Respect
Sermon
Building Character
With God's Laws And Declarations
The Second Commandment: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain."
"What does this mean for us? We are to fear and love God so that we do not use his name to curse, swear, lie, or deceive, but call on him in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving."
Names mean something. As a lad, I was always fascinated by Indian names. Where did they get such names as Eagle Eye, Buffalo Face, Sitting Bull, Sleepy Eye, and Rain-in-the-Face? I learned that American Indian fathers chose names from the first object that caught their eye after a child's birth.
Throughout history, names have been given to people (The World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 12, pp. 5,385-5,386). Early history records only one name used since there were fewer people. As communities grew and people moved about, there were not enough names to go around.
Among Christians, a name was given at baptism and became known as the Christian or given name. John was a popular name. If there was more than one, they became known as, for example, Peter's son or Jack's son. Some were known for their job or profession, such as John the Carpenter or John the Shepherd. John Long was a tall man; John Short was a short man. Or, after people traveled around, John from the North, or John the Scot.
Names added were nicknames. Eventually, they became family names. People who owned land made up names. For example, in Germany, the name of von Hindenburg means from Hidden Castle. The French name de Chateubriand means from Briand Castle.
In early days not all people could read or write. Names were made up. The name of Sanderson came from Alexander's son and Michael became Mitchell. The old name ap-Hugh, a Welsh name, meaning the son was changed to Pugh. The names of Fitzhugh and McCue were once the same, both meaning the son of Hugh. Still other names, like the Indians, came from objects: Lake, Stone, Clay, Woods, and Appling.
Surnames (added names), formed from the father's name, came from other languages. For example, the son of include Irish names beginning with O; German names ending in sohn or son; Scandinavian names ending in sen or son; Russian and Serbian names ending ovitch and escu. So we get such names as Johnson, Johansson, Hansen, Ivanovitch, and Jonescu.
The first use of Christian names began in England in the 1500s. Such names include Dudley, Sidney, Washington, Chauncey, Clifford, Howard, Russell, Spencer, and Tracy.
In early times, only nobles and people of wealth used more than one Christian name. But in the 1500s, two Christian names became common. The Roman Catholic Church is credited for this, naming children after a saint, for example. The second name is used for family reasons. A girl born at Liverpool, England, in 1880, was given 25 Christian names after all the letters in the alphabet. She was called Anna Bertha Cecilia Diana Emily Fanny Gertrude Hypatia Inez Jane Kate Louise Maud Nora Ophelia Quince Rebecca Starkey Teresa Ulysis Venus Winfred Xenophone Yetty Zero Pepper.
Hebrew boys were given names with a definite meaning: Isaac (laughter); Solomon (prince of peace); Nathan (gift); Samuel (called of God); Zachary (Jehovah has remembered). Some common Hebrew girl names were Susan (lily); Rachel (ewe); Elizabeth (consecrated of God). The names of John and Joan are both Hebrew words meaning God is gracious.
In the New Testament, Jesus gave Peter a new name (rock). I don't think they called him "Rocky," however! Peter in French is Pierre; in Italy, Pietro; and in Spain, Pedro.
Many names from ancient Greece are used: Nicholas (victorious army); Margaret (Pearl); Alice (truth).
The Puritans attached meanings to names: Mercy, Prudence, Patience, Faith, Hope, and Charity.
Names have meaning. If your name is Charles, you are strong and manly. If your name is Donald, you are a world ruler. If your name is Click, you talk incessantly!
God has a name. God means the supreme or ultimate reality. Why should the name of God be respected? It depends upon who you are. If you have little to do with God in the way of belief, the name of God can slip from your tongue without much thought of its meaning.
The Old Testament gives several names to describe God. For the Israelites, one name for God, "Yahweh," was so sacred they never spoke it aloud. They used an alternate word "Adonai." "Yahweh"Êmeans "I am that I am." That is to say that God has existed from the beginning and never ceases to exist. Yahweh or Jehovah describes God as being reliable, trustworthy, not fickle like the gods of other countries. Yahweh or Jehovah means that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The prophets came to realize that everything ultimately goes back to God. Nothing, they deciphered, can be independent of the power and purpose of God. Thus, they called God the Eternal. James Moffatt used that word in his translation of the Bible.
