Hallowed

Introduction

If you are a parent, have been a parent, or hope to be; what ways have you or will you try to teach your children to respect or honor their elders?

There are several ways I’m sure you could come up with, but one way that my sister and I grew up with and a way Jenny and I have taught our boys is to always use Mr. and Ms./Mrs.

Now, when someone became closer to our family and more like family to us you could use a first name, but you always included Mr. or Ms. with it.

If you help with TeamKid you will hear me say that with the kids. Ms. Amybeth, or Mr. Robert or Ms. Morgan. Even with Kyle and Abby we had the boys refer to them as Mr. Kyle or Ms. Abby.

As they have gotten older we have relaxed on it some, but from time to time you will still hear them say Mr./Ms. and a first name.

This little gesture taught me growing up that those who were adults should be respected, honored in how we regard them by name. That translated into action in how I spoke to them, acted toward them etc.

In our study of Christian ethics based on the 10 Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount, we come to the next 2 commandments that deal with God.

I stated lasted week that our ethics flow from Him by relationship with Him. The law He presents is reflective of His character and nature. It is a call to holy living as we are saved by a holy God.

The Lord dealt with devotion of people to Him in commandments 1 and 2. Now, He deals with how we regard Him in commandments 3 and 4.

These are closely tied to commandments 1 and 2 as devotion is still key. But commandments 3 and 4 broaden what that devotion looks like in our lives.

Read Exodus 20:7-11

Misuse of the Lord’s Name

Exodus 20:7 tells us that we are not to misuse the Lord’s name, or as we often hear it in vain. Often our minds immediately travel to cursing that involves using God.

Yes, this is applicable, but the wording here is more broad than specific. As one scholar noted,

“In general terms, this commandment prohibits a lack of seriousness about Yahweh’s presence in Israel, demonstrated through pointless, misleading, or even false use of His name.”

This means that those who call on the name of the Lord, claim the Lord, cannot do so flippantly.

We cannot use God.

Tying this back to commandments 1 and 2, we cannot attach the Lord to other gods. He is not a god among other gods. He is the only God. To make Him nothing more than the same as other gods is to misuse His name. It is a form of using God.

Just because someone claims God or Jesus with their particular blend of political flavor or of religious flavor doesn’t mean they represent God. In fact, when sinful actions or ideology follow on either side of the spectrum; there is taking the Lord’s name in vain.

In other words, the name of the Lord is not be used for our gain or advantage with people.

We cannot claim salvation and live separate of that salvation.

This means that you cannot be a follower of God in name only. To claim God and to lack seriousness about who He is or what He has done is to make Him pointless. It is misleading to others around you.

When someone claims Jesus as Savior and Lord they do so by His name. His name is associated with His life, His action, His work. Same for God the Father.

To claim Him in name and deny by life is to take the name of the Lord in vain.

I am the lead pastor of this church. I represent the Lord as a Christian and a pastor. I represent this church. Imagine if I was getting out at the bar getting drunk every Friday night, treating my family poorly, cussing and fussing at all the Farwell games and causing a scene, ignoring people, using Chat GPT to write my sermons (publically stated), etc. Would you want me claiming to be your pastor?

No! I represent as a primary leader our church to the community. To your children.

Yet, we often do the same to the Lord.

Remember, the Lord attached all these commandments to His salvific work. Verses 1 and 2 tell us this. What a travesty it is to claim Jesus in salvation, then spit on that by living as if He doesn’t even matter.

The Lord takes this serious

God expresses that He will not leave anyone unpunished for this grievance. The punishment is not provided in specificity. There are, however, moments recording in Scripture where punishment came.

Leviticus 24 a man cursed and blasphemed the name of God. He was taken outside the camp and stoned to death.

Annaias and Saphira in Acts are struck dead for lying to the church and God for their gift they offered. They sought to have glory over that of God. A form of taking His name in vain.

