Commandments 3
Exodus 20:1-20 (Lev 24:10-16 & Matt 7:15-23

Introduction

Well let me begin with a story about the Prime Minister … Anthony Albanese … going to visit President Putin in Russia.  And both the Australian ambassador and the Russian ambassador are there.  Well Putin is giving Albo and the Aussie ambassador a tour of his country … showing them all the sights.  And they come to a lovely waterfall.  It’s not the size of Niagara or anything like that … but pretty big.  And as there standing at the top … taking it all in … Putin says to the Aussie ambassador; ‘jump over the waterfall’.  And the Aussie ambassador says ‘are you kidding!  I have a wife and 3 kids at home’.  So Putin turns to the Russian ambassador and says ‘jump over the waterfall’.  And immediately … the Russian ambassador jumps in … and over he goes.  Well the Aussie ambassador climbs down the side of the waterfall … to see if he can render any assistance.  When he gets to the bottom … the Russian ambassador is just standing there … wringing his clothes out.  And the Aussie says ‘what did you do that for?’  And the Russian says ‘are you kidding!  I have a wife and 3 kids at home’.

Now I tell that story because our topic today is about how Christians are ambassadors.  Yet we’re not ambassadors for our government … we’re ambassadors for the Lord.  What this means is … just like the Australian ambassador to … whichever country … represents the Australian government … Christians represent OUR leader: Jesus Christ.  And when an ambassador speaks on behalf of their government … they’re speaking ‘in their name’ … aren’t they?  And this is what Commandment number 3 is about.  It’s about how to represent the Lord’s name.

Now Commandment number 3 is probably the most misunderstood of all the 10 Commandments.  You see most people think this is about using God’s name as a swear word.  And that’s true … as we’ll see today.  But what I’ve learnt just this week … is it is so much more than that.  This commandment is about ANY misuse of God’s name.  So in THIS country … we have MANY laws protecting against misusing people’s names.  So for example … copyright laws, deformation laws and forgery laws are all designed to protect … against people from misusing other people’s names.  So this Commandment is even more amazing than I thought.  And I pray you enjoy learning about it as much as I have.

Yet not only is Commandment number 3 amazing … it’s also alarming … seen by our 2 passages today.  So our Leviticus passage sees a man being STONED to death … for blaspheming God’s name.  OK … Leviticus 24 is a stark reminder that these are not the 10 Suggestions.  They are the 10 Commandments … the 10 most important laws that God demands humans follow.  Yet even MORE alarming … is our second passage today.  Now I don’t know if you picked this up or not … but Matthew 7 tells us there will be people on the last day … Judgment Day … who will say to Jesus ‘we gladly owned your name … we worked tirelessly in your name … we even did miracles in your name’ … and Jesus will say to them ‘away from me you evildoers … for I never knew you’.  Scary … right?

Well … we’ve got 3 points to help us unpack this amazing … yet alarming topic today … as you can see on your sermon outline.  So we’re going to begin by seeing how using the Lord’s name in vain begins with (i) Using the Lord’s name as a swear word … point 1.  But I THEN want to show you what I’ve learnt this week in preparing this topic … which is that using the Lord’s name in vain ALSO includes claiming things for God that God hasn’t said.  OK … when we ‘name drop’ God … to help strengthen our argument … IF God didn’t actually say that … then we’re using his name in vain.  So I’ve titled this second point (ii) Using the Lord’s name as justification.  We’ll then conclude by looking at how we ARE to use the Lord’s name … which I’ve titled (iii) Using the Lord’s name in relationship.  So … let’s dive into this amazing and alarming Commandment … and see what it means to not use the Lord’s name in vain.

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Using the Lord’s name as a swear word (Lev 24:10-16)

And we begin our journey in Leviticus 24 … where we read this in v. 10:

Leviticus 24:10-11 (NIV) Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses.

Moses then inquires of the Lord … and the Lord says this in v. 14:

Leviticus 24:14-16 (NIV) “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. 15 Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; 16 anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death.