Other names given to God were Elohim -- He is the vital power; El Shaddai -- the Almighty God (Genesis 17:1). These names connote the attributes of God. Thus, a name has substance. Such a name as God commands respect.
Luther warned against the danger of misusing the name of God. There is the danger of thinking of God as remote. The other extreme is to think of God as so common that the deity is disrespected. Luther stated in the catechism that "we are to fear and love God so that we do not use his name to curse, swear, lie, or deceive, but call upon him in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving."
Our present age has diminished the sense of distance between God and human beings and made the concept of God commonplace. Whereas people may be a little lower than the angels, people today have the tendency to make God only a rung higher. He is, as one dentist described to me, "The tuxedo gentleman upstairs."
Street talk, shocking and realistic, has crept into television and movies. As a consequence, it is not surprising that God has been demeaned. Infiltrated by word associations, our culture tends to undermine decency and degrade the name of God. Four letter words, commonly used, indicate the meagerness of present-day vocabularies.
In his prayer, Jesus said, "Our Father ... hallowed be thy name." Luther in his answer to the first petition said, "The name of God is indeed holy in itself; but we pray in this petition that it may be hallowed also by us."
We can misuse God's name in flippant, careless talk. Once I played golf with three strangers, and it was not until the eighteenth hole that they learned I was a pastor. Apologies for their language came profusely. "You know," one fellow said, "our associations at work are of a pretty tough nature and this kind of talk becomes a habit. It doesn't mean anything," he said.
How clairvoyantly he spoke. People become victims of habit, and sin becomes a habit. If Christians cannot talk decently and honorably, who will call society to repentance? "It doesn't mean anything." When we say that, it means God is so little thought of that the tongue speaks without thought of God. God's name can be misused.
God's name can be abused, the greatest sin outwardly committed. This makes God lower than humankind. Is it not time to rethink the importance of this command?
There are right ways to use God's name. We are to call upon God, as the catechism states, "... in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving." The psalmist declares God's invitation: "Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me" (Psalm 50:15). The name of God is to be used in time of tribulation; it is to be used in worship; it is to be used in daily thanks to the Source of all good, the "Almighty God."
In the light of Christ, Old Testament conceptions of God take on a deeper meaning: righteousness, kindness, grace, long-suffering, compassion, and holiness. God's name is like that and requires respect.
The Third Commandment: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
"What does this mean for us? We are to fear and love God so that we do not neglect his Word and the preaching of it, but regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it."
What is meant by the Sabbath day? It is derived from a Hebrew word translated to rest, to abstain from labor. For the Jew it was a sign of the covenant between God and his chosen people. Ezekiel 20:12 says, "Moreover I gave them my sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, so that they might know that I the Lord sanctify them." It was a day of rest in remembrance of what God had done at the time of creation.
The sabbath is strictly a Jewish derivative, although we know that many primitive races had "rest days." As Jewish history unfolded, the law of the sabbath became very strict. The Jew was careful to plan his work and his travels so that they did not conflict with the sacred day.
So strict was the law that they were shocked when Jesus healed on the sabbath. To the Jews the day had become a "no work" day and also a "no good works performed for God" day.
For many all that Sunday means is a day of rest, a day of a change of pace. Years ago the term "Christian Sabbath" was concocted to help Christians observe the Lord's Day. Despite efforts to destroy the idea that Sunday is the heir of the sabbath, Charlemagne (Frankish king, 742-814) made a decree in 789 which forbade all ordinary labor on Sunday a breach of this commandment.
Even today, some church members think of Sunday only as a day of rest and ask the question, "Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?" forgetting that Saturday was an Old Testament practice.
Sunday is distinctly a Christian day. We should let it stand on its own merits. Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week -- Sunday. In observance of this, early Christians worshiped on Sunday. We do the same. We are to observe the Resurrection Day and keep it holy.
No one questions the need of a day or two off work a week. Primitive people saw the wisdom in that. People and beasts need rest and a change of pace. Bodily needs necessitate such a law.
But what some seem not to comprehend is that the mind and heart, as well as the body, need to keep a day holy. To keep one day in the week holy is to say that one day in the week we devote primarily to the hearing of God's Word.
