God Needs An Alias
Preaching
Lions And Cows Dining Together
And 111 Other Sermon Ideas
Object:
Purpose Statement: We have become very lax concerning "taking God's name in vain," as well as the name of Jesus, and we need to focus on what this means regarding our respect for God and Jesus.
There have been periods in our Bible history when people were afraid to speak God's name, "God," or whatever it happened to be at that point in time. The reason for this was that God was so great and should be revered above all else. We were too lowly to be permitted to say the name of God, as it would constitute a disrespectful familiarity with God. It would be analogous to situations when it is considered disrespectful for children to call adults by their first names. Thus they must say "Mr. Cain" and not "Terry." Over the years, even though I requested church members to call me by my first name, some only felt comfortable calling me "Reverend Cain" or "Doctor Cain." In turn, I found it difficult when I first began serving churches to call the elderly members, Jenny, Ruth, and Carl as they requested me to do. I was steeped in the tradition of Mr., Miss, or Mrs. for my elders. On one occasion I heard someone refer to a pastor by his first name, only to have the pastor's wife respond (in a cold, serious tone), "Please call my husband Reverend ______."
During the biblical periods we are talking about, to avoid saying God's name, the people would select another term as a substitute. However, that "new name" would soon become too familiar and thus "disrespectful," or else the euphemism would finally seem to become God's real name, and another "substitute" name would be needed. Over time, God has had many names: El, Elohim, Elelyon, El Shaddai, and Yahweh (Jehovah). Not all names for God were for the reason cited above; some were because of changes in language and tradition. Another example of the ineffable names for God was "Adonai." Appropriate scripture would be the third commandment (Deuteronomy 5:11 and Exodus 20:7). Exodus 3:13-14, where Moses inquires about God's name and is told it is "I Am," offers possibilities.
a. It is true we're careless with God's name. From one extreme of not being appropriate to speak God's name, today we often encounter the other extreme: The names of God and Jesus are used as slang and cursing. So many of us use the expression, "Oh, my God!" not as a prayer or religiously, but as a careless slang expression. Recently on television I heard one of the actors say in anger, "for Christ's sake." Again, this was not done religiously. Parallel to finding substitutes for "God" because God's name has become too familiar as mentioned above, there is the modern phenomenon of finding euphemisms for "God" or "Jesus" to avoid abusing those words in slang or cursing. Thus we have corrupted the words with "jeez," "gee whiz," "golly," "gol' darn it," "dag nab it," "doggone it," "jimminy cricket," and a host of others as a veiled attempt to avoid using the names, "God" or "Jesus," more directly.
b. It hurts our relationship with God. Of course the flippant use of God's and Jesus' names, or substitutes for their names, does not diminish God or Jesus. However, there is no question that it erodes our respect and reverence. It creates an attitude of casualness toward or concerning God and Jesus. Or possibly, it may be the other way around: The attitudes we develop are finally expressed in the way we trivialize the names of God and Jesus.
c. It becomes a denigrating witness to others. When we use such expressions and attitudes in the presence of other persons, it creates an atmosphere of serious disrespect for that which is holy. In a word, it is blasphemy.
How much does our choice of words indicate our feelings and attitudes about God?
There have been periods in our Bible history when people were afraid to speak God's name, "God," or whatever it happened to be at that point in time. The reason for this was that God was so great and should be revered above all else. We were too lowly to be permitted to say the name of God, as it would constitute a disrespectful familiarity with God. It would be analogous to situations when it is considered disrespectful for children to call adults by their first names. Thus they must say "Mr. Cain" and not "Terry." Over the years, even though I requested church members to call me by my first name, some only felt comfortable calling me "Reverend Cain" or "Doctor Cain." In turn, I found it difficult when I first began serving churches to call the elderly members, Jenny, Ruth, and Carl as they requested me to do. I was steeped in the tradition of Mr., Miss, or Mrs. for my elders. On one occasion I heard someone refer to a pastor by his first name, only to have the pastor's wife respond (in a cold, serious tone), "Please call my husband Reverend ______."
During the biblical periods we are talking about, to avoid saying God's name, the people would select another term as a substitute. However, that "new name" would soon become too familiar and thus "disrespectful," or else the euphemism would finally seem to become God's real name, and another "substitute" name would be needed. Over time, God has had many names: El, Elohim, Elelyon, El Shaddai, and Yahweh (Jehovah). Not all names for God were for the reason cited above; some were because of changes in language and tradition. Another example of the ineffable names for God was "Adonai." Appropriate scripture would be the third commandment (Deuteronomy 5:11 and Exodus 20:7). Exodus 3:13-14, where Moses inquires about God's name and is told it is "I Am," offers possibilities.
a. It is true we're careless with God's name. From one extreme of not being appropriate to speak God's name, today we often encounter the other extreme: The names of God and Jesus are used as slang and cursing. So many of us use the expression, "Oh, my God!" not as a prayer or religiously, but as a careless slang expression. Recently on television I heard one of the actors say in anger, "for Christ's sake." Again, this was not done religiously. Parallel to finding substitutes for "God" because God's name has become too familiar as mentioned above, there is the modern phenomenon of finding euphemisms for "God" or "Jesus" to avoid abusing those words in slang or cursing. Thus we have corrupted the words with "jeez," "gee whiz," "golly," "gol' darn it," "dag nab it," "doggone it," "jimminy cricket," and a host of others as a veiled attempt to avoid using the names, "God" or "Jesus," more directly.
b. It hurts our relationship with God. Of course the flippant use of God's and Jesus' names, or substitutes for their names, does not diminish God or Jesus. However, there is no question that it erodes our respect and reverence. It creates an attitude of casualness toward or concerning God and Jesus. Or possibly, it may be the other way around: The attitudes we develop are finally expressed in the way we trivialize the names of God and Jesus.
c. It becomes a denigrating witness to others. When we use such expressions and attitudes in the presence of other persons, it creates an atmosphere of serious disrespect for that which is holy. In a word, it is blasphemy.
How much does our choice of words indicate our feelings and attitudes about God?
