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On a bulletin board outside an Episcopal church recently was
this message: "You say his name often enough on the highway. Why
not try saying it in church? You'll feel much better using the
Lord's name in prayer. Worship this Sunday."(1) Interesting.
The Reuters news agency, in an article datelined Miami
earlier this month says,
Granted, that IS what most of us (and the billboard
advertiser, obviously) have been taught. We insult a holy and
righteous God when we use the divine name loosely. Not only
might we go to Hell, momma might wash our mouth out with soap in
preparation for our descent into the abyss. Well...that teaching
is not exactly correct.
The problem is language. We grew up hearing the prohibition
against using the Lord's name IN VAIN. But, in modern speech,
the phrase IN VAIN implies failure. If Mark McGwire and Sammy
Sosa did not hit home runs in the games last night, the
sportscasts this morning could say their attempts were IN VAIN.
No homers. Or if a young man sends flowers and candy and all
sorts of indications of affection to the girl of his dreams, but
she does not respond appropriately, we say his gifts were IN
VAIN. A failure. But using the name of the Lord IN VAIN???
Failure? That makes no sense.
What else could it mean? We can go back to the Elizabethan
English of the King James Version. We recall "Vanity of
vanities, saith the preacher..." from Ecclesiastes. VANITY there
means "nothingness" or "emptiness" or "meaningless." Aha.
Perhaps a clue there. "You shall not use the name of the Lord
your God in a MEANINGLESS way...casual cursing, and so on. OK!
Now we find the source of those lessons from our childhood.
The only problem is those lessons missed the heart of the
commandment. You see, the Hebrew words behind VANITY in
Ecclesiastes and IN VAIN here in Exodus are different. The
Ecclesiastes word (hebel) does indeed imply emptiness or
meaninglessness; the Exodus word (from shav') has an evil
connotation to it and refers to guile and deception. OK. NOW we
begin to understand a bit more. The more modern translations of
the commandment, "You shall not make WRONGFUL USE of the name of
the LORD your God..." as we read from the NRSV, are quite
correct. That retains the prohibition against using God's name
as a casual curse while expanding into the realm of insuring that
God's name is not used as active support for evil or injustice.
One final thought here on this use of God's name as an
expletive: the fact that this is NOT what prompted the
commandment is all the more obvious when we know that the last
thing an Israelite man or woman would have considered saying was
something as frivolous as "God dammit." This was the name of the
one they worshiped. Throw that name around casually in
conversation? Not on your life. If an Israelite had said "God
damn anything," he would have meant it. It would not have been a
statement; it would have been a prayer.
I read once of a missionary to India who was returning home
to America on a steamer with his young son. The boy was young
enough to have never even been to his homeland, and was looking
forward to it with great anticipation. It was an American vessel
with American sailors and American passengers. It was the boy's
first real contact with anything American outside of his
immediate family. On the trip, he heard some expressions that
were brand new to him, so he mentioned them to his father. You
can imagine. Finally, the father felt compelled to say something
about the problem to the others on board. He said, "My little
boy was born and brought up in a heathen land, a land of
idolatry, but in all his life, he has never heard someone
blaspheme his maker until now."(3) The story ends there with no
indication as to whether the language improved during the rest of
the voyage, but we would hope so. But we know that that would
have been only temporary relief. We know what our society is
like. We are a nation of foul and blasphemous mouths, and it is
a shame.
Back to the commandment and what it DOES mean. The best
rendering of the ancient instruction I have seen is this: "Thou
shalt not lift up the name of YAHWEH for mischief."(4)
What kind of mischief? Several kinds actually. And all are
tied up with just how seriously the ancients took any invocation
of God's name. There was a certain practice in the religions of
the East that surrounded the nation of Israel that involved the
over-and-over repetition of the name of their god in an almost
magical incantation. The one doing the chanting would, in some
mysterious way, be drawing some of that god's power down to him-
or herself. It was all a part of that ancient belief that if you
knew someone's name, whatever power that one might have over you
might somehow be diminished and turned over to you. The name of
the god was used like we might use "Abra-Cadabra," for magic, and
God says do not do that.