Luther said: "... that on such a day of rest (since otherwise it cannot be accomplished) time and opportunity be taken to attend divine service, so that we meet to hear and treat of God's word, and afterward to praise God in singing and prayer."
He continued, "But this I say, is not so limited to any time, as with the Jews, that it must be just on this or that day; for in itself no one day is better than another, and this should indeed occur daily; but since the mass of people cannot give such attendance, there must be at least one day in the week that we set apart."
When a person says "Sunday is my only day off and I must rest," it is an indication that no Christian theology has pierced the soul. Such a person is saying in effect that God is not worth the time, the opposite connotation of the meaning of the word "worship."
The catechism states that we should not "... neglect his Word and the preaching of it, but regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it." The question may well be asked: How could any Christian neglect it?
We can neglect it by indifference. We can neglect it by preoccupation with self interests. We can neglect it by overindulgence in recreation. Negligence translated means "there is no thought of God."
Churches abound in our country. If a Christian is away from home, he or she can usually find a church. If a Christian is out in the woods, a Bible in the hand is as important as a fishing rod, a ski on the foot, or a golf club.
Ah, how we have dismantled the effectiveness of this commandment! The Word is holy, God made a day in our busy schedules for worship so that we can "... gladly hear and learn it." From one worship celebration to the next, we should have grown in grace. The efficacy of this commandment is not in its resting but in its reconciliation with God. The Word gives us new understanding. That is pace change at its best.
Worship is natural for a believing heart. Candidly put: To refuse to worship is sin. Worship adds quality to life. Assurance of forgiveness and strength to live the Christian life come from worship.
God's name is holy and so is the day God has provided for people. Is there a connection between the two? Worship is the right use of God's name. Without worship how can people have pure thoughts? Without worship how can people regard their Maker with respect?
Respect is an act of giving particular attention to someone. Respect means having a high regard or esteem for someone. That Someone is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Our culture could use a dash of respect. Comic Rodney Dangerfield is famous for protesting, "I don't get no respect." That's probably a good line for God, too. These two commandments command Christians to have respect for God. They build character.
"What does this mean for us? We are to fear and love God so that we do not use his name to curse, swear, lie, or deceive, but call on him in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving."
Names mean something. As a lad, I was always fascinated by Indian names. Where did they get such names as Eagle Eye, Buffalo Face, Sitting Bull, Sleepy Eye, and Rain-in-the-Face? I learned that American Indian fathers chose names from the first object that caught their eye after a child's birth.
Throughout history, names have been given to people (The World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 12, pp. 5,385-5,386). Early history records only one name used since there were fewer people. As communities grew and people moved about, there were not enough names to go around.
Among Christians, a name was given at baptism and became known as the Christian or given name. John was a popular name. If there was more than one, they became known as, for example, Peter's son or Jack's son. Some were known for their job or profession, such as John the Carpenter or John the Shepherd. John Long was a tall man; John Short was a short man. Or, after people traveled around, John from the North, or John the Scot.
Names added were nicknames. Eventually, they became family names. People who owned land made up names. For example, in Germany, the name of von Hindenburg means from Hidden Castle. The French name de Chateubriand means from Briand Castle.
In early days not all people could read or write. Names were made up. The name of Sanderson came from Alexander's son and Michael became Mitchell. The old name ap-Hugh, a Welsh name, meaning the son was changed to Pugh. The names of Fitzhugh and McCue were once the same, both meaning the son of Hugh. Still other names, like the Indians, came from objects: Lake, Stone, Clay, Woods, and Appling.
Surnames (added names), formed from the father's name, came from other languages. For example, the son of include Irish names beginning with O; German names ending in sohn or son; Scandinavian names ending in sen or son; Russian and Serbian names ending ovitch and escu. So we get such names as Johnson, Johansson, Hansen, Ivanovitch, and Jonescu.
The first use of Christian names began in England in the 1500s. Such names include Dudley, Sidney, Washington, Chauncey, Clifford, Howard, Russell, Spencer, and Tracy.
