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Sunday Morning – January 24, 2010
Pastor Joel Renkema
Deuteronomy 5.11 and Exodus 20.7
Name Calling
You know, the way we say something matters just as much as what we say, doesn’t it? For example: at Calvin College every year all the dorms have a campus wide games competition called Chaos day. All the dorms dress up, face paint – you name it. Then they compete in games, like three-legged races and tug of war. Now, there is a dorm called Shultze-Eldersveld. The guys lived on the Shultze side and the girls on the Eldersveld side. And I remember during one event the entire Shultze-Eldersveld dorm started chanting, “Shultze-Eldersveld, Shultze-Eldersveld.” But after just a few minutes the remaining 6 dorms drowned them out chanting the same thing, but with a twist. “Shultze-Eldersveld, Shultze-Eldersveld.” You get it, the guys live in Shultze and the girls in Eldersveld. We were chanting the same thing, but it meant something different, negative.
In a way it kind of reminds me something from the TV show Seinfeld. In that show Jerry Seinfeld has a little feud going with a neighbor and postman. His name is Newman. Except whenever Jerry says his enemy’s name it is never just, Newman. It is Newman! With one word Jerry communicates all his negative feelings towards his antagonist. And it makes us laugh. If you ever watched that show you soon got to appreciate Jerry Seinfeld’s distaste for the portly postman, Newman! You begin to feel the same thing for Newman that Jerry does. The third commandment we can call the Newman commandment.
You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain. Or you shall not misuse the Lord’s name. What an odd commandment, isn’t it? I mean all the other commandments make sense to me. Don’t kill, yeah that’s a good thing. Don’t steal, check. Don’t spend your time dreaming about having my donkey, another good thing. Don’t worship fake gods, understandable. Honor your parents and make sure you take a day to rest and think about God, also make sense. But don’t misuse God’s name? I’m sure it is a good thing but Is it top 10 worthy? Shouldn’t God be big enough to handle a little name calling. You know, “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words never hurt me.” Why dedicate one of the 10 great commandments to not getting God’s name misused? Right? What’s the big deal?
Well, because of the Newman principle. Jerry almost seems to take pleasure out of saying his enemy’s name with disgust. In fact after so many years on the air Jerry’s way of saying, Newman defined who Newman was. And through Jerry’s intense disgust for Newman, through the way Jerry just says Newman’s name, we feel some of the same disgust for Newman. In fact you don’t even need to watch the show and know who Newman is for you to get the feeling about what kind of person Newman is, just by how Jerry says his name.
How a person uses God’s name. How a person talks about God communicates a lot about who God is to that person. It can communicate respect. It can communicate disgust. The Newman principle. This third commandment talks about how God is proclaimed to the world, revealed to the world.
Historically this commandment has been neutered. When grew up I was told that this commandment just means that I couldn’t say words like, jeez, gosh or curse by saying God “darn it” or “dang it” or that worse thing that rhymes with that thing beavers make. But it has more to do with just using God’s name inappropriately. It has to do with how we present God to the world around us. This commandment has to do with protecting God’s divine reputation. This commandment is designed to protect the divine name from being associated with anything that discredits God or brings God’s purpose for the world into disrepute. This commandment protects God against the Newman principle.
The original Hebrew that this law was written in prohibits applying God’s name to something that is “empty” or “fake.” When it says “do not misuse the name of the Lord” it is literally saying, “don’t make the name of the Lord weightless.” Or unimportant/meaningless and thereby making God seem unimportant, weightless.
Psalm 135.13 says, “Your name, O Lord, endures forever. Your renown throughout the generations.” In this psalm the author is linking God’s name with his character. With how he is known, perceived by the world. God’s name and his renown are the same thing. God’s name is what communicates God’s identity, his character and presence throughout the world.
The book of Exodus also has the 10 commandments in it. And there is a theme phrase that repeats itself throughout the book of Exodus, it is “So that MY name be declared throughout the world.” This is the book of the Bible that begins with Israel slaving away for Pharaoh, an earthly master, building warehouses. And it is a book that ends with Israel free, building a tabernacle for their God. And in the middle of this transition from Pharaoh to God we have the ten commandments. They are key for the world to see that Israel exists so that the world might know the Lord’s name. And knowing the Lord’s name, honor the Lord.
