Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Hey New Life Gillette Church, we are thrilled you decided to listen to our teaching on your favorite podcast app. If you made a decision to follow Christ today, would you let us know by visiting? Yes.newlife gillette.com Here is this week's teaching.
[00:00:24] I want to say good morning to everybody joining us online on Church 307. Everybody here in the room, all across the state of Wyoming, wherever you are checking in from. And I want to say happy Mother's Day to all the moms in the room.
[00:00:37] And also, I just want to acknowledge this, Mother's Day is a tricky day for some of us.
[00:00:45] There are people who are here today, and it's your favorite day of the year. You're celebrating an incredible mom. You got kids who love you around you, and it's an awesome day. And there are probably people here today who hope no one makes eye contact and says that because you're remembering a mom that was you had a tough relationship with or someone you lost or you hoped to be a mom. And it hasn't happened yet.
[00:01:08] I just want you to know, however you feel today, you're welcome here and you don't have to pretend like anything's different. That's the beautiful thing about the church, is that we all get to come as we are, authentically. So if you're here celebrating and stoked, it's Mother's Day, it's your favorite day of the year. We're celebrating with you. You don't have to pretend like you're not celebrating. And if you're here and hoping that today passes by with no one reminding you, we're glad you're here. You don't have to pretend like that's not true either. We all get to come to Jesus as we are. Amen. Amen. All right, we are looking at the third commandment today. Exodus, chapter 20. We're going to start reading. We're actually going to start and stop reading in verse seven. We're reading one verse today. If you got a Bible with you, go ahead and open up there near the beginning of the book of the Bible. So second book, Exodus, chapter 20.
[00:02:00] Here's what it says.
[00:02:02] You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who misuses his name. The Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. Let's pray.
[00:02:19] Jesus, your name is powerful and it is above every other name, and we praise you for that. You are the only one worthy of the praise and the glory and the honor Today we praise you, Jesus. We thank you for being with us and God in this sermon.
[00:02:35] As with everyone, you speak to us, Jesus. If there's any of my opinions in this sermon, let us notice them so we can throw them away.
[00:02:44] If there's anything that's consistent with your character and faithful with your word, would you plant it in our hearts, Jesus? Because we want to be like you. That's why we're here.
[00:02:53] Amen.
[00:02:56] There is kind of a common social media joke or trope about becoming a dad that as soon as you become a dad, you figure out which meat you're going to be super into barbecuing and which war you're super interested in. Did I say happy Mother's Day, by the way?
[00:03:12] I didn't choose that this sermon was going to fall on Mother's Day. It's just kind of how it landed.
[00:03:17] That trope is super true of me. Like, as soon as I became a dad, I bought a smoker. And I love.
[00:03:23] I love war history. If you find me reading just a book for fun, a lot of times it's going to be a novel or some sort of. Even a textbook about some war. I think it's super interesting. And my favorite story from war history. Once again, happy Mother's Day.
[00:03:40] My favorite story from war history comes from the Civil War, and it's the story in the Battle of Gettysburg in which the 26th North Carolina was given the task of uprooting the entrenched 24th Michigan from the top of.
[00:03:55] Now, let me take an aside here in case someone is offended or excited that I'm telling a story about a Southern unit in the Civil War. This is about what happened in the battle, not about the cause they were fighting for. All right, the 26th North Carolina was given the job of crossing an open field into a creek bottom with scant trees and then breaching the hill, going up the hill to attack the 24th Michigan, who was known to be the most veteran and tough unit in the Union army. Now, this was a time in history in which trumpets and flags were incredibly, incredibly important.
[00:04:37] The colors and the color bearer signaled to the entire army where they should be going, how they should be moving. Commands were issued from a trumpet. When you heard the song, you knew what the command was. And when you looked around you, if you saw your unit's flag moving forward, you knew you were attacking. If you saw the flag moving backward, you knew you were retreating. If you saw the flag way over there, you knew you were in the wrong place. And if the Flag hit the ground, you knew something was wrong. The flags, the colors were crucial to the unity and the morale of the army. Of the unit also, carrying the colors was probably the most dangerous job on the battlefield for two reasons. Number one, it took two hands to hold a flag.
[00:05:26] You couldn't hold a big unwieldy rifle or musket and the flag.
[00:05:31] So to pick up your unit's colors, you had to put down your ability to defend yourself.
[00:05:36] And second, you were the most visible person on the battlefield. Everybody could see the flags sticking up over everyone else and they knew where to shoot. If you wanted to demoralize your enemy, you'd shoot the person holding the flags and the flags would hit the ground.
[00:05:51] So the 26th North Carolina issues the charge. They're led by a 21 year old Colonel known as the Boy General.
