Episode 260: Freed to Represent God

Good morning, my name is Dan and I'd like to welcome you to Harbor West today if

this is your first time we're glad you come. I would like to welcome the ladies

back from their women's retreat I heard it was a great time. I heard there was

not a ton of sleep but a lot of fun and a lot of awesome stuff going

on so it's great to have you guys back. We got a lot to get through so if you

will you go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 20. Exodus

Exodus 20 · chapter mention Exodus 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20 if you're using one under the chair in front of you it's on page 64.

Like I said my name is Dan I'm not one of the pastors here but we'll talk about

why I'm up here in a little bit. Exodus 20 page 64 as you're turning there I

just want to talk about some names. Yeah names are important. My wife and I we

have three kids. My wife's her name is Danielle and our kids names are

Kalissa, Daniel, and Jeremiah. And their names are important and their

names mean something. Calissa her name means "most beautiful" and my wife was the

one who picked out that name. Daniel his name means "God is my judge" and I'll let

you guess who picked out that one. And then Jeremiah he means his name means

"the Lord is exalted" and my wife picked out that one too. I got one though. Each

of my kids they have a nickname. What kind of sorta? Kalissa her nickname is

Callie but she also has a special name a name that I get to call her and that's

Swedish Fish. How we got Swedish Fish it's a long story but that's my nickname

my special name for her. Daniel we call him Dan. When he was little we called him

Danboy but now he's taller than me and he's faster than me and and so I mean

can't really call him Dan boy anymore. He prefers to be called The Cooler Dan so

if you see him you can feel free to call him the cooler Dan. Jeremiah though we

we don't really have a nickname for him. We tried coming up with one like the

Jeremy didn't really work but I still was like I was like you know I want him

to have a special name. And so I actually I developed instead of a name a

special name I developed a whistle for him and this was before I had seen the

Sound of Music and I realized it was socially unacceptable to call your kids

by a whistle but even to this day I have a special whistle for him and thankfully

he actually skipped out on the service now so he doesn't have to hear me talk

about it because sometimes maybe a little embarrassing but anyway when he

was little I actually spent almost 20 months away on an unaccompanied tour in

Honduras and my wife and I we did something though about seven months and I

was able to come home and she picked me up at the airport and I was able to

surprise him at school and he was in he was in pre-k at the time so he was

sitting in his class just you know paying attention listening to the

teacher just you know being being very a very good student and I walked up to the

edge of the door and I did his whistle I was I went like this I was like I'm

sorry and he heard it and he looked to the door and he was like dad and he like

sprinted to me as fast as he could and it is literally like my favorite memory

of him as a little kid and it was a very special memory for us funny story that

real quick funny story at the end of the 20 months I came home again and my wife

we did the same thing we picked him up and or she picked me up at the at the

airport we took me to the school they're actually doing their field day there

there are a couple teachers who never saw like a reunion between a soldier and

the kids and they're all this is gonna be great this is gonna be awesome and

they had their phones out my kids they're like oh hi dad and whatever it's

okay but I have that memory from when he was a little kid real little all that to

say though our names are important our names they often say something about us

but our names also represent us to other people and their names are the way we

recognize other people by their names and and can you actually say you know

somebody if you don't know their name today we're going to talk about the name

of our God about his name how it's an important name it's a valuable name it's

a name we must all know and some name we must all call call upon but it's also a

name that we must respect honor or revere in many ways we should fear so

look at Exodus 20 and starting it we're gonna read the first two verses and then

skip through to to our verse today Exodus 20 says the Lord I'm sorry then

God spoke all these words I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land