The Sons of Sceva also in Acts reveal men who attempted to use Jesus’ name to exorcise demons. In the end, the demons overpower the men.

Because the Lord is jealous for His glory and honor, He takes serious how we represent His name.

Remember the Sabbath

What is Sabbath?

At its foundation it is a day of rest. God attaches it to His own day of rest from creation on the 7th day. So it is a ceasing of the normal daily routine for religious purposes, or better holy purposes.

Our VBS missionaries talked about sabbath and said it is not a day off. It is a day they worship, read God’s Word and other Christian literature, rest, reflect on the Lord, give thanks, and prepare for the week ahead.

Each year the people of Israel would celebrate different religious festivals that were designed to sort of reconnect them with the Lord.

I might liken it to a week of camp, where we cease several days of normal routine for a time focused attention upon God, His Word, His worship, etc.

The sabbath day is the day set aside each week as a microcosm of the larger festival where attention and undivided devotion is set upon God, His Word, and His worship. As one scholar noted, it was “thought of as extraordinary in the week instead of in the year.” (Durham, 289)

It is holy or to be kept holy as set apart, different from the other days of the week. The sabbath is the hinge point of the week- the time of refreshment from previous days and a time of filling to be prepared for the days ahead.

What does it mean to remember?

Remember- “observe without lapse, hold as a present and continuing priority.” (Durham, 289)

Because it bears great weight to God and in the life of the one who observes it, it must be a priority in their life.

Sabbath is not built around the rest of life, the rest of life is built around the Sabbath.

When we hear remember we often associate that word with memories. Some memories are more recent some less so. To remember the Sabbath is not to be a distant memory, but something fresh and new each week.

Application

As Christians we set aside Sunday as our sabbath in observance of commandment and Jesus’ teaching. Our tradition flows from the foundation of the Scripture. Sabbath in the broadest sense should find priority- Daily, weekly, and periodically throughout the year.

Why?

For those with little ones and those that might remember having little ones; how often do you or did you hear the word why?

You might say, “the sky is blue.” They then ask, why?

Much of Jesus’ teaching in expounding the law is giving the why. Jesus is provided the heart or the spirit of the law.

Remember He fulfills it for us perfectly and is our righteousness. The law brings condemnation unto us because we cannot fulfill it, but Jesus does so in our place. We place belief, faith, and surrender into His life for that. His death for covering the penalty of our sin.

But, we also need understanding on how to live holy lives once faith has taken root and grace is extended through salvation.

So, why do these commandments matter?

Matthew 6:9

Jesus teaching His disciples to pray brings forth a freshness to the 3rd commandment.

The word Father in Greek bears similarity to the word Abba in Aramaic. These terms denote a closeness to the Father unlike what the people of God were taught.

Of course we have heard the connection that it is like our word Daddy. To a degree this can be said as it speaks of the closeness a child feels toward their father.

However, what this can do if it is left alone is bring an attitude to God like that I’ve seen in Christian consumerism. I remember the t-shirts that said, “Jesus is my homeboy.” We get sort of loose with the Lord in that attitude, flippant, and He looses in our mind the reverence that is due to Him.

In other words, we begin to take His name in vain.

What does Jesus say here? “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name.”

Jesus expounds that one day- when the cross and resurrection are completed- all believers will be able to call on God as their Father like Jesus can. But, we are to remember that while He is such; His is in heaven.

He is eternal, above us, not equal to us. He is not our homeboy. He is so much more and must be regarded as such.

He is name is to be hallowed or honored as holy. In other words, not used in vain. We don’t come to the Lord as daddy; like the daughter who can bat her eyes and drip sweetness to get money from dad.

While God the Father is gracious, compassionate, loving; He is also like a consuming fire Hebrews tells us. He is beyond our control and He must be revered, honored, and approached in such a way.

