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What if this commandment means more than "christian's shouldn't cuss?"
At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch
Thanks for tuning in to the Sandals Church podcast. Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God, and others. We're glad you're here, and we hope you enjoy this message.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:When I say the name God, what thoughts come to your mind? What pictures do you see? What what emotions come to the surface? The reason I ask that is because it's often the case that our perception of God or how we view God is determined by how we've experienced other people who have used God's name. Yes, you can teach yourself about God.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You can be instructed about who he is, but it's often the case that what most shapes you is how you've experienced other people who have used God's name in your life. Case in point it's like this. It's like when I hear the name Ashley or when I see those 6 little letters written on a piece of paper, all kinds of emotions rush my mind. Why? Because that's the name of my wife.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so I get emotions of love, life, a little bit of fear, you know. But I can't help but be moved when I either hear her name or see it written down. Her name is significant to me. Which is what brings us to the 3rd command. Do not take the Lord's name in vain as we'll read in just a moment.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Now, tradition for a long time has told us that what this command is essentially saying is to watch your mouth, To not use a particular set of cuss words. Now for some of us coming to church just hearing a sermon where you're told not to cuss, that sounds a bit boring and maybe even hard to do. But I think there's a lot more than here. Because when Jesus arrives on the scene, thousands of years later, he says, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And so he makes this connection that between our mind and our heart, there is something going on.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Between our mouth and our heart, there is something going on. So that what comes out of our mouth is actually a revelation of what's inside of us. And so I think tradition is helpful in that we should watch the things that we say and what we say matters. There's much more at play here. Because if I'm being honest with you, I think there's plenty of times where I find myself like, Man, yeah, I'm embarrassed at the way that I have misused the Lord's name.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Embarrassed at how maybe I've let things slip. Embarrassed at how I've lost a sense of reverence and honor for his name. But again, I think there's much more at play here. You consider our cultural moment in which a lot of people are talking about the ways that they have experienced church hurt. In which they have known people who claim God's name, use God's name in public settings but in private life, and in private settings have done awful things.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And maybe their theology hasn't been wrong but their their integrity is completely missing. Every year we're told that millions of millennials will leave the church. Every year millions of Gen Z were never in church to begin with. But I say this with a kind of hope because though I think this current moment we find ourselves in with church decline is rooted in our inability to obey the 3rd command, here's where I find hope. I don't think the world that isn't following Jesus needs better answers, I think they just need better examples.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I don't know if you need to offer a better argument for why they should follow Jesus, I think you just need to consider what the 3rd commandment is actually telling you, and what it's offering us. And so I want all of us to consider this, whether you find yourself in a position where you maybe have been hurt by someone who has used God's name in a wrong way, or maybe you have been the person who has hurt somebody else because of the way you've used God's name, the passage we're about to read I think offers all of us a beautiful way forward. It really does. So with that in mind, I'm gonna ask if you are willing and able and wherever you are watching with us and joining with us that you would stand for the reading of God's word as I read, Exodus verse 7. And then I'll pray for us.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It says this, you shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. For the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. Let's pray together. Spirit of God, we invite You here and God we ask that You would be with us and that You would teach us what it means to honor your name. So we ask now, God, that you would speak powerfully through your word and that you might turn us into the people you desire us to be in Christ.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:We pray these things in his name. Amen. Amen. Thanks. You can be seated.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:So where are we when we find ourselves in this passage? As we've been considering in this series, old rules for a new life, we're, retelling the story of Exodus in which God through Moses miraculously delivers the people of Israel. They've been in bondage for 400 years. That's all they've known for a very long time. God shows up through Moses, sets them free, promises them a new life and sends them out.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Now where we find ourselves are these people are walking. They've gone through the Red Sea, they're carrying all that they have, and they find themselves at the bottom of the mountain, which is the same mountain that Moses was at when he first met God. And they're just there waiting. And what we see Moses doing is going back up the mountain to do what? To get rules?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:To get commands? Which is a bit striking to think, wait, God set us free, but there's rules? I'm not free just to live a new life. There's something I actually have to do now? I don't know how this works.