Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
“That’s His Name!”
Exodus 20:7 July 22,2007
Most of us take our names for granted. Some of us don’t even like our names. We prefer
nicknames over our given names. Bradford becomes Whitey and Margaret becomes Peggy.
Andrew becomes Andy and Priscilla become Sissy. I think that is because we all realize that our
names tend to define us. To become Charles Anthony Jones V pushes us into the mold of our
father and grandfather. So we prefer to be called Tony. That name allows us to be who we
really are.
Yet names really are significant. I’ll never forget the scene in Disney’s animated film, The Lion
King, where Rafiki climbs Pride Rock with the newborn lion cub of King Mufasa and Queen
Sarabi. As the music builds and anticipation grows, he holds the cub up high and gives him the
name of Simba, which in Swahili means “king.” The name was not arbitrary. It defined who the
cub would become.
You see until we have a name, we are nobody.
I’ll never forget that day just over twenty two years ago when I stood in the delivery room of
Women and Infants Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. Lori was in the throes of labor and I
was holding her hand when the doctor called to us and said, “It’s a girl! What’s her name?” For
a second we looked at him and at the tiny little child as if we had been struck dumb. And then I
said, Rebecca, her name is Rebecca.”
After nine months of living with the dream of a child, suddenly in that moment, when she was
given a name of her own, she became real in our minds as she had never been before. In naming
our daughter she became a unique and precious individual in her own right.
The truth is that giving a name to someone or something is a powerful act. That is why it is
almost unthinkable that God gave the honor to Adam when the creation was in its infancy. You
remember the story in Genesis? God called every living creature forth and told him to give each a
name. God created and Adam named.
If you go down through history, you will see that many tribes, peoples and nations made a
special place for the naming of children and those who were to be honored or celebrated.
In Judaism, right up until this day, there has always been a celebration set aside for naming a girl
on the second day and a boy on the eighth day or the day of circumcision.
Tribal people in Africa and in North America had special rituals planned for the day a name was
to be given to the child. They often believed that the name gave voice to the spirit that was within
the body. The early Christians often chose Christian names, the names of Saints and Martyrs, to
give their children on the day of their baptism or confirmation.
You see a name has always been considered a powerful thing. It makes that which is named,
unique and special.
It should come as no surprise that when Moses met God in the burning bush, one of the first
questions Moses asked was that of God’s name. “Who shall I tell them sent me?”
God revealed his name as “I Am” or literally “I am who I am” or “I will be who I will be.” You
might as well call God “More than we will ever know” because his very essence is indescribable.
Down through the ages God has had many names, most of them describing his attributes.
The Jewish people considered God’s name so holy, that they wouldn’t even write it down at
first. They later wrote it but were careful to leave out the vowels so that his total essence would
not be captured. God was known as Jehovah or Yahweh often with a descriptor following it.
His name was used with great reverence in the same way that the Ark of the Covenant was
protected and revered. For there was only one Jehovah, one Yahweh and his name was precious.
Things are quite different today. God’s name is thrown around as if it were a softball or ping
pong ball. It is often used as an adjective to describe something great or something terrible.
Worse yet, it is used to curse someone or thing. Of all the commandments, I think this is the one
that needs the most attention today. Too many of us have forgotten that God is his name.
When most of us hear the third commandment “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy
God in vain” we usually consider it a commandment against bad language: cursing, swearing and
profanity. But it is so much more than that. To fully understand this commandment you have to
look at the word vain or vanity and find its meaning. It literally means “to empty of content, to
make irrelevant.” So at its core the third commandment is an injunction against emptying God’s
name of significance; making it irrelevant; using it lightly.
Now I see three ways we do that today. The first is the most obvious. We dishonor God’s name
when we use it as profanity. Now I heard someone say that when we swear we are one step
away from prayer. We call out God’s name and then we leave it there… But the truth is that
when God’s name is used to condemn or as angry shorthand for a long list of complaints against
the world, then we are taking that which is holy and making it profane.
When we come to God we should always come on bended knee. But when we use his name in
profanity, we are saying that we are the ones in control and that God should do our bidding.
Think about it: When we call our children and use their full name, John Robert Smith. Mary
Elizabeth Jones, it usually means that they have done something wrong and are about to get
punished. We are exerting our authority and putting them in their place.