Whether we realize it or not, that kind of usage occurs very
often in the church today. Every so often, we run across folks
who punctuate almost every sentence with "Praise the Lord" or
"Praise God." Now, there is obviously nothing wrong with
praising the Lord. But when a phrase is used over and over and
over again, there is danger. The danger is that the phrase is
being used, not to praise the Lord, but to let anyone within
earshot know how pious I am and as a password to insure my
acceptance among the devout. Be careful.
"You shall not use the name of the Lord your God for
mischief." Another situation that prompted the commandment was
one to which Jesus made reference - taking an oath.(5) Lines such
as, "AS GOD IS MY WITNESS, I promise to...do this or that," or
"MAY GOD STRIKE ME DEAD, if I fail to...do this or that." The
idea is that God is offered as guarantor of the promise. Serious
stuff.
Well, human beings are clever, especially when falling to
our baser instincts. As the poet says, "O what a tangled web we
weave when first we practice to deceive."(6) As background to
this, remember how seriously the ancient world took the mention
of the name of God. Indeed, some of the faithful Jews of Jesus'
day, to avoid any possibility of breaking the commandment,
refused to use the names of Yahweh or Elohim at all. They would
go so far as to call God simply "the Name." If they took an
oath, they would swear by "the name of the Name." They would be
especially scrupulous about promising anything in the name of God
that they had no intention of doing.
Now, the clever part. For the Jews, the only oaths thought
to be irrevocable were the ones taken in the name of God. After
all, there was this third commandment to consider. Any others
were worth as much as the individual cared to make them. Knowing
this, there was a little subterfuge that occasionally went on.
Some would swear by "heaven" to give the impression that the oath
was binding, when indeed, they would not consider it so because
the actual name of God had not been used. Or they would swear by
everything on earth or their own head, by anything to keep from
using God's name...all because they wanted to be free to keep or
break the promise as they saw fit. Jesus said No - do not swear
that you are going to do something or not do something; if you
say you will, do it; if you say you won't, don't. 'Nuff said.
And, at its heart, that was the reason for this third commandment
in the first place, because basic honesty is one of the building
blocks of a just society.
We would do well to remember that. We take marriage vows
and then keep or break them at our whim. We take vows at the
baptism of our children to raise them "in the knowledge and love
of God," and then fail to keep the pledge. We go to work for an
employer, giving an implied pledge in accepting the job, that we
will provide an honest day's work for an honest day's pay...
unless we can get away with less. Jesus' message is, if you make
a pledge, keep it...whether you swear by the name of God or not.
"You shall not use the name of the Lord your God for
mischief." One more issue in this third commandment, and it is
as up to date as tomorrow's newspaper. Perjury. Despite our
national fascination with the steamy sexual details of the Starr
report, the issue that Congress is being called on to deal with
is perjury - did the President lie under oath in his Grand Jury
testimony or not?
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth, so help you God?"
"I do."
We have all seen movies and television programs where those
courtroom scenes were depicted. If a witness came up with some
questionable testimony, the lawyer might remind them, "Remember,
you are under oath," inferring that all of heaven was watching to
make sure the truth was told. Go back as far as you like in
history and you will find that same kind of thinking. A fair and
effective judicial system in any society is dependent on the
truthfulness of participants. This third commandment insists
that it be so. "You shall not use the name of the Lord your God
for mischief."
When I first learned the Ten Commandments, I was taught that
they are divided into two tables - Commandments 1-4, our duty to
God; Commandments 5-10, our duty to our neighbors. I have come
to realize that such a division is not as legitimate as might
first appear. When studied correctly, ALL TEN are God's
instruction for building a just society...even those first four.
