"Hallowed be Thy Name"

a sermon by Rev. Michael Gladish

Dawson Creek, BC, May 4^th, 2008

Today we are considering the second phrase of the first sentence in the Lord's prayer, taken from Matthew 6:9 and also from Luke 11:2. At first, it may seem quite a narrow focus for us to build a whole talk around half a sentence, or just four words, but the concept is so significant that it is well worth our attention, and besides, it is essentially the same as the 2^nd of the Ten Commandments, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain," and so it is clearly one of the ten most important rules in our lives.

It is interesting, by the way, that whereas the Commandments are framed in largely negative terms ("You shall not..."), the Lord's prayer is framed in essentially positive ones, illustrating the shift from mere obedience to the more reasoned appeal to moral and spiritual principles. In fact the word for "hallowed be" is in a Greek tense (aorist) that doesn't even exist in English. It doesn't really express past, present or future but refers to a fact, or some action at a given point - like "Here I stand." It is also in the imperative mood, which means it is something that must be done, but it is an indirect command, since it is in the passive voice - as in "this must be stood here" - so it has the tone of an urgent request.

All this grammar may not mean much to you, but it is significant because it lays out the conditions of the prayer. In effect the Lord was not telling us to pray in some wishful sense that His name ought to be kept holy, He was reminding us that it must be kept holy, and that it is our duty to make sure it is. But the question is why? - and how? - and what does this mean, anyway?

To answer these questions we need to know exactly what is meant by hallowing, or keeping holy, and we also need to know what is meant by the name of God. We'll consider the name first, and what the Lord tells us about this may surprise you.

First of all, a name literally is a title, so these words are about using the Lord's title respectfully (TCR 297). For example, it is inappropriate to say "Jesus!" (or even its derivative, "Jeeze,") as we often hear it said - in a tone of disgust. It is equally inappropriate to say "God!" or "Oh God!" or similar words to express outrage or indignation or exasperation. These feelings generally arise from personal disappointment and hardly ever have anything to do with any thoughtful respect for the Lord. Similarly, the word, damn, used as an expletive ought to be avoided since it implies - and often includes - the name of God as well, and while it may be true that He would condemn something we don't like, we have no right to assume His authority in the matter.

No doubt you can think of other expressions that involve similar things, but this is not the time or place. Still, when they come to mind, usually in moments of stress, it will be good to reflect on what they really suggest and take the opportunity to moderate your words and your thoughts.

On the other hand, old habits die hard, and if you find this difficult you can take some comfort in the knowledge that "the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (I Sam 16:7). It is not the expressions themselves that make a person innocent or guilty but "the purpose, intention or end in view," as explained in CL 527. So this rule of keeping the Lord's name holy involves much more than just words. The things is, we need to consider what lies behind the words, and not just make excuses for them.

It works the same in cases of apparent respect for the Lord's name when the respect is not real. Remember Jesus said,

The point is that the name of any person or thing, including God, really represents the whole quality of the subject. And so here's where it gets really interesting.

For example, Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20). To gather "in His name" is to gather in the spirit of His life and teaching. This is easy to understand if you think of it in terms of a person's reputation, or even in terms of brand names, which are often protected by trademark copyrights because they represent the whole quality of a given product or service. So we speak of a person's "good name" or we say that he has "a bad name," not because there's anything peculiar about the name itself, but because the person has a good or bad reputation.

We ministers also baptize in - or rather into - the name of the Lord not because we do it on His behalf but because we are representing the person's introduction into the whole quality of the life and teaching represented by His name. And this, of course, is all recorded and explained in what we call "the Word." So, perhaps surprisingly, in at least one passages of Scripture "His name" is actually said to be "The Word of God" (Rev. 19:13).

And now we have a whole deeper level of what it means to respect or "hallow" the Divine name. As we read in True Christian Religion #298, "In the spiritual sense the name of God means all those things which the church teaches from the Word, and by which the Lord is invoked and worshiped. All these things collectively are the name of God. Therefore to take the name of God in vain (which is not to keep it holy) means to use any of those things in idle talk, false assertions, lies, curses, sorcery and incantations; for this also is to revile and blaspheme God, and consequently His name."

In practical terms this means we must treat the Word even as a book with respect. We shouldn't put other books or clutter on top of it and we shouldn't leave it lying around to gather dust or tuck it away behind knick-knacks on a shelf. More importantly, we need to read it and pay reverent attention to what it says! To keep the book holy is not to take it out of circulation but to use it, just the same as you would treat a friend with respect not by ignoring or keeping him at a distance but by paying attention to him and listening to what he has to say. Likewise, you do not show respect for your friends by ridiculing them, and so, as funny as they may be, it is inappropriate to listen to or pass on jokes made from the stories of the Word. To be sure, there ARE funny things in the Word, but there's a big difference between seeing the humour in the story and making a mockery of it - as people sometimes do with the story of Noah's ark, or with some of the Lord's miracles, for example. We need to remember that within every literal story line there is a profound spiritual sense that offers very serious insight into our own lives and ultimately into the Lord's life, too - not to mention that every word connects us with some society in heaven!

