"Cleaning Up Your Language"

Exodus 20:7

Dear Friends in Christ,

    A few weeks ago in Confirmation we were studying the 8^th Commandment, which is “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”  While we were discussing some of the ways in which we break that commandment, like gossiping, slandering, telling lies about another person, and even offering a listening ear to gossip, I mentioned to the kids that one reason we do those things is to be popular.  If we were to actually stick up for someone in the midst of a crowd of peers who were running that person down, we would definitely be running the risk of becoming unpopular, right?

   Well, I used that to lead into a little skit that I wanted to do entitled “Popularity’s Price.”  I played the role of a reporter for a popular magazine called Me.  And I interviewed 3 people played by 3 of my students who had become popular in different ways.  The first was Pamela Party who viewed life as one big party and who proclaimed herself to be queen of the parties.  When asked, she admitted that popularity was pretty expensive.  “How expensive?” I inquired, as I played the role of reporter.  To which she replied: “Well, it required some compromise on my part…my grades…my parents’ approval…my morals at times…but don’t get me wrong – it was worth it!”

   I also interviewed a real popular fellow named Carl Cool.  His self-proclaimed goal in life was to always be up on what people are wearing, what people are doing, what people are thinking, and then following suit - always going along with the crowd, provided the crowd was doing cool things. 

   Then one other person I interviewed in this skit had the rather distasteful name of Frieda Foulmouth.  And I’m going to ask my wife to come up here right now and play the role of Frieda, not because she has a foul mouth, but because she’s a good speaker.  (Do skit)

   It’s sad to say, but there are a lot of Frieda and Frederick Foulmouths running around these days.  I had the rather unfortunate experience a few weeks ago of bowling near some of them.  I was participating in a tournament on a Saturday afternoon and there were some guys a few lanes down from me that were demonstrating some rather questionable character.  I don’t mean to judge, but the one fellow was wearing a shirt with a saying on it that I wouldn’t dream of repeating in a public or even a private setting.  I honestly think I blushed when I finally figured out what it said.  And I wondered to myself, “What mother would allow her son out of the house wearing a shirt like that?”  Another one of the fellows was sitting knee to knee with his girlfriend and kissing her and fondling her right there in full view of everyone.  But then there was the real Carl Cool of the group.  He had it all: color coordinated outfit, long oversized shirt hanging out, cap on backwards.  And boy, could that guy bowl.   He added this little twist with his wrist right when he released the ball and most of the time that ball sent those pins scattering every which way.  In fact, I think the pins fell out of fear before the ball even got there, he was throwing it so hard.  But when he failed to get a strike or when he missed getting a spare, he would let out a string of expletives that really were not appropriate for a family recreational facility like the Salem Bowl.

   And what’s sad about that story is that that kind of language is becoming more and more common these days.  I’ve heard it while wandering the aisles of Wal-Mart and once even heard it from a check-out person there.  I’ve heard it on the basketball court and the tennis court.  I’ve even heard it among pastors when they get together at conferences and are far out of earshot of their parishioners. 

   The kind of language that we’re talking about here falls under the heading of the 2^nd Commandment that we’re going to be looking at this morning.  Most of us here today learned that commandment out of the King James Version of the Bible which says: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”  Kids today learn it out of the New International Version of the Bible which says: “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.”  While this commandment deals specifically with the wrong use of God’s name, many Bible scholars and pastors believe it also embraces the profanity and 4-letter words that color the language of so many people these days.

   And while I’m not exactly sure how this widespread prevalence of profanity got started, I do believe that television had a lot to do with it.  Now some of you younger folks here today might find this hard to believe, but there was actually a time when using God’s name in vain and other types of profanity were not permitted on television.  But then came the show that changed it all.  It was called “All in the Family,” featuring a crusty old codger named Archie Bunker and his delightful, loveable wife Edith whom he often referred to as a dingbat.  And then there was their daughter Gloria and her husband Michael whom Archie often referred to as Meathead.  I’ll never forget when “All in the Family” debuted on television back in 1971 because it was the talk of my high school the next day.  Why?  Because for the first time ever we heard words like “hell” and “damn” being used in a profane way on public television.  Of course today people don’t bat an eyelash when that kind of language or even worse is used on TV because we’ve heard it so much that we’ve become de-sensitized to it.  And what’s really sad, we’ve heard it so much that that kind of language has found its way into many of our own daily vocabularies.