of Egypt out of the place of slavery now skip to our verse today it's verse 7 do

not misuse the name of the Lord your God because the Lord will not leave anyone

unpunished who misuses his name let's pray

as we sang about your name and we think about your name oh Lord we pray that

you would help us to see it with reverence to believe in it to look to

you the one your name represents may we uphold your name with honor and respect

oh Lord may we live it out may we carry your name like a banner of our lives in

such a way that others see it and they want to know you more and Lord I pray

as we dig into your word may your name be glorified in our hearts and in our

minds and may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be

pleasing to you oh Lord our rock and our Redeemer we pray these things in your

most precious name in Jesus name amen all right that says 20 verse 7 says do

not misuse the name of the Lord your God that begs the question then what is his

name what is his name in Exodus chapter 3 Moses was up shepherding his father

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

his father-in-law's flock and he's out in the wilderness just leading the sheep

through the wilderness and he got it gets up on top of a mountain and he

sees a bush on fire and he says I gotta go check out this bush why is it not

being burnt up and he goes over to the bush and then God starts talking out of

the bush to remember a couple weeks ago Justin talked about how important and

amazing it is that God actually speaks to us so here God is speaking out of a

bush and he commissions Moses to go to Egypt and lead the people of Israel out

of slavery out of Egypt Moses initially asked two questions and I think that

maybe later today should go home and read this Exodus chapter 3 because it's

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

pretty interesting the first question he asks is who am I who am I and when you

read Exodus 3 you'll see God's response it's funny like I said because God

doesn't respond to his question God answers the question with I am with you

see God was actually addressing his need more than he was addressing his question

Moses needed more than just knowing who he was who Moses was he needed to know

who God was and he didn't know that God was going to be with him then Moses

asked the question that we asked today he said okay so what is your name when

you think about it God Almighty didn't necessarily have to say his name he just

says he could have just said do what I told you to do right but he said his

name and I have it here on the screen Exodus 3 verse 14 and 15 it says God

Exodus 3:14

replied to Moses I am who I am this is what you are to say to the Israelites I

am has sent me to you God also said to Moses say to the Israelites the Lord the

God of your ancestors the God of Abraham the God of Isaac the God of Jacob has

sent me to you this is my forever name this is how I'm to be remembered in

every generation if you look at God's response the first was a self declaration

I am who I am he is God he is the everlasting one self he's um excuse me

sorry let me figure out where I was in my notes oh yeah he's self-existent not

dependent upon anyone or anything he is who he is he is God and as we read

through scripture we learn that he's the same yesterday today and tomorrow he

won't he's the one who is who was and is to come he's the Almighty he's the Alpha

and the Omega the beginning and the end and he says this is how I want to be

remembered through every generation he says this is my name the Lord is my name

the Lord that's how our English Bibles translate the Hebrew word YHWH sometimes

we say as Yahweh or Yehovah but that's the name that God reveals himself here

and at the root of the word YHWH which we say the Lord is the same word for I

am the self-existent one the God the Creator the one who is not dependent

upon anyone or anything and then throughout scripture and God reveals his

name often associated with his different attributes that he has sometimes it's

simply just called God Genesis 1 John 1 he simply just says God and that is his

name sometimes it's God Almighty if you read through Abraham oftentimes he will

talk about in Genesis he'll talk about God Almighty God Almighty sometimes

you'll hear the name El Shaddai that's what that means El Shaddai is God

Almighty he's also the everlasting God and he also reveals himself as the Lord

our healer the Lord our provider the Lord our banner and the Lord our Creator

and then check this out in the New Testament we talked about this a couple

weeks ago he revealed his name as Jesus which is the Lord saves he also is Jesus

Christ the Lord saves the Anointed One the Promised One and then Jesus in

Matthew 28 he reveals his name more fully as the Father the Son and the Holy

Spirit we call this the Trinity Trinity is not in the Bible but it's the word we

use to describe our God being one being and yet three persons the Father the Son

and the Holy Spirit it sometimes is a difficult concept to understand and I

think we can think about it deeply and we should think about it deeply and as

you think about it you're gonna realize that our one God in three persons lives

in perfect unity and perfect harmony and perfect relationship and that is

important because it's part of who he is it's a part of him being God it's a

part of his name the Lord is his name and each of these each of these names

listed up here they're an acceptable way to refer to our God so then the question

becomes now that we know his name is how do we misuse his name before we get to

that though look at look at Genesis I'm sorry Exodus 20 verse 1 and 2 look at

Exodus 20:1

those verses real quick the first two verses says then God spoke all these

words what's verse 2 what's the first thing he says look at verse 2 he says

his name right I'm the Lord he says his name and I think that's of utmost

importance for us to remember that the foundation for the commands is his name

the foundation for his commands is a relationship God wants to be known he

wants us to know him and that is absolutely essential for us to

understand that obedience comes after relationship just like Justin talked

about two weeks ago right that the Israelites were in slavery God led them

out of slavery brought them out of slavery and then he gave them command

freedom comes first freedom from slavery for the Israelites actual slavery from

us freedom from sin the relationship comes first knowing God knowing who he

is that relationship comes first but then there's the command right there's

the relationship and then the command he says do not misuse my name do not misuse