So this takes us to a third and even deeper level of meaning within the prayer about the name of God, and that is what is called the celestial sense, dealing specifically with the Lord's Divine Humanity. This also is explained in the True Christian Religion #299, where we are plainly told that the name of Jehovah, the Father, the God of the Old Testament, is the Lord Jesus Christ, and as such it refers to His Divine Humanity. Remember, Isaiah particularly stresses the point that there is no God and no Saviour other than Jehovah (Isa. 43:10-11, 44:6, etc.). But of course He appears in the New Testament as the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, therefore, at the highest level, we have the hallowing of the Divine name as the recognition of the Infinite love and wisdom of God in Christ. In other words, we have the responsibility to honour and respect Him as the personification of the otherwise invisible infinite heavenly Father.

Summarizing so far, then, we have three levels of understanding God's name: first, it is a literal representative of His Divine qualities and so should be treated with respect just as we would treat any good person's name with respect. Second, since it represents His love and wisdom, which are described and explained in the Word, it also represents the Word, which we must therefore also treat with great respect. And finally, since all His attributes or qualities are made visible in the Human form as He is revealed in the Gospels, His name represents HIM so that respect for it implies respect for HIM.

But now we need to consider with greater care just what it means to hallow something, or to make it holy. We've been thinking along the lines of respect, but it's more than that, isn't it? In the dictionary to hallow is to consecrate, and to consecrate is to dedicate formally to a religious or Divine purpose. It is to purify something from any false or evil element, or, thinking of it positively, to use something in a way that expresses Divine love and wisdom. Another word for holiness is sanctity, and to sanctify something is to set it apart for religious service.

Now our heavenly Father's name is already perfectly holy in itself, so there is nothing we can do, really, to make it more so. But we can "hallow" or consecrate or sanctify it in our own lives in at least three ways.

First, we can remove it from any thoughtless, angry, abusive or self-centred context, making sure that when we say it we don't say it lightly, but in a way that reflects the goodness and truth for which it stands. In fact, there are MANY names used for God, and each one expresses something specific about His love, His wisdom or His power. For example, "Jehovah," which in Hebrew is a word composed entirely of light breathing sounds (consonants really but open like vowels), signifies His creative love, and "Jesus," which in Greek means Hero or Saviour, signifies His redeeming love or goodness. "God," which in Hebrew is usually a plural noun, is a title that refers to Divine Truth, which in turn has many aspects. And "Christ," which means Anointed, also refers to truth as in the rule of law.

So now imagine the perversity of uttering any of the Lord's names in anger, contempt or disgust. It would be truly profane - a really gross mixture of good and evil, or of truth and falsity, if not in one's own mind, certainly in the minds of any angels who might be listening.

In short, we can "hallow" or keep our heavenly Father's literal names holy by using them only with integrity to express the things they really represent.

Second, knowing that in the spiritual sense the Lord's name refers to His whole Word, again we know that we can't add anything to the Divine Wisdom itself, but we can hallow or sanctify it in our lives by doing what it teaches! This involves two steps, which of course unfold into 4 or more steps, depending on how you count. The first in broad terms is the shun the evils that we discover in ourselves as sins against the Lord. The second is to do what is good (after we learn how). Drilling down to more detail, shunning evils begins with self examination in the light of the Word, recognizing the evils that we discover, taking responsibility for them and then praying to the Lord for help in overcoming them. Doing good also involves continuing reference to the Word as we learn more and more about what truly serves for eternal life, and what does not. But the point is, hallowing the Lord's name at this level means bringing it into our lives with integrity, from our motive and purpose right through to our actual deeds. Otherwise the Word is NOT hallowed or sanctified in our lives but instead it is corrupted.

Finally, and in the highest sense, we can "hallow" the Lord's name by dedicating our lives to HIM - not just because He tells us to, and not just because we respect His Word and see that it is the right thing to do, but because we love HIM and can't stand the thought of hurting or disappointing HIM! This is the ideal, for at this level of care and concern we are fully aware that the Lord's Infinite wisdom so far exceeds our own that it would be ridiculous for us to think we could do or have anything better than to live according to His will.

This then will be our topic for next week: "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done...." But as we close today let's return for just a moment to that business about the verb forms in the prayer. As we noted, the phrase, "Hallowed be Thy name" is neither past nor present nor future. It is simply a fact. But it is a fact that begs our attention and requires our cooperation if we are to receive it into our hearts and minds. So when we use these words in prayer we may take them as reminders, indeed urgent reminders of our need and our responsibility to consecrate the things represented by the Lord's name, and put them to work in our lives. That said, and that done, the Lord can provide all the blessings that follow, and we are assured not only that He will, but that He does every day, from day to day, sufficient for the day, as we also say later on in the prayer.

Amen.

Lessons:

Children's talk on not taking the Lord's name in vain