I am a star trek fan and the one name I will never forget is that of Harcourt Fenton Mudd. In one
episode he finally gets put in his place after some mischief he has created and it is his wife, or to
be précis, an android of his wife who comes after him calling out his name. Harcourt Fenten
Mudd. To this day I can still hear it in my mind.
God is bigger than that. We cannot and should not diminish him by using his name in profanity.
But you know what is even worse. Using God’s name to cover our lies. When we swear by God’
s name under oath and then lie to cover ourselves, we are hiding behind God with our lies. We
are making him party to our moral failures and bringing him down.
Perhaps the greatest moral problem facing our nation today is a decline in integrity! Constitutional
scholar Robert Bork was asked, “What is wrong with our world?” He answered, “We have lost
our common denominator of a moral language.” Lying and cheating have become commonplace
and acceptable.
A recent survey was conducted among college students on the subject of cheating. A Rutgers
University anthropology professor, Michael Moffatt, led the study. Forty-five percent of the
students admitted to cheating on tests occasionally, and another thirty-three percent said they
cheated regularly. Dr. Moffatt, said that “cheating comes almost as natural as breathing,” and
called it an academic skill almost as important as reading, writing, and math.
Sometimes it is more subtle and couched in nice language. For example:
A woman of great wealth authorized a book about her genealogy. During the research, the author
engaged for the assignment discovered that one of her grandfathers had been electrocuted in Sing
Sing. He insisted that he would not delete this information from the book, though the woman
pleaded for him to hide the truth. The final edit of the book read: “Her grandfather occupied the
chair of applied electricity in one of America’s best known institutions. He was very much
attached to his position and literally died in the harness.”
God says, “No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will
stand in my presence” (Psalm 101:7). And in Proverbs 12 he says, “The LORD detests lying lips,
but he delights in men who are truthful.
You see, the Pharisees of Jesus’ time developed elaborate rules for oath-taking. They carefully
kept the letter of the law, while creating formulas that allowed them to be untruthful. They
insisted that oaths sworn “to the Lord” must be kept, but they welcomed the loophole of avoiding
the specific mention of God’s name. Clever in their speech, they swore by heaven, or earth but
painstakingly skirted the name of God. Their promises were impressive, but they had no intention
of keeping them. They could say, “You didn’t hear me correctly...I didn’t make a binding oath. I
didn’t use the Divine Name.”
As Christians we should know better. We are to be an example to the world. Our word should be
solid and true. When we speak, it should be as though God was our witness.
When you lie, you make a mockery of God and his call for us to live lives of holiness. That ranks
right up there with profanity.
Finally, there is nothing worse than giving God lip service according to Elton Trueblood. The late
Quaker scholar suggests the worst form of breaking the third commandment is hypocrisy.
This commandment calls for integrity in our personal relationships with God. Honesty is crucial
in that relationship. God says, “Don’t patronize me. Don’t try to use me. Don’t caricature me.
Don’t try to manipulate me. Don’t treat me casually. Take me seriously as I am.”
Our relationship to God is serious business. You’ve heard it before but someone once said in
reference to the popular bumper sticker, “We want God to be our co-pilot. That means he sits
there and goes along for the ride. But God wants to be the pilot and the guiding force in our
lives.” Too many of us take God too lightly. We want to be in his club but we don’t want to pay
the dues.
Throughout the Scripture God criticizes mild commitment. He calls us to take up our cross and
follow him. He doesn’t want to hear excuses. He is serious. When we take our Christian walk
half heartedly, we are taking him, his name in vain and making light of him.
You see God does not take us lightly. He gave up his son for us. He made the ultimate sacrifice
to show us just how serious he was. That’s God. He stands by his name. It is who he is.
So the only way we can respond to that is to respect his name and worship him with all our heart
and all our soul and all our strength and all our mind. We need to worship and reverence him
with the same respect he has given us.
He has called us by name and as the psalmist says, elevated us above everything else in all
creation. We can do no less for him.
The late Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame, said that when he became a Christian
he lost half of his vocabulary because of the amount of profanity he used. His life changed
forever and the manner in which he dealt with people changed considerably.
That is really what this third commandment is all about. It is living life in a way that honors God
and lifts up his name. It is living a life that worships his majesty day in and day out. It is all about
becoming a reflection of the one who gave us his name. That is the best way to keep his name
holy.
I know I have got some work to do. How about you? Amen.