Remember two weeks ago...Number one - "You shall have no other
god's before me." Why? Is God insecure? Of course not. God
knows there ARE other gods out there (yes, there ARE other "gods"
that people worship, even if we do not identify them by the name
GOD). Those gods can ruin us. They do it all the time. Last
week...Number two - "You shall not make for yourself an idol."
Why? Is God afraid of a bad picture? Hardly. But the picture
will never be entirely adequate and may lead us down some wrong
and dangerous paths. Today...Number three - "Do not make
wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God." Is God afraid of
being insulted? No. But God IS troubled by the damage that
would ensue if honesty is not at the foundation of our society.
Next week...Number four - "Remember the sabbath day..." Why? Is
God afraid of being ignored? Not at all. But God is concerned
that workers are treated fairly and not driven till they drop.
Commandments five through ten - take care of parents, no murder,
no adultery, no theft, no false testimony, no coveting what
belongs to your neighbor. All of those are involved in having a
decent society. The commandments are for OUR benefit, not God's.
God is a BIG God with no need to be self-protective. Rather, God
cares enough for us to provide guidelines that, if followed, will
lead to a decent life for everyone.
"You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord
your God," not for magic, not in insincere pledges, not in court,
and certainly not as a casual curse. A corollary could well be
You SHALL take the name of your God - in other words, God's
power, God's majesty, God's character, everything that you think
of when you hear God's name - you SHALL take God's name
SERIOUSLY. When we DO, it makes all the difference. We will not
be content with the standards of the world. We will share a
gospel that is genuinely GOOD NEWS, not bad - not just a
billboard-type religion that asks "What part of 'Thou shalt not'
do you not understand?" Instead, the emphasis will be on the
very good news that Jesus loves us, has paid our penalty for sin,
and invites us to life with him in the Kingdom of God. We will
work for justice, oppose discrimination, fight oppression, and
try to put meat on the bones of that ancient and honored concept
called "love thy neighbor." We will look forward to the day
when, "at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and
on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."(7)
Are you ready for that? What a day it will be! In the
poetry of scripture, "Every valley shall be filled, and every
mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be
made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh
shall see the salvation of God.'"(8) What a day! Are you ready?
Come, Lord Jesus.
Let us pray.
O God, we know how often we misuse your name. We do it
consciously with our mouths and unconsciously in the way we live.
Forgive us, and keep us from repeating what we know to be sin.
Help us in our witness. Help us avoid saying or doing things
that destroy that witness. Then give us fruitful lives as we
seek to serve. We pray it sincerely, and with the realization of
all that it implies, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!
1. Dan Shutters, via Ecunet, "Outside Bulletin Boards," #429, 9/14/98 2. Infobeat News, 9/11/98, quoted by Carlos Wilton, via PresbyNet, "Bottom Drawer,"
#3626, 9/11/98 3. W. Herschel Ford, Simple Sermons on the Ten Commandments, (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 1956), p. 39 4. Walter Harrelson, The Ten Commandments and Human Rights, (Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1980), p. 72 5. Matthew 5:33-37 6. Sir Walter Scott, "Introduction to Marmion," Canto VI, Stanza 17 7. Philippians 2:10-11 8. Luke 3:5-6
God is talking to residents of south Florida, and doing
so in a typically mysterious way. This week, roadside
ads for the lottery and local television stations along
Interstate 95 were joined by this white-on-black
billboard question: "What Part of 'Thou Shalt Not...'
didn't you understand?" [and it was signed] "God."
Drivers on a jammed commuter road faced this warning,
in the same lettering: "Keep using my name in vain,
I'll make rush hour longer," also signed simply "God."
None of the statements are attributed to anyone but
God. That anonymity came at the orders of the person
who paid for the ad campaign, which began September 1
and will last through November.(2)
"You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD
your God..." Is that the "wrongful use" of God's name this
commandment is talking about? The rhetoric of road rage? Or
just the casual cursing that we hear whenever someone is coarse
enough to use it?
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