You Shall Not Take the Name of the Lord in Vain.

God’s Top Ten List, III:
“You Shall Not Take the Name of the Lord in Vain.”
Exodus 20:7
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender, 9/26/10

What’s in a name? How did Shakespeare put it? “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” What’s in a name? Particularly, what’s the big-deal about GOD’S NAME?
Every week, every single Sunday morning, we all offer one very familiar prayer, arguably the most important prayer of all: the Lord’s Prayer. And what is the FIRST thing we ask for in that prayer? The very first request?
I can see the “wheels turning”...
“Our Father, who art in heaven... HALLOWED BE THY NAME...”
First thing! Before any requests for our needs to be met, or our sins forgiven, or our lives being kept from evil... “hallowed be thy name”! At least, according to the order of the prayer, this is what we claim every week to be most desiring. Do we ever think about that?
What’s in a NAME? Well, this is our topic this morning.
Today we continue our study of the Ten Commandments with the Third Commandment – another command which, as with the first two, is concerned with our RELATIONSHIP TO GOD. Once again, as we’ve noted over the past two weeks: While most people tend to say “I’ll get around to working on my relationship with God as soon as I take care of other things, as soon as I have time”; the Ten Commandments make it clear that this is to have everything BACKWARDS: working out one’s FAITH is first and foremost – everything hinges upon this.
The First Commandment dealt with the issue of RIVALS to God: “You shall have no other gods before me.”
The Second Commandment dealt with the issue of FAULTY UNDERSTANDINGS (or “images”) of God: “You shall not make for yourself an idol.”
And now, the Third Commandment deals specifically with our use of God’s NAME: “You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.” A couple of side-points to mention about this before we really delve into it:
First, note that this commandment is based upon the premise of the IMPORTANCE of our SPEECH. That OUR WORDS MATTER. As we’ve noted in the past: Words are not insignificant things, they can make or break lives. The wise person understands this and uses words carefully.
Remember the old joke about the woman who’s away on a trip and calls home to ask her husband how things are going? “Hi, dear, how are things at home?” the woman asks. “The husband says, “Well, the cat died.” The woman replies, “That’s terrible! Not only that the cat died but the way you told me! You’re always so blunt and unfeeling. Couldn’t you have been a little bit kinder and chosen your words better to break the news to me more gently?” “What do you mean?” inquires the husband. “Well,” the woman answers, “You could have broken the news to me gradually. Say, first, ‘The cat got up on the roof.’ Then, ‘The cat fell off the roof.’ Then, ‘The cat got hurt.” And finally, ‘The cat died.’ Be more compassionate.” “Okay,” replies the husband, “I’ll try to do better.” The wife says, “Any other news from home?” There’s a brief pause and then the husband says, “Well... Your mother got up on the roof.”
The wise person understands the tremendous power of their words and strives to use them carefully! From this then, note also, that, strictly speaking, the Third Commandment does not prohibit the use of VULGAR or OBSCENE language. There’s often some confusion about this; but God says nothing here about the use of foul “four-letter” words. The only issue is God’s NAME. Yet isn’t it interesting how, while most of us get very bothered by foul language we will allow the misuse of God’s name to pass by almost unnoticed. It’s become accepted. But consider that:
In church, let’s say, if someone were to say the “f-word” – If I were to “drop the f-bomb” (as it were) in a sermon, people would flip out! I would never hear the end of it! However, all around the church one continually hears “Oh, God... Oh, my God...”
Technically speaking, according to the Third Commandment, misuse of God’s name is the greater danger! The use of obscenities simply reveals a vulgar person; misuse of God’s name reveals a SINNER! It shows just how lost we have become in our faith! As Jesus once said to the Pharisees (the religious people of his day who thought they were closest to God but who were actually furthest away): “You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” That is, you go crazy over minor issues while you miss the major issues entirely!
Words matter. And God’s name is the key word.
So then, what is the big deal here? What’s the issue with this name thing? The first two commandments seem to deal with very serious issues, while this third seems rather minor and almost petty. What gives?
Well, to the modern American mind, names, of course, do not generally carry any particularly great meaning. As with Shakespeare’s “a rose by any other name” they can be practically anything, it doesn’t really matter. Thus, for example, most parents generally just name their children whatever sounds nice to them; or, at best, what simply has some family connection.
