Sermon -- Summer Sermon Series: Lord's Prayer, 1st Petition (July 13, 2025)

LUKE 11:1-2

HALLOWED BE THY NAME.

In the name + of Jesus.

    When the Lord spoke to Moses, he made a strange statement.  He said, “I am the LORD.  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name, the LORD, I was not known to them” (Exodus 6:2-3).  What makes this statement so strange is that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did know the name of the Lord.  They called upon his name and proclaimed it to others.  So, what did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob not know which Moses would see and know?  It was that the Lord would reveal himself to Moses and all Israel as the God who delivers his people.  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob only received promises.  Moses and Israel would see God in action.  They would see the Lord’s judgment against his foes in the plagues of Egypt.  They would see the Lord’s gracious deliverance through the Passover, at the passage through the Red Sea, and at the destruction of Pharaoh’s army. 

     It is no surprise, then, that the Lord’s name was treated with great reverence by Moses and the people of Israel.  The Lord even gave a commandment about it.  He declared, “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not permit anyone who misuses his name to escape unpunished” (Exodus 20:7).  God’s name is to be regarded as holy.  His name is to be honored because God is to be honored. 

     The word “God” is a pretty generic name.  All religions worship a god or gods.  The names for that deity vary.  But all people know there is a god.  God makes himself known through his creation.  This world did not come about by chance.  It is too orderly for that.  The intricacies of our bodies, the creativity of our minds, the beauty of forests, flowers, and sunsets, the variety of animals—all of these testify to a grand designer.  It shows that God is powerful, wise, and kind.  But it does not tell us who this God is.

     All people also know there is a God because of our consciences.  Your conscience testifies that there is a standard of right and wrong.  Someone set that standard, and your conscience tells you that you are accountable to him.  Why else would you feel guilty?  So, there is a God who is holy, just, and to whom we are accountable.  But once again, it does not tell us who that God is.  God must make himself known for us to know that.

     The Lord has made his name known to us in the Bible.  Through the prophets and the apostles, and especially through Jesus Christ, God reveals who he is.  God’s name includes everything about him—all his titles, what he is like, what he desires, and what he forbids. 

      When we pray, “Hallowed be thy name,” our prayer is not that we would make God’s name holy.  We do not make God’s name holy.  That would be like asking us to make the sun bright or to make fire hot.  The Lord is holy.  So is his name.  The point is not to make God’s name holy; the point is that we do nothing to desecrate or dishonor the name of the Lord.  It is to be cherished and praised and proclaimed.

     But we have dishonored God’s name by assigning to God our own agendas.  We exalt our preferences and our opinions.  We exalt our likes and dislikes, and assume that God shares them.  This allows us to condemn anyone who disagrees with us.  But to assign God’s name to our opinions and preferences is an assault on God’s name.  To support behavior we like or to condemn people for ideas we hate in God’s name is a gross misuse of God’s name.  The Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name like this.  We are worthy of God’s striking us down.

     But God has revealed himself as the God who saves.  Out of love for all people, the Lord sent his Son to save us from the judgment we have earned.  The Lord does not strike us down.  Instead, he struck down his only begotten Son in our place.  Jesus has provided a far greater deliverance than the Lord performed at the Red Sea.  Jesus did not merely deliver us from the terror of death; he delivered us from the torment of hell.  He did this by suffering that torment for us.  He received into himself the accusation for all our sins.   Then he put himself under the full judgment of the Father.  This has been revealed so that you know you have a loving Father who desires your salvation.  This is why we hold our Lord’s name in such high regard and treat it as holy.  For, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). 

     The Lord not only delivered you from your sin, he also put his name upon you.  You were baptized, “In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).  In your baptism, the Lord marked you as his very own.  You bear his name—the name which is above every other name, and the only name that saves.  Just as the Lord’s name is holy, so he has made you holy in his sight.  He has set you apart from sin, death, and the devil; and he has set you apart for a life of godly living.

     Jesus taught us to pray, “Hallowed be thy name.”  Since God’s name is holy, our prayer is that we keep it holy.  There are two ways in which God’s name could be dishonored and desecrated by us.  The first is based on how we live.  If we bear the name of God, then we are to act like God’s people.  We are to live according to his word.  If you were a reckless child, your parents disciplined you.  One reason is because you were wrong and they wanted to spare you of more serious consequences later in life.  But another reason is that your bad behavior sullied the family name.  If you were wicked, that was a reflection of your parents.  They made it clear that they expected better from you.