[00:05:59] They charge across the battlefield. In the first volley, four color bearers are hit.
[00:06:08] 1, 2, 3, 4. Before the flag can settle on the ground, the man standing next to the man that just dropped picks up the flag and continues the charge. But before he can take a step, he drops. Because everybody from the high ground was aiming at the flag.
[00:06:28] They continue in. Five color bearers drop. The momentum doesn't halt because the flag touches the ground and starts to lean. And someone else drops their musket and picks up the flag and continues the charge. Six, eight.
[00:06:46] They're crossing the field. And one by one, every man who picks up the flag is killed or wounded.
[00:06:54] In the first 10 minutes of the battle.
[00:06:59] In the first 10 minutes, 10 color bearers are killed or wounded.
[00:07:06] One after another they go down.
[00:07:10] Every person who touches the flag.
[00:07:13] Finally, they make it to the trees where there's a little bit of COVID And the boy General himself picks up the flag from the 10th man who dropped. Leading the charge through the trees, he takes a musket ball to the neck and drops 11. 11 color bearers down. And barely more than that, minutes of fighting.
[00:07:40] At this point, the command of the unit is given to a lieutenant colonel who's hiding in cover behind a tree with his sergeant.
[00:07:52] This is the first time in the battle so far that the colors have laid on the ground with no one touching them. No one is running to pick them up and lead the charge. Why? Because they've seen 11 men drop.
[00:08:06] The sergeant, exasperated, shouts over the noise of the battle to his lieutenant colonel. This. This line that will echo in my memory forever.
[00:08:18] No man can take those colors and live.
[00:08:25] Lt. Col. Nods in agreement, picks up the flag and leads the charge.
[00:08:33] Moments later, he becomes the 12th color bearer, killed or wounded in the battle.
[00:08:41] I tell you that story because I believe the third commandment, the essence of the command given to us.
[00:08:51] You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. Or as most of us probably learned it or have heard it said, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
[00:09:03] I believe the essence of this command is this. No man can take those colors and live.
[00:09:13] No one can take the colors of the cross, the name of the king who voluntarily died for his kingdom, and live.
[00:09:27] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a theologian in Germany who was killed by the Nazis for standing against the corrupt and evil regime, called it the cost of discipleship.
[00:09:40] No one can take the colors of the cross and live.
[00:09:46] Now, if you are like me and you grew up in church, even if you didn't grow up in church, then you probably heard this command. Don't misuse the name of the Lord your God. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. And probably the way that you assumed what that meant was that if you're going to say God's name, that's fine, but it cannot follow. Oh, my.
[00:10:04] And it can't follow. Good, right? No good lords in here. And you never, ever, ever say it after you stub your toe or following a cuss word, right? You don't ever do that because that is taking the name of the Lord's a lord in vain. And he doesn't like that very much. Which, as I've thought about it, I think that's kind of funny to think about that God in his. He's making the 10 most important rules in all of history. He's making the 10 commands that would create the ethic that all of his people would live by for the rest of eternity. And he says, don't worship any other gods and also don't murder each other and don't cheat on your wife. And my goodness, quit saying my name so much. It's annoying, right?
[00:10:47] You gotta calm it down now. Look, I'm not telling you that it's okay to use God in a derogatory sense, to use that word, to use his name as a cuss word or as some sort of slur or something like that. That's incredibly disrespectful. It would be disrespectful to any human to use their name in a derogatory way, right? Like if you started stubbing your toe and saying, cj, I'd be annoyed by that. I wouldn't like that very Much.
[00:11:13] It's even more disrespectful if we consider that the God of the universe is who we're using in a cavalier, derogatory way. Right? It's disrespectful. I'm not saying it's okay to use his name in that sort of way, but the third commandment just has absolutely nothing to do with how we say his name. We imagine that it does because when we hear, take or use how you use a name, you say it. That's what you do. That's how you use a name. You say it. Maybe you write it.
[00:11:44] That's what you do. But. But that's not at all. It has absolutely nothing to do with. With what God was saying in the third commandment when he said, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
[00:11:58] In order to see that, we need to break down the commandment. The word, the Hebrew word that we translate take or misuse in the NIV translation I read earlier is this word right here. It's the Hebrew word Nassau.
[00:12:12] Nah. Saw means to lift. So if I'm going to take this stool with me, then I'm going to lift it, right? It means to lift up. Maybe to worship or praise or celebrate or in some way associate yourself with. It can also mean to bear.
[00:12:30] You shall not bear the name of the Lord your God to carry.
[00:12:37] To carry it with you anywhere you go.
