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And in this first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, this is what we’re praying for: First, that God’s name would be honored in the way that the church teaches, that we would preach and teach God’s Word in its truth and purity. These are the ways in which God’s name is either hallowed or dishonored among us. God’s name is hallowed, or kept holy, in the way that we teach about God, that we teach the truth and not error, and also in the way that we live as God’s children who bear his name, that we bring honor to his name and not shame. And that is, so that we would know God as he really is, that we and others around us would know the truth about God, what he has done and who he is for us. This means that’s God’s name would be set apart as holy, set apart for the special purpose for which God has revealed his name to us. So what we’re praying for in this petition is that God’s name would be kept holy, by us and among us. As we just heard from the Catechism, “God’s name is certainly holy in itself, but we pray in this petition that it may be kept holy among us also.” It is already holy in itself, because God himself is holy. It’s an old-Englishy type of word that means “to be made holy” or “to be kept holy.” Now certainly we cannot make God’s name holy.
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So then what does it mean that God’s name is to be “hallowed.” “Hallowed” is not a word that we use much anymore. You are baptized in the name of the triune God, the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You have the Holy Spirit to lead you in all truth. He has revealed himself to you in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. Natural man does not know God, does not have the Spirit, and thus does not know the truth about who God is.
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God’s name is all of his attributes and all of his actions rolled into one, made known to us in Scripture, so that, through faith, we know God as he really is. “Hallowed be thy name.” I guess we should explain those two words, what is meant by “hallowed” and what is meant by “name.” First, God’s “name.” Biblically speaking, God’s name is the sum total of everything we know about God, as he has revealed himself to us in his Word. Now of course this will be of the greatest benefit to us, but we don’t start out with a bunch of requests for our own immediate needs. See, Jesus has us start out with something about God himself, a request and a concern about God’s name, that it would be hallowed. But that’s not where Jesus would have us begin. And the first one in the Lord’s Prayer is “Hallowed be thy name.” Notice, the first thing we’re asking for is not something like, “Lord, give me a new car,” or even, “Lord, help Aunt Tillie in the hospital.” We’ll get to Aunt Tillie, and maybe even to a new car, later in the prayer. The petitions are the things we’re asking for or requesting. The First Petition means the first thing we are asking for in this prayer.
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Now after the introduction, that is, the address to God as “Our Father in heaven,” we come to the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. God hears our prayers, and he has mercy on us, for Christ’s sake. By his death and resurrection and his ascension into heaven for us, Jesus Christ has won forgiveness for our sins, has given us new life, and is seated at God’s right hand, interceding for us, so that now our prayers do have access to the throne of grace. We can know that God is our kind and loving heavenly Father. No, in and through Christ, we have a much better relationship with God than that. Last week we started out with the introduction to the Lord’s Prayer, where Jesus teaches us to address God as “Our Father who art in heaven.” We said that God is not some abstract “Higher Power” that we cannot reach, that we cannot know, and that we can’t be sure if he’s hearing our prayers and looking favorably upon us. Notice, by the way, that the request was “Lord, teach us to pray,” not just “Lord, teach us about prayer.” And notice that Jesus’ response starts out, “When you pray, say.” Not “When you think about the concept of prayer, sit there and do nothing.” You see, the point of this teaching, and the point of this whole sermon series, is not just to fill our heads with information about prayer, but rather, that we would actually pray. And Jesus responded by giving them the words of the Lord’s Prayer. I’m calling it “Lord, Teach Us to Pray,” because that was the request of the disciples to Jesus, as you heard in the reading from Luke 11.
#Hallowed be thy name sermon series#
“Hallowed Be Thy Name” (The Lord’s Prayer)įor our midweek Lenten services this year we’re doing a sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer.