USING THE LORD’S NAME IN VAIN IN OATHS, LANGUAGE, PROMISES, GOVERNMENT, & EVEN THE CHURCH

Linguistics has always been fascinating to me.  I remember taking French in the 4^th grade, why it was offered, I do not know, but certainly got a kick out of it.  I learned common phrases and the alphabet—clearly a foundational approach to education.  I had sufficient limited knowledge that I remember after a long Friday evening piano lesson listening to my mother talk at length with my piano teacher and I just wanted to go home.  Thus, in my youth, I simply translated the words, “Mom, I want to go home,” but using the French alphabet with the best accent a fourth grader could muster, and it sounded like such: “Mohm, E, Dubla-vee-ah-en-tey tey-oh gjay-oh ahsh-oh-em…”. I just remember my mother looking at me like I was retarded and requisitely silencing me.  Pretty funny to me now, but then, I thought I was brilliantly speaking a secret code to my mother.

         As I have progressed in linguistics and languages throughout life, I find a fascinating aspect of Jesus in how He used language in the Scripture.  There is something so intriguing about that and at such a higher level of speech.  It compelled me to write a sermon about the name of “God” and “Jesus” as we know it in the transliterations of the Christian culture and it became intensely profound to me.

         There are so many writings about Jesus and God in the Bible, but no one shows more reverence than Jesus.  He expertly showed reverence for God’s name by avoiding it.  You can read it yourself.  Jesus broke the code on this, not only in His basic teachings, but also in circumventing Jewish-religious laws.  Jesus took language, allegory, metaphor—all to another level that was baffling to the religious elite.  Probably why I so enjoy antagonizing the denominational, dogmatic, fundamentalists.  It gives me joy to make snow angels in stupidity.

         I find it humorous at the intellect of Jesus, who was indeed a part of the Trinity, avoided direct use of the name of God in His teaching.  Herein lies the “art” of Jesus’ discourse.  He used all parts of speech in teaching, for example, the passive voice.  Let’s look at Matthew 5 and the Beatitudes…the longest sermon of the Bible by Jesus.  “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”  Okay, makes perfect sense within the context of our Christianity.  Never once did He reference or say God or Yahweh in this case.  He often times used this literary device to emphasize His own language.  Jesus used the word “Blessed” thus an authoritative commend.  All of the Beatitudes are indeed command from Jesus, the Son of God.

         Using His own language, He would often repeat, “Amen and amen.”  I do it every Sunday at the end of service when we say the Lord’s prayer.  Essentially, “so be it, so be it” with emphasis as to making a victorious claim.  That would be like us telling someone, “Going to the store, going to the store.”  Can you imagine the face they would make as if you had turrets or autism like Dustin Hoffman in the movie Rain Man? 

         This dialogue is avoiding oaths of using God’s unspeakable name by intricately finding another literary and speaking device for emphasis.  Why?  Oaths and promises tend to implicate God’s name.  How many times have we said, “I swear to God” before a spanking, a chiding by a spouse, or a law enforcement pulling us over for speeding through a school zone?!

         Jesus is our example.  Jesus is also God.  Can we all agree on that?  Linguistically, Jesus uses a hyper-vigilant and hyper-zealous reverence for the name of God in all of His discourse.  He went to extremes to hyper-avoid the use of the name of God for the sake of peace with the Jewish religious elite.  Quite frankly, I believe that Jesus, and only Jesus had the right to use the name of Yahweh more than anyone else—yet He didn’t. 

         Let’s take this to the Lord’s Prayer, when Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come” or “Our Father who art in Heaven.”  He is linguistically showing us how to pray but he is using the word “father.”  Essentially, YOU Father, YOU hallow YOUR name.  Jesus made it about God and the path to get there…so should we.

         Jesus is indeed God each time He said “I am” the very first name of God in the Old Testament.  Jesus also used the phrase “Son of Man” to show His mortal being of the form of God.  Jesus’ most unique form of showing He was a deity was in forgiving sins and accepting worship.  Thus, in context, why would we use His name in vain if He is the one to forgive sin for true repentance and requires us to worship Him?  Think about it next time you launch a disrespectful “GD” or “JC” from your nasty lips and undisciplined tongue.