Now with the coming of Jesus … we no longer put people to death for blasphemy.  But this passage tells us God takes his name VERY seriously.  So why?  Why is it that if the OT saints misused the word ‘God’ … Elohim … or the word ‘Lord’ … Yahweh … they were straight off to the firing squad?  The reason is … they’re not just words.  Let me explain.

Imagine you and I are having a conversation about movie villains … right.  And imagine you say ‘Voldemort is a much better villain than Darth Vader’.  Then imagine I respond by saying ‘what an absolute load of shhh … sean’.  You thought I was going to swear then … didn’t you?  Now in one sense … ‘Sean’ is just a word … right?  S.E.A.N.  But in another sense … it’s MORE than just those 4 letters.  Because a person’s name encapsulates the whole person.  Like when you hear the word ‘Brendan’ at church … you don’t just think of it as some abstract word now … do you?  You think of the person Brendan.  So IF we were to substitute a person’s name for a swear word … we’re not just using a different word.  We’re suggesting that PERSON is nothing more than a steaming pile of dog poo.

Now that’s bad enough … if we were to do that to poor Sean.  Apologies to any Seans watching.  But when we do that to God … we’re actually going against the very fabric of the universe.  As we saw a few weeks ago … the REASON God created the universe was to SHARE his glory.  OK … if God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have been in a perfect, loving, other-person-centred relationship with each other for all of eternity … then God is self-sufficient.  He doesn’t NEED a relationship or love or glory from us.  He has that in abundance within the Trinity.  So the only possible explanation as to why a self-sufficient God would create the universe … is he wants to SHARE his love and glory with others.

And this is where Commandment number 3 comes in?  Because if God created the universe so as to SHARE his love and his glory with others … then the meaning of life … the reason you and I are here … is ‘to bring glory to God’ … and ENJOY that glory.  It is to declare that God is THE most loving and glorious thing in existence … there is nothing better than him … and then to DELIGHT in that glory as our ultimate treasure.  Now when we substitute God’s name as a swear word … we’re doing the exact opposite of that.  OK … to blaspheme means to drag down … or denigrate.  It’s the exact opposite of lifting up … or glorifying.  So when we substitute God’s name as a swear word … we’re no longer declaring that God is the most glorious being in existence.  We’re instead suggesting God is nothing more than a steaming pile of dog poo.

So … brothers and sisters … may we NEVER find ourselves saying things like ‘oh my God’ … or ‘Jesus H Christ’ … or ‘oh my Lord’ when something shocks or angers us.  I’d sooner hear the ‘F-bomb’ from you.  That being ‘fiddlesticks’  of course.  To be honest … Christians shouldn’t swear at all.  Ephesians 5:4 says there should be no obscenity among Christians.  It’s one of the main ways Christians stand out these days.  I was sitting among a crowd of strangers about 2 years ago … and a young lady asked me what I do for a living.  And I got to tell the whole group that I’m a pastor … a church minister.  And she said ‘you’re “S”ing me … you’re kidding me right’.  And the guy sitting next to me said ‘well he hasn’t sworn all night’.  He’d noticed.  Do not underestimate the impact our language can have.

But even more important … do not underestimate God’s white-hot anger against people using his name … in situations where they might otherwise have sworn.  Do NOT use God’s name as a swear word!

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Using the Lord’s name as justification (Matthew 7:15-23)

Well that’s the most well-known way to use the Lord’s name in vain.  But in preparing for this topic this week … I was made aware of an even more alarming way to use the Lord’s name in vain … from Matthew chapter 7.  So this is the Sermon on the Mount … where Jesus says:

Matthew 7:21 (NIV) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,

What Jesus is suggesting … is we can invoke the name of the Lord in such a way that will lead Jesus to say ‘away from me, you evildoers’.  Yet what’s even MORE alarming … is these are not heathens he’s talking about here.  Have a look at the next verse:

Matthew 7:22 (NIV) Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’

OK … these are people who are openly declaring that they belong to the Lord … and are serving … doing ministry … in his name.  And Jesus says there’s a way to do those things … that ALSO invokes his white-hot anger.  OK … being stoned to death for misusing God’s name is alarming enough.  Being sent to Hell for all eternity is downright terrifying.  So what is Jesus getting at here?  He’s talking about invoking God’s name … without a proper relationship.  Let me explain.