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And I wanna take a moment to think about this for a second because it's often the case that we think that these rules are a means to a new life, but that's not the case. These rules were a demonstration that the people already were living a new life. Alright, so that obeying the commands was not a way to set them free, it was proof that they had already been set free. And that's what it's about when it comes to following Jesus. His teachings shape us as a demonstration, not how we earn salvation, but how we've already been changed and transformed.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You see, it's a lot like, a song I used to listen to a lot by, Jay z. He wrote this song called Empire State of Mind. Alicia Keys sings the hook. It's a beautiful song. I'll admit it.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I'm not gonna lie, I like this song. But it's basically a song in which they just celebrate New York City. It's a kind of an ode to the city. It's talks about it's magic, it's good, it's it's beautiful stuff, it's ugly stuff, but he has this line in the second verse in which he says, hail Mary to the city you're a virgin. And Jesus can't save you.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Life starts when the church ends. Did you catch that? Life starts when the church ends. Hail Mary to the city, you're a virgin. Right?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He's talking about all these people who come here and they get changed by the city of New York and he's saying, but listen, life starts when the church ends. Now, though I like the song, I can't agree with that sentiment because what he's trying to communicate to us is that the freedom you're looking for is when you actually unhinge yourself from the rules of religion, from the rules of church, and the life you wanna create in New York, it's there. You just, you gotta let church end and then your life can actually start. But I think for us as we've been walking through this series, what we've been trying to discover is how it's possible to live a free life not from the freedom of all rules but from the application of the right ones. And the 3rd command has a lot to say about what this free life looks like when it comes to not just how we speak, but how we live our lives.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so if you're taking note, I want you to consider this. This first, this first idea from this third rule is essentially this, our lives are to be a representation of who God is. Verse 7 says there, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Now the first translation we read said misused, other translations often say take. The Hebrew word there is nasah.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Can we all say nasah? Nasah, look at See, Pastor Matt, I'd be so happy. All the Hebrew we're learning. Nasah, the word there essentially means to, lift up or to take up. It means actually to to carry.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so what the command is saying is you shall not carry god's name in a way that is vain, in a way that is meaningless, in a way that is ineffective. Now that sounds a bit strange for us. Carry carry your name. But there's a brilliant Old Testament scholar, her name is Caroline Iams, and she talks about that this word in the Hebrew, nasah, is the same word used to describe, Aaron in his priestly garments in Exodus 28. And so later on when Aaron is given instructions to go into the tabernacle to make sacrifices, it's told that he has a certain kind of clothing.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He doesn't dress like me, although I do think the Jordan ones would probably help the man because he's on his feet all day doing tabernacle duties. But he wears a kind of clothing and it says there that on his clothing he bears the names of Israel, and that on his head he wears this crown that bears the name of Yahweh. And it's the same Hebrew word nasa. And so her point is that this command is not so much saying what you say with your mouth but how you live your life. In other words, nasa is a word of representation.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:She is saying we are meant to represent God with the way that we live. That's what it means to nasa. To carry his name is to represent his name. And God himself hints at this in Exodus 19 in which we're told that Moses climbed back up the mountain and then we enter into this conversation and before God gives the commands, notice what he said there in verse 6. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so it's not just that Aaron becomes a priest, but that we all become a priest in the way that we represent God. We're all carrying and bearing the name of God. And this is what a priest essentially does. A priest is someone who represents God to the people, and a priest is also someone who represents the people to God. And so there's a there's a weight that comes with this calling of bearing the name of God.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:What we're told here in Exodus is that when God delivered Israel, he etched his name on their souls. And so for all of us today who have been delivered by God, for all of us today who who claim to follow Jesus, know that you bear on the skin of your soul the name Yahweh. It's written on you. That's what it means to bear his name. So don't do it in vain.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Do not forget who you belong to. It's a lot like when, the kids, our kids, Eli and Ella went back to school. Ash and I wrote their names on everything that cost us a lot of money and that we didn't want them to lose, so their backpacks, their jackets, and of course their lunches because anyone with the last name Ramos can't go a day without a lunch, so We didn't want them to lose these items because we know that over the course of the day, as they're playing, as they're running through the halls, it's probably the case that they will misplace their jacket. They're gonna lose their backpack. They're gonna lose their lunch.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:God forbid they lose their lunch. But the beautiful thing is that when you see inside their jacket or inside their backpack or inside their lunch, a name is written on it so that in case they get lost, someone knows exactly who this belongs to. This whole thing, you guys, is not about a backpack or a lunch. Some of you today are lost because you have forgotten who you belong to. You have forgotten whose name is inked on your soul right now, and his name is Yahweh.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You belong to him. And so what I find so ironic in this moment is that this third command, kind of the boring throwaway command, who wants to talk about cussing? It's hard to do. It's hard not to do. Right?