In the ancient middle-east Kings used to have an egotistical habit. They marked their nation’s boundaries by having sculptures of themselves made. And they would then put these sculptures out on the borders so that when people crossed the border they would see whose land this was. Whose country this was. This was God’s plan for Israel. His plan was for the world to see God’s likeness in Israel and then see whose world this was. On Mount Sinai God agreed to be Israel’s God and they would be his people, not just for their good, but so that the nations of the earth would look at Israel and see God.
But if Israel defamed God’s name by using it to curse. Or defiled God’s name by applying it to inappropriate, empty and fake things. If Israel presented to the world a disrespect for their God, then the Lord’s renown throughout the world would diminish. The Newman principle. The way Jerry says that simple name proclaims his disgust. The way Israel spoke of their God, proclaimed their God, this had a lot to do with if people knew to honor God or disrespect God.
So this third commandment is not just about misusing the name of God. It is about using the name of God correctly. It is about guarding the reputation of God in the eyes of the world. There is a saying in Puerto Rico where I lived for a while. It was, Dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres. Tell me with whom you hang out and I’ll tell you who you are. So in this commandment God is saying to Israel: “Hey, I want people to know who I am. The only way they will know who I am is by who my peeps are. You. So don’t mess it up. Don’t make me look bad.”
So what does this commandment require from us today? Perhaps a better question is to ask ourselves this question. Will people who know me be drawn to God’s name or repelled by it? When people find out you are a Christian, will they be drawn to God, or will it actually push them away?
I read a book last week that was based on a study of how America thinks of Christianity. This study found that 84% of people interviewed who were not Christians knew a Christian personally. But only 15% of them saw a life-style difference between Christians and outsiders.
Did you know that today Christians between the ages of 22 and 41 only 5% admit to having given someone the finger in the last month. Pretty good right? But 4 times that number have had sex outside of marriage in the last month. 5 times that number have gotten publicly drunk in the last month. 5 times that number have gambled in the last month. 7 times that number have used profanity in a conversation.
Why is it do you think that so many people don’t become Christians? A lot of times we Christians think it is because people are intimidated by all the rules they would have to keep. They are intimidated by the hard life that it is to be a Christian. You know, go to church. Don’t sin. Etc… What an egotistical way for us to think, isn’t it? Outsiders don’t want to join us because our life is tough, not everyone can cut it. We think being a Christian is like being a Marine, the few, the proud.
Nope. The top four reasons why people don’t become Christians are 1. They’ve never actually even considered it. 2. They aren’t interested in spirituality. 3. They already profess a different religion. And 4. They are repelled by Christians.
Many outsiders are repelled by Christians. I wonder, what do we do that repels people? Did you know that right now in the US Jesus is VERY popular. No one will bad mouth Jesus. Non Christians will tattoo crosses on themselves and wear cross pendants. Even atheists still say nice things about Jesus. But the church on the other hand. The church and Christianity is not popular. How did we manage that one?
I think Titus 2. gives us the answer. It says, “Teach older men to be… worthy of respect, self-controlled. Teach older women to be reverent in the way they live. Train the younger women … to be self-controlled and pure. Encourage young men to be self-controlled. In your teachings show integrity… that cannot be condemned so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. So that NO ONE, may malign the word of God.”
The problem is that our lives are not always self-controlled and pure. A wicked life-style on part of Christians can be occasion for outsiders to belittle, blaspheme the word of God.
What is it in our lives that repels outsiders?
According to that study these are the things about Christians that repel outsiders. Number 1 – Christians are anti-homosexual. We as a church have completely failed at loving homosexuals while hating the sin. We’ve alienated them. They think we hate them. Proposition 8, right or wrong might have done irreparable damage between the church and the homosexual community of California. Number 2 – we are judgmental. Number 3 – we are hypocritical. We say one thing, do another. Number 4 – we are too involved in politics. We seem to care more about laws and legislation than changing lives. This is sanctity of life Sunday. We all know we should be against abortion. Many of us vote Republican every-time because of this one issue. But maybe the solution to the problem is not legislative. Maybe the solution is social. Maybe the solution is us loving teen-age moms more, adopting more babies, participating more in pregnancy care centers. Number 5 and 6 – we are out of touch with reality and old-fashioned. We don’t really get what life is like for the rest of the world. We resist change. By the way, Number 8 is Christians are boring. I’m not going to go through the whole list. But whatever we do that causes people to be repelled from Christianity, that is us breaking the 3rd commandment. That is us muddying God’s name. Destroying God’s reputation.
