Sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent
Taking the Name of the LORD
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus
Christ! In today’s Old Testament, God the Father says to you and to all
Christians of every time and place, “You shall not take the name of the LORD
your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name
in vain.”
· There is a harsh and terrible warning for you in these Words: “the LORD
will not hold him guiltless who takes His [the LORD’s] name in vain.”
· There is a rich and wonderful promise for you here, as well: when God
gives you His Name—when you have upon yourself the powerful “name of the Lord
your God”—it shall never be in vain. That is to say, God’s name shall not fail
you or withhold benefit and blessing from you.
1. As every confirmation student knows—or at least has heard—God’s Second
Commandment forbids the sins of the tongue. Perhaps you have memorized at some
point in your life: What is the Second Commandment?
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse,
swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every
trouble, pray, praise and give thanks (Small Catechism, Second Commandment).
That is a very good start, especially for teaching small children, but God’s
Second Commandment goes far beyond the sins you commit when you lie or deceive
or when you fail to pray as you ought. Sins of tongue and mouth are just one
small detail of the much larger painting. Listen to the commandment again. God
does not say, “You shall not SPEAK the name of the Lord your God in vain.” God
says, “You shall not TAKE—you shall not pick up, you shall not lift up, you
shall not carry or bear—the name of the Lord your God in vain.” These Words
paint a bigger picture!
· Yes, God certainly forbids that we misuse His name with our tongues.
Stated another way, God does not wish for us to take His name into mouths and
to lift it up or speak it out before the world in a vain or inglorious way,
cursing, swearing, using satanic arts, lying, and deceiving. Such uses of God’s
name dishonor the good name of our God among us!
· Yet God also forbids that we CARRY and WEAR His name vainly. “The LORD
will not hold guiltless him who TAKES—picks up, carries, bears and wears—His
name in vain.”
2. In order to see the bigger picture concerning the Second Commandment, listen
to how God taught the priests (Aaron and his sons) to bless to the people.
First, God gave the priests specific Words they must say:
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you
shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, ‘The Lord bless you
and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace’” (Numbers 6:22-26)
Then, after telling the priests what Words to say, God when on to explain what
happens to you when the priest speaks these Words: “So shall they [the priests]
PUT MY NAME UPON the people of Israel” (Numbers 6:27). Did you catch that? When
you hear the Words—“the Lord bless you and keep you,” and so on—God’s name is
getting laid upon you like a blanket or a cloak. When you hear those Words,
God’s name gets handed to you to bear and to carry as you would your drivers’
license or your photo ID. “So shall they [the priests] PUT MY NAME UPON the
people of Israel.”
“So shall they PUT MY NAME UPON the people of Israel.” Tell the people of
Israel—tell all God’s people of every time and place—“You shall not take the
name of the LORD your God in vain.” You shall not pick up and carry, you shall
not wear or bear God’s name uselessly, because “the LORD will not hold him
guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
By all means, think about the sins you commit with your tongue.
We SHOULD fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts,
lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise
and give thanks (Small Catechism, Second Commandment).
Do not stop there! Think also about how little you think of your Baptism, where
the good and gracious name of God was given personally to you, and where you
were baptized into “the NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). In the Second Commandment, God forbids us to take THAT
name—the name given in Baptism—in vain. Stated another way, God forbids us to
live as if we were never baptized.
This Commandment is God’s warning to those who would dare to baptize their
children and then disappear from worship, not bothering to teach their children
the Christian faith. “The LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name
in vain.” That is to say, the Lord knows and the Lord remember those who take
His name in Baptism but then want nothing more to do with Him. But this
commandment does more than speak to the other guy!
· What are you and I really doing, when we treat our neighbor harshly,
when we withhold forgiveness or nurse a grudge, or when we ignore someone’s
need? When we withhold love from our neighbor, we should think of it as an act
of taking our LORD’s name in vain. God’s name contains ALL the power and
strength we need for patient and generous neighborly love, and God’s name has
been given to us! “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.”
Stated another way, do not act as if God’s name has never been given to you.
· How about when you or I choose to wallow in self-pity, or when we wring
our hands with despair? Self-pity makes the deceptive suggestion that we might
have been forgotten. Despair entertains the satanic lie that there is no
forgiveness and no hope to be found. Yet we have been given the name of the
Lord our God! Where God’s name is, there also is the full forgiveness of every
sin, created for you by Christ Jesus. Where God’s name is, there also is
security and confidence, even in the darkest hours of the night. Where God’s
name is, there also is hope and expectation and certainty, standing fast
against all fear. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.”
In other words, do not allow yourself to think that you have been forgiven by
God, or that full release from every sin has not been given to you in Jesus’
name. Do not allow yourself to be fooled or deceived into thinking that God
cannot or will not raise you up, even from
the dead. After all, you do not carry and bear the name of God in vain and for
no purpose!
Really, that is the blessing of the Second Commandment, even though it sounds
like a warning and a curse. God has said, “You shall not take the name of the
LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His
name in vain.” Peel back the harshest part of these Words, especially the end
part. Focus upon the first part of what God says here.
In order to spot God blessing and the promise here, do not think in terms of a
commandment or demand. Rather, listen to these Words as if God were stating a
fact to you: “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.” Stated
other ways,
· It will never be not worth it for you to carry the name of the Lord
your God, both upon your forehead (Revelation 14:4, 22:4) and upon your heart
(Psalm 33:21).
· It shall not be useless or unproductive for you to take the name of the
Lord your God. Amidst struggle or hardship, terror or despair, all of God’s
Christians may fearlessly say, “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made
heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:8). And again, “The Name of the Lord is a strong
tower, [we] run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10, NIV).
· When God’s name is given to you—as it most certainly has been given to
you—His name shall not fail to do what it promises you! God’s name has indeed
been given to you, both in Baptism and at the close of every worship. Because
of this name you carry and bear—this name which is above all other names
(Philippians 2:9)—you may say and confess with the confidence of King David,
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord
our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright (Psalm 20:7-8).
The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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