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But buried in this third command is this beautiful reminder in a world in which people are dying for an identity, dying to know where they belong, that they belong to Yahweh. Buried in this command is the truth that Yahweh's name is written on you. Paul later says it like this in Ephesians 5 when he said, imitate God. Think about that. Is there a higher command that comes to us in just two little words?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Imitate God. Okay, Paul. But listen to what he says. Imitate God therefore in everything you do. Why?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because you are his dear children. He's just restating the 3rd command, to represent God in all that you do. You see the idea is this, it's real simple. As someone is getting to know you, they are also getting to know God. As they're getting to know you, as they're getting to see you live your life, what they're ultimately getting is to see God, is to know God because you represent Him in all that you do.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Now here's here's the pit, Paul, though for all of us. If we're being honest in here, every single one of us have a gap between what we say we believe and how we actually live. There's a gap that exists. So we, yes, have this sense of belonging. We we think about who we belong to, but if we're being honest, we don't always live up to our own standards.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Even as Christians, even as people who bear Yahweh's name, we don't do a good job at this. And I would say this too to you if you've bought into Jay z's perception of reality, which I think is pretty accurate of how people view life in the church, and you just wanna unhinge yourself from the church so that you can actually start your real life, your free life, the truth is you can't even live up to those own standards. All of us struggle with what Jesus talked about quite often, which is hypocrisy. You see the 3rd command is this caution that as you enter into a new life, there will be a temptation to not live up to the glorious standard that the psalmist says is the name of God. How majestic is his name?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:How glorious is his name? The Psalms talk about mountains shouting the name of God. The rivers clapping their hands at Yahweh's name, and unfortunately, what sin has done to all of us is that it's led us to not be able to live up to that standard. All of us right now in this moment must come to the realization that there is a significant gap between the way we live and what we say we believe. The problem as Jesus said it one day in a conversation from Mark 7 is this, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You honor me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me. In other words, to misuse god's name, to take god's name in vain is to take his name and attach it to your own agenda. And we do this every day, like, god told me to do this. Or maybe for some of you, you've heard this statement. God told me to break up with you.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That's harsh. God don't like me? God told you that? Did he really tell you that? How easy and natural is it for us to misuse his name, to attach the honoring, sacred, holy name of Yahweh to something as frivolous as your dating life?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because you actually just can't struggle to be what you said you can't be. It's a difficult thing. And so I think it's healthy for us right now to consider just this question that in your life right now, or maybe where in your life right now are you at risk of misrepresenting God? Of honoring him with your lips, but as Jesus says, your heart is far from him. Where at your workplace have you forgotten how to honor him?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Not just in speech but in action. Where in your marriage have you done this? Where with your children? In your relationships? Where?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Think about it. Where in your life right now are you at risk of misrepresenting God because of your actions? Jesus, I think, helps us understand what this can potentially look at look like. Later on in a conversation from Matthew's gospel, Matthew 23, which to be very honest with you is one of the hardest chapters for me to ever read. As I'm going through the gospels, I'll be very frank, I kinda skip over chapter 23 because it's difficult to read.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But listen to what he says here starting at verse 1. Then Jesus said to the crowd and to his disciples, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. Now pause. Here's what I find so brilliant about Jesus. In the moment where he's able to critique, rightfully critique religion and religious leaders, he does not dismiss their role and our need for religious teachers.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Are you with me in that? Jesus very much loves scripture, loves the organized church while at the same time rightly calling out its problems. Are you tracking with me? So he can be very honest that the third command has not been upheld in Jerusalem. God's name has not been honored, but that does not mean we dismiss all of those who are doing it.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Notice what he goes on to say. For they don't practice what they teach and they crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. He goes on to say in verse 5, everything they do is for show. And then later he says, the greatest among you must be your servant and those who exalt themselves will be humbled, But those who humble themselves will be exalted. In this breakdown, Jesus offers us, I think, three ways of seeing how our hypocrisy misrepresents God.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And the first is this, we oftentimes will place unrealistic expectations on other people. Notice what he said there in verse 4. They crush people with their unbearable demands. Now, you may read Matthew 20 things think and think to yourself, I'm nothing like a Pharisee. But how often in your life do you place unrealistic expectations on other people?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You expect your friends to be there for you. Are you there for them? You expect them to go to church. Are you regularly at church? You expect your kids to do this.