Exodus 20:7 July 22,2007
Most of us take our names for granted. Some of us don’t even like our names. We prefer
nicknames over our given names. Bradford becomes Whitey and Margaret becomes Peggy.
Andrew becomes Andy and Priscilla become Sissy. I think that is because we all realize that our
names tend to define us. To become Charles Anthony Jones V pushes us into the mold of our
father and grandfather. So we prefer to be called Tony. That name allows us to be who we
really are.
Yet names really are significant. I’ll never forget the scene in Disney’s animated film, The Lion
King, where Rafiki climbs Pride Rock with the newborn lion cub of King Mufasa and Queen
Sarabi. As the music builds and anticipation grows, he holds the cub up high and gives him the
name of Simba, which in Swahili means “king.” The name was not arbitrary. It defined who the
cub would become.
You see until we have a name, we are nobody.
I’ll never forget that day just over twenty two years ago when I stood in the delivery room of
Women and Infants Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. Lori was in the throes of labor and I
was holding her hand when the doctor called to us and said, “It’s a girl! What’s her name?” For
a second we looked at him and at the tiny little child as if we had been struck dumb. And then I
said, Rebecca, her name is Rebecca.”
After nine months of living with the dream of a child, suddenly in that moment, when she was
given a name of her own, she became real in our minds as she had never been before. In naming
our daughter she became a unique and precious individual in her own right.
The truth is that giving a name to someone or something is a powerful act. That is why it is
almost unthinkable that God gave the honor to Adam when the creation was in its infancy. You
remember the story in Genesis? God called every living creature forth and told him to give each a
name. God created and Adam named.
If you go down through history, you will see that many tribes, peoples and nations made a
special place for the naming of children and those who were to be honored or celebrated.
In Judaism, right up until this day, there has always been a celebration set aside for naming a girl
on the second day and a boy on the eighth day or the day of circumcision.
Tribal people in Africa and in North America had special rituals planned for the day a name was
to be given to the child. They often believed that the name gave voice to the spirit that was within
the body. The early Christians often chose Christian names, the names of Saints and Martyrs, to
give their children on the day of their baptism or confirmation.
You see a name has always been considered a powerful thing. It makes that which is named,
unique and special.
It should come as no surprise that when Moses met God in the burning bush, one of the first
questions Moses asked was that of God’s name. “Who shall I tell them sent me?”
God revealed his name as “I Am” or literally “I am who I am” or “I will be who I will be.” You
might as well call God “More than we will ever know” because his very essence is indescribable.
Down through the ages God has had many names, most of them describing his attributes.
The Jewish people considered God’s name so holy, that they wouldn’t even write it down at
first. They later wrote it but were careful to leave out the vowels so that his total essence would
not be captured. God was known as Jehovah or Yahweh often with a descriptor following it.
His name was used with great reverence in the same way that the Ark of the Covenant was
protected and revered. For there was only one Jehovah, one Yahweh and his name was precious.
Things are quite different today. God’s name is thrown around as if it were a softball or ping
pong ball. It is often used as an adjective to describe something great or something terrible.
Worse yet, it is used to curse someone or thing. Of all the commandments, I think this is the one
that needs the most attention today. Too many of us have forgotten that God is his name.
When most of us hear the third commandment “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy
God in vain” we usually consider it a commandment against bad language: cursing, swearing and
profanity. But it is so much more than that. To fully understand this commandment you have to
look at the word vain or vanity and find its meaning. It literally means “to empty of content, to
make irrelevant.” So at its core the third commandment is an injunction against emptying God’s
name of significance; making it irrelevant; using it lightly.
Now I see three ways we do that today. The first is the most obvious. We dishonor God’s name
when we use it as profanity. Now I heard someone say that when we swear we are one step
away from prayer. We call out God’s name and then we leave it there… But the truth is that
when God’s name is used to condemn or as angry shorthand for a long list of complaints against
the world, then we are taking that which is holy and making it profane.
When we come to God we should always come on bended knee. But when we use his name in
profanity, we are saying that we are the ones in control and that God should do our bidding.
Think about it: When we call our children and use their full name, John Robert Smith. Mary
Elizabeth Jones, it usually means that they have done something wrong and are about to get
punished. We are exerting our authority and putting them in their place.
I am a star trek fan and the one name I will never forget is that of Harcourt Fenton Mudd. In one
episode he finally gets put in his place after some mischief he has created and it is his wife, or to
be précis, an android of his wife who comes after him calling out his name. Harcourt Fenten
Mudd. To this day I can still hear it in my mind.
