The Third Commandment:
BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD
“You shall not take the Name of the LORD your God in vain,
For the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His Name in vain.”
Exodus 20: 7
INTRODUCTION
This morning we are going to explore the Third Commandment “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” [Exodus 20: 7]. Hopefully by the end of this sermon, you will have a deeper appreciation of the many implications of this commandment.
God’s name is holy, powerful, and glorious. There is power in the LORD’s name, and we should use it with reverence. God is Spirit, and we only know Him through what He has revealed about Himself. To take His name in vain violates who God is. We must understand that God is very jealous about anything that touches negatively upon His name and reputation.
BACKGROUND
Knowing someone by name implies a certain degree of intimacy and relationship. When Moses asked who shall I say sent me, God told Moses “I AM WHO I AM.’ This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you. God also said to Moses, Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob — has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” [Exodus 3: 14-15]. When the Son of God became incarnate, He was named JESUS, which means “Jehovah saves,” because he would save us from our sins [Matthew 1: 21].
It is commonly thought that the third commandment simply prohibits using God’s name as a profanity, but much, much more is involved. God wants to receive the honour that is due his name. The issue is not using God’s name, but misusing or abusing it. God does not want His name to be used needlessly, irreverently, or with contempt. To use the LORD’s name in vain means to empty it of the honour it so richly deserves. As it says in the New Living Translation “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God.”[Exodus 20: 7].
There is power in a name, power in being able to call someone by name. As Christians we are privileged to be among those to whom the LORD has entrusted His name. We have an incredible responsibility to use the LORD’s name with holy reverence. As disciples of Jesus Christ we are called to pray, to intercede before God’s throne on behalf of others. We know that where two or three are gathered together in Jesus’ name, He is there in the midst of us [Matthew 18: 20]. God has chosen to come close to us, to reveal the “name that is above every name” [Philippians 2: 9] in order that we might joyfully witness to a world that so desperately needs Him. We are to demonstrate to the world the power of knowing how to properly address God so
“… that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.” [Philippians 2: 10-11].
God has revealed Himself to us as Holy Trinity: One God, three persons — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As Christians we are in relationship with the Father who created us, the Son who redeemed us, and the Holy Spirit who sanctifies and sustains us. Any other claimant to the name “God” is an idol, and the second commandment has already warned us about idolatry.
GENERAL FRAMEWORK FOR DAILY LIVING
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means “God is with us.” [Matthew 1: 23].
When we look at the Ten Commandments we interpret them somewhat differently than the ancient Hebrews. We look at them through the life, teaching, death, resurrection and ascension of our LORD Jesus Christ and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. When we pray in Jesus’ name we believe we are praying in the name of God.
The Commandments are not a short list of do’s and don’ts, but rather are first and foremost about the kind of people we ought to become as followers of Jesus Christ. The primary question is not so much, ‘What ought I to do? but rather, Who ought I to be?’ Refraining from taking the LORD’s name in vain means we are committed to telling the truth to God, to ourselves and to one another.
This is incredibly important for we live in a culture of deceit where truth and honesty are usually given lip service. All too often people tell the truth when it is convenient, but abandon it when it might prove costly. I remember talking with a Christian who found it difficult to worship in a congregational setting because of the low level of honesty she experienced when compared to attending an Alcoholic Anonymous meeting or being in a drug rehabilitation programme. Her question was ‘Why do we abuse God’s name by being so dishonest with one another?’ She awoke me to the fact that when Christians lie they are dishonouring God’s name and hence breaking the third commandment.
You probably heard on the news, as I did, that there is widespread corruption in the trucking industry, where truck drivers are forced to fill out false timesheets about the hours driven, if they want to keep their jobs. A very large Winnipeg trucking company has the worst record for violations in North America. The end result, Canadian truckers have twice as many accidents as their American counterparts. It was interesting listening to a Canadian trucking spokesman offer all sorts of excuses as to why they exploited their drivers by forcing them to drive much longer hours than is safe. By having so little regard for the truth when it stands in the way of profit, the trucking companies are abusing the LORD’s name for God is Truth. Contrast that standard of deceit with the absolute honesty of Jesus when he prayed “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” [Matthew 26: 39].
Martin Luther stated in his Large Catechism that “to lie and assert under His name something that is not so” is to take God’s name in vain. Christians are called to live truthfully and speak truthfully. I find it sad that when a survey was done of American Christians, and it is probably the same in Canada, most believed that blasphemy was not a problem. Yet a recent survey indicates that when the words “God” or “Jesus” are used on prime time television, 96% of the time the Third Commandment is broken. Blasphemy is speech that makes God part of our lies, and it is a sign of our faithlessness that we are no longer outraged by it. As Thomas Aquinas observed, when we swear by God we are calling God to be our witness, and thus when we swear falsely we imply to our neighbours that God loves lies. Yet we know that the opposite is true, God hates lies [Psalm 5: 6].
The Westminster Shorter Catechism tells us “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” That is the reason we were created — to glorify God. If we profane His name, if we do the very opposite of what we are created to do and be, we are in rebellion against God. Those who do not fulfill His purpose in this world will end up separated from Him forever. God gave us this commandment to protect us from this tragic end.