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Can you do this? Again, there there's this natural feeling to push away from this sense that I'm not like a Pharisee, but the truth is you so quickly place expectations on other people that you yourself, as Jesus put it, won't even lift a finger to remove the burden. Even as a pastor, I gotta watch this and and discern how am I maybe doing this in my own life. Oftentimes I'll I'll be in a conversation with someone, I'll say, hey, God wants you to serve. Now, here's the problem.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:God does want them to serve, doesn't he? But am I wanting them to serve for my agenda? Or god's? Which one is it? Do I do I wanna place this expectation on them because it's gonna ultimately serve me?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And am I totally neglecting the fact that this is actually a hindrance to their life, coming to them in a difficult moment in their life. Be very careful how we attach how God wants you or God said to me to tell you, be cautious, use discernment, be gentle with people on how you use God's name when it comes to expectations of them. We should heed that with sincerity. The second thing that Jesus points out here is that we often are drawn in to appear better than we actually are. Verse 5.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Everything they do is for show. In other words, there's nothing authentic about it. There's nothing real about what they're doing. There's nothing genuine at all about the way they are projecting themselves. And, amen, I would be lying to you that right now in this very moment as I teach to you guys, there's not a temptation to draw into a version of myself that simply isn't me.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It's not real. It's a version that I think will be accepted, it's a version that I think will just kinda get through the process, but it's not who I actually am. You see, the goal of integrity, the goal of faithfulness, the goal of authenticity is that Fredo will be the same person in every situation. And that what you see right now is what you'll see at home. On the street, outside, on the basketball court, Lord willing, hopefully.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That's the aim. That's what we're after. The third thing that we see is that we can often value status over and against serving others. I love what Martin Luther King Jr. Once said.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He said, everybody has the potential to be great. Then he said, why? Because Jesus says, if you wanna be great, you can serve and everybody can serve. It's one of my favorite sermons from Reverend King. But you see, in our hypocrisy, in our misrepresentation of God, there's a temptation to value status over actually just serving people.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:To bear god's name, to use his name in a way that protects a position that we're after rather than actually valuing people and and serving them. These things, I would say, are fair critiques, not just of the church at large, but of our own lives. If if we're being honest, I mean, think about ways that you have protected yourself to to preserve a kinda status, a position, and neglected the role of just serving somebody, serving them. Now the good news for us right now is that Jesus actually offers us a better way. He really does.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You see with Jesus, I can represent God through these three things. Listen now, compassion, authenticity, and service. In in contrast to this temptation to place unrealistic expectations on people, Jesus offers us the way of compassion. What I find so compelling about him, even as I just think about Jesus as a person, I am always moved by his ability to maintain compassion without compromise. He has a way of being able to approach people, be compassionate towards them, and not lose his moral convictions.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I think that's a gift that we need to recover today. How can I be compassionate to someone, understanding of them, but not at the same time compromise on my convictions that I think God has given to us to live the life that he has called us to live? That's the goal. That's the challenge. So with Jesus, I can represent God with compassion.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Secondly, I can also represent him with an authenticity. What I find so compelling about Jesus is not just his ability to be compassionate, but the way that he was the same person in every single situation. Jesus never caved. He never fainted. He never once did any of these things.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He was the same person. And it was because he operated and lived out of a deep sense that the father loved him. Loved him, you guys. He never was compromised, never had this inkling of a desire to move outside of who he actually was. He was settled because as Matthew 3 says, as the heavens open and the dove descended, the Father's voice said, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And if you and I want to live from a place of authenticity, it's gonna require that each and every day you find a way to hear God's voice authenticity, it's gonna require that each and every day you find a way to hear God's voice say, You are my son, you are my daughter, and I am well pleased with you. I love you. You are secure in me. Don't fake it. Don't try to earn it.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Don't try to prove anything today. You already have received fully God's love for you in Christ. As Romans 8 says, there is, there's nothing that can be said against you, and so there's no need to hide, there's no need to project. You have only the freedom to walk in a secure identity that you are fully accepted already today. And so don't cave.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Don't allow the environment, other people's circumstances to dictate how you act in those moments. There's an opportunity to be authentically yourself. And then lastly, to contrast status, Jesus offers us the invitation to service. I love how Philippians 2 puts it when he says, you must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It's beautiful. He didn't think of it as something to cling to. He released it. Instead, he Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. And then listen to what it says. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor. Those who humble themselves, as Jesus said, will be exalted. And he gave him now the 3rd command, the name that is above every other name.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You see to to name Jesus as Lord is to confess and honor the name of Yahweh. And Paul says every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father. In the same way that the Psalms spoke about the heavens declaring God's glory, the mountains lifting up the name of God, Paul says this will all happen and we will all see it one day at the one who is Jesus, the one who serves, the one who invites us to also join in with him on that journey of service. For a lot of people religion bothers them, Christianity bothers them because they think it's a power trip. I remember experiencing this a lot, as a high school teacher, I I taught at a religious school, as a principal, and and so many of my students, they just always view It's such a pow Mister Ramos, you're on a power trip.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:This This is about controlling people. And this is a strong narrative today. This is a powerful gospel we hear in the world today. Remove yourself from any Christianity, anything that would place on you an oppressive kind of form of power. And here's my answer to that.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Yes, it's a power trip. It's always been about power and here's why, because power is not the problem. The abuse of power is. It's always been about power. Yes.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It has. Genesis 3. Read Genesis 3. We are called the image bearers of God to to bring about his rule and reign, to procreate, to to bless and multiply. Right?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That is a acknowledgment and an announcement that you are now kings and queens of the world. Use your power for the glory of God. Power's an important thing. It's never been the problem. It's the abuse of it.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so the culture's answer, the the world's response is just to take power from those who have it and give it to those who don't. That sounds right, and listen, this is not me harping on young people's desire for justice. This is me just saying I think we need to go deeper, and I think this third command offers us a way to get there. The issue is not with power, the issue is with will we hold power with compassion, with authenticity, and with service. The way Jesus holds power.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Will we hold it like that? And and here's how I think we can begin to model it in our own life, because again power power's not the problem. Power just enhances what's already inside of you. If you don't believe me, watch Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Little show on Disney Plus.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Captain Steve Rogers, when he got that super soldier serum, he was a beautiful strong man. And I said that in the most literal sense. But what it did is it only enhanced what was already inside of him. When you watch the show on Disney Plus, that Walmart version of Captain America, that dude's evil. John Walker, that He he reminds me of of, you know, that meme where it says what you ordered and what you actually got.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He's a fake version, but it The same serum that went into Steve Rogers goes into John Walker and he comes out an evil man. Power was never the problem, it's how we choose to use it, how we choose to hold it. How will you actually bear God's name? Will you misuse it? Will you misrepresent him?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Will you forget who you belong to? Or will you hold power with compassion, with authenticity and with service? And here's how I think this can begin to happen, you guys, listen up. Compassion. From my own life, I'm not great at it, but here's how I'm experiencing growth.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I am trying to make decisions with all of Jesus' help to move closer to people so that I can actually begin to listen to them. Because I am finding it much harder in my life to hypocritically judge someone who I now actually understand. And that understanding has come through listening. Do you know what a gift Sandals Church would be at every single one of our community locations if we began to listen to people and moved in compassion towards them. To to grow in this ability to be authentic, to be a man or woman of integrity, to be faithful, the same person in every situation.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That's what the word means. Practice confession. Practice confession on a regular basis. You guys, we go to a church where our vision is to be real, to confess your sin. I love seeing this model.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I I'm so grateful, I I feel free to be in the position I'm in. I can just come in and I can tell any one of my guys and say, hey, here's what's going on. It's a beautiful, freeing thing, especially in a world in which I constantly constantly see people in my life who I used to look up to fall. I mean, you would be astounded at the number of books I have thrown out of my library because they were written by men who lived crappy, ugly private lives, but their books were great. If you wanna grow in authenticity, confess often.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:One of my great fears in my life is watching my kids grow up and not love Jesus, not because of any other reason but that I was not the same person at home that I am at work. And so I harp on myself constantly. Who am I at home? In what ways have I confessed to my children this week of not modeling the name of Jesus that I claim to know and love in the way that I love them? Confess regularly.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It's a beautiful thing to be able to do. And I say this quite honestly, man. I I am Like I said, I'm grateful to work here, I'm grateful to be a pastor here, and I'll be honest with you, I'm in a season in which I am learning what it means to steward this platform as a pastor. I'm learning what it means to manage my life, to watch what I say, to watch what I post, to watch how I share my life with people because I understand that that comes with a certain kind of responsibility, and so, man, I know. I feel it.