the name of the Lord your God so how do we misuse it I'm not gonna give you an

all-inclusive list I think we can spend time thinking about this and we should

spend time thinking about how we can miss you how we end up misusing God's

name but I'm gonna give you a couple examples to help kind of to point it out

with oh one and I think this is the most common way that we misuse it or we we

think people misuse it is with a lack of respect and this is certainly true when

we when we do not hold God's name is holy and reverent and valuable like we

should when we misuse his name with and we use his name with a lack of respect

we certainly misuse his name this is most clearly seen usually when people

use his name as a curse word when when they say the name of our God and then

they wish damnation upon something or someone but they say in the name of

Jesus Christ and wish damnation on something or someone or sometimes they

just use his name as a curse the name of God the holy name that we should lift up

above our lives and they use it as a curse you know our God is the Creator

God who wants to have a relationship with us he wants us to know him he wants

us to know him as the creator the healer the provider the sustainer the God

Almighty he wants us to know him and yet some people use his name so flippantly

and without respect and without honor that it's due another way we misuse

God's name is when we use it just to emphasize something we're saying

sometimes we do that to emphasize like shock we feel like we'll say oh my god

or God no sometimes we use it to emphasize the truth of a matter I swear

to God is that really honoring the name of our God to use it just as emphasis

to emphasize the truthfulness of what you're saying Leviticus chapter 19 says

Leviticus 19 · chapter mention

don't swear falsely by my name and then Jesus actually expounds the truth in

Matthew chapter 5 Jesus says don't even swear by things in heaven or by things

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

on earth but let your yes be yes and your no be no let the pattern of your

speech be such that trustworthy and truthful things come out of your mouth

not things that you have to add the name of our God to to emphasize it if you

need to like if you find yourself in a place of shocking you need to call out

to our God yeah call out his name I was there before I was in a spot one time

where things were going chaotic and I could share the story with you all I

could do is say God help and he did but don't use his name just to emphasize

that you're trying to be truthful about something or show how shocked you are

about something use his name rightly though another way and this mess this

may be the most dangerous way to use the name of our God is to falsely claim to

be a Christian to falsely claim to know him when you really don't look at what

Jesus taught in Matthew chapter 7 and I have it on the screen it says not

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but only the

one that does the will of my Father in heaven on that day many will say to me

Lord Lord didn't we prophesy in your name drive out demons in your name or do

many miracles in your name then I will announce that's Jesus speaking I will

announce to them I never knew you depart from me you lawbreakers you see these

people they claimed to know God they claim to know the Lord they thought that

they would be right with God based upon that claim but what was their

justification for being right with God look at it it says Lord Lord didn't we

didn't we prophesy in your name didn't we drive out demons and do miracles in

your name didn't we do this didn't we do this didn't we do this didn't we do all

of these works and we even did them in your name

Jesus says I never knew you they were self-dependent self-reliant they were

saying I'm a good person I do good things therefore I should be right with

you this may be the worst way to misuse God's name because not only do they

deceive others but they deceive themselves and the truth is is I was

guilty of this for a long time I've shared before I misused God's name by

misrepresenting him by claiming to be a Christian for years and years before I

actually came to meet Christ so it is possible to look like a Christian to act

like a Christian to go to church do Christian ease things it is possible to

even have right theology and yet not know Christ you look at what Jesus said

in John chapter 6 verse 40 he says this is how you do the Father's will only the

John 6:40

thought the people who do the Father's will are right with God and it says this

is the will of my father that everyone who sees the Son everyone who looks to

Jesus and believes in his name will have eternal life to look to Jesus to believe

in Jesus to actually have a relationship with God that's what's important that's

what's important that's what's foundational just like the command the

relationship with God is foundational right the relationship God is

foundational for obedience the relationship with Christ is

foundational to be a Christian

the third command essentially says do not take my name when you're not one of

my kids it's kind of like Charlie saying earlier right who the Sun sets free it's