[00:12:41] You shall not carry the name of the Lord your God in vain. Actually, in the King James version, 18 times, it's translated armor bearer.
[00:12:55] Almost like you put on the name when you call yourself one of his people.
[00:13:01] Like protection, like it's the name written on your shirt or on your hat. I think the most literal way, an easy to understand way that we could read the third commandment, would be to do it like this. Do not wear the name of the Lord your God in vain.
[00:13:20] Do not take upon yourself.
[00:13:23] Do not associate yourself with. Don't take upon yourself the name Christian, the name Jesus. If it's going to be in vain, don't wear it around and associate yourself with him if it's going to be done vainly.
[00:13:42] Now, the word vain in English has two primary implications, and it's the same in Hebrew. I want to show you a picture.
[00:13:50] This is my jeep on Monday when I drove it to work after spending a weekend in the Black Hills turkey hunting. Now, I personally believe this is what a jeep is supposed to look like.
[00:14:01] This is the proper state of cleanliness for a jeep, and the inside should match the Outside. That's just my personal opinion.
[00:14:07] I love jeeps. I grew up, my dad taught me to drive on a 91 Wrangler Islander 5 speed. I've had a soft spot in my heart for jeeps for a long time. But the thing is, if you buy a jeep, you don't buy a Jeep because it's fuel efficient. You don't buy a Jeep because it's comfortable. You don't buy a jeep because it's safe or reliable or anything like that. You buy a jeep because it can take you up a trail that only a donkey can go up, right? That's why you buy a jeep. You buy a jeep because you want someone else to be able to say, I can't drive that road. And you want to say, well, watch me, right? That's why you buy a jeep. So a jeep should look like this. It should have some dings, right? The skid plate should have some scratches on it because you've tried to go over something you shouldn't have and you learned the hard way. That is the proper function of a jeep. Now, in the jeep community, are any other jeep people out here? Anybody? A couple of us. All right, in the jeep community, there's a term you might have heard before. It's called mall crawler.
[00:15:04] Anyone heard that term before?
[00:15:06] Yeah, mall crawler. There are no mall crawlers in Gillette because there are so many rough roads around here and there's so much snow. Every jeep is used for jeep things. But the term mall crawler is what you might call a jeep that, let's say it's got like a 3 inch lift on it and it's got 35 inch tires and you know, it's got a hijack strapped to the outside and a shovel shoved behind the tire and it's got some mud, mudboards and everything. And the only time that jeep goes off road is to park at an elementary school soccer game, right? It's the only thing it's crawling over is occasionally a parking stop at a mall, right? If you're under the age of 30, a mall is like, it's like Amazon, but in person, I think.
[00:15:53] Mall crawler, right? It looks like it's supposed to go over things. It looks like it's supposed to do a specific thing, but it just doesn't.
[00:16:02] If you're a jeep person, you would look at a mall crawler and you would say it has the name jeep in vain because the name means it's supposed to do a specific thing.
[00:16:17] The way it's designed, the Things it carries around, the things it wears tell you it's supposed to behave in a specific way, but it doesn't.
[00:16:31] So one of the implications of vain is with no effect, with no change on how it behaves.
[00:16:43] You shall not.
[00:16:45] Let's just. Let's just quote the whole verse real quick. God will not hold guiltless anyone who takes his name with no effect.
[00:17:00] Don't take the name upon yourself if it's not going to change who you sleep with and how you spend your money and how you forgive your enemies and what you do on the weekends and how you treat those that you disagree with and who you like and who you choose to like even though you don't like them.
[00:17:20] Don't take the name if it's not going to have any effect.
[00:17:25] Because when you take the name upon yourself, there's some behaviors that are associated with the name.
[00:17:35] There's a way of living that's associated with the name.
[00:17:39] There's a cross that's associated with the name.
[00:17:44] You shall not carry, you shall not lift up, you shall not wear the name of the Lord your God.
[00:17:52] If you're not interested in the effect it has on your life.
[00:17:57] There's another implication of the word vain.
[00:18:01] Have you ever heard. Have you ever been around someone who name drops all the time?
[00:18:06] Yeah. Don't elbow them. Okay.
[00:18:10] Right. You're talking to them and you mentioned something about, you know, being at the Capitol, and they're like, oh, the governor call him Toby. It's an inside joke. You know, he'll know it's me. Right. They're just, oh, Elon. Me and Elon were on the Riviera last month. Yes, I love Elon. They just name drop all the time. Right. They're constantly trying to tell you who they've been hanging out with, make themselves seem important and seem cool. Right. That is someone. The reason that drives us nuts is because that's someone using another name for their own benefit, not for the benefit of the person who has the name.
