10x: 10x Reverence with Rev. Caz Minter

Well we get to study the scripture and study these commandments and just dive in and I love it. I love that we get to do this together. It is an incredible thing to gather together as a body of Christ, to sing together, pray together, to be together and so thank you for being together today and we're gonna study this scripture, I wanna pray for us as we do this, would you pray with me? God, these are your words which you gave to your people thousands of years ago but you also gave them to us and so father we wanna be a people of your word and we wanna hear your voice so speak to us today. Grab hold of our hearts and father fill us with your spirit so that we might live it out.

We pray this in your holy name, amen. Well today we're talking about the third commandment, this is the third of the 10 and the old language that you might be familiar with is do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, don't take the name in vain, don't misuse the name. Now to understand this we need to understand the context of things. What is it, what is that name that we're talking about? There's a certain holiness to this name that we can often just forget.

We just kinda move forward past it, we don't really think about it that much but the people of Israel that were hearing these 10 Commandments would have heard the stories of Moses. Now remember when they're getting these 10 Commandments, this is the people of Israel, they've been called Egypt, out of slavery and they're wandering into the wilderness but they don't know what's next and so God sets up his relationship with them. It's his covenant and he does this through Moses so he gives the word, these 10 words to the people and then he's giving Moses the rest of the law and that's setting up their promise, their relationship together. It's saying I will be your God and you'll be my people and this is what that looks like and it's in that context that he gives these commandments and this one, do not take the name of the Lord in vain. Now that name isn't just any old name, it's a special name.

It's a holy name and in fact there's a whole story of Moses hearing that name when he was introduced to that name. Moses was wandering sort of in the wilderness and he sees this bush that's burning but it doesn't burn up and he's curious. I think you'd be curious too. I had a neighbor one time when we lived in Memphis and it was Memphis hot. You guys, you don't know Memphis hot but it was Memphis hot and on a Memphis hot kind of day a neighbor came running over to our house and said, your bush is on fire.

And I was like, I don't know, my bushes? I was like, should I take my shoes off and go out there? Is God gonna, but what does that mean, you know? And who knew but if you pile your mulch too hot the... Too high and the sun is too hot, spontaneously combust.

And sure enough, the bush was on fire on the side of my house. Moses sees this bush, it's an unusual thing and he draws close and from there, God starts to speak to him and he introduces himself and he reminds Moses of who he is and and what his mission is and what his calling is. Now, it's this holy moment and as Moses comes close, he's told, take your shoes off, you're on holy ground. That's an odd thing to say, but it was it was this, sort of this holy sacred thing to do in that culture. Now, I I had to learn this a little bit of you know, how that culture thing with shoes works.

In 2004, Cami and I moved to Mount Pleasant, Michigan and we had never lived in Michigan before. And part of the interview weekend, we went over to someone's house and no one had warned us that often when you go to somebody's house in Michigan, you take your shoes off. And, but that's what we did because we got to this interview home and I took my shoes off and sure enough, my big toe was totally sticking out. I didn't know you gotta have nice socks in Michigan, I didn't know. In the culture that Moses was in, this was a sign of holiness.

This was a holy moment. He's in the presence of the God who created the universe, who spoke it into existence and he's in his presence. Now I want us to look at this story together and it's gonna come up on screen and we're gonna work through it, but for this one I want you to do something in particular. I want, there are little Bibles in the pew in front of you and I want you to pull those out and go to page 46. This is where this story is and there'll be a reason why we're looking at it in the Bible there in front of you.

On page 46, we're gonna look at this story. This is this is Exodus chapter three and we're gonna look at verses 13 through 15. That's gonna come up on the screen here as well. Page 46 and verse 13, here we go. Moses said to God.

So Moses is going, I'm not sure about this. God's saying you're gonna you're gonna call these people out of Israel and they're gonna leave slavery. And Moses like, I don't know if this is gonna work. I don't know if they're gonna follow me. So this is what he says, Moses says to God, suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you.

And they ask me, what is his name? What shall I tell him? Basically Moses is saying, this is pretty far fetched, man. I mean, I'm just gonna tell him a bush sent me? You know what he...

And God says this, God says to Moses, I am who I am. That's the holy name. God that always was, always is, always will be. The God of the universe, This is who he's talking to. So I am who I am.