     Even atheists expect that.  If a Christian is obscene, a liar, an adulterer, a drunkard, a thief, and so on, the atheist will judge you for failing to be what you say you are.  The atheist may reject God’s standard (though he is not excused from it), but he expects that Christians will abide by it.  He will mock you and condemn you if you violate it.  And you will deserve it.  God’s name is sullied when God’s people are rebellious and rude and self-righteous.

     When this happens, you may be charged as a hypocrite.  A hypocrite pretends to be a Christian but does not repent of his sin.  A Christian, however, does not pretend he is not a sinner.  You freely confess your sins and out them off.  You call upon the name of the Lord for mercy and for forgiveness.  You can do this because you know that, for his name’s sake, the Lord forgives sinners.  For his name’s sake, the Lord is merciful and gracious.  For his name’s sake, the Lord will lead you in paths of righteousness.  This is why we praise the name of our Lord.  It is the only name by which we are saved, comforted, and strengthened for godly living.

     “Hallowed be thy name.”  His name remains holy among us when we live according to his word, and when we teach his word faithfully.  “Whoever teaches and lives contrary to God’s word dishonors God’s name among us” (Luther’s Small Catechism: Lord’s Prayer).   Consider a crass example of a false teaching.  While I was channel surfing on the radio some years back, I caught the tail end of a religious broadcast.  Now, I understand that it costs money to broadcast a show like that, so I was not put off by the appeal for financial support.  However, the host of the show promised, “For every dollar you send in to support this show, God will give you that dollar back.”  Of course, God does not make any such promise.  But if someone believed that preacher’s word and he did not get his dollar back, he would conclude that God is a liar.  Or at least, that God’s preachers are swindlers.  If that is what people who preach God’s word are like, he will never listen to God’s word again. 

     “Hallowed be thy name.”  His name remains holy among us when we teach his word faithfully, “but whoever teaches … contrary to God’s word dishonors God’s name among us” (Luther’s Small Catechism: Lord’s Prayer).  False teachings are usually not that blatant.  The devil knows that blatant lies will be recognized, but subtle twisting can deceive because it sounds like the truth.  So, God’s word is distorted just a little bit. 

     Consider something so important as how a person is saved.  All Christians acknowledge that Jesus died to pay for sins, but many add their own works to Jesus’ work.  They say that you need to live a good life to be saved.  On the one hand, the Bible does, indeed, teach that we are to flee from sins and strive for godliness.  Those who don’t have a faith that is dead.  What St Paul wrote in today’s letter to the Galatians stands true.  But if your behavior is necessary for salvation, this puts the burden of salvation right back on you.  It destroys any comfort you can have and leaves you in perpetual doubt.  Who do you think wants you to doubt your place in the kingdom of God—the devil or Jesus?  The devil subtly twists God’s word.  While good works are God’s will for the Christian, it is not good works that save.  Jesus saves.  The good works follow, but they do not contribute.

     There are countless other examples of God’s word being distorted.  Our world insists that the Church needs to get with the times if it wants to stay relevant.  The way we are supposed to do that is to jettison parts of God’s word.  If we did, our congregation might build a nice name for itself among unbelievers.  But God’s name would be denied by us, and he would deny knowing our names. 

     But you have been set apart from that.  God has put his name on you.  God has put his word into your heart so that you believe it, cherish it, and confess it.  God has put his word into your hands so that you will not be deceived by those who teach different gods.  Before you depart from God’s house, he will put his name upon you in the benediction.  Why?  It is just as he promised the priests of Israel: “In this way they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:27).  

     The Lord has put his name upon you.  He is yours, and you are his.  As a child of God, you strive to be like Jesus.  As one who has been entrusted with God’s word, you want to devote yourself to it and confess it rightly.  As one whose name is written in the Book of Life, you cherish the God who marked you for salvation.  As one upon whom God has written his name, you praise and proclaim his name in all you say and do.  “Hallowed be thy name.  God’s name is certainly holy by itself, but we pray in this petition that we, too, may keep it holy” (Luther’s Small Catechism: Lord’s Prayer).  His holy ones rejoice in his holy name; for it is the only name that saves.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.