[00:18:48] Using a name to build up their own reputation, build up their own fame, build up their own recognition, guarantee them a comfortable, easy life in which they've got certain privileges.
[00:19:01] It's taking a name in vain. It's associating yourself with that name because of how it makes you look.
[00:19:09] You shall not take.
[00:19:12] You shall not lift up.
[00:19:15] You shall not carry around the name of the Lord your God. If you're doing it for your reputation, if you're doing it to make the girl you like's parents like you.
[00:19:29] If you're doing it to make people trust you on Instagram.
[00:19:33] If you're doing it to get votes or follows.
[00:19:39] You shall not take the name of the Lord your God. If you're using him for your fame and reputation.
[00:19:47] No, we use our name for his fame and his reputation.
[00:19:54] If I have a following, it's not about my name, it's about his.
[00:20:02] I don't use him to get something for me. No. Rather, I leverage my life to make him famous. Because here's the thing. Here's the thing that we all have to realize and that we're constantly tempted to forget, but we all have to remind ourselves again and again and again. And it's gonna seem obvious when I say it, but I want you to think about whether you actually live like it's true or not. The thing is, the name of Jesus or the name of CJ cannot save anyone. The name of Mark cannot save anyone. The name of Mike cannot save anyone. Your name, my name, none of our names can save anyone. People can know my name and think I'm incredible and go to hell.
[00:20:38] Jesus is the only name that can save. Jesus is the only name that can transform a culture. Jesus is the only name that can change headlines. Jesus is the only name that can defeat addiction. Jesus is the only name that can set captives free. It is only his name. It is not mine. So if I am using my faith as a way to build myself a platform, build myself a reputation, make people like me, then I'm not making people like someone that will fail them. But if I'm using everything I have to make him famous and make his name known and make his name great, and if I'm doing everything in my power to live my life in such a way that it reflects well on his name. And when I make a mistake, I own it and I confess it. Because that's what followers of Jesus do. We don't hide our mistakes. We confess our mistakes. You want to carry the name faithfully and not in vain. You confess your mistakes, you don't cover them up.
[00:21:25] Then we use his name. We make his name famous, because his name is the only one that will change anything. Amen.
[00:21:33] The name of Jesus is the only name that will change anything.
[00:21:37] Here's the thing we all know. In any other area of life, it drives us nuts when people use the name in vain.
[00:21:45] Look, if you're a mom, it's Mother's Day. If you're a mom and you've got five kids, it probably drives you nuts when someone says, I know what it feels like I have a dog. Right, right.
[00:21:55] Because you did the work.
[00:21:58] And it's not the same if you're an athlete and you work hard and you watch what you eat and you go to the gym and you're training for a specific outcome. It kind of drives you nuts when people post on social media about all the stuff they're not doing to make you think they're doing it right. When they try to associate themselves with the same thing. When they keep talking about high school but they haven't gotten off the couch in 10 years, it probably drives you nuts because you're doing it right.
[00:22:23] Right? If you're active in the community and you're doing everything you can to make a difference. Right. You're not just posting on social media and complaining about stuff, but you're actually showing up and volunteering and voting and turning out and making all of that kind of stuff. It probably drives you nuts when someone complains about problems but doesn't do anything about it, doesn't it? Right, because they're associating themselves with the name, but it hasn't changed their behavior.
[00:22:50] It drives us nothing any other area of life.
[00:22:55] You shall not take, you shall not wear, you shall not carry the name of the Lord your God in vain.
[00:23:05] So I want to ask you a question.
[00:23:09] Christ has given you his name.
[00:23:12] How do you wear it?
[00:23:17] This is a question I don't particularly like to answer either, because I found myself many, many times wearing the name with no real effect.
[00:23:28] Wearing the name because I wanted people to think of me as trustworthy.
[00:23:34] Wearing the name in vain.
[00:23:38] Fortunately for us, Jesus is way more merciful than we are.
[00:23:43] We wear the name of the God who died to forgive our sins. We wear the name of the God who forgives us. Every time we wear it in vain. Every time we make the same mistake again, he offers us forgiveness and mercy and love so that we come back again and again and again. And we say, jesus, I didn't wear your name very well, Jesus, I wore it in vain. And he says, that's okay. I died on the cross to make it right. I died on the cross to forgive your sins, to restore you, to redeem you, to heal you.
[00:24:09] We live in the mercy and redemption and hope and forgiveness of Jesus. Praise the Lord. That doesn't change the fact that it is sin to wear his name in vain. God will not hold guiltless those who name his gay, those who wear his name in vain.