This is what you are to say to the Israelites. I am has sent me to you. God also said to Moses, say to the Israelites, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob sent me to you. Now, this is this is the Lord, the God of your fathers. So he's not just the God, this holy God who created the world, he's a known God.

He gives his name, I am who I am. And then he reminds him, I'm the God that's known your fathers, your forefathers, your grandfathers, I'm the God that redeemed them and changed their lives. You know these stories. I'm a familiar God who you've actually seen at work as you look back in your past. I'm not just some any God, some random God, but there's also something really special going on in the text.

I'm gonna highlight it right here. Say to the Israelites, the Lord. See that word Lord? Now look at it on your bible there. You're gonna see that that is in all caps.

Do you see that? How it's on all caps? Whenever you see that, as you're reading through your scripture and you see the word Lord is in all caps, it's not the generic word for LORD. It's not the word that they would use for other gods in the area. There are all kinds of gods in that culture and time, small g gods in that world around them but when you see LORD, that's actually a proper name.

It's just four letters. It's y h w h, Yahweh. And this is a holy thing. This is God's proper name. The God of the universe has introduced himself to Moses and then to the people of Israel.

It's unbelievably holy. It's unbelievably special. It reminds you how big this God is. The bush is burning up. Take your shoes off but it also reminds you how close he's drawn and how intimate he is.

He's given you his name. It's to be held in high regard. It's holy. Whenever you see that LORD in all caps that's what's behind it. It's Y H W H and and it became the tradition even in the in the Jewish tradition that they wouldn't even pronounce that name because it's so holy.

So when we're told don't don't take the name of the Lord your God in vain, then it makes sense. Right? There's a holiness to it. Now my my family and I got to go to a University of Michigan football game, you know, at the big house and man, was incredible and... But there were some moments that weren't as good in the game and during those moments we heard the name of the Lord all over all over the stadium.

We heard people, you know, we heard people yelling the Lord's name. Now even though we know that God sometimes does miracles for Michigan, he makes time stand still. He can even multiply seconds. Alright? You guys can argue about that later.

But he... We we know and even though that's the case, there were still lots of shouts of the Lord's name. And when we read this commandment, is that what we're talking about? Well it is when you think of the holiness of who God is and the holiness of this name and the way that that name should be held in regard as holy, that makes sense and you hold that up against yelling out and shouting shouting and swearing really in a stadium full of people, you can see, no, this name is to be held as holy but that's not all there is to this commandment. It actually goes much further and much deeper and so what we're gonna do for the next few minutes, we're gonna...

I want you to put on your scholar hat today. We're gonna carefully walk through a little bit of this command, we're gonna look really carefully at the language and when you get done with this, you're gonna be a scholar in the third, you're gonna be professional, you know, third commandment person, you're gonna know it well, but if you'll if you'll put your scholar hat on and walk with this through me carefully, it's gonna start to make sense and open up a whole new world as we as we read this as we read this passage together. Now this command comes from Exodus chapter 20 and the verse for the third command is verse seven. And and we normally use the NIV, that's the version I usually study and read and it's helpful and it's good. But but sometimes when they're translating, they choose words that kinda makes it a smoother sentence, and so every once in a while, you wanna look at a text in a different translation, it's just helpful.

And today we're gonna look at it in the ESV, and the ESV does more of a one for one translation. It's something closer to what you might be familiar with if you grew up around, you know, like the King James. Don't take the name of the Lord your God in vain. And so we're gonna walk through the ESV and we're gonna walk through it on this screen and take a look at what's happening in this. Now here's the command.

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. Alright. The first thing we see is that this is the holy name, right? This is that word Lord and so this is not just any random God, any random, this is the Lord. But but I want us to keep going and look at something else here.

There are two words that show up and we're gonna circle them right here. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain and then anyone who takes his name in vain. Now, that word is this word called nasa. It's just looks like NASA but it has a little accent so you got that. If you're explaining this to someone else at lunch, sounded smart.

It's nasa, okay? And so that's the word that's translated. Now that word is used all throughout scripture. There's another place that comes a little bit later and a little bit later they've set up the tabernacle and the tabernacle is the place of the special presence of God and the priest would go in and pray for the people. And when it describes what's happening in the tabernacle, says Aaron is given these priestly garments that he's to wear into the tabernacle.

