The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Classic Version, 2015Mfano

How to Honour the Lord's Name

In the newspapers and other media, good news is rare. The times when good news dominates the headlines are so unusual that they stand out as beacons of hope. The rescue of the Chilean miners in 2010 is one such example. Thirty-three miners were trapped 2,300ft underground for sixty-nine days after the San Jose mine collapsed in northern Chile. It was originally thought that they had probably not survived the collapse, or that they would starve to death before they were found, if ever.

I had the privilege of interviewing one of ‘the thirty-three’, Jose Henriquez, in our Sunday services. He had become known as ‘the pastor’ among his fellow miners because of his strong Christian faith. I was impressed by the fact that he was eager to honour God in all he said. This was certainly evident on the day of the rescue as the event was headlining the news. As Jose and many of the other miners, emerged from the depths of the earth and walked out to freedom, their first words were so often, ‘Gracias, Señor’ – ‘Thank you, Lord’. The name of the Lord was honoured.

Jesus taught us to pray that God’s name should be honoured (Matthew 6:9). My deepest longing is to see the name of the Lord honoured again in our society. My greatest fear is that I will do or say something that will bring dishonour to his name.

How should we act in order to see his name honoured?

Proverbs 30:24-33

1. Stir up good, not evil

Traditional English Christmas ‘puddings’ are best made a few weeks before Christmas. The mixture needs to be ‘stirred up’. Traditionally preparation of Christmas pudding began on ‘Stir Up Sunday’ – an informal term in Anglican churches for the last Sunday before the season of Advent. The special prayer, or collect, for that day urges us to stir ourselves up to do good (see below).

Our whole lives should be devoted to exalting the name of Jesus and not ourselves. The writer of Proverbs says, ‘If you have played the fool and exalted yourself, or if you have planned evil, clap your hand over your mouth! For as churning the milk produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife’ (vv.32–33). We call people ‘stirrers’ if they stir up arguments, conflict and anger.

The opposite is stirring up good things. Seek to be someone who never stirs up anger, but rather good. Never seek to exalt yourself, but only Jesus. Always seek to honour the name of Jesus.

‘Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people, that they, bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by you be richly rewarded: through Jesus Christ our Lord.’

Revelation 9:13-10:11

2. Speak the message of Jesus

We honour the name of Jesus when we tell the world about him. Not everyone will be interested, but some will. To those who believe, the message will be ‘sweet as honey’ (10:9) and their lives will be transformed by Jesus.

The terrible warnings of judgment continued with the sixth angel sounding his trumpet. There was horrible warfare (‘The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million’, (9:16)), violent death and injury.

The twentieth century was probably the most violent in history and the first in which those kinds of numbers were involved in warfare. Yet, there has been little repentance.

‘The remaining men and women who weren’t killed by these weapons went on their merry way – didn’t change their way of life … There wasn’t a sign of a change of heart. They plunged right on in their murderous, occult, promiscuous, and thieving ways’ (vv.20–21, MSG). We only have to watch the news to see that these words are also being fulfilled in our time.

Then John saw ‘another mighty angel coming down from heaven’ (10:1). This is probably Jesus Christ himself. He is robed in a cloud, which symbolises the presence of God. There is a rainbow above his head symbolising the promise of God. ‘His face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars’ (v.1).

This is similar to the description of Jesus in Revelation 1:12–16. ‘He gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion’ (10:3) – Jesus is ‘the Lion of the tribe of Judah’ (Revelation 5:5). (In our passage for today from Proverbs, the lion is described as ‘king of the beasts, deferring to none’ (Proverbs 30:30, MSG)).

Jesus gave the little scroll to John and told him to take it and eat it: ‘It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey’ (Revelation 10:9). The message of the gospel will have a sour taste for some who reject it, but to all who accept it, it is ‘as sweet as honey’ (v.9).

Then, John was told to take this message out: ‘Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings” ’ (v.11).

Lord, thank you that in the midst of all the terrible things we see going on in the world around us, you give us a message of the good news of Jesus to proclaim. Thank you that although it is sour for some, it is as sweet as honey for others. Help us to proclaim this message faithfully and to see the name of Jesus honoured again amongst the peoples, nations, languages and kings.

Ezra 2:68-4:5

3. Sacrifice for the Lord’s honour                     

We should not expect a trouble-free life. Jesus warned us that in this life we would experience trouble (John 16:33). Faith does not keep us from troubles but it helps us get through trouble. Don’t focus on your troubles but focus on the one who carries you through them and be willing to sacrifice in order to bring honour to his name.

The people of God had been longing to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. God’s name was dishonoured when the temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. Now it was their opportunity to rebuild and see God’s name honoured again.

They were determined to see this. They were willing to sacrifice their money and possessions: ‘Some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings towards the rebuilding of the house of God on its site. According to their ability they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 drachmas of gold, 5,000 minas of silver and 100 priestly garments’ (2:68–69).

Giving is an essential part of our worship and service to God. Our gifts should not be grudging or forced, but generous ‘freewill offerings’. Likewise we should not compare our giving to that of others, but give what each of us can afford. The wonderful thing about this offering was that as each gave according to their ability, they raised all the money that was needed. 

If everyone in the church gives sacrificially, generously, each according to their ability, God’s kingdom will advance rapidly and his name will be honoured.

In spite of all the opposition around: ‘Despite their fear of the peoples around them’ (3:3a), they began to worship the Lord again and offer him sacrifices. Today, we worship God by offering him our bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:2) – that is, we offer everything we have and everything we are to be used to bring honour to his name.

They did not wait for the temple to be completed before they began their worship. As soon as the foundations were laid, ‘with praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: “He is good; his love to Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid’ (3:11).

Exuberant worship is not only a twenty-first century phenomenon! ‘The people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away’ (vv.12b–13). And yet, while many shouted for joy, the older members of the community ‘wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid’ (v.12a).

This was possibly because the stones used were smaller than for the original temple and it was not as grand. It is a reminder that this temple was not the answer but only a foreshadowing of the temple of the Holy Spirit – the people of God with Jesus as the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19–22).

The building of the temple was not unopposed: ‘Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They hired counsellors to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia’ (Ezra 4:4–5).

Sadly, it is the case that if we set out to bring honour to the Lord, we will be opposed. Whether it is the physical rebuilding of the temple, the rebuilding of churches today or any other work of the kingdom of God, there is bound to be opposition. The opposition succeeded in delaying them, but not defeating them altogether.

Lord, as the temple was rebuilt in the time of Ezra, may the temple of your Holy Spirit, the church – the people of God – be rebuilt in our generation. May we see the church buildings that are empty and derelict today filled again with people worshipping you. Help each of us to give generously and sacrificially to the work of the kingdom. May your name be honoured again in our generation.

Pippa Adds

Revelation 10:1

‘Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs like fiery pillars … He planted his foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion …’

Wow!

Notes:

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.