I’m reminded of the old joke about the father in the delivery room at the birth of his first child. Upon the child’s birth, the father takes hold of the newborn baby boy and announces, “We are going to name him Theophilus.” “Theophilus?” the nurse asks. “Why Theophilus?” To which the father replies, “Because... He is Theophilus looking baby I have ever seen!”
Names don’t mean a lot to us. However, as scholars remind us, it wasn’t always this way. In ancient times names had very specific meanings. A person’s name communicated the very ESSENCE of their personality – their soul. Thus, in the Bible, whenever a person’s life changed so did their name: Abram became Abraham. Jacob became Israel. Simon became Peter.
The name contained the person’s ESSENCE. And thus to possess the name of another was to possess some POWER OVER THEM, some GRASP of that essence. As in the creation story: humanity’s DOMINION over the animals involves first our right to NAME them.
A name – it is essence and grasp. All of this playing out most dramatically in one’s relationship to one’s God. Ancient people were extremely cautious in their use of their deities’ names because it was understood that the use of the name, it’s very utterance, was to COMMAND THE DIETY’S PRESENCE. Say the NAME and, in effect, GOD IS THERE!
Now, this may all sound somewhat foreign to us; but really think about it: We all have our experiences of God. But what enables us to IDENTIFY and to LABEL these experiences? By what do we REMEMBER and MAKE SENSE of and SHARE these experiences?
The NAME! That’s the unifying factor in all these activities! Without it, all these experiences are just experiences of______... Abstract, disjointed, possibly even almost meaningless events! Think of it this way:
How do we communicate with God? Through prayer. And what most commonly makes a prayer a prayer? The use of the NAME - spoken or just thought – that is... Saying: “Someone please heal me, I’m sick!” – that’s a wish. Saying, “Doctor, please heal me, I’m sick,” – that’s a request. But saying, “Lord, please heal me, I’m sick.” – that’s a prayer.
The name changes the experience. What’s in a name? EVERYTHING! The NAME OF GOD is the ULTIMATE POINT OF CONCATCT between us and God. The name is the FOCUS of God’s presence. God is always present with us; but the name is where we GRASP that presence. Thus Jesus says, “Whenever two or more are gathered IN MY NAME, I AM THERE.” The name is the presence.
The use of the name forms the relationship. Therefore, MISUSE of the name HARMS the relationship, hinders the presence. In effect: The first commandment asks: “What is God’s place in your life?” The Second Commandment asks, “What is your understanding of God?” And the Third Commandment asks, “How do you TREAT God?” For if the name is the “ultimate point of contact” then how we treat the name is how we treat God. The use of the name defines the relationship.
Notice how God offers a rather ominous warning here: “You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain, for the Lord WILL NOT AQUIT those who misuse his name.” Now that doesn’t mean (God is saying): “Don’t mess with my name - I’m ‘Mister God’ to you – because it really annoys me and I’ll hurt you if you forget that!” Rather it means (God is saying): “Don’t misuse my name because if you do it stands between you and me and it keeps me from being truly present and powerful in your life as I wish to be – and you need me to be!”
God is not threatening; God is imploring! How we use the name of God forms our relationship with God, determines whether we experience God in our lives or fail to do so. To misuse it is to break the relationship, to block the full reality of God’s presence. Notice that God doesn’t say we CANNOT USE his name; but only that we must not MISUSE it.
So, what does it mean to “misuse” the name of God? Well think about this:
Throughout the Bible there can be identified THREE PROPER USES of God’s name – they are: PRAYER – that is, communicating with God. PRAISE – worshipping and thanking God for his greatness and blessing. And PROCLAMATION – telling others of what God means to us.
Prayer, praise, proclamation – the three correct uses of Gods’ name. We can use this as a guide, for what is the FOCUS of each of these three? GOD. Right use of God’s name draws our attention TOWARD GOD. And, as we will observe, wrongful use does the opposite.
God defines wrongful use of his name specifically as (in the older translation): “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God IN VAIN.” The word “VAIN” can have a number of different meanings, each of which can be very instructive to us as to how our attention is being taken from God and what we need to do about it in order to fully experience God’s presence and live better...