It gives this elaborate description and part of the description is that he wears this breastplate and it has these stones on it, 12 of them, and those stones are carved with the names of the tribes of Israel and in that way he has the names of each tribe and he has sort of the names of all of Israel and it says that he's gonna go before the Lord in the presence of God in the tabernacle and when it does it, it says he will carry the names of the people into the tabernacle. That's the same word, nasa. In fact, when we see this translated throughout scripture, it's to carry, to lift up and to bear. Means we we carry the name of God. So when it says you shall not take the name of the Lord your God, you could you could read it this way.

You could read it to say you shall not bear the name of Yahweh your God in vain. You don't carry the name in vain. Now that sounds interesting. Right? You're like, so what, Caz?

Like like, who cares? But you need to understand the culture around them. There was a culture at the time where the kings and rulers all over that region would set up these large stones. They would set up monuments and statues. As we call it today, call it the royal monument tradition.

And on those stones and statues, they would put their name. Now, have a picture of one here. It's kinda hard to see, but this is this big big big stone, it's about a six foot tall stone that they've recovered. We've actually found many of these. This is the Victory Stella of Naram Sin and it tells the story of this victory but what's really important about it is that that up here on the top, you'll see this guy right here, he's a ruler.

He's he's looks like a ruler. He's got a really cool hat on with horns on it. I know you can't see it from but but he's a ruler and above it is his name. What that meant in that region was that this area belonged to him. In fact all over they would have these stones and monuments and statues that would say this area belongs to this ruler, it's theirs, they claim it.

This is my mountain it would say. This is my region it would say. This is my nation. They would put their name on things. It's kind of like when you have hope against hope and you're sending your kid off to school and you put your name, their name on their jacket hoping that somehow that thing will come back home.

Now it never does, they just disappear but you still, you still try. You put your name on it, you say this is mine, I claim it. That was the tradition at the time so all over the region rulers would set up these stones and say this is mine. Now what's happening in this passage and what happens throughout the Old Testament especially the section of the Old Testament where God is telling his people who they are is it tells us he puts his name on them. In fact later they'll build the temple and they'll say it's a place for God's name to rest.

What he means by that is God has said they are mine. I claim them. They carry my name. They bear my name. Now that is an unbelievable thought and you need to let that sit with you for a second.

That God has placed his name on his people. That means he's placed his name on you. You and I, we're the monument. We're we're marked as God's people. And this is good news.

You're not on your own. You're not floating around trying to figure things out. You're not wondering if you're in or out. Are you part of God's people or not part of God's people? You're not wondering if you're good enough or not.

No. God has called you. He has claimed you. He has put his name on you. He says, you are mine.

You may feel all alone. You may feel like you don't live up but you bear the mark, you carry his name. That means something when you carry that. My dad was telling me a story one time, he was an old Pentecostal pastor and back in the seventies and eighties he he was fully engaged in that ministry and he was telling me the story about a time when he was a police chaplain and there was a marital dispute going on and he got a call to go in with the police officer and they said, now somebody's got a gun and it's kinda dangerous. And my dad was like, I don't think that's what the chaplain's supposed to, you know, do.

And they said, no, we need you to come. And so he tells me, so I went and got my collar and I was like, woah, hold up, you're a Pentecostal pastor like in the nineteen eighties, you wore like a, you know, you wore like a brown, you know, suit with a big wide tie, you know what I mean? That's how you, you had a collar? And he was like, oh yeah, you could buy them at the pastor store in those days, now you can buy them on Amazon. I was like, really?

You know, I didn't know that was a thing, but yeah, he had this collar. He went and got the collar and I was like, what were you doing dad? He was like, I wanted them to know who I represented when I walked in that room. I wanted them to see and know I'm God and I'm showing up in that capacity. That's what's going on in this command.

He's saying you carry his name. This is an incredible thing. You carry the name, you're God's and when you walk into the room it should be like that, like you carry that name. There's a flip side to it as well though. It's not just this amazing thing that we do bear this name but then it means we need to live a new way because we carry this name.

And so when he says don't carry the name of the Lord your God in vain, don't misuse it, he's saying, he's saying carry the name well. Certain things are expected of you when you carry that name, when you bear the mark, when you're wearing the priest collar. Last, this summer I got to go visit our youth group at, on their mission trip in Detroit and a group of them were working with the Compuchion fryers, you know, the Compuchion kitchen. I can't say that word right, y'all have to help me after the service. I've been trying but I got to go down and visit.

