Bearing God’s Name
A sermon brought forth from Exodus 20:1-11 and Philippians 4:1-9 preached on June 19, 2022
It’s hard to see the joy in the Ten Commandments. On the surface, they read like a bunch of rules—some basic code a schoolteacher relays to her Kindergartners or 3rd graders. Don’t kill each other or steal from one another, and maybe this day will be fine. But underneath this list of dry regulations is a soul. The Ten Commandments add up to life the way God wants it. “Live this way together,” God says, “and you will find your way into My original design for You.”
It would help us to move away from the word “commandment.” It’s a perfectly good word if we understand it the way God means it, but we don’t. So, I’ll suggest that these are the ten vows God makes with us and we, in turn, make with God. I don’t grab the word “vow” out of thin air. There’s wedding language all the way through this part of Exodus.
God asks the people of Israel if they want to get married. God wants them to say “I do,” to join their life with His. These will be the first 10 vows between them. They aren’t commandments; they’re commitments. God gives Moses this set of vows and tells him to bring them to the people and sign the marriage certificate. These are the solemn promises that Israel will make with God as they begin their life together. For those of you reading The Pursuing God, Joshua Ryan Butler mentions this.
These ten commitments are a blueprint for building a God-blessed people in God’s blessed community. Through them—with them—God will form the people of Israel in His image and likeness so they may, in turn, reflect God, their divine Life-Partner, to the surrounding nations. The people of Israel will be God’s representatives. They will bear God’s Name.
God is pursuing us in the same way. God wants us to carry His Name. He wants our life together to be a lived expression of God’s own story. Along with the people of Israel, the church is to be the hotspot of God’s presence. Israel would be given the high calling of being those who would bear God’s Name. We have been given the same calling through Christ Jesus. God presents us with these vows. He says to us, “I will be your God if you will be my people. This is the kind of people I want you to be.”
These first five commitments, like the rest, anticipate our tendencies. The first two have to do with our tendency to get lost in things that rival a singular devotion to God. God begins with the most challenging of the 10 vows. Can we give God our singular devotion without secretly holding onto other options? God knows this is a problem for us; He has our number. With these first two, He comes out swinging. I’m quoting from the Bible Project podcast here: It’s as if God is saying,
“You’re gonna want to connect yourself to the image of some human and what they stand for, or something created by humans, but don’t give in to that temptation. Don’t be ruled by anything that’s a part of creation. You’re meant for more than that.”1
And how about that fourth commitment? The one about Sabbath. God says, “Do not live by the same rhythms of those around you. They’re destroying themselves with their own schedules.” We should live instead by a new God rhythm because we do not live by our work alone. We live by the generous presence and sustaining power of God. This is God saying, “Chill out. This is not all on you.”
A bit on the third vow. The original language reads, “you shall not lift up or bear the Lord’s Name in vain.” This has nothing to do with how we speak; this has nothing to do with some good old-fashion cussing. Though I don’t recommend using God’s Name recklessly, that’s not what going on here. When God commands the Israelites to avoid taking His Name in vain, He’s telling them “Don’t misrepresent Me.”
In our actions and words, in our very character, we take the Lord’s Name in vain when we do or say something that doesn’t line up with God’s divine character. At Sinai, the mountain on which Moses gives the Israelites these 10 expressions of faithfulness, God reveals His Name to them. He chooses them to be His own people. The way He does that is by placing His Name on them, like giving them an invisible tattoo or by saying, “You’re mine.”
We put our names on things to claim ownership of them. God puts His Name on His people to claim ownership of us. Therefore, we are not to live in such a way that God’s reputation is negatively affected. So, this is much broader than using God’s Name as a cuss word.
Aaron wore a medallion on his forehead that read, “Wholly belonging to Yahweh.” Yahweh is God’s name. So, Aaron literally carried God’s name. We are carriers of God’s Name, and that affects every part of how we live, because God’s reputation is worth protecting. It’s worth honoring.
God has a reputation to uphold; our character should befit that holy Name, for it is by grace and grace alone that He trusts us with it. We are God’s diplomats; we’re asked to represent Him well. Since we bear His Name, we do whatever it takes to do no harm to it.”
Throughout Philippians, Paul is intent on building up the character of these new Christ-followers. “This is the kind of people I want you to be,” he says. “This is how you will bear Christ’s Name.”
The whole of Philippians is about how our stories are lived expressions of God’s own story. We are a Jesus community. His Name is upon us, and we bear it. “Make sure you do that well,” Paul says, “mindfully, too.”
Together, we are to be the dwelling place of God. We bear Christ’s Name with and for one another. That’s what separates us from any other organization out there—Rotary, scouts, Lion’s Club, country club. Christ’s Name and our bearing of it—this is what makes us church. We are a Jesus community. And Jesus is forever inviting His church—his Bride in covenant relationship—to live out her vows. “This is the kind of people I want you to be.”
Paul starts by addressing two prominent women leaders in the church who are in some type of conflict. They’re not bearing to God’s Name at the moment, they’re taking it in vain. Paul urges them to follow Christ’s example of humility to reconcile and become unified. We need to move beyond the bickering and infighting; the quibbling and blaming and speculation. We lose ourselves—our character—in such talk. These things defile the body of Christ. They do damage to Tinkling Spring. When we give ourselves to this kind of talk, we bear God’s Name in vain.
Together, we have a story of faith. We have experienced God’s presence in our midst. That’s the story we should hold close. Christ is among us. This should daily characterize our relationships. This is the kind of people we are. We bear God’s Name; therefore, we rejoice in the Lord always. Again, we say rejoice! This is the kind of people God wants us to be. “Live this way together,” God says, “and you will find your way into My original design for You.”
All praises to the One who made it all and finds it beautiful! Alleluia! Amen.
The Bible Project Podcast, Exodus Scroll, Episode 7, 2022. https://bibleproject.com/podcast/what-are-ten-commandments-all-about/