(I)
The first possible meaning of the word “vain” is “EMPTY.” This is the most basic definition of the word and the one that basically encapsulates all the others: vain as in empty or void. For instance: “A vain attempt” – meaning useless, pointless. This is the first most common misuse of God’s name: the casual, or EMPTY USE of it.
This, of course, we are all very familiar with (as mentioned previously) in the wide-spread and commonly accepted practice (within our society today), of simply using God’s name as an EXCLAMATION – such as: “Oh, God!’ or “Oh, my God!” (or any of its derivatives). Such is an empty use of the name. One is not even really thinking of God at all, it’s just a figure of speech.
Now, what’s the problem with this? As many would argue: “We don’t mean anything by it, it’s just an expression!”
Well that is precisely the problem: We “don’t mean anything by it”! Essentially we’re saying God “doesn’t mean anything”! God is reduced to nothing, to little more than an article of grammar, an exclamation point in our speech. Our modern era having brought this to its fullest flower in having reduced it to shorthand, just three letters: OMG.
You know, I once saw a bumper-sticker that read: “God’s last name is not Damn!” The Creator of the universe reduced to nothing more than a crude expletive. God effectively made to NOT MATTER. Such a notion is deadly because (as we’ve seen over previous weeks) the path to life is understanding that God matters OVER EVERYTHING ELSE. And thus one’s purpose is to MAKE EVERYTHING MATTER FOR GOD. Our common empty use of God’s name “flips” this upside down and backwards – and our lives with it.
The answer? Well, first of all, obviously, if you’ve fallen into the habit of using such phrases (and it’s easy, they’re so commonly heard) you need to drive them from your vocabulary by whatever means necessary. Realize: they are like a cancer on your soul – continually saying that God doesn’t matter. As we’ve noted so many times in the past, our words make our reality. Say a lie often enough and you come to believe it to be true!
And understand: This is serious stuff! Again, as God warns in this commandment: God “will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.” “Will not acquit” literally means GUILT IN PERPETUITY, for ALL TIME! And this is the only commandment that carries this warning! Not even killing carries such an ominous threat! Think about that. Don’t believe your words matter? God isn’t messing around here!
We need to drive such phrases from our lips because they are a spiritual cancer, and then, even if we don’t tend to say such things, we need to realize that we can still be making the same mistake any time we trivialize God in our lives. Any time we effectively say “God doesn’t matter here”: God doesn’t matter in the workplace. God doesn’t matter in how I conduct my business. God doesn’t matter in how I treat this person.
Jesus once observed: “Why do you say, ‘Lord, Lord;’ but you don’t do what I say?” That is: “Why do you say my name; but the name has no authority over you?” The path to life is knowing that God matters above everything else and making everything matter for God! Basically, it means not just talking about being RELIGIOUS but actually BEING RELIGIOUS: Making every aspect of our lives about God! Giving God complete AUTHORITY over us. What part of your life are you not making about God? Where and how are you refusing God’s authority over you? In the repentance you won’t undertake, the apology you won’t offer, the apology you won’t accept, the selfishness you justify? Preacher King Duncan writes:
“I read about a pastor who was on an airplane on a late night flight going home and sitting behind him in the airplane were two salesmen. They began to lace their conversation with profanity and they were taking God’s name in vain, right and left, and this pastor had all he could take. He raised himself out of his seat, turned around so he was looking down on them and he asked this question, ‘Excuse me gentlemen. Are either one of you in the ministry?’ The one in the aisle seat raised his eyebrows and said, ‘What in the world would ever make you think that?’ The pastor said, ‘Well, I am in the ministry and I am amazed at your communication skills.’ The man said, ‘What do you mean?’ The preacher replied, ‘Well, you just said, “God, damn, hell, and Jesus Christ” in one sentence and I sometimes can’t get all of that into a whole sermon! You must truly be devout people.’ The pastor said they both looked kind of funny and he didn’t hear another word from them the rest of the flight.”
We use the name. Does it have authority over us? You want to find God’s presence in your life? The first step is simple: Do anything that increases the authority of Gods’ name over you.
The first way we often hurt our relationship with God, hinder God’s presence and power in our lives through the misuse of God’ name: The EMPTY USE – whenever God’s name, spoken or unspoken has NO AUTHORITY over us.
