Name

Scripture: Deuteronomy 5:11

Video Link: https://youtu.be/tV69hxuTTrU

Structure:

• Introduction
• God’s name
• Vain words
• Empty religion
• Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

If I say the name, Richie McCaw, what do you think of?

You probably think of the All Black rugby captain who played 148 tests. You might also think of the silver fern, the Canterbury region and being a helicopter pilot. The name, Richie McCaw, is respected all over the rugby world.

What if I say the name Angela Merkel, what do you think of?

You might think: the first female Chancellor of Germany. A fine leader and, at one point, perhaps the most powerful woman in the world. Angela Merkel was also a research scientist with a PhD in quantum chemistry. A very capable person. The name Angela Merkel is well respected all over the world.

A name is more than just a way of identifying a person. A name calls to mind that individual’s personality, their achievements, their character and our connection with that person.

Today we continue our series in Deuteronomy. We have got to that part in Deuteronomy where Moses reiterates the ten commandments (or the ten words of Yahweh) to the people of Israel. Last week we heard about the first commandment prohibiting the worship of any other gods or idols.

This week we focus on chapter 5, verse 11, which is all about honouring God’s name. Verse 11 reads…  

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

God’s name:

It is clear from this verse that God’s name is particularly important. In the ancient world a person’s name was thought to be part of who they are. A name was more than just an identifying word. A name was equivalent to the essence or being of that person.

With this in view, God’s name is a weighty thing. His name carries real gravity, real mana, real power. God’s name is more than just his reputation. God’s name represents his integrity, his oneness, his uniqueness.

God’s name calls to mind his character, his justice and mercy, his love and compassion. God’s name reminds us of God’s wonderful deeds as our creator, redeemer and Father.

So what is God’s name? Well, whenever you see the word Lord in the Bible, all in capitals, it usually refers to God’s personal name which (in Hebrew) is spelt something like, YHWH.

We might think of the word Lord as a title, like Sir or Dame or Colonel or Reverend and, depending on the context, it can carry that meaning. But Lord, in capital letters in the Bible, is not a title. It is God’s name (YHWH).

It is not clear how to pronounce the name of God, so people have added vowels to the consonants. With the help of vowels, some pronounce God’s personal name as Jehovah. These days, people in the academic world prefer Yahweh.

As Christians, we worship Jesus. For us, Jesus is Yahweh in the flesh. In fact, the name Jesus actually means ‘the Lord saves’ or ‘God saves’. Therefore, the name of Jesus is sacred.  As the apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians…

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,

¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

What then does it mean to misuse the name of the Lord? Well, this command is about avoiding vain words and empty religion.

Vain words:

Earlier this year, at the Academy awards, Will Smith became heated when Chris Rock made a joke at his wife’s expense. Will said to Chris, ‘Take my wife’s name out of your mouth’.

Chris Rock thought he was being funny. But Will Smith felt that Chris was misusing his wife’s name and this made Will angry. 

God fearing Jews in ancient times never said the Lord’s name, just in case they misused it accidently. That’s how holy or sacred God’s name was to them. But when we look at the commandment we notice that it doesn’t say we cannot use God’s name at all. It just says we cannot misuse it.

The old school way of phrasing this commandment is: Do not take the Lord’s name in vain. This translation points to the misuse of the Lord’s name when making vows or taking an oath.

In ancient times people would make vows as a kind of guarantee that they would follow through on their commitment. They might say something like, ‘May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I don’t do what I say I’m going to do’.

To make a vow in the Lord’s name and then not follow through on what you had promised was to take God’s name in vain. It brought a curse on the offender.

In the New Testament, Jesus warned his followers against making oaths, saying:

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ ³⁴ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ Let your ‘Yes’ be yes and your ‘No’ be no; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

You know, our words have power. Power for good and power for evil. Power for well-being and power for harm. Jesus wants us to be blessed. He doesn’t want us to curse ourselves or anyone else. Don’t put yourself in an impossible situation, like Jephthah.  

Jesus wants us to be free; free to do God’s will. He doesn’t want us to be burdened with a sense of obligation or guilt over some rash promise we made and haven’t been able to keep. 

Jesus’ words here remind us there is much in life which is beyond our control. Wisdom dictates that we should not bind ourselves unnecessarily by committing to do something in the future when circumstances could derail our best intentions.  

A point of clarification: I don’t think Jesus is saying, we can’t swear on the Bible to speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, in a court of law. That’s not about promising to do something in the future. That’s about not bearing false witness.

Except in a court of law, people these days don’t normally swear an oath to guarantee their words. For us, swearing is associated with cursing or bad language.

We should not use God’s name as an expletive because it’s not right to use something holy for an unholy purpose. You don’t use your tooth brush to clean the toilet. Nor should you use God’s name to express your anger.

That being said, I don’t think the commandment prohibiting the misuse of God’s name is primarily about potty mouth. It’s really more about not hijacking God’s name to serve our own purposes.

God’s name is powerful. God’s name can move people to do all sorts of things. History is littered with political leaders who have misused God’s name to win votes or influence people to serve their own agenda. God hates that sort of thing.

But it’s not just ruthless politicians who hijack God’s name. Sometimes Christians do it too. If someone says, ‘The Lord told me such and such’. Or, ‘God told me to tell you this or that’, then be very careful. Be discerning.

