“Hello My Name Is Adonay”

February 2, 2014

Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church

Sermon Series on “The Names of God”

Sermon 5 of series-

“The Sacred Names of God: Adonay”

Daniel 9:9-19

(All Scripture is from The Names of God Bible)

“Praying the Names of God: A Daily Guide”

By, Ann Spangler

 

A reading from the Book of Daniel…chapter 9…verses 17-19…listen for the word of God for you and me the people of God…

17 “Our Elohim, listen to my prayer and request. For your own sake, Adonay, look favorably on your holy place, which is lying in ruins. 18 Open your ears and listen, my Elohim. Open your eyes and look at our ruins and at the city called by your name. We are not requesting this from you because we are righteous, but because you are very compassionate. 19 Listen to us, Adonay. Forgive us, Adonay. Pay attention, and act. Don’t delay! Do this for your sake, my Elohim, because your city and your people are called by your name.”

Let us pray…

Loving and Gracious God, you who gives Wisdom and understanding, we pray that your Spirit within us would be stirred as we hear what you would have us hear this morning. May we understand better how you would have us be and how you would have us serve you in our lives. Guide us in your ways. Speak to us in ways that we would hear your call on our lives. May the meditations of our hearts and the thought of our minds be pleasing to you our God…our Rock and our Redeemer…amen.

What comes to mind when you hear the word servant? Do you think of a servant being someone who does someone else’s bidding whether they want to or not? How about someone who is forced to serve by a person who lords it over them and takes advantage of them? There are so many thoughts that come to mind when you think about the word servant. Some are good but others may be not so good. We all end up serving in one way or another…how we approach it can mean a world of joy or a world of despair. How would you feel being called a servant?

We are on a journey this year learning the Sacred Names of God and praying in that same name. During this time I have been doing a study called “Praying the Names of God”. It has been a wonderful study and awesome to be able to share some of the insights that I have been given through the study with you each week. We have prayed to Elohim…the One true God…we have called out to El Chay, the Living God. But there is one name that may be kind of awkward to call out to…the Sacred Name Adonay which means Lord. You see…Adonay is a Hebrew word meaning “Lord,” a name that implies relationship: God is Lord, and we are his servants. Adon is a Hebrew word that means “lord” in the sense of an owner, master, or superior. It is frequently used as a term of respect and always refers to people Adonay (a-do-NAI) is the plural form of adon and always refers to God as Lord or Master

Now the word Servant is not a particularly popular word in our culture. It sounds demeaning, belittling, hardly something we should aspire to. Such an attitude can make it hard for us to understand our position as servants of the Lord. Perhaps that’s why we so often get things reversed, treating God as though he were some kind of celestial butler who should use his divine power to further our plans.

But…if we want to find the one key to everything good in life, we will need to approach the problem counter intuitively. Instead of operating by instinct, we will operate by faith. Instead of striving to do what we want when we want, we will strive to do what God wants when he wants. As we do, we will begin to understand that his lordship will not diminish or impoverish us but that it will bless us in surprising ways. Astonished by all the good he does in and through us, we will be able to echo the psalmist’s praise: “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

In the first part of the Daniel scripture from this morning, we hear Daniel speaking of the goodness of God…how God is compassionate and forgiving. He talks about Adonay freeing the people from their captivity in Egypt and how with a mighty hand Adonay saved them. Daniel also talks about how the things that have happened to the people of Israel are because of their own doing. They were not faithful to God and turned their backs on Him. But Daniel remembered the loving God and accepted the fate that his people brought upon themselves.

The Second part of the reading shows how even though Daniel knew how wrong the people were and how they were being punished for their sins, he could call on the name of Adonay and be heard…that he could call on the Lord and be freed. And he didn’t ask for his own sake or even for the sake of the people of the Lord…but for the Lords sake…for the sake of His Name…

Even the prophet Nehemiah remembered how good Adonay was and is. You see…Nehemiah helped rebuild Jerusalem more than a hundred years after it had been destroyed by the Babylonians. He began by reminding a demoralized people, not of who they were, but of who God is—“ the Lord, who is great and awesome.” Having thus rallied them, he succeeded in rebuilding Jerusalem’s defensive walls in only fifty-two days, despite significant resistance from outside enemies. Thousands of years later, we still face forces intent on destroying us— enemies that eat away at faith, that corrode relationships, that destroy families. Some of us are bone weary from the struggle, about to give up on the spouse who seems so distant, the child who has wandered away from God, the job we can’t seem to succeed at, or the prayer that has gone so long unanswered. If that describes your spiritual state, let the words of Nehemiah sink into those places of your heart where disappointment lodges: “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome.” Now is not the time to give up or give in. Remember whose servant you are. Fight in his strength for your children, your marriage, your church. Do whatever it takes for however long it takes, knowing the Lord is with you.

Knowing that the Lord we serve is also the Lord who loves us, we need not fear that he will take advantage of us or that he will ask us to do something we cannot possibly do. Realizing who the Lord is will enable us to stop worrying about who we are or what we lack so that we can abandon our lives to him, confident we can do whatever he asks through the grace he supplies.

If we want to find the one key to everything good in life, we need to approach the problem from a different angle. Instead of operating by instinct, we need to operate by faith. Instead of striving to do what we want when we want, we need to strive to do what God wants when he wants. As we do, we will begin to understand that his lordship will not diminish or impoverish us but that it will bless us in surprising ways. Astonished by all the good he does in and through us, we will be able to echo the psalmist’s praise: “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

Are there places in your life that are stopping you from serving Adonay our loving and compassionate Lord? Are you fearful of serving because of what the word “servant” means to you? Are you ready to serve the One who always has your best interest at heart unlike those you may serve in this earthly realm? It may be hard but I would challenge you to trust in the One Lord who won’t “lord it over you” like so many do in the world we live. I challenge you to serve the One who has an excellent plan for your life. Pray to Adonay, tell him you want to surrender every aspect of your life to him. Pray for the grace to become the kind of servant who is quick to do God’s will. Remember, too, that the Lord is the only one who can empower you to fulfill his purpose for your life. In fact, it is in knowing him as your Lord that you will discover a true sense of purpose.

Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me. (Psalm 54: 4) One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. (Psalm 62: 11– 12) But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (Psalm 86: 15)

Let us pray… Lord, forgive us for the times that we have only paid lip service to your lordship in my life. We have prayed one thing and done another. Help us as of this moment to experience the joy of serving you, living with the knowledge that you are our Adonay, our Lord and God. Amen.