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.
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