LAW HOMILY: Bearing The Name In Vain

The Third Commandment and the Meaning of Bearing God’s Name

What God has to say to his people. We want to understand what obedience looks like to God's people. We want to understand what it means to live a life of Following the Lord and obeying his commands. We don't believe that our salvation is the starting line or the finish line.

We believe it's the starting line. We don't believe that now that we're saved we get to just do whatever we want. We believe that now that we're saved now We get to do what God wants us to do and we understand what God wants us to do through The Ten Commandments and today we're going to be on the third.

It's verse 7. This is what it says. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the Lord will not leave him Unpunished who takes his name in vain. This is the Word of the Lord. Now Christmas were surrounded by the name of Christ more than in any other time of year.

It's spoken in songs and it's piped through shopping centers. It's printed in cursive gold on greeting cards. And it's whispered by children who are learning their first carols and preached by churches all around the world.

His name saturates the season. It is the reason for the season Which only heightens the weight of the third commandment. The commandment is not about just avoiding taboo syllables. It's about God's jealous protection for his own glory his insistence that his name never be emptied or Trivialized or misused or misrepresented or attached to anything unworthy of him.

The Hebrew verb here for take carries the idea of lifting and bearing and.

Carrying.

Meaning that it's not merely about the speech But it's about the total weight of our lives bearing the name. We lift up his name Whenever we claim to belong to him we carry his name whenever we call ourselves Christians.

And Every moment that we bear that name in vain is a violation of this commandment. Every Mormon moment that we live like we're not a Christian. When we say that we're a Christian we take God's name in vain.

The Larger Catechism on Profaning God’s Name

The larger catechism teaches that this commandment forbids all profaning or abusing of Anything whereby God makes himself known. So this is this is far deeper than just profanity. It indicts every false representation of God every distortion of his character every grudging prayer that we pray every cold-hearted song that we sing every Careless vow that we utter every hollow worship service that we that we Participate in or that we or that we drone on through every lifeless holiday tradition.

It exposes the way that we mutter in Jesus's name at the end of the prayer as if that were just a performative postscript. It exposes the way that we Treat this name that is above all names Jesus Christ.

It confronts us when we share his name online. When we embody the tone of a snarling serpent when we grab our keyboard swords and go to slashing it convicts us when we attach his name to our political tribe or our Personality quirk or our preferences or our judge mentalism or grudges or bitterness or pet sins or sentimental reductions.

The commandment does not merely condemn cursing it condemns misrepresenting Christ with our life. And Nowhere's this danger clearer this time of season than in the American Christmas. When the world mass produces all kinds of counterfeit Christ's for mass consumption.

The season teams with all kinds of Unauthorized Jesus's vague sentimental declawed defanged weightless figures who no one Offends and who no one bows before Jesus is who confront nothing and exists chiefly to sprinkle a little spiritual glitter on our December habits.

When we cradle that kind of Jesus in our hearts when we worship a Jesus that is only existing to make our wildest dreams and fantasies come true and we Talk about a Jesus who only is there to serve us and make us feel fulfilled.

Instead of actually confront us and our sin make us bow down in worship. Make us confess that we are broken when we serve a Jesus that basically placates us. We're taking his name in vain. We take his name in vain when we reject his nature.

We take his name in vain when we yawn. When we should be in all of his majesty. We take his name in vain in so many ways. Every fight that you have with your spouse. Every time that. Every time that you throw certain gang signs at other people in traffic, you know that single finger.

Every time That we look at our brother that we say that it's a Christian and we hate them in our heart. You know John says that if you say that you love God and you love your neighbor Or you hate your neighbor the love of God is not in you.

In all of these ways We sin against the name of Christ. Because it is that name that we bear as Christians and our behavior says something about what we think about that name. So in whatever way this week.

That your behavior has been out of step with the beauty and majesty of that name. Pray and ask God to forgive you and let us together receive his forgiveness.

As one people bought and paid for by him. Amen. Let's pray. What are the ways that we can defame?

And.

Disrespect and disregard your name or legion Lord help us as Ambassadors of that name To carry it proudly and boldly and righteously. Lord help us when we sin to keep short accounts with you To hit our knees and ask you to forgive us of our trespasses and our iniquities.

Lord help us to be great ambassadors of the name of Christ Because it is that name that is above all names. There is no power for salvation other part from the name of Christ and Lord because that's true.

Help that same name To sanctify us To enliven us embolden us and Lord help it to make us Hate our sin and love righteousness and to repent when we fall short. It's in Jesus name That we pray. Amen.