Imagine a teenage brother and sister.  Let’s call them Aaron and Karen.  You’d SHOOT those parents … wouldn’t you?  And Aaron is playing with the dog one day … when Karen comes up to him and says ‘I’m taking the dog for a walk’.  Aaron then says ‘ah … no you’re not.  I’m currently playing with the dog … and I was here first’.  Now there’s not much Karen can DO with that … right?  But imagine Karen then says ‘but dad TOLD me to take the dog for a walk’.  What she’s doing at that point is she’s invoking dad’s name.  She’s saying ‘I’m not just coming in my OWN name.  I’m coming in DAD’s name’ … like an ambassador does.  At THAT point … there’s not much Aaron can do … is there?

Now … invoking the name of an authority figure like that implies several things.  Firstly … it implies that a relationship exists.  Like if I were to ring up Hugh Jackman’s agent … and say ‘me and Hugh are good friends … and he’s agreed to be the guest of honour at my birthday party next week … so please make sure he’s there’.  Like what’s going to happen at that point?  The agent is going to ring Hugh up and say ‘do you even KNOW this clown?’  OK … to invoke someone’s name implies a relationship.

SECONDLY … it implies the person is happy with our behaviour.  Like imagine Aaron goes and asks dad about Karen walking the dog … and dad says ‘I never told her to do that’.  Karen won’t be able to invoke dad’s name anymore … will she?  The person whose name you’re invoking must be HAPPY with your behaviour.

And THIRDLY … the person whose name you’re invoking has to CONTINUE to be happy with your behaviour.  The minute an ambassador goes off script … and starts badmouthing his government … is the minute he’s recalled … and fired.

So what Jesus is getting at here is … IF you’re going to invoke God’s name … there better be a relationship there to back it up.  Because God’s name can open doors in the universe that no other name can.  Take for example when people say things like:

• God is LOVE.  So of COURSE God’s on board with same-sex marriage … so long as the couple love each other.

• Or how about ‘God is very accepting’.  So of COURSE God is going to accept me … regardless of whether I continue in my sin or not.

Such people are invoking God’s name … to claim God has said things he’s never actually said.  And that brings God’s ‘name’ … God’s reputation down.  So Commandment number 3 is about hypocrisy.  It’s saying ‘do NOT use the Lord’s name to open doors … to win arguments … to justify behaviour … unless you can back it up with (i) a relationship … in which you can show that (ii) God is HAPPY with your behaviour.  Do not use the Lord’s name as justification for things he doesn’t like.

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Using the Lord’s name in relationship

So this leaves one final question.  What does it mean to be in a relationship with the Lord Jesus … in which he is happy with our behaviour?  Or in other words … what does it mean to use the Lord’s name in a meaningful way?  Well Jesus tells us in:

Matthew 7:21 (NIV) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

The people Jesus is talking AGAINST here … are those people who say (i) ‘I’m happy to OWN Jesus’ name’ … ‘I’m happy to be known as a Christian’, AND (ii) ‘I’m happy to serve the church … and serve the poor’, BUT I’m not willing (iii) to give up my independence.  I’m not willing to surrender my right to choose what is right or wrong.  What Matthew 7:21 SAYS is … you can say ‘Lord, Lord’ all you want.  You can get baptised … take communion … invite non-Christians to church … hey … even become a missionary to deepest darkest Africa.  But if you are not willing to obey whatever God commands you … then you are using the Lord’s name in vain.

