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In the name of Jesus (+). Amen.
Lent: Forty days of reflection and repentance, preparing us spiritually for the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord. Those events to which we look forward each year in Holy Week are the culmination and the focus of Jesus’ entire life and ministry. These five-and-a-half weeks which precede Holy Week are representative of several episodes in the Bible, among them Jesus’ 40 days of temptation by Satan, as the Gospel lesson for this past Sunday described. Also, the Israelites’ 40 years of wandering in the desert, during which they received the Ten Commandments, inscribed in solid rock by the very finger of God Almighty.
It’s that latter period that is going to be in the background during our Wednesday Lenten services this year, as we consider two of the Ten Commandments for catechetical instruction each week. Today, as you saw from the responsive reading that preceded the hymn, we’re going to look at the 1st and 2nd Commandments.
In a certain sense, we preach on these two commandments every week, in every sermon. Every time you hear application of the Law and are turned in repentance or are given a better understanding of Christian living, you are reminded that you have not—and you cannot—fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Similarly, you misapply, degrade, and deny the name of God whenever— while carrying the name “Christian”—you sin in thoughts, speech, or actions. You “deceive by His name” in misrepresenting what He would have Christians be and do.
Most of you who have gone through confirmation training have probably heard it said that the 1st Commandment is the over-arching, governing commandment of God. All sin—regardless of its nature, regardless of breaking commandments two through ten, regardless of whatever human rating of severity you might put on it, are a violation of that 1st Commandment. Sin is doing anything which substitutes your will, your desires, your judgment, for the will of God as He has revealed it to us.
Martin Luther opened his discussion of the 1st Commandment in the Large Catechism by describing what it is to have a god. He wrote: “A god is that to which we look for all good and in which we find refuge in every time of need.” If it’s to the Lord you look in such times, then you are living a life of faith.
Yet none of us do that as we should. Sometimes you seek or depend upon other things, whether it be in times of good or in times of difficulty. When things go well, you may conclude they are due to your own knowledge and abilities, or even chalk it up to good luck.
And when things don’t go so well, perhaps you look to all sorts of solutions, seek to determine blame, and only call upon God as a last resort. You fail to trust that even your setbacks and your failures do not happen apart from the knowledge and allowance of the Lord, and you cut him out of the equation—neglecting to thank Him for protecting you from even greater catastrophe, refusing to accept the consequences, and failing to seek the guidance of His Word in moving forward.
One of the most common violations of the 1st Commandment is not only seeking a greater portion, but also in having dependence upon, the things of creation—a love and a trust in those things which the Creator has provided rather than the Creator Himself, and a fear of not having them adequately. That’s when you have made gods out of things, elevated them in importance, and pushed the Lord out of His rightful place as the source and sustainer of life and creation.
It is true that God uses people and things as His instruments to provide you good things—parents, government, all those doing work of any sort in their god-given and godly vocations. Yet, as Luther wrote, God “wishes to turn us away from everything else, and to draw us to Himself, because He is the one, eternal good.”
It’s important then, that you take this commandment most seriously. Don’t set it aside or think it only applies to those who would create or worship a false, rival god in the form of some carved pagan idol. For we all are creators and worshippers of idols, and if you examine your heart with integrity, you will discover what idols are there. Does your heart cling to God alone, at all times and in all circumstances? Repent! Do not let the wrath of His righteous jealousy come down upon you. He has promised that His vengeance will fall upon those who turn away from Him and seek hope and comfort elsewhere.
When your heart isn’t right with God—and that’s the essence of violating the 1st Commandment—then surely your words and actions are sure to follow. It’s such secondary sins that we are warned against in the 2nd Commandment. In current usage, we are told not to “misuse” the name of the Lord God. In prior translations and common usage, we are not to take the name of the Lord “in vain.”
There are a great many ways in which you could use God’s name wrongly, some of which are listed in the meaning given in the Small Catechism. But these are hardly an exhaustive list.
The term “in vain” can itself also have multiple meanings. Things are done “in vain” when vanity is involved; that is, when you do something to elevate yourself beyond your proper relationship with another—in this case, with God. “In vain” can also mean to attempt and to fail to do something—to have no discernable positive outcome, in spite of significant effort.
Luther describes the misuse of God’s name as calling upon Him to support falsehood or wrong of any kind. To “swear to God” and then to utter untrue things is certainly a breach of this commandment. Luther put it well: “to lie and deceive is in itself a gross sin, but it is greatly aggravated when we attempt to justify and confirm it by invoking God’s name and using it as a cloak to cover our shame.”
However, even to make such an oath in God’s name in order to gain credibility, or to emphasize your own earnestness or sincerity, is a way of applying His name for your own purposes, not for God’s. That’s vanity, too—as is the casual and flippant use of His name as a way to call attention to yourself, to show surprise, or to express disgust.
We are clearly warned in Scripture that such misuses and vanities are sinful in God’s eyes, and that they will be met with His wrath. His words say, “the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
Instead, the Lord desires that we have His name as our dear, valued, precious possession. It marks us, identifies us, gives us hope and comfort and access to His ear and His heart. In Psalm 50, God tells us, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.”
Similarly, we raise up our thanks and praise using His name, invoking His name to call Him and to be in His presence. It is to be used with great respect and for His good purposes. By such care, we maintain the name of God in honor; we use it in ways which bring it glory and keep it set apart. That’s what keeping His name holy means—set apart and unique, not common or “profane.” It’s emphasized as important by Jesus Himself, when He taught His disciples and all God’s children to pray, “Hallowed be Thy name.”
In order that God’s name be kept holy among them, and not misused among them, but also so that they might grow in fear, love, and trust in the Lord, Luther encouraged parents to teach and develop habits in their children. Among these practices are the saying of morning and evening prayers to thank and ask God for His continued protection and providence; the saying of grace at meals; the making of the sign of the cross and the calling upon God when confronted with danger or fear; and so forth.
While these may certainly seem quite simple or even could appropriately be called childish, they do offer the hope and increase the likelihood that—as they grow and practice these things—young people will come to a proper understanding and finally to a better following of the 1st and 2nd commandments.
We know, of course, that in keeping these commandments as in every other, we miserably fail—adults and children alike. God’s threatened punishments would justly and properly be applied to us. Yet throughout this Lenten season and at every time and place, we know and trust that our advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, exchanged His righteousness for our sins. According to the Father’s will, He allowed Himself to be delivered up to death on the cross. His perfect trust in God and His sinless keeping of all the commandments were applied to us; we were made perfect in God’s sight, while He took our punishment and felt God’s wrath.
When you know that you have not and you cannot fear, love and trust in God above all things, trust Him in this: Point to the cross of Jesus, and know that there God poured out His wrath on His Son, and poured out His grace and love upon you.
When you know that you have not kept His name holy and that you have misused it often and vainly, remember that He has applied that holy name to you at the font, and you have been set apart for His purposes.
And then His Law may be your delight, His forgiveness your certainty, and His salvation your sure hope, now and forever. In the holy name of Him we fear, love, and trust, Jesus Christ. Amen.
