Hallowed Be Your Name

INTRO - recap last week Our Father

Our underscores the social nature of our faith

Our baptism has initiated us into the common life of the body of Christ - we are acknowledged as Jesus’s brothers, sisters and mothers who have one father

Praying in community doesn’t mean there is no room for individual prayers

We must be careful to recognize that the word “father” is not a word of positive associations for many in our world today

Matthew 6:5–15 NIV

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

An executive was visiting a city and hired a temporary chauffeur. He asked the chauffeur his name and was told, "My name is Charles, sir." "Well," said the executive abruptly, "I always call my driver by his surname." "Yes, sir," replied the driver. "My surname is Darling, sir." "In that case, Charles," said the executive. "Drive on."

Sermon Illustrations on Names: Free from HotSermons

What is in a name? I think we would all agree that names are usually filled with significance. For example - I’m named after my mom’s brother who was killed in a motorcycle crash before I was born. We can be named after a family member, or some sort of family name that has passed down by the generations. We can be named after famous celebrities or after people in the Bible. Eugene Peterson writes this in his book Run with the Horses:

The meaning of a name is not discovered through scholarly etymology or through meditative introspection. It is not validated by bureaucratic approval. And it certainly is not worked up through the vanity of public relations. The meaning of a name is not in the dictionary, not in the unconscious, not in the size of the lettering. It is in relationship—with God. It was the Jeremiah “to whom the word of the LORD came” who realized his authentic and eternal being. Naming is a way of hoping. We name a child after someone or some quality that we hope he or she will become—a saint, a hero, an admired ancestor.

Some parents name their children trivially after movie stars and millionaires. Harmless? Cute? But we do have a way of taking on the identities that are prescribed for us. Millions live out the superficial sham of the entertainer and the greedy exploitiveness of the millionaire because, in part, significant people in their lives cast them in a role or fantasized an illusion and failed to hope a human future for them.

When I take an infant into my arms at the baptismal font and ask the parents, “What is the Christian name of this child?” I am not only asking, “Who is this child I am holding?” but also, “What do you want this child to become? What are your visions for this life?” George Herbert knew the evocative power of naming when he instructed his fellow pastors in sixteenth-century England that at baptism they “admit no vain or idle names.

Taken from Run with the Horses by Eugene H. Peterson. ©2009, 2019 by Eugene H. Peterson.5

You see, in the Bible, names are always filled with significance. What do Abram, Sarai, Jacob and Saul have in common? They all have a change of name by God to reflect a new direction for their lives. Saul is probably one of the better known name changes in Scripture, as his encounter with Jesus radically changed the direction of his life - from Christian persecutor to arguably one of the greatest missionaries of the gospel that the church has ever had.

John Piper writes, “Now, in the Bible a name … reveals the very essence of a thing, or rather its essence as God’s gift…. To name a thing is to manifest the meaning and value God gave it, to know it as coming from God and to know its place and function within the cosmos created by God. To name a thing, in other words, is to bless God for it and in it.”

John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy, Crossway, 2004, 124.

Names have significance and this cultural understanding includes the name of God. In Old Testament, pre-Jesus times, the name of God was so significant to the Hebrew people that they did not even speak it aloud, in order to show their reverence for it. Since God’s name is sacred and holy, the Israelites were commanded not to take God’s holy name in vain. This commandment has much less to do with cursing and much more to do with the sin of treating God’s name, or holy character, lightly.

This phrase hallowed by your name is one of the supplications in the Lord’s Prayer. It is a call for the name of God to be honored and recognized by all people. God should be treated with reverence. When we claim to represent God while doing things that are unholy or ungodly, we profane God’s name—or take the Lord’s name in vain.

Isaiah 29:23 NIV

23 When they see among them their children, the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

Isaiah reminds us that we are all made in God’s image, we are all the handiwork of God’s own hands. When we remember these truths, how can we not acknowledge God’s holiness and stand in awe of him? I think sometimes we just forget to realize just how great and good of a God we serve.

To pray “hallowed be your name” is to pray that our lives will bring honor to God’s holy name. This is the calling placed upon the people of God, first for Israel as we see in:

Ezekiel 36:16-38

Ezekiel 36:16–38 NIV

16 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman’s monthly uncleanness in my sight. 18 So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. 20 And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.’ 21 I had concern for my holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone. 22 “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. 24 “ ‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. 32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel! 33 “ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. 35 They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’ 37 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Once again I will yield to Israel’s plea and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep, 38 as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

And in Romans 2:17-29 we see that it is then for all of God’s people

Romans 2:17–29 NIV

17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; 18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19 if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” 25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. 26 So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. 28 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

We are all called to pray that God’s name be glorified, that God’s name be praised. This should be a natural outpouring of our walk with Christ and it should be evident to all we come into contact with.

“Even as we boldly approach God in prayer as ‘our Father,’ we ought always keep in heart and mind that God is not our good-luck charm, not a rabbit’s foot, not under our management, and certainly not subject to our puny understanding or agenda.” (See Praying with Jesus pp. 31–32.)

This week, I was at a large meeting that we have every couple of weeks on a large greenfield new plant. We were on the project site in a large construction trailer. We were having a vision alignment session to help keep the team centered and working together in certain ways we have agreed to. As one of the partners on the project got up to review their organization’s core values, he mentioned that one of the main superintendents had a heart attack the previous evening and asked anyone in the room who was a praying person to lift this man and his family up. I thought that was cool and made a note to remember to pray for this gentleman.

What was even more cool, however, is one of the guys from the general contractor at the end of our session got up to tell us about the boxed lunches they had for everyone to either eat quick or take with them on their way out. But then he stopped and asked the room if it would be OK for him to pray, right then and there, for the gentleman who had been mentioned several hours earlier. And he did. Not only was his prayer for the person, but I saw a beautiful example of glorifying and praising God’s hallowed name in the middle of a construction trailer. Certainly something I had not witnessed before.

But as Christ followers, we not only believe, but are also to confess that Jesus is the One who has truly, fully, and faithfully hallowed the name of God. In turn, Jesus has taught us, his disciples, how to hallow (or sanctify) God’s name

Matthew 5:43–48 NIV

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus is quoting a portion of Leviticus 19:18 in this passage, which is love your neighbor. But he adds a twist. He adds hate your enemy as well. This was not specifically in the Old Testament law, but likely came from how the people of Israel had treated Gentiles, which was as less than human. Jesus then turns things on their head as he so often does and gives a new way to live. Loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you. It is not enough just to be friendly and live only among your own people - whether that is your family or a church congregation. We are to follow Jesus in the way of the cross - the way he treated people and interacted with people who were considered less than by the religious rulers of the time. It is only as we follow Jesus in his way of the cross, we will live lives that hallow God’s holy name.

How are we with hallowing God’s name in our daily lives? Let’s take a moment between us and Jesus and ask God how we are doing?

Sing - How Great Thou Art

Pray - end in Lord’s prayer

Benediction - Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’