East Asia . "I think we all need to pray for the end
of the Vietnam War."
"Oh
no," Mrs. Frank said. "Not the Vietnam War. World War II."
"World War II! That ended ages
ago! Hasn't anybody ever told the man
who blows the whistle that it ended?"
"Of course he knows," said Mrs.
Frank. "I guess somebody told him to start it, nobody told him to stop,
and somewhere along the way, he's forgotten what it means."
I
wonder sometimes – is that the way a lot of people pray?
It’s
empty and meaningless. It’s a ritual
that doesn’t have any substance.
The
Lord’s Prayer can be full of meaning and purpose – or we can say it from
memory, without meaning.
Have
you ever thought about the phrase, “God bless America
Rob
Bell is a pastor in the Midwest who always
feels uneasy when he sees that bumper sticker.
He says he always has a feeling that the bumper sticker should instead
read, “God HAS blessed America
But
there is another thing about that phrase.
It
can be said full of meaning – as prayer that God would bless us. Or it could be said as empty political ploy
that means absolutely nothing.
And
that is what is central to this commandment.
When we use God’s name, do we say it with meaning, or not. When we do things in God’s name, does it have
meaning or not. When we call upon the
Lord in prayer, does it have meaning or not?
The name of God is holy because it
represents God Himself and it reflects the character of God.
To treat the name of God
disrespectfully is to treat God disrespectfully.
To treat the name of God flippantly or
lightly is to treat God flippantly or lightly.
To say or use the name of the Lord
without sincerity is to treat God Himself insincerely.
But to treat the name of God reverently is
to treat God with reverence. God is not a common, everyday household item for
which we care little and which we can take for granted. God is holy.
God is not a useless thought or an empty
phrase uttered without meaning or purpose. God is holy.
God is not the 10:30 whistle, which is
outdated and for which nobody shows any interest. God is holy.
The way we treat the name of God reflects
the way we relate to God. To treat the name of God as holy is to treat God
Himself as holy.
And now unto God the Father,
God the Son,
And God the Holy Spirit be ascribed all might, power, dominion and
glory, today and forever, Amen.
Copyright 2016.
Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh
All rights reserved
Ministers may feel free to use some or all of this sermon
in their own ministries as long as they do not publish in print or on the
Internet without ascribing credit to the author.