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Okay, I feel it. That to bear God's name comes with a beautiful kind of authority but it also comes with a very high accountability. And so I would ask any one of you who are who have been curious about me or wondering about me that you would just know that, yes, I am receiving the 3rd command loud and clear today to bear God's name and to try to live an authentic life before you as I pastor. Some days I will do it well, other days I will do it poorly, and that is why with Jesus I can try to do it with compassion, authenticity, and service. And I think you can too.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:The second thing on authenticity is I'll I'll say this, as many of you guys maybe have known, my mom has just suffered, a stroke a few days ago and, we're we're in a kind of a waiting game of just trying to figure out what happens to her and what version of my mom we get out of all this. And just today I was praying and I was thinking about the name Yahweh. And it struck me as I was getting ready that, God, you revealed to Moses your name on the mountain so that when Jesus taught us to pray, hallowed be your name, he's reminding us of the 3rd command, to to remember it as sacred. But listen, to remember it as real and genuine too. In other words, we're praying not to an idea, we pray not to a force in the world, we pray not to karma, we pray to a person whose name is Yahweh, you guys.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And in response, if you want to honor the 3rd command, speak his genuine name and be a genuine person as you do it. That is how I think you can do it. That is how I think you can honor the 3rd command. Say his name Yahweh, and in so genuinely doing it, be yourself. Be authentically yourself as you speak to God, as we have been doing constantly.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:God, would you would you help my mom? Would you help my mom? Would you heal? Would you bring her back? Do it genuinely.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Just do it genuinely. And lastly, serve. As pastor Matt so famously says, we cannot worship the servant and not serve ourselves. And a few weeks ago, man, he unpacked that conversation between God and Moses on the mountain where Moses says, What do I have? Who am I to go?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And God just responds with that great question, What's in your hand? Since the moment Matt said that in his message, I have been thinking about that for weeks. Afraid of what is in your hand. Whatever is in your hand, use it to serve people. And and you'll come to find that you get really bothered by service when people treat you like to serve it.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That's when you know you're doing it for the right reasons because you're not getting anything out of it and people kinda treat you like one. Keep doing it. Keep serving. Whatever is in your hand, serve people with hold the power that god has given to you. Hold it gently with the ability to serve other people well.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:We can do this. And as we close, I want us just to, to go to this last passage from Matthew 23. As I said, man, Matthew 23 is a scary passage for me to read personally. It really is. It's one of those ones.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I mean, who doesn't skip Leviticus? That's understandable. But Matthew 23 is also another place where I'm just like, man, what am I gonna get out of this? It's so convicting. It's so painful to read.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But then I was just so moved and encouraged by how he ends this discussion in verse 37. Listen to Jesus. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers. It's a harsh word, but then he says this, how often I have hypocrites, he says, come under my wings. Come under my wings.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:So as I said in the beginning, how will you, who have been hurt by someone who misrepresented God, how will you move forward? My encouragement to you is to take shelter under Christ's wings. For those of you who have been a hypocrite and misuse God's name in other people's lives, how will you move forward? Take shelter under Christ's wings. The word picture that Jesus gives to us there is one of a mother hen who will do whatever it takes to protect them from danger.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And on the cross Jesus fulfills that word picture, took the danger and the full punishment of sin so that we can take shelter under the wings. And in so doing we might be transformed to become people who represent God in the way that we hold power with compassion, with authenticity and with service. As we prepare to take communion, I want to encourage you guys as you get the the cracker, I almost said bread, but let's be honest, you get a cracker of sandals. So you get the cracker and the juice. And as your campus pastor leads you, I want you to be thinking about how you need to confess to God ways that you have misrepresented his name.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:How have you not shown compassion? Would you confess that? For some of you, you need to confess the ways in which you have been a fake and you have not lived with integrity. Confess that. Hold those elements in your hand and confess that to god in your heart.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:For others of you, you need to confess ways in which you have not served people. Honoring Jesus with your lips but not serving him in your hearts. Loving Christian values but not having Christ shape your actual life so that you serve people. Confess those things. Confess them to God.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And as you do, take those elements and be reminded that you can take shelter under the wings of Christ and be forgiven today. Let's pray that in. Heavenly father we thank you that in your love, you gave us a name to call you by. And god we confess right now as a church that we have not lived up to that. Despite what we say we believe and despite us knowing we belong to you, we have failed.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But we ask now that in your mercy you would show us forgiveness in Jesus. And that as we enter into this moment of communion, we might be able to take shelter under his wings so that we can live in a way that honors and reveres your name. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
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