And here’s where it gets really tough.  Because no matter who you are … God WILL command you to do things you don’t want to do.  OK … Abraham didn’t WANT to sacrifice Isaac.  Moses didn’t WANT to speak to Pharaoh.  Jeremiah didn’t WANT to be a prophet.  And Jesus didn’t want to go to the cross.  Being a follower of Jesus Christ will mean God asking things of us we don’t want to do:

1. Don’t lie … even to avoid an unwanted confrontation

2. Tap on … every time you take public transport

3. Don’t watch things … or listen to things that are unedifying

4. Declare ALL your income on your tax return … even if the government will never know

5. Or only date/marry Christians … even though that reduces the pool you can fish from down to almost nothing.

Now as we are told here almost every week … we don’t obey in order to MAKE God our Father.  Our good works do not EARN God’s favour.  For if we could EARN God’s favour … God would never have sent his Son to die.  The reason Christians obey God … is because God already IS our Father.  Friends, I pray you understand this.  Because our whole life and destiny rests on understanding the difference between these 2 things.  The reason Jesus came to earth was (i) to obey perfectly on our behalf, then (ii) die to pay the penalty for our disobedience.  And WHEN we can say ‘my good deeds will NEVER be enough … because they are tainted by selfishness’ … then ask for the forgiveness Jesus’ death brings … then His perfect record is attributed to us.  God looks upon us as though we are as perfect as Jesus is … even though in reality we’re not.  And THAT’S why we obey.  Because we owe him our all.  OK … the way to use the Lord’s name in a meaningful way … is to be the one who does the will of our Father in heaven.

So … how do we apply this?  Well I have 2 pieces of application for us today as we close.  The FIRST is for those who are yet to give their life to Jesus.  Did you know there are thousands of reasons people have for not wanting to be a Christian:

• What about the dinosaurs?

• What about all the suffering in the world?

• What about slavery in the Bible?

Yet ALL those reasons are just a cover for the ONE reason everyone rejects Jesus.  And that one reason is … they are not willing to surrender their right to choose right and wrong.  They want to hold on to the right to say ‘no’ … when God asks us to do something we don’t want to do … which as I’ve said … he WILL do.  Now if this is you … what I submit to you today is … you’re not being objective.  The reason being … addicts never are.

I was chatting to someone recently who has a problem with alcohol.  And by ‘problem’ I mean they’ll sink 20-30 standards drinks in a day.  And they said to me ‘the Bible says getting drunk is only wrong if you descend into debauchery’ … which I then showed is incorrect.  But my point is … we always have excuses for our addictions.  The problem is … we’re ALL addicted to choosing what is right and wrong.  And so the ‘self’ addict will ALWAYS fear the gospel message.  So to non-Christians I will say this: please reflect on what kind of God would give Himself up for his people?  What kind of God would sacrifice himself for his people?  I submit to you … it’s the kind of God who is SAFE to obey … because he’s already proven he has our best interests in mind.

My SECOND piece of application is for the Christians among us.  And that is … make sure OUR behaviour is not dragging God’s name down.  G. K. Chesterton once said ‘the only good argument against Christianity … is Christians’.  What he means is … if people SEE us owning the name of Jesus … but are not walking consistently with it … then they have every right to reject our intellectual arguments.  Why would ANYONE believe the good things we say about Jesus … if we’re openly disobeying his commands?  Now to be a Christian of integrity does not require perfection.  But it does mean a desire to put sin to death.

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Conclusion

And if we’re doing those 2 things … if we (i) have a relationship with our Heavenly Father, and (ii) he is pleased with our behaviour … because we’re WANTING to obey his commands … then we’re in the BEST place … to not use the Lord’s name in vain.  OK … don’t use the Lord’s name as a swear word.  Don’t invoke the Lord’s name to justify sinful behaviour.  Instead … OWN the name of Jesus proudly … and obey the will of our Father in heaven.  For my prayer is no one here will get to the last day and hear ‘away from me, you evildoer … for I never knew you’.  Instead may we will hear ‘well done, good and faithful servant.  Come and enjoy my reward’.