Incredible setup and they're giving away food and just amazing thing as they're caring for people in the city, but I was walking through their offices and I happened to look left into an office and there's one of the friars. He's got the whole habit on, right? It's like the brown sackcloth kind of thing, right, with the rope around his waist. That I expected, but he was on a cell phone and typing on a computer. I did not expect that.

Didn't see that coming. Because when he's dressed that way I expect him, I just say, I don't know, I expected him to be doing something holy. There's a certain expectation when you carry that uniform, when you carry the name. The command is that you would bear the name well to the nations around you. So there are there are two examples that come later of like how this plays out and what it means when you don't carry the name well.

We don't have time to look them up today. You can go back and read them, but they're two different ones. One comes from Jeremiah 3four 16. What happens in this passage is that the people of Israel had slaves and they agreed. God called them to release their slaves and they agreed to do it but at the last second a lot of them backed out and they held onto their slaves.

And in Jeremiah, they're being told hey, this is wrong and in fact what it says is you have profaned the name of God. That's what it means to misuse the name. You miscarried the name, you've profaned it. Now in Amos, the prophet Amos is talking to the people of Israel at another time and he's doing a very similar thing. He's showing them where they have not carried the name well.

This is Amos chapter two verses six through nine and it's kind of a tough one to read honestly because they were blowing it big time. I want you to listen to the list though. This is what they were doing. He said they were mistreating the poor and then he said they did not treat sexual intimacy as something that is holy unto God. They they...

And in that way they were misusing people. Then he goes on and he says, you took advantage of people financially. So in business, in a business deal, you did not carry the name of God well. And all those things, you mistreated the poor, you didn't treat sexual intimacy as holy, you you took financial advantage in business and of all those he says, you profaned the name. That's what it looks like to not carry the name well.

Now, this is an important transition right here, this third command because the first two commands about your relationship with God, you know, you have only one God, only worship him, no idols, this close connection with God. The third command says you bear this name of God, Carry it well and then and then commands four through 10 are gonna tell you how. They're gonna say this is what it looks like to carry the name well and and and it goes all throughout every area of life. This reframes the way you walk through the world and live your everyday life. See, when you say I'm a follower of God, I'm a follower of Jesus, it is not just a declaration of your belief.

And it's not just a promise of heaven, of everlasting life. I mean both of those things are true. But to say I'm a follower of Jesus, well this means something so much more. It means God has marked you. He has put his name on you and that you're to carry this name.

So you're marked, you're called, you are part of the family of God and this calling then carries implications Because to say you're a follower of Jesus means that you are to carry the name well. So carrying the name, well that gets into the messiness of everyday life. This is how you should live. It's as if you should think of yourself living a life with that priest collar on or the habit, everyday life as you go through it, you're wearing one of those because you carry this name. This should guide your conversations.

For sure, it should guide your speech and you should hold the name of God holy for sure. But this should guide every conversation and how you treat people in it. This should guide how you make decisions and where you put your priorities for your time, your talent and your treasures. This should guide how you conduct business and what it looks like when you're at work every day. This should guide that.

This should guide how you parent and it should guide how you treat your neighbor. In all of those things, in every area of life you are to carry the name of God. In Genesis 12, a little earlier on God is speaking to his people and he's actually at this point he's speaking to Abraham about what it means to be his people and God gives this promise and the promise is this, he says, you will be blessed. He says, you're blessing, you're blessed so that you can be a blessing to others. So he says this, all people, all the people on the earth will be blessed through you.

Guys, that's what it looks like to carry the name. That's why this third commandment, so much more. It's so much more important. You know, you have neighbors. You have people that you interact with at the store.

Do you know how they're gonna meet Jesus? Do you know how they're gonna how they're gonna get to know God? They're gonna get to know him through you. See, because you carry the name. Would you pray with me?

Father, I'm amazed that you would that you would give us your name, that you would put your name on us. God, may I may I recognize that every day? Would you would you help that to be the lens through which I see my world? Father, as I go into my workplace and as I I go into my street, I I talk to my neighbors, May I be reminded that in every one of those cases like I'm I'm carrying your name. Father fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we can live the way you call us to live in scripture.

We pray this in your holy name. Amen. And would you stand with me? We're gonna sing together.