[00:24:25] We are forgiven for our guilt in Christ, but it is sin nonetheless. And what we have to see in Christ is that God doesn't call things sin because he's petty. God doesn't call things sin to make it hard for us. He calls things sin because it hurts us. It hurts the world. It breaks destruction. If you're gonna wear the name.
[00:24:45] If you're gonna wear the name, expect it to change things.
[00:24:50] And look, as I was working on this sermon, I was trying to decide whether I was gonna say this part or not. I'm just going to. It might make somebody mad. I'm sort of sorry.
[00:25:03] It's Mother's Day.
[00:25:05] There are a lot of moms here.
[00:25:08] Let's just call it. Let's just call it like it is. You are. You're the one carrying the spiritual responsibility of your family.
[00:25:15] You're the one making sure your family. It's not. It's not carried in vain. And look, there are moms who carry the name in vain. That's absolutely true. But in my experience, a lot of times it's the dads who are barely showing up in church, not really interested in teaching their kids the ways of Christ, justifying the stuff, and just kind of counting on the fact that mom loves Jesus and is praying for him. And thank the Lord for praying Moms, because there are moms who have prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed, and the faithfulness of God has changed their family later.
[00:25:46] But I want to give the moms a break today. I want to say, men, quit pushing off the spiritual responsibility of your life, your family, your marriage, your kids, on someone else, you're carrying the name in vain.
[00:26:04] Jesus looked at the sins of the world and he said, my responsibility.
[00:26:09] Jesus looked at the sins of all of us and he said, it's on me.
[00:26:14] I'll do it.
[00:26:16] So look, when you're telling yourself, yeah, I mean, I probably shouldn't have sex with her, but if she's down, I'm down. You're putting the responsibility for your righteousness on someone else.
[00:26:30] It's his name in vain.
[00:26:35] When you're saying, oh, yeah, I'll go to church if she will. If she wakes me up, if she reminds me, quit passing the responsibility.
[00:26:45] She's been carrying it for a long time. Don't make her carry it any longer.
[00:26:50] Quit making somebody else clean up your messes. Quit making somebody else be your moral compass. The Holy Spirit lives in you, too. Start listening to him.
[00:27:01] We have a name to carry. It's the name of Jesus.
[00:27:06] Ephesians, chapter five says, husbands, love your wives as Christ loves the church who gave himself for Her.
[00:27:16] Go to bed tired every night because you loved your family.
[00:27:21] Deny your desires because you love your family.
[00:27:25] Say no to your dreams because you love your family. God will probably give them back to you, but you got to be willing to lay them down.
[00:27:32] Jesus died to show us what it's like to wear his name.
[00:27:40] Look, moms, daughters, we're grateful for you. You've been showing us what it's like for years to keep praying and keep being faithful and to stay steadfast and persevere in the midst of all of the obstacles and all of our laziness.
[00:27:56] Men, it's time to carry a name and to carry it with some responsibility.
[00:28:06] It's time to carry a name like our King is calling us into battle.
[00:28:12] And you've got something to fight for and you've got something to stand up for.
[00:28:16] And every day you are reflecting the name of of Jesus. He's given you his name. How are you going to wear it?
[00:28:29] If you, like me, find yourself this morning saying I've worn the name in vain time and time again.
[00:28:34] If you're a dad, boyfriend, son, anyone, mother, and you're realizing I've worn the name in vain. You wear the name of the God of mercy who forgives you, who forgives you.
[00:28:52] Accept his forgiveness and take responsibility.
[00:28:56] Accept the forgiveness and mercy that he offers you because you are loved, you are made in his image. He gave you his name and take responsibility.
[00:29:07] No one can take the colors of the cross and live.
[00:29:14] No one can take the name of King Jesus to live.
[00:29:23] But what do we get when we take the colors?
[00:29:26] We lose the life of sin and we're given the resurrection life of Christ.
[00:29:31] Let's pray.
[00:29:39] Jesus, you are the faithful one.
[00:29:45] It is your name that we worship and your name that we proclaim and your reputation that we carry.
[00:29:53] Jesus, thank you. That you give us your righteousness and you give us your mercy and you give us your forgiveness. And we need it day after day after day.
[00:30:01] Jesus, would you teach us to see your glory, your name, your reputation?
[00:30:11] Would you give us the courage to take responsibility, Jesus, that we would not wear your name in vain.
[00:30:17] That we would wear your name as your people who may not be perfect, but we admit when we're wrong and we get back up again and try with everything in our power to allow your Holy Spirit to empower us to wear your name faithfully.
[00:30:33] We love you, Jesus.
[00:30:35] Thank you. That you take away our guilt and you take away our sin.
[00:30:40] Amen.