free indeed they are sons don't claim to be one that you're not there's one more

way I want to speak about and we misuse God's name when we misrepresent God to

the world in the original language the the command do not misuse my name or do

not take my name in vain brings with it the imagery the idea of lifting God's

name up like a banner like a banner over our lives and what God is saying is do

not hold my name as a banner over your life in a way that is inconsistent with

who God is if you think about it people on a parade or a protest they will carry

a banner over their lives because they want themselves to be associated with

the cause with the cause that they want to associate themselves with they hold

it over their lives and that's the same thing that God is saying don't lift up

my name above your life if you're not part of the cause and also don't lift up

my name above your life if you're gonna do it in a way that misrepresents me I

said earlier my name is Dan Kessler that means I'm a Kessler and if you look at

the screen I have some pictures of me and my dad I carry on his family name I

actually spent my entire life trying to be just like that guy when I was a kid I

wanted to have the same haircut as my dad when I was in high school my dad

played football so I played football my dad he was in the military so you know

what I did I joined the military I messed up though my dad was in the Air

Force and I'm in the army but it's okay we're not all perfect right um but

that's my dad I want to be just like him even in hobbies and my dad's a wood

worker and I too have taken up the hobby to be a woodworker even to this day I

want to be just like him if I if I wake up early and read my Bible it's because

I saw my dad wake up early and read his Bible if I if I give some of my

belongings to somebody in need it's because I saw my dad give some of his

belongings to someone in need and if I stand up against injustice it's because

I saw my dad stand up against injustice but why do I want to represent my dad so

well is it simply because I'm a Kessler no it's because of a relationship it's

because the relationship I have with my dad from the earliest times I can

remember my dad was always there for me teaching me coaching me training me and

at times even correcting me and even to this day to this very day if I'm doing a

woodworking project and I can't figure something out you know what I do I call

my dad I call my dad because it's not about just the name it's about the

relationship now I'm gonna pause here real quick and say I'm keenly aware

keenly aware that not everybody has a dad that they can say the same thing to

I'm keenly aware of that and I want to offer this encouragement that while you

may not have an earthly father that you can look up to like that we all have a

heavenly father that we can look up to like that a heavenly father who cares

for us who loves us who wants a relationship with us who wants us to

know him and make him known a heavenly father who teaches coaches trains and

even corrects us a heavenly father who is literally always there for us to call

upon in our time of need the truth is I don't always represent my dad that well

sometimes in the morning instead of getting up and reading my Bible I hit

the snooze button sometimes when I see a need or an injustice sometimes I look

the other way

the crazy thing is it's not just my dad that I do this to the truth is is

sometimes I misrepresent my heavenly father I remember a few good years ago

is that work and I developed a habit I've developed a bad habit of

misrepresenting my God by making fun of a particular individual not just the

typical poke fun at the new guy in the office or make fun of the rook but like

literally just being unkind to somebody

and sometimes I would embarrass him you know just call him out single him out

just embarrass him in front of others I was truly being unkind and then one day

it was just he and I in the office and he's basically the same distance between

Craig and I are right here and I was just making fun of him pointing phone of

him making fun of him and you know what he said to me

to Dan aren't you a Christian Christian means Christ like one he called me out

because my actions were anything but Christ like in a moment it was as if a

baseball bat had hit me square in the stomach I was confronted with the

reality of what I was doing I took the name of my God the name that this young

man needs to call upon to be saved the name that I want to fly as a banner over

my life I took his name and I threw in the mud and I walked on it I misused the

name of my God do not misuse the name of the Lord your God because the Lord will

not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name whether we misuse it by using

it without respect or emphasizing the truthfulness of a statement whether we

misuse it as falsely claiming to be something we're not or if we misuse it

by misrepresenting our God it's punishment and the punishment is strict

and Leviticus chapter 24 verse 16 it says that whoever blasphemes the name of

Leviticus 24:16

the Lord whoever misuses the name of our God deserves death to misuse the name of

