By Felix Carroll
We're a cursing culture. Always have been.
Even the father of our country, George Washington himself, famously had to beseech his troops to refrain from "the foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing." The potty mouths!
So who can blame God for getting testy when His children take His name in vain? He is our Heavenly Father, after all. He, too, loves us without conditions. Hallowed be His Name, especially during the month of January, traditionally dedicated to the Holy Name of His Son, Jesus (feast day: Jan. 3).
How Many Times Must We Be Told?
To modern ears, the Second commandment, "You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain," might better be worded to say, "Don't speak as if the Lord, your God, weren't in the same room with you."
The eminent arbiter of cultural mores, Emily Post, would certainly have denounced such comportment simply on the grounds of it being bad manners. But God saw it fit to etch a seemingly obvious matter of etiquette into history's most famous stone tablets, proving something rather worrying is afoot.
Namely, to abuse His holy Name is to demonstrate just how distant we are from the relationship for which He yearns - how distant we are from understanding, accepting, appreciating, and/or trusting His promises to us that He is with us. He was present with Moses at the burning bush. He is present with us today.
Turn to Scripture
How can we know for sure? Because He tells us so, time and time again.
Let's roll the tape:
Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Deuteronomy 31:6: "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the One who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you."
Psalm 23:4: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, ?I fear no evil, for You are with me; ?Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."
In the New Testament, too, examples are plentiful:
Matthew 28:20: "And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
1 Corinthians 3:16: "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"
God spells it out for us in the Gospel of St. Matthew when an angel references the coming fulfillment of the words of the prophet Isaiah, proclaiming, "Behold, the virgin shall be with Child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel" (1:23).
What does Immanuel translate to from the original Hebrew? "God with us."
Why Words Matter
As with all of the Ten Commandments, the Second Commandment has less to do with the negative - i.e, don't - as it does with the positive.
Indeed, the Second Commandment calls upon us to take God by His word. The commandment is nothing short of a plea to "protect the wonderful mystery of His accessibility to us, and constantly assert His true identity" (Joseph Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth).
Because God's words matter, our words should matter. The word "vain" means "devoid of meaning, falsehood, and inconsequential." Therefore, the red flag raised when we break the Second Commandment signifies that we have emptied ourselves of His significance.
We are called to honor the Second Commandment not just because He is deserving, but because we are deserving. Dispense for a moment with the decree that we are to be holy, "for He is holy" (Lev 19:2) and consider how we already were made holy when we were baptized. And how were we baptized? In His holy Name - in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Note, when George Washington upbraided his troops for being potty mouths, he may or may not have been speaking from his high horse. But when God reproves us for failing to keep holy His Name, He looks at us in the eye, bent on one knee, a loving Father who wants only the best for us.
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