God is bigger than that. We cannot and should not diminish him by using his name in profanity.
But you know what is even worse. Using God’s name to cover our lies. When we swear by God’
s name under oath and then lie to cover ourselves, we are hiding behind God with our lies. We
are making him party to our moral failures and bringing him down.
Perhaps the greatest moral problem facing our nation today is a decline in integrity! Constitutional
scholar Robert Bork was asked, “What is wrong with our world?” He answered, “We have lost
our common denominator of a moral language.” Lying and cheating have become commonplace
and acceptable.
A recent survey was conducted among college students on the subject of cheating. A Rutgers
University anthropology professor, Michael Moffatt, led the study. Forty-five percent of the
students admitted to cheating on tests occasionally, and another thirty-three percent said they
cheated regularly. Dr. Moffatt, said that “cheating comes almost as natural as breathing,” and
called it an academic skill almost as important as reading, writing, and math.
Sometimes it is more subtle and couched in nice language. For example:
A woman of great wealth authorized a book about her genealogy. During the research, the author
engaged for the assignment discovered that one of her grandfathers had been electrocuted in Sing
Sing. He insisted that he would not delete this information from the book, though the woman
pleaded for him to hide the truth. The final edit of the book read: “Her grandfather occupied the
chair of applied electricity in one of America’s best known institutions. He was very much
attached to his position and literally died in the harness.”
God says, “No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will
stand in my presence” (Psalm 101:7). And in Proverbs 12 he says, “The LORD detests lying lips,
but he delights in men who are truthful.
You see, the Pharisees of Jesus’ time developed elaborate rules for oath-taking. They carefully
kept the letter of the law, while creating formulas that allowed them to be untruthful. They
insisted that oaths sworn “to the Lord” must be kept, but they welcomed the loophole of avoiding
the specific mention of God’s name. Clever in their speech, they swore by heaven, or earth but
painstakingly skirted the name of God. Their promises were impressive, but they had no intention
of keeping them. They could say, “You didn’t hear me correctly...I didn’t make a binding oath. I
didn’t use the Divine Name.”
As Christians we should know better. We are to be an example to the world. Our word should be
solid and true. When we speak, it should be as though God was our witness.
When you lie, you make a mockery of God and his call for us to live lives of holiness. That ranks
right up there with profanity.
Finally, there is nothing worse than giving God lip service according to Elton Trueblood. The late
Quaker scholar suggests the worst form of breaking the third commandment is hypocrisy.
This commandment calls for integrity in our personal relationships with God. Honesty is crucial
in that relationship. God says, “Don’t patronize me. Don’t try to use me. Don’t caricature me.
Don’t try to manipulate me. Don’t treat me casually. Take me seriously as I am.”
Our relationship to God is serious business. You’ve heard it before but someone once said in
reference to the popular bumper sticker, “We want God to be our co-pilot. That means he sits
there and goes along for the ride. But God wants to be the pilot and the guiding force in our
lives.” Too many of us take God too lightly. We want to be in his club but we don’t want to pay
the dues.
Throughout the Scripture God criticizes mild commitment. He calls us to take up our cross and
follow him. He doesn’t want to hear excuses. He is serious. When we take our Christian walk
half heartedly, we are taking him, his name in vain and making light of him.
You see God does not take us lightly. He gave up his son for us. He made the ultimate sacrifice
to show us just how serious he was. That’s God. He stands by his name. It is who he is.
So the only way we can respond to that is to respect his name and worship him with all our heart
and all our soul and all our strength and all our mind. We need to worship and reverence him
with the same respect he has given us.
He has called us by name and as the psalmist says, elevated us above everything else in all
creation. We can do no less for him.
The late Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame, said that when he became a Christian
he lost half of his vocabulary because of the amount of profanity he used. His life changed
forever and the manner in which he dealt with people changed considerably.
That is really what this third commandment is all about. It is living life in a way that honors God
and lifts up his name. It is living a life that worships his majesty day in and day out. It is all about
becoming a reflection of the one who gave us his name. That is the best way to keep his name
holy.
I know I have got some work to do. How about you? Amen.
| Welcome to the First Baptist Church of Norwich 239 West Main Street Norwich, Connecticut Phone: 860-889-0369 |
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