It doesn’t stop with our prayers. It continues in our lives. Peter connects for us from the book of Leviticus,

1 Peter 1:15–16 “15 But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.”

Thus, the principles of the commandment to not take the Lord’s name in vain, apply to us today.

Mark 2:23-27

Matthew 6:9 applies to remembering the Sabbath. If we regard the Lord as holy, revere Him as our Father; then why would we not:

Obey His command to keep the Sabbath?

Want to come to Him each week for a special time in His presence?

To expound on this further though, we have to step out of the Sermon on the Mount to Mark 2:23-27.

The Pharisees who became the keepers of the law, the arbiters of it, the authority of it; confront Jesus’ disciples “doing work” as they saw it on the Sabbath.

Jesus gives them an example from their shining star, King David, on how the rule was “bent” for him. Then verse 27 gives us the heart.

Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is not meant to be burdensome and to be used to not care for those in need. Strict religious adherence that does not lead to mercy and compassion is useless. That is the crux of what Jesus is teaching here.

The Sabbath is a gift. The command from Exodus tied to Jesus’ teaching here helps us to see that we are not the authority over the Sabbath. In fact, Jesus says the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.

Like the Pharisees we can treat the Sabbath as if we are the authority over it. Perhaps to a rigidity- no one can miss a Sunday or they are a dirty sinner. Or to a mindset like the hippie- It’s whatever we feel like.

The Sabbath, the day we set aside to break from the norm of life to give attention to the Lord is a time of being in His presence. To be sustained and fed spiritually.

Sabbath is an invitation to rest in the Lord, the place of our only true rest. Church is the primary place established for this. It should be our primary place of Sabbath. But that is not without grace.

When our family went to Pagosa Springs last summer for vacation, I was committed to making time for Sabbath on Sunday. I looked at a couple of churches we could potentially visit. In the end, our family was tired and adding a service to our time was more of a burden on vacation. Why? Because church is our life. Sunday is work. I needed and they needed a break from the normal grind.

So, that morning Jenny and I got up earlier than the boys and did some quiet time. I laid in a hammock and enjoyed a theology book and some reflection on God.

Once breakfast was done and the boys were ready, we sat and read a portion of Scripture. We ended up talking about it for almost and hour. We ended with singing a song together.

In that moment we Sabbathed.

Should this be the regular way for us to Sabbath? No as Hebrews tells us to not neglect gathering with the saints and in Acts we see the people gather regularly. They also continued their sabbath through the day, not just 1 hour of it.

We sabbathed from our normal grind of a Sunday, but not to the exclusion of a focused time upon the Lord.

In the end, the issue of using the Lord’s name in vain and Sabbath comes back to the first 2 commandments. Who is Lord of your life?

To use His name in vain, to make Sabbath about you is to make yourself lord and not God.

Conclusion

As was our conclusion last week, I ask- who is the Lord of your life? How does that show in your attitude or approaching the Lord?

Do you regard Sabbath as yours to do with what you want? It is a gift of God to come to rest in Him, but if God is Lord over your life; Sabbath should naturally be prioritized.

Do you regard the Lord flippantly? Is He nothing more than fire insurance?

Or is your life fractured right now? You have salvation in Him, but your life reveals your attitude is to treat Him in vain?

One scholar I read helps summarize the gospel in connection to the law…

The Christian is done with the law as a means of gaining a righteous standing before God. One passage that explains this is Galatians 2:21: For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. However the law stands as the perfect expression of God’s ethical character and requirements.

The law sends us to Jesus to be justified, because it shows us our inability to please God in ourselves. But after we come to Jesus, He sends us back to the law to learn the heart of God for our conduct and sanctification.

I would add- when we fail and fall in our relationship with Jesus; we run back to Him in surrender to His Lordship to be made more in His likeness and to renew in us devotion to Him.

In your attitude toward, in your sabbath time come to the Lord saying, “My Father who is above me in all things, Lord of all including my heart and life, let me honor you.

May the Lord be hallowed in your life.