GOD’s NAME IS HOLY
In our parish we recite the LORD’s Prayer as part of our worship. Notice the first line of this prayer, “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” In all we do, wherever we are, we should acknowledge that God’s name is holy. If our task is to glorify God, we need to be conscious of how we treat the LORD’s name. As one parishioner observed, perhaps the most common trivializing of the LORD’s name that we encounter in Manitoba is the phrase, “O my God!”
Here are some of the common excuses we have all heard. “Well, I didn’t mean anything by it.” Oh, you know it’s … it’s just a bad habit.” “I didn’t even realize that I was doing it.” That is the problem. Tragically, we are unthinkingly bringing dishonour to the LORD’s name. Of all the sins we commit, we enter into it without provocation or temptation. If we are having great difficulties, we should call upon Almighty God to help us.
One experience that many ministers have had is when someone takes the name of the LORD in vain and then sees their priest or pastor standing nearby. Even with strangers when they see the collar, they often say something like this, “Oh, excuse me, Pastor, I didn’t realize you were there.” In those situations I wish I’d had the foresight to say, “Friend, your apology is not owed to me.” Isn’t it amazing what practical atheism is revealed by the person who is concerned about offending a pastor, but completely unconcerned about offending God? This is no small matter as the Epistle of James makes clear “Above all my brothers and sisters, do not swear — not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’, and your ‘No’ be ‘No’, or you will be condemned.” [5: 12].
There is an interesting passage in Leviticus 24: 10-16 where two Israelites had a fight and one swore at the other. It shocked the nation that any Israelite would dare to profane God’s name. There are different levels of concern exhibited in this story. First, that the LORD had been offended, and second, for those who had heard God’s name being profaned. Their solution was to stone the offender. They recognized that something truly serious had occurred. This might have been justice in its most primitive and rawest form, but it captures the seriousness of what had happened.
John Calvin, the great Protestant Reformer, declares that we ought to speak reverently not just of God, but also of God’s works, even the weather. You may think that Calvin went a bit too far in asking us to stop complaining about the weather. After all, what else would Manitobans have to talk about? Yet it does reveal how easy it is for us to think of ourselves as being independent from God in all the ways that really matter. Rather we should view our lives as intimately expressing who God says we are. Having convinced ourselves that we are creators rather than creatures, we live our lives as if there is no Creator. The curse, “God damn you,” is a vain use of God’s name to the extent that it implies that God will damn according to our wishes. We are seizing God’s prerogative as if we are gods. God’s promise to punish those who abuse His name is good news because it tells us that what we do, say and think matters very much.
Even Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount draws attention to the Third Commandment. “Again, you have heard it said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the LORD.’ But I tell you do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King…Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” [Matthew 5: 33-35, 37]. It is worth noting that the Mennonites and Quakers have a long tradition of refusing to swear on a Bible in court because of Jesus’ prohibition. Again Jesus said, “…every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven… But I tell you that men and women 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.” [Matthew 12: 31, 36, 37].
I would like to introduce something else that you may not have considered. Jesus himself was accused of blasphemy. The high priest said Jesus broke the Third Commandment by claiming to be God, and condemned Jesus to death. [Matthew 25: 63-68; 27: 39-43; John 10: 33]. As Christians we believe Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. Thus, Jesus did not break the Third Commandment because he was who he said he was. He spoke the truth at the cost of His life.
There is one other story in the New Testament that powerfully touches on the third Commandment. It is the story of Ananias and Sapphira. You remember how they sold their field and pretended to give all the proceeds to the church. It is important to know that they did not have to give any of the money to the church. Peter does not accuse them of greed or materialism, but of lying to the Holy Spirit. [Acts 5: 5]. They had broken the Third Commandment, and God’s judgment was swift. No wonder that we read, “And great fear seized the whole church.” [Acts 5: 11].
CONCLUSION
In closing, we have discovered that observing the third Commandment requires much more than refraining from profanity and swearing. As Christians we worship the God of Truth and He desires truth to be on our lips and in our hearts. We are called to glorify the LORD’s name by the way we live and speak. We are to be living channels of God’s grace, love, and truth in word and in action. In short we are called to be a unique people who do not conform to the ways of the world.
The Bible says we are to pray, heal and baptize in Jesus’ name. [Matthew 28: 19; John 14: 13]. What we say is very important, and it provides a glimpse into who we really are. [James 3: 9-12]. God loves us and wants us to worship Him with all our heart. God also wants us to use His name correctly; it is holy and powerful.
I entitled this sermon ‘Blessed be the name of the LORD’ because God desires our praise. We have the joyful and wonderful task of blessing the LORD. As we said earlier this morning
“Blessed be the name of the LORD now and forever.
From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised…”
[Psalm 113: 2-3]
Bibliography
Stanley M. Hauerwas & William H. Willimon, The Truth About God: The Ten Commandments in Christian Life, pp. 55-65, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1999
D. James Kennedy, Why The Ten Commandments Matter, pp. 55-69, Warner Faith, New York, Boston, Nashville, 2005
Robert M. West, The Ten Commandments Then & Now, pp. 41-53, Barbour, 2010