(II)
The second possible definition of “vain” is then “lacking in DEPTH.” For example, we sometimes speak of a person who cares only about their appearance, about externals, as being “vain.” This points us to the next common misuse of God’s name: the SUPERFICIAL USE. And I’ll warn you: A lot of good, faithful Christians get past the first misuse okay; but this second one trips them up! It goes like this:
Jesus was once talking about prayer and he said: “When you pray, do not heap up for yourself VAIN REPETITIONS...” That is, don’t just keep on saying a bunch of stuff, just to say it, a bunch of “religious” stuff that you don’t really mean, that’s just EXTERNAL. Speak from your heart, your true inner self.
You see, Jesus was really bugged about people just giving LIP SERVICE to their faith, people whose relationship with the Lord was only about EXTERNALS NOT INTERNALS. As Jesus said, in no uncertain terms, to the religious folk of his day: “You are like white-washed tombs.” In other words: “All clean on the outside, but full of death on the inside!” (By the way: This was not one of his more popular sermons!)
But you see, this is what so often happens in our lives, what so often happens in many religious folks’ lives: We rightly understand God’s supreme authority over us; but this authority always remains an EXTERNAL thing, we never let it really GET IN and work on our HEARTS where it really matters.
A man discovers he has cancer. He wants God to get rid of the cancer; he doesn’t want to discover God’s presence and purpose within the cancer. Yet which is actually the greater gift?
A woman is having trouble in her marriage. She prays to God to fix her marriage but refuses to allow God to change any of the wrongs within her that are contributing to the brokenness. Which would be the true healing?
The real presence and relationship with God is not in what God does FOR US; but in what God does TO US. How often do we say the name of God – in worship and in prayer; but we only want the power of that name to address OUTSIDE things, not reach in and actually change our hearts or very being?! Taking the name “in vain”: SUPERFICIALLY, not wanting it for what it really does? Plainly stated: How, in your life are you speaking God’s name, but not letting him in? One author writes:
“To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that we allow God to occupy and control every area of our lives. How much of you does the Holy Spirit have?
“When teaching this to my seminary students, I bring two glasses of water and two packets of Alka-Seltzer antacid to class. I drop one packet of Alka-Seltzer, with the wrapper still on, into one glass. Then I rip open the other packet and pour the contents into the second glass, and watch it fill with fizz.
“I say to my students, ‘Both glasses have the Alka-Seltzer, just as all Christians have the Holy Spirit. But notice how you can have the Holy Spirit and not his filling. It depends upon whether the package is opened.’ Our goal is to live in such a way as to unwrap the packaging around the presence and power of the Holy Spirit within us.”
The second most common misuse of God’s name: the SUPERFICIAL USE. You want to find God’s presence? Where does God need to reach down into your heart and really change you – but you’re not allowing it? Faith is ultimately not about what God does FOR us; it’s about what God does TO us.
Which leads us into...
(III)
The third possible definition of in vain” which is: “to RUSH OVER.” As I was studying this phrase I discovered that the Hebrew phrase “to take in vain” is based upon a core verb meaning “to rush over.” As in a storm or an army that would “rush over” and destroy, leave desolate. This got me thinking...
How often are we misusing God’s name by “rushing over” it? Think of it like this: Anybody here have anything in this past week for which they are thankful? If you’re having a hard time coming up with something, let me help you get started: How about waking up this morning alive, roof over your head, food on your table!
Now, does anybody here have anything to give thanks for in this past week? Well did you make a point during this week to STOP and RECOGNIZE these things and GIVE THANKS – BY NAME – TO GOD for them? Or did we all just take our blessings for granted, feel they are the results of our own labor, or things we just deserved, not feel they need to be acknowledged?
As much as it is a MISUSE to USE God’s name WRONGLY; so is it a misuse to NOT USE God’s name RIGHTLY! The third wrongful use of God’s name that blocks God’s presence from us, that hurts and breaks down the relationship: the FORGOTTEN USE – ingratitude. Failing to regularly stop and thank God by name for the blessings of life. It’s not enough to just not do what is wrong; we must also do what is right! Author Maureen Tobey reflects:
“My two-year-old daughter Kimberly was at an age when many things were being learned at once - ABC's, new words, numbers, etc. One evening, as we were saying our bedtime prayers, she prayed, ‘Dear God, thank you for my mommy and my daddy and my brother and my dog. And thank-you for the letter j and the numbers 9 and 4.’ I chuckled inside but thought: She’s giving thanks to God for letters and numbers. Do I do the same?”