In early times, only nobles and people of wealth used more than one Christian name. But in the 1500s, two Christian names became common. The Roman Catholic Church is credited for this, naming children after a saint, for example. The second name is used for family reasons. A girl born at Liverpool, England, in 1880, was given 25 Christian names after all the letters in the alphabet. She was called Anna Bertha Cecilia Diana Emily Fanny Gertrude Hypatia Inez Jane Kate Louise Maud Nora Ophelia Quince Rebecca Starkey Teresa Ulysis Venus Winfred Xenophone Yetty Zero Pepper.
Hebrew boys were given names with a definite meaning: Isaac (laughter); Solomon (prince of peace); Nathan (gift); Samuel (called of God); Zachary (Jehovah has remembered). Some common Hebrew girl names were Susan (lily); Rachel (ewe); Elizabeth (consecrated of God). The names of John and Joan are both Hebrew words meaning God is gracious.
In the New Testament, Jesus gave Peter a new name (rock). I don't think they called him "Rocky," however! Peter in French is Pierre; in Italy, Pietro; and in Spain, Pedro.
Many names from ancient Greece are used: Nicholas (victorious army); Margaret (Pearl); Alice (truth).
The Puritans attached meanings to names: Mercy, Prudence, Patience, Faith, Hope, and Charity.
Names have meaning. If your name is Charles, you are strong and manly. If your name is Donald, you are a world ruler. If your name is Click, you talk incessantly!
God has a name. God means the supreme or ultimate reality. Why should the name of God be respected? It depends upon who you are. If you have little to do with God in the way of belief, the name of God can slip from your tongue without much thought of its meaning.
The Old Testament gives several names to describe God. For the Israelites, one name for God, "Yahweh," was so sacred they never spoke it aloud. They used an alternate word "Adonai." "Yahweh"Êmeans "I am that I am." That is to say that God has existed from the beginning and never ceases to exist. Yahweh or Jehovah describes God as being reliable, trustworthy, not fickle like the gods of other countries. Yahweh or Jehovah means that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The prophets came to realize that everything ultimately goes back to God. Nothing, they deciphered, can be independent of the power and purpose of God. Thus, they called God the Eternal. James Moffatt used that word in his translation of the Bible.
Other names given to God were Elohim -- He is the vital power; El Shaddai -- the Almighty God (Genesis 17:1). These names connote the attributes of God. Thus, a name has substance. Such a name as God commands respect.
Luther warned against the danger of misusing the name of God. There is the danger of thinking of God as remote. The other extreme is to think of God as so common that the deity is disrespected. Luther stated in the catechism that "we are to fear and love God so that we do not use his name to curse, swear, lie, or deceive, but call upon him in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving."
Our present age has diminished the sense of distance between God and human beings and made the concept of God commonplace. Whereas people may be a little lower than the angels, people today have the tendency to make God only a rung higher. He is, as one dentist described to me, "The tuxedo gentleman upstairs."
Street talk, shocking and realistic, has crept into television and movies. As a consequence, it is not surprising that God has been demeaned. Infiltrated by word associations, our culture tends to undermine decency and degrade the name of God. Four letter words, commonly used, indicate the meagerness of present-day vocabularies.
In his prayer, Jesus said, "Our Father ... hallowed be thy name." Luther in his answer to the first petition said, "The name of God is indeed holy in itself; but we pray in this petition that it may be hallowed also by us."
We can misuse God's name in flippant, careless talk. Once I played golf with three strangers, and it was not until the eighteenth hole that they learned I was a pastor. Apologies for their language came profusely. "You know," one fellow said, "our associations at work are of a pretty tough nature and this kind of talk becomes a habit. It doesn't mean anything," he said.
How clairvoyantly he spoke. People become victims of habit, and sin becomes a habit. If Christians cannot talk decently and honorably, who will call society to repentance? "It doesn't mean anything." When we say that, it means God is so little thought of that the tongue speaks without thought of God. God's name can be misused.
God's name can be abused, the greatest sin outwardly committed. This makes God lower than humankind. Is it not time to rethink the importance of this command?
There are right ways to use God's name. We are to call upon God, as the catechism states, "... in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving." The psalmist declares God's invitation: "Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me" (Psalm 50:15). The name of God is to be used in time of tribulation; it is to be used in worship; it is to be used in daily thanks to the Source of all good, the "Almighty God."