our God sin and in Romans chapter 6 verse 23 we hear that the wages of sin is

Romans 6:23

death the rightful payment the thing that you are do what you deserve is

death if you look up at the on the screen it's up here it says but the gift

of God the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord through

the very one whose name I ran through the mud through the very one whose name

we treat without honor and respect the very one whose name sometimes people

falsely call upon the name that people use as a curse word it is that one that

one who gives us life you see there can actually be freedom from punishment this

freedom from punishment is based on the actions of another you see there's only

one person who ever fully kept the entire law there's only one person who

ever faithfully represented God there's only one person for everything he ever

said was true and right there's only one person and that person is Jesus Christ

and when you put your faith in him when you trust in him he took the punishment

for you and gives you the freedom that he deserves the commands they point to

our need for another they point to our need for Christ you know it's

interesting as Charlie mentioned John chapter 8 and in John chapter 8 Jesus

John 8 · chapter mention John 8 · chapter mention

was actually accused of breaking this very command he was accused of breaking

this very command and in helping them understand that the differences of who a

child of Abraham was they acted the Jewish leaders asked what do you know

about Abraham who do you know do you even know Abraham and in Jesus answer

was before Abraham was I am he invoked the name of who he is the same name that

he revealed himself to Moses is the am I am the one who is the self-existent one

Jesus took that name and if he if he wasn't God then yes this would be the

hubris of blasphemy but the reality is is he is God proven in his death and his

resurrection and if we're told that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is

Lord that Jesus is the I am that Jesus is God and we believe in our hearts that

God raised him from the dead it will be saved will be saved from the punishment

that we all rightfully deserve the punishment that were rightly owed Jesus

told a story of two men praying in a temple one man was a Pharisee is the

religious leader and what this one man did is he took all of God's commands he

put him in neat little boxes and then he checked off those boxes and so he's

standing in the temple and he's lifting his hands up and he's praying to God

he's saying God I thank you I thank you that I'm not like that man over there

who's a sinner there's another guy who's a tax collector we'll talk about him in

a second he said I thank you God that I'm not like him that I do all these

things I keep the checkbox I check all these things off I don't have any idols

I don't have any gods before you I don't use your name like that man over there

uses your name I thank you God that I'm not like him and then there's a another

guy the tax collector tax collectors were synonymous with sinners

synonymous with people who win their turn their back against their people and

the tax collector was standing in the temple beating on his chest and he's

crying out God forgive me have mercy on me a sinner he see what they what he did

is he looked into the righteous law of God and he saw his guilt he saw his guilt

and he asked for forgiveness he asked for mercy Jesus said which one of the

two walked away justified it's not the one who falsely represents God it's not

the one who put the commands of God and neat little boxes that he could check

off no it's the one who the Word of God came to and pierced his heart and

convicted him of his sin and the reality that he could never live up to God's

righteous commands that's the one who walked away justified because he wasn't

relying on his own works but he was relying on the works of another and the

best part about it it's not not only are we free from punishment we come God's

way not only are we free for punishment which is great we're also free to

represent God if you take the command as it says here do not misuse the name of

the Lord your God and you say it in the positive it's saying this use my name

use my name properly you see God wants us to have his name as a banner over our

lives God wants us to lift up his name over our lives a couple weeks ago I was

having coffee with a guy and he and I were talking about this command trying

to we kind of discussed some misconceptions we had especially as

children about the command and what floored both of us was the reality that

God actually wants us to hold his name high he actually wants us to lift his

name up above our lives and it's actually like it's mind-blowing that God

would want us to do that you know the Creator God could have used his angelic

mess and job messengers right to come and tell people about him and at times

he has used that but his primary way that he wants us to do it now is through

us through you and me those who rightfully fly the banner of Christ over

our lives he wants us to represent him well

if you check out 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 I got on the screen verse 17 and then

