May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your
sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. AMEN.
“Sticks
and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” All of us remember this saying that we were
taught by our parents when kids would say those words that ‘hurt’ either our
pride, our ego or even our self-image.
Whether it was ‘four eyes’, skinny, fatty, ‘slow poke’, pudgy, or about
the clothes that we wore, because they were hand me downs, they weren’t clean
and pressed or not the latest fashion trend of Ocean Pacific, Alligator, Hollister
or Old Navy. Other things we might have
heard included about what we said, ‘that is stupid’, ‘you are dumb’ or ‘you are
weird’. But the fact still remains we
return to the phrase, ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will
never hurt me.’ Is the phrase true or
did the words of our friends, classmates and even our family have more power
than we give them credit for? This
morning we continue in our series of the Ten Commandments with the Second
Commandment and hear how God’s name is to be used and understood. Let us pray for God to speak to us through
His Word.
Heavenly
Father, the words that we use sometimes do more harm than sticks and stones. Enable us to understand it is not only with
our friends and neighbors, but also our brothers and sisters in Christ here in
the church and with You that we need to see and use our Words, not as weapons
that destroy, but means of building us up in Your image. For that perfect image was of Jesus Christ
made Flesh Who dwelt among us and came in order that we might be saved through
Him and His death on Calvary for all of us saints gathered here at
Emmanuel. AMEN.
So
this morning we follow up the beginning of our series of the Commandments where
we talked about towers in our lives, with the Second Commandment. I began with the phrase, sticks and stones,
so to remind us, see what we have gathered here in the chancel, sticks and
stones. Let’s follow along as I read
from the insert the Second Commandment and its meaning, “You shall not misuse
the name of the Lord Your God. What does
this mean? We should fear and love God
so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie or deceive by His name,
but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.”
There
are a lot of imperatives, or things said here of what we should not do with God’s
name. All of us are known by names or
nicknames, some repeatable in church, others best left used by friends outside
of church. We also sometimes use slogans
just as well as names that are ‘badges of honor’, like “Black and Gold”, “Rock,
Chalk, Jayhawk”, “Purple Pride”, “IN-COM-PLETE!” or “Tulo” that all have an
image that is evoked in our minds of something we have experienced or been a
part of at some point in our lives or introduced to by someone we trust. For some it is pride, some derision or
distaste and some even take it personally if we do not ‘like the same team, the
same college or our players’ that we follow more closely than sometimes even
our relatives.
Pride
in and of itself is not a bad thing, but when our pride separates us from
reality and we use it as a means of escape or excuses, this is where the
problem in lies. Take for example the
people of Israel while Moses was up on the mountain getting the 10
Commandments, they made an image of a cow to ‘replace God’. Their pride in knowing they ‘knew better’,
caused the first set of stones with the commandments from God to be dropped and
broken. The pride they exhibited
separated them from the promise that was fully theirs and changed the
trajectory of their lives and their ancestors for years to come. Yet the reality is this was a part of their
sinful human nature that was not only inherent in their nature, but a part of
even our nature, it is our sinful nature that we have been conceived in and
which still surrounds us today. Hence,
we easily use words that are destructive of not only a persons self-worth, but
also their inherent ability to see themselves as special. Hence we have before us today ‘sticks and
stones’ to remind us of our destructive behavior towards each other even here
in the church.
Yet,
the reality is, these sticks and stones are just objects that can be used for
destruction, but can also be used with power for instruction and creation. Consider if you will, in Genesis when God
created the heavens and the earth they were formed at the command of God, by
His Word. In a moment there was a
difference between darkenss and light, between water and dry land, between heaven
and the earth. By God’s divine Word the
World was created. This power still
exists today, but it is with the proper use of God’s name. This is why the Second Commandment is to
remind us of the power of God’s name and how we are to keep it holy.
Now
all of us, easily say, well I don’t cuss, I don’t misuse God’s name, I simply don’t
swear. But it is not just the ‘swearing’,
it is any useless or careless using of God’s name. God’s name is Holy. Matter of fact in Hebrew which the Old Testament
is written, some scholars refuse to say the name of God אֱלֹהִים ‘elohim’ as it is
written, instead they substitute another name אֲדֹנָי ‘adonai’ and even
for the יַהְוֶה ‘Yahweh’ which is another name for God they
use adonai. This is how special God’s
name is and how we today misuse it and carelessly break the second commandment.
But
of what consequence is this for us today.
God is calling us to a clearer and more profound relationship with
Him. In the movie “Fireproof”, it is
clear from the beginning that the relationship between Caleb and Catherine as
husband and wife was at its breaking point.
They were ready for divorce. From
yelling and cursing each other for not ‘giving’ what they both so desperately wanted,
desired and felt they deserved. But it
was not until each of their hearts had been broken and their desires and wants were
no longer important or the driving force in their relationship, did they
realize that their relationship with God first would work its way into their
relationship with each other and truly unite them as husband and wife. Not until they made God and the relationship
with God a priority would or could they begin to transform their relationship
with each other into a God pleasing, but also a blessing from God to and for
them and their marriage.
In
the personal relationship with God where Caleb and Catherine called upon God to
change them they found the deepest love that could possibly be given. But it was only found in the sacrifice that
Jesus Christ offered them and each of us on the Cross of Calvary. It is only through God’s Son, Jesus Christ at
whose Name every knee will bow that we understand God and the importance of His
name in our lives. This is what is
offered to all of mankind through the Cross of Calvary, not sticks and stones
to break us, but to build us up in the most holy faith found in His Name, Jesus
Christ our Lord. AMEN. May God’s Name be Holy as we sing in honor
and praise of God and the Second Commandment “At the Name of Jesus”.
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