The third wrongful use of God’s name that hinders God’s presence in our lives: The FORGOTTEN USE. Have you said thank you to God today? Thankful people are always close to God! All of which leads us into...
(IV)
The fourth and final possible meaning of “in vain” – that being: “to DESTROY.” Elsewhere in the Bible, this same phrase “to take in vain” is translated as “to DESOLATE” or “to WIPE OUT.” From this we get the final DESTRUCTIVE USE of God’s name. How does this happen? Well, consider the following...
The story is told that the great military leader ALEXANDER THE GREAT, conqueror of most of the Mediterranean world, during one of his campaigns, one day happened to hear that one of his soldiers was continually and seriously misbehaving. And what made matters worse was that this solder’s name happened to also be Alexander. Alexander the Great didn’t like the reputation his name was thus getting, so he sent this soldier the following very terse message – it read simply: “Soldier, either change your behavior or your name!”
I often wonder if God is trying to send us the same message. Think about it...
What unites as a people? We are CHRISTIANS – that is, we IDENTIFY ourselves by the NAME OF CHRIST. But do our lives properly represent that name?
Make no mistake about it: This very week, every single one of us is going to encounter at least one person for whom, for all intents and purposes, ALL they are going to KNOW ABOUT GOD is HOW YOU AND I LIVE! Wear a cross around your neck, put a “Jesus Loves You” bumper sticker on your car, simply have people know you go to church occasionally; all this (and so much more) CONNECTS OUR ACTIONS WITH GOD’S NAME. And trust me, even if you try to travel SPIRITUALLY “INCOGNITO” (as, sadly, most Christians nowadays do) it doesn’t matter because YOU KNOW you have taken the name of “Christian” and thus your actions are still tied to God’s name!
How will we do?
Will we DESTROY it – misrepresent it, run it through the mud, make it an object of derision? Or will we lift up, honor it, make it an object of respect and love?
As we’ve observed in the past: Have you ever noticed how, 9 times out of 10, when you’re driving on the highway and you get cut off by somebody, they have a “God is Love” bumper sticker on the back of their car (or some such message)? Yeah, “God is love.” Terrific. Too bad he couldn’t teach you how to drive!
It shouldn’t be this way. We finally need to remember that we not only USE God’s name; but also, in a certain respect, we ARE God’s name. How we live is either a use or a misuse. It either creates or destroys. People who constantly find God’s presence in their lives, don’t hinder this, are those who, finally, are constantly aware of their PLACE WITHIN THE NAME – HOW THEY CARRY IT. In their lives they seek to lift up God’s name and in so doing find God profoundly. Christian author Terry Muck writes:
“A man who had no interest in spiritual matters related casually to the Christian who lived next door - they talked over the back fence, borrowed lawn mowers, stuff like that. But they weren’t close. In fact, on his own, the non-Christian man often laughed at what he saw as his neighbor’s ‘quaint beliefs.’ Then the non-Christian’s wife was stricken with cancer, and she died three months later. Here’s part of a letter he wrote afterward:
‘I was in total despair. I went through the funeral preparations and the service like I was in a trance. After the service I went to the path along the river and walked all night. But I didn’t walk alone. My neighbor - afraid for me, I guess - stayed with me all night. He didn’t speak; he didn’t even walk beside me. He just followed me. When the sun finally came up over the river, he came over and said, “Let’s go get some breakfast.”
‘I go to church now. My neighbor’s church. A religion that can produce the kind of love my neighbor showed me is something I want to find out more about. I want to love and be loved like that for the rest of my life.’”
We are God’s name. How are we doing with that?

What’s in a name? Well, when it comes to God, EVERYTHING. The way we treat the name of God is how we treat God. Beware the EMPTY use, the SUPERFICIAL use, the FORGOTTEN use, the DESTRUCTIVE use – that break the relationship.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.”