we're gonna skip a couple to 20 and 21 it says this if anyone is in Christ he

has a new creation and then skip to 20 it says therefore we are ambassadors for

Christ since God is making his appeal through us we plead on Christ's behalf

be reconciled to God he God made the one who knew no sin Jesus to be sin for us

he took our sin so that we can have his righteousness so we can become the

righteousness of God you see it starts in verse 17 it says if anyone's in

Christ it begins with a relationship the relationship is utmost importance

looking to Jesus confessing your sins repenting turning to him looking to him

trusting in him and once you have that relationship then you can be an

ambassador an ambassador representing a better king representing a better

kingdom an ambassador who flies the name of his king over his life in the way he

speaks and the way he lives an ambassador who goes to people and says

do you know my king do you know my king an ambassador goes to people says the

table is big there's plenty of room come come into the kingdom you can be an

ambassador he wants us to be ambassadors for him it starts within a relationship

and then it's lived out as we are ambassadors for Christ you know our

church our church has a vision we want to see the name of God lifted high as a

banner over the islands we want to see the name of God lifted up the people

throughout the islands are worshiping our God we call it the 1-100 we're

praying that God would increase the population of believers by 1% of

the population of Hawaii if God increases that by 1% that means we're

gonna need a hundred new churches just to meet that need alone and so what

we're doing is we're preparing for it we're preparing for it by by having what

we call Harbor you which is what I'm part of and that's why I'm here to

preach we get we're teaching guys how to be pastors and preachers so that we can

have more people who are ready to teach and preach when the time comes we're

preparing for it by giving sacrificially so that when the time comes we'll have

the financial resources to send out churches as God leads we're preparing

for it we know that God is gonna is gonna lead we know that God's gonna meet

the needs and God's gonna prepare but we are getting ready to and while we're

also desperately praying for it we're desperately praying for it but you see

the name of God doesn't just get lifted over churches because we have a church

the name of God that gets lifted over churches because we have people in the

church who are lifting the name of God over their lives people in the church

who are representing God well to their world and so we ask this question who is

your one who's the one person that God has put in your life for you to fly the

name of Christ over your life and represent to them it's for you to want

to live your life in such a good way that they may see your good works and

worship your God by the words that you say and the actions that you do who is

the one that you're being intentional about reaching after

maybe maybe it's gonna take a month maybe it's gonna take a year or 10 years

or 15 years don't give up fly the banner of Christ of your life pray for the

people that God has put in your life to hopefully so you could bring them to him

to introduce them to your God maybe you're thinking but who am I funny

enough right Moses asked the exact same question who am I what was God's answer

to Moses I'll be with you when Jesus commissioned us to do this very thing

that I'm talking about to go and make disciples you know what Jesus said I'll

be with you I'll be with you not about it's not a matter of how much skill you

have or articulate it you have or if you're able to come up and play an

instrument it's not about that it's about God being with us it's about Jesus

being with us well you're like well maybe maybe you're thinking I don't know

God that much I don't know him that well and that's what we're here for we're

here to help you learn about God we're here to help you learn how to study your

Bible how do you read his words and understand what he said because can you

really know somebody if you don't know their name and can you really know

somebody if you don't know who they are and what they say but we want to help

you learn that and we do that through multiple venues in this church

primarily through our community groups because in the reality is we all need

community we all need people to partner with us and I'm saying this not to me so

that we get more community groups bigger we don't have numbers isn't the deal the

reality is this we all need help we all need we're all gonna fall as we're

carrying Christ's name over our lives we're all gonna trip we're all gonna

fall and we need people around us to help us to help pick us up and help

point us to the one who won't fall community groups who also I mean we had

our women's retreat this weekend I heard it was a great time right we have a

women's retreat we have a youth retreat coming back or coming up soon for our

high schoolers and middle schoolers we have kids ministries we have women's

Bible studies men's Bible studies about a new men's Bible study about to start

we're gonna go through the book of James and learn how to apply the Word of God

to our lives in practical ways starting I think this Saturday there's a new a

new young adults ministry starting this Saturday as well I think it's a Saturday

see Sarah if it's not Saturday anyway all that to say there's plenty of ways

to get involved and to get to know more about our God so that you can then as

well fly the banner of God over your life in such a way that others would see

it and believe just remember though it begins with a relationship you got to

be in relationship with our God and we would love to show you how to do that as

well look to Jesus trust Jesus know that he's with you you know when the young

man called me out I I got up across I got up from my chair and walked across

the room and I said you know what you're right I wasn't being like the one who I

should be like I wasn't being like Christ will you forgive me because the

reality is we're all gonna fall short what we do is we point to the one we

point to the one who never falls short we point them to him and then we go and

we fly his name of our lives a life that lives in confession and repentance we

fly his name of our lives so that others may see and others may believe and

others may come and be part of the kingdom let's pray