I know what some of you are thinking and I don’t want you to hear me wrong. We should stand up against the sins of this world. But remember, it isn’t just what we say, it is the WAY we say it. We might say the right thing, like homosexual liaison’s are sinful. But we say it the wrong way. Homosexuality is considered the last OK prejudice in the Church, and that repels people.
Let me finish this part by giving you a silly example, but I think it gets to the core of the problem. How many of you have a little Christian fish on your car, or a Christian bumper sticker or that Not Of This World car window stickers? Ok, how many of you have been cut-off or honked at, or flipped off by a car with that fish or sticker on it?
My apologies to any Oakland Raider’s fans out there, but I already don’t like the Raiders. But when one of their fans cuts me off with the Skull and Crossbones bumper sticker on their car… I dislike the like the Raiders even more. Even though the football team has nothing to do with me being cut-off. But you see the relationship.
The way we live, who we are has a ton to do with how outsiders see God, understand God. And anything we do that repels outsiders from God. Or makes them think God is less than who God really is, that is us breaking this third commandment.
Now, at this point you are probably feeling not too good about yourselves. I know that writing this sermon did not in anyway make myself feel any better. It made me feel guilty. It made me wonder, how do I/we keep this commandment. I mean, we are all sinners. We can’t stop that. We are going to let people down all the time.
We don’t keep this commandment by being good. We don’t keep this commandment by being righteous or more moral than everyone else. A lot of times we think that is what Christianity is about, right? About being good. Let me tell you what, most outsiders also think that is the answer. They also think that it is about being good, so that is all they have to be. They don’t need the church, they don’t need Jesus. They just need to be good. But being more good doesn’t bring more honor to God’s name. Being more good just brings honor to our own name, our own personal efforts to be moral, upstanding people. Which by the way, won’t take us very far. And I wonder, are we as a church burying people – insiders to the church and outsiders – under the weight of a self-righteous life?
We keep this commandment not by being perfect, but by being transparent. We keep this commandment by repentance. We keep this commandment by letting the world see us struggle with sin and when we fail, asking for forgiveness. We keep this commandment by showing the world that Holiness comes from God, not ourselves.
In Exodus 34.5-8 God names himself when he is talking to Moses. He says, “The Lord, the Lord, compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” Moses bowed to the ground at once and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes the let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin and take us to your inheritance.” And the Lord said: “I will make a covenant with you…”
Moses acknowledges Israel’s sin, begs forgiveness and God makes a covenant with them. God makes a covenant with us when we do the same.
I sometimes wonder why. Why did God choose stiff-necked Israel? Why did God chose stiff-necked me, stiff-necked you? The Psalmist wondered the same thing and this is the answer he came up with in Psalm 106, “He saved them for his names sake, that he might make his mighty power known.”
You know what I think is interesting about this commandment. It prohibits us from misusing God’s name, but it doesn’t prohibit us from using it. In fact I think the point is that we are supposed to use God’s name. God himself gives us his name. And saying God’s name, using God’s name appropriately is a way we can invoke God’s presence and power.
Think of it this way. When you first meet someone the first thing you do is exchange names. It opens the door to knowing each other. It opens the door to the person’s identity, to the core of their being as you continue to get to know each other. God gives us the responsibility here of keeping his name holy. It is like being on the show 24 and Jack Bauer hands you the “football”, the suitcase with all the nuclear codes and tells you to keep it safe. It is power. It is responsibility.
God has this odd habit of giving power away. Of making the small, powerful. He has done it hundreds of times. Stuttering Moses to leader of nation. Shepherd boy to King of Israel. Drunken Noah to sole survivor. Pre-teen Jeremiah to prophet of Israel. Teenage Mary to mother of God. A small town Carpenter’s son born in a stable to become the savior of the world. You and Me to Name Holders of the Holy One.
Amen.
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