God may well have spoken to them. But it is also possible that they are sincerely mistaken. Or even worse, insincere and manipulative. In any case, ask God to shine his light on the situation. Measure what they say against Scripture. Talk with people you trust and ask the Lord to confirm the truth either way.  

To use God’s name for our own selfish ends is to mess with the divine / human relationship. It’s like stealing your boss’ credit card and clocking up a huge debt buying stuff for yourself. You just don’t do that.

Okay, so misusing God’s name has to do with vain words. More than this, it is also about empty religion. 

Empty religion:

Imagine you own a really nice house. One day, you decide to go on holiday for a few weeks. You are a generous person and so you offer the use of your home and its contents to one of your friends while you are away.

As you hand your friend the keys to your house you say, ‘Enjoy my home while I’m gone. Feel free to use the appliances, to drive the car, to take a soak in the spa pool, even have people over for a BBQ if you like. But please, look after the place. And be mindful of the neighbours. Don’t play the stereo too loud.

Unfortunately, when you come back from holiday, you find stains on the carpet, broken windows, complaints from the neighbours about the noise, a huge power bill and speeding fines from when your so called ‘friend’ took your car for a joy ride.

You are not happy and rightly so. You trusted this person with your most valuable asset and they abused your trust. They wrecked your stuff and damaged your reputation in the neighbourhood. You thought your relationship meant something but it turns out the friendship was empty.     

Knowing God’s name is a bit like being given the keys to a really nice house.  By sharing his name with us, God has given us access to himself. God has trusted us with his name in much the same way a wealthy friend might trust us with the use of their home and car.

If we really care about our relationship with God, then we will take care of his name. But if we don’t take care of God’s name, then our religion is empty.

A more literal translation of the command to not misuse the Lord’s name, reads: You shall not carry the name of Yahweh your God emptily. 

To carry the name of Yahweh means to claim him as our God and to accept the role of representing him. Israel could not claim Yahweh as their God and then live as if they belonged to Baal. They could not worship pagan gods alongside Yahweh.

In other words, we need to practice what we preach. Our profession of faith needs to line up with our lifestyle. If we say we believe in a God of love, then we need to love our neighbour as we love ourselves.

If we say we believe God is holy and righteous, just and true, then we need to pursue holiness, righteousness, justice and truth.

If we say we believe in Jesus, then we need to conduct ourselves in a Christ-like way. We need to be sincere in our faith and loyal to Jesus. Our religion cannot be empty. Our faith in Jesus must have the substance of obedience to God.

Now, when you think of it like that, it becomes real clear pretty quickly that we have all misused God’s name one way or another. None of us have kept this commandment all the time. Two things to keep in mind.

Firstly, Jesus has done for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Where we have failed, Jesus has succeeded. Jesus has honoured God’s name perfectly, on our behalf.

Secondly, we need to be on our own side. The reality is we are all on a journey to becoming more like Christ and we need God’s grace in that process. How you start is not as important as how you finish. Being honest with yourself is key to making progress in the right direction.  

You shall not carry the name of Yahweh your God emptily, is another way of saying you shall not be a hypocrite.

One of the great ironies of the gospels is the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. They were not honest with themselves. They accused Jesus of blasphemy and killed him on that pretext, when in fact they were the blasphemers. The Pharisees misused God’s name by pretending to be something they were not.

At its best, religion functions as a vehicle for truth. But the Pharisees used their religion like a cloak, to hide the truth. For all their intensity, for all their rigorous ritual, the Pharisees’ religion was empty of the very things God requires: justice, mercy and humility.

We must not look down on the Pharisees with contempt. We do better to look at our ourselves with honesty and grace.

Conclusion – Prayer & Praise:

Okay, so we have heard what it means to misuse God’s name. Our words about God should not be in vain and our profession of faith must not be empty. But the commandments are not just about what we can’t do. The prohibitions point beyond themselves to what we can do.

Following this train of thought we might ask ourselves, what is a right (or good) use of God’s name? 

In a nut shell, God gives us his name for prayer and praise. 

Your name is how people know who you are and it is how people talk to you. Likewise, God’s name is how he reveals himself to us and it is how we talk to God.

When Jesus’ disciples asked him how to pray, Jesus began, Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Among other things, Jesus was teaching us that prayer is what God’s name is for.

We invoke God’s name in order to have a conversation with him, a relationship with him, intimacy with him. Prayer is a way of sharing ourselves with God. In prayer we seek to know God’s will and we ask the Lord for what we need to do his will.

God’s name is also intended for praise. When we sing or say, ‘Hallelujah’, we are actually addressing God by his name. ‘Hallelujah’ means ‘praise the Lord’, as in praise Yahweh.  

If you look at that word, praise, you notice it contains another word, raise. To praise God means to raise the name of the Lord. Sometimes when we raise the name of the Lord, God enables us to see the problems and pain of this life from an eternal perspective.  

Let us lift our voices in prayer and praise to God now, as we prepare for communion…

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

• What does your name mean? Does the meaning of your name reflect something of your personality or character do you think? If so, how?

• What does it mean to misuse the Lord’s name? Can you think of examples of taking the Lord’s name in vain? 

• Why are we forbidden to misuse the Lord’s name? (E.g. what are the consequences for ourselves and others of misusing God’s name?)

• Why do you think Jesus warned against making vows / oaths in Matthew 5:33-37?

• Discuss / reflect on the literal translation, ‘You shall not carry the name of Yahweh your God emptily’. What does this mean?

• What is a right or good use of God’s name?