“God’s Last Name Isn’t @&%#”

Exodus 20:7

Some of you may wonder why I’m using comic strip symbols in today’s sermon title. For one thing, I’m sure most of you know what the symbols stand for. It is often better to leave things unsaid, especially when someone might find them offensive. For another, I didn’t want to in anyway suggest to our children and young people that such words are okay just because the pastor used them in a sermon title.

But the main reason is that I have never been okay with using the Lord’s name in such a blasphemous way. I just can’t do it. Although I developed and used quite a potty mouth vocabulary as a teenager, even then I could not take the Lord’s name in vain in such a blatant and tasteless manner. There is a big difference between saying a few cuss words and blaspheming the name of the Lord.

Unfortunately Christianity has all too often lumped them into the same category. Obeying the Third Commandment has too often been reduced to a form of adhering to the rules of a polite society. In the process we’ve tamed and misappropriated a very serious commandment of our Lord.

Let’s be clear. Cuss words are not okay. Having a potty mouth is in no way condoned by Scripture. Hear what Paul wrote to the Ephesians while describing the new life in Christ: “Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk…” Obscenity and vulgarity are very serious spiritual no-no’s. But they stand apart from taking the Lord’s name in vain or otherwise misusing it.

In Exodus 3:14 the Lord shares his name with Moses: “I AM WHO I AM.” As Christians we refer to our Lord as the great “I AM.” We know God’s name. We are allowed to call upon him by name. The God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ desires an intimate relationship with his people, a relationship in which God is willing to be vulnerable.

In ancient cultures knowing someone’s name was to have power over them, to place them in a vulnerable position. Nowhere is this more clear than in the exorcism that is described in Mark 1:21-28. That exorcism – that miracle performed by Jesus – is made all the more powerful by the fact that the demon already knew Jesus’ name: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth…” In knowing his name they assumed quite incorrectly that they had power over him.

God has trusted us with his name. We are not to misuse or abuse that name in any way. We are not to treat that name lightly. We are to use it with a sense of reverence and awe. When we use God’s name we must have a good reason for doing so: worship, prayer, Bible study, serious discussion of Christian living, and so forth. And when we use it, whatever the context, we must be sure that what we’re saying is the absolute truth. Furthermore, we must never, ever invoke God’s name in way that attempts to manipulate him or in a way that manipulates other people.

A true story from my hometown, ironically named Christiansburg. There was a certain merchant who went to great lengths to let people know that he was a good Christian. He was one of those guys who was always saying, the Lord this, or the Lord that. He had his piety act down pat. But this is what was said about him, “Whenever he starts telling you what a good Christian he is you’d better hold onto your wallet with one hand and your wife with the other.”

His piety was a pretense. He used the Lord’s name, implicitly and explicitly, to manipulate people into doing business with him. If I have my history right, you folks at Grace dealt with a roofer like that several years ago – one who had even dared to advertise in “The Shepherd’s Guide.” Both men were guilty of breaking the Third Commandment.

Lest we be overly self-righteous, we need to remember that whenever we put our hearts and minds on automatic pilot and mumble our way through the Apostles Creed, the Lord's Prayer, or a hymn or praise song we’re walking on some pretty thin ice. Such meaningless mumbling is a misuse of the Lord’s name. In fact, halfhearted worship of any kind is a misuse of the Lord’s name. Whether we’re talking and singing to the Lord or talking and singing about the Lord, we’d better be doing so intentionally, seriously, and reverently. We really ought to mean whatever it is we’re saying or singing, never forgetting the second half of Exodus 20:7: “… the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.”

And what goes for individuals goes for cultures, societies, and nations. They, too, had better be real careful about how they bandy about God’s name. Since I do not live, work, and do ministry in any other culture, society, or nation than the one in which all of us live, I dare not comment on other cultures, societies, or nations. I am limited to the USA.

There is an ongoing culture war going on around us having to do with using God’s name within the secular realm. I have no problem with such usage. The barrier separating church and state is not nearly as rigid as some would have us believe. This nation was founded in great part by Christians, many of them seeking religious freedom. The Declaration of Faith and our Constitution contain, at least implicitly, biblical references.

My only problem with calling ours a Christian nation is that so much of our history reveals some very unchristian behaviors and values. Some of the things that took place in settling and growing our nation, even some that were done in the name of God, were ungodly: slavery and the treatment of the American Indians to name only two.

That being said I have no problem with the words “In God We Trust” being engraved upon our money or leaving the phrase “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. That is, if those phrases tell a national truth. I get nervous, though, when I consider the risk our nation is taking when we bandy about such phrases in such an unthinking manner. Do we not as a society realize that such usage breaks the Third Commandment, thus risking the righteous judgment of God?

Think about it. Our money says that “in God we trust.” But do we really? I’m in no way a pacifist, and I do realize the need for armed forces in a dark and sinful world. Sometimes war, even though it may be the least bad among a number of bad options, is the only option. Even then that choice must be made thoughtfully, prayerfully, and if we truly are going to be a Christian nation, only after we are as sure as is humanly possible that what we are doing really is the will of God.

Do we really trust in God, or do we simply want God to bless whatever it is that we want to do? And even as we declare our trust in God, is it not true that we very often put our ultimate trust in our own human and national devices? If we really trust God and really are a Christian nation then why do we so often ignore the words of our Lord that are found in the Sermon on the Mount, especially the Beatitudes? How often do we demonstrate the poverty of spirit, meekness, and mercy those words require if we are to be truly blessed? How about loving our enemies and avoiding retaliation: Matthew 5:38-48? This is not liberal nonsense or socialist propaganda. These are the words of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

And what about that “one nation under God” business? Especially within the context of the words that follow: “with liberty and justice for all.” All nations fall under God’s domain. But do all nations, including ours, believe in and practice the justice and righteousness demanded by Scripture? What about our treatment of “the least of these” among us? What about a justice system that often seems to follow a non-biblical golden rule, as in those who have the gold rule? Does the combination of the words O. J. Simpson and not guilty say anything about our justice system?

And then there’s one of my pet peeves – the use, or misuse of the phrase “God bless America.” What exactly does that mean? Are we asking God to bless America more than he blesses other nations, especially our enemies? Are we asking God to bless those things our nation does that just might be morally and ethically questionable? Looking at it from the flip side, we really should use some discretion when asking for God’s blessings. There’s an old Chinese proverb that tells us to be careful what we pray for; we might just get it. God's blessings have a way of coming to us from totally unexpected directions and in totally unexpected forms. God could quite possibly bless us in some ways that we really don’t like. Remember: God blessed Israel with a long-awaited Messiah, but he wasn’t the Messiah they’d been praying for.

The Third Commandment is about much, much more than saying a few dirty words. The Third Commandment has to do with not only the blasphemous misuses of God’s name, but also all the unthinking, selfish, manipulative, dishonest, and self-deceiving ways in which his name is misused.

“You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.” Amen.