In the light of Christ, Old Testament conceptions of God take on a deeper meaning: righteousness, kindness, grace, long-suffering, compassion, and holiness. God's name is like that and requires respect.
The Third Commandment: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
"What does this mean for us? We are to fear and love God so that we do not neglect his Word and the preaching of it, but regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it."
What is meant by the Sabbath day? It is derived from a Hebrew word translated to rest, to abstain from labor. For the Jew it was a sign of the covenant between God and his chosen people. Ezekiel 20:12 says, "Moreover I gave them my sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, so that they might know that I the Lord sanctify them." It was a day of rest in remembrance of what God had done at the time of creation.
The sabbath is strictly a Jewish derivative, although we know that many primitive races had "rest days." As Jewish history unfolded, the law of the sabbath became very strict. The Jew was careful to plan his work and his travels so that they did not conflict with the sacred day.
So strict was the law that they were shocked when Jesus healed on the sabbath. To the Jews the day had become a "no work" day and also a "no good works performed for God" day.
For many all that Sunday means is a day of rest, a day of a change of pace. Years ago the term "Christian Sabbath" was concocted to help Christians observe the Lord's Day. Despite efforts to destroy the idea that Sunday is the heir of the sabbath, Charlemagne (Frankish king, 742-814) made a decree in 789 which forbade all ordinary labor on Sunday a breach of this commandment.
Even today, some church members think of Sunday only as a day of rest and ask the question, "Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?" forgetting that Saturday was an Old Testament practice.
Sunday is distinctly a Christian day. We should let it stand on its own merits. Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week -- Sunday. In observance of this, early Christians worshiped on Sunday. We do the same. We are to observe the Resurrection Day and keep it holy.
No one questions the need of a day or two off work a week. Primitive people saw the wisdom in that. People and beasts need rest and a change of pace. Bodily needs necessitate such a law.
But what some seem not to comprehend is that the mind and heart, as well as the body, need to keep a day holy. To keep one day in the week holy is to say that one day in the week we devote primarily to the hearing of God's Word.
Luther said: "... that on such a day of rest (since otherwise it cannot be accomplished) time and opportunity be taken to attend divine service, so that we meet to hear and treat of God's word, and afterward to praise God in singing and prayer."
He continued, "But this I say, is not so limited to any time, as with the Jews, that it must be just on this or that day; for in itself no one day is better than another, and this should indeed occur daily; but since the mass of people cannot give such attendance, there must be at least one day in the week that we set apart."
When a person says "Sunday is my only day off and I must rest," it is an indication that no Christian theology has pierced the soul. Such a person is saying in effect that God is not worth the time, the opposite connotation of the meaning of the word "worship."
The catechism states that we should not "... neglect his Word and the preaching of it, but regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it." The question may well be asked: How could any Christian neglect it?
We can neglect it by indifference. We can neglect it by preoccupation with self interests. We can neglect it by overindulgence in recreation. Negligence translated means "there is no thought of God."
Churches abound in our country. If a Christian is away from home, he or she can usually find a church. If a Christian is out in the woods, a Bible in the hand is as important as a fishing rod, a ski on the foot, or a golf club.
Ah, how we have dismantled the effectiveness of this commandment! The Word is holy, God made a day in our busy schedules for worship so that we can "... gladly hear and learn it." From one worship celebration to the next, we should have grown in grace. The efficacy of this commandment is not in its resting but in its reconciliation with God. The Word gives us new understanding. That is pace change at its best.
Worship is natural for a believing heart. Candidly put: To refuse to worship is sin. Worship adds quality to life. Assurance of forgiveness and strength to live the Christian life come from worship.
God's name is holy and so is the day God has provided for people. Is there a connection between the two? Worship is the right use of God's name. Without worship how can people have pure thoughts? Without worship how can people regard their Maker with respect?
Respect is an act of giving particular attention to someone. Respect means having a high regard or esteem for someone. That Someone is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Our culture could use a dash of respect. Comic Rodney Dangerfield is famous for protesting, "I don't get no respect." That's probably a good line for God, too. These two commandments command Christians to have respect for God. They build character.