   Now I know what some of you are probably thinking: “Yeah, I’ll admit that my language gets pretty salty at times, but what’s the big deal.  Everyone does it.”  Well, first of all, not everyone does it.  While I do know plenty of people who betray their ignorance of the English language by not being able to complete a sentence without peppering it with profanity, I know plenty of other people who can carry on a conversation just fine without ever once resorting to that kind of language.

   And as for it being a big deal, trust me, even though you may not feel it is, God does, especially when we start messing around with his name.  By the way, let me go off on just a little tangent here about God’s name.  I really believe that the misuse of God’s name is one proof that we can use for the existence of God.  I know that may sound kind of strange, but just follow me on this for a moment.  Have you ever heard anyone say, “O Allah!” or “O Buddha!” or “O Confucius!” or “O Hare Krishna”?  Of course not.  And the reason you don’t and won’t is because Satan knows that Allah is a false god and those guys I mentioned are founders of false religions.  They are no threat to him.  In fact, in a sense, they are allies of him.  But Satan does know that the God of the Bible is real and that his Son Jesus Christ is real.  In fact, they are his arch enemies.  So he loves it when we give in to his temptations to use the names of our God and Savior in ways that are less than honoring to him. 

   And that takes us back to why this is such a big deal from God’s perspective.  The names of God serve 2 purposes.  First of all, they describe him.  They define him because all of his names have meaning.  For example, the word God basically means the source and provider of all that is good.  The name Lord means master.  The name Jesus means Savior.  The name or title of Christ means Messiah.  But not only do God’s names describe him, they also represent him.  It’s no different than your name or my name.  If I am in a crowded room and I hear someone say, “Hey, Doug!” I’m going to look up and see who is calling me.  But if they say, “Hey, Joe!” or “Hey, Scott!” I’m not going to pay attention because neither of those names represent me. 

   So God’s names represent him.  Very similar to how the American flag represents our country. Now when someone wants to do something to show their disrespect or disdain for the United States, what do they do?  They burn the flag.  In a very similar way, when we misuse the name or names of God, we are showing disrespect to the One whom those names represent.  You see how that works?

   And just to prove to you how seriously God takes this commandment, let me take you to a story in 24^th chapter of the Old Testament book of Leviticus.  There we are told about a young man in the Israelite camp who got into a fight with another man.  And while they were fighting, this fellow “blasphemed the Name with a curse.”  In other words, he used God’s name in a way that it wasn’t supposed to be used.  Well, those who heard him do this knew that this was a violation of the 2^nd Commandment that we’re looking at today which right there lets us know that this was a very uncommon occurrence among the Israelites.  In fact, it was so uncommon that those who heard it didn’t know what to do about it.  So they brought the man to Moses who also didn’t know what to do about it.  So he put him in custody until he could determine from God what should be done with him.  And here’s what God told Moses: “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.”  Whoa!  That’ll make you think twice about using God’s name in vain, won’t it?  God actually required the death penalty in the Old Testament for anyone who dared to use his holy name in an unholy way.  Can you imagine if that penalty were still in place today?  We sure wouldn’t have to worry about a population problem, would we? 

   But my point is, God takes this commandment very seriously.  And if he does, then we need to do the same.  Listen again to the full reading of the 2^nd Commandment as it appears in our text for today: “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”  In case you’re wondering exactly what the last part of that verse means, perhaps the New Living Translation will shed some light on it for us.  It renders this verse: “Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God.  The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.”  Again, why does God make such a big issue out of this?  Because his names represent him and when we show disrespect to his names, we are showing disrespect to him.

   Interestingly, the Jews took this commandment so seriously that they would not even utter the holy name of God which he had given to himself when he met with Moses at the burning bush.  Remember that story?  When God called Moses to go back to Egypt to deliver his people from slavery there, and Moses asked him, “Who should I tell the people has sent me to them?” God told him: “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: `I AM has sent me to you.'"  Now that sounds kind of awkward in English, but in the Hebrew language, the word that is translated as “I AM” is the word Yahweh.  That was the holy name of God.  And the Jews had such high regard and respect for it that they would not say it for fear of inadvertently misusing it.  So when they came across it in print, they would substitute another word for it – the word Adoni, which means Lord or Sovereign One.

Amen.