Message
"How to ‘Hallow’ God’s Name”
A Sermon on Luke 1:39-56
Let’s do a little survey.
How many of you say the Lord’s Prayer at least once a week?
What about once a month?
Once every six months?
It’s interesting isn’t it that the prayer isn’t used as much as in the past.
So we should remember to keep the prayer in mind and encourage our children to learn it. After all it is the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray.
And as we learn it we need to ask ourselves questions.
The prayer goes like this:-
Our Father in Heaven … we trust you Father that you have our best interests at heart.
Hallowed be your name … well what does that mean?
In your NIV Bible the word “Hallowed” is only used twice – both in relation to the Lord’s prayer.
Many translations don’t even use the word Hallowed, because it is a word people don’t really know; except when they pray the Lord’s Prayer.
So what does it mean? Hallowed means …
to make holy.
to keep as sacred.
set apart for religious use.
consecrated.
That is what we are asking when we pray, Hallowed be your name. It is a desire to make sure the name of God is upheld with honour and esteem.
Doesn’t that seem a bit strange to you? To make such a request?
Isn’t God’s name already holy?
Doesn’t God already have high esteem?
What could we possibly do to add to His holiness?
What could we do to add to His sacredness?
God’s name is already holy and we can’t add anything to it to make it more holy.
So, when we pray, Hallowed by Your name we are not just saying, “Lord Your name is holy make it even holier”. Rather through these words, Hallowed be Your name we are taking a responsibility upon our shoulders. The responsibility of making sure we do all we can to preserve the holiness of God’s name. As we pray this prayer we are saying that we have an active part to play.
Basically what we are saying is this:-
As we get to know You – Your mighty power, wisdom, kindness, justice, mercy, and truth.
Help us direct all our living – what we think, say, and do – so that Your name always honoured and praised.
To see how we can do this we are going to take a specific example of someone in the Bible who did hallow the Name of God. I’m thinking here of Mary the mother of Jesus.
Now let’s remember who Mary was.
She is young.
She is betrothed to Joseph.
She is a good Jewish girl who grew up in a nice Jewish home acting in a proper Jewish way.
Then she became pregnant.
From that moment on her life is turned upside-down.
She will skip her first period, and begin to feel the first trimester of overwhelming tiredness and morning sickness. In other words it is going to become very real very quickly. Households being what they were at the time it won’t take long for her mother to notice what is happening – mother’s just know these things.
And then she will have to tell them what happened. “I was just having an ordinary day when an angel came to me and said that God was going to make me have a child and the child is going to be the Messiah … honest”. Did her parents believe her? We are not told. But we do know that Joseph had it in his mind to divorce her – the stigma attached to the whole event was just to much for him to bear.
It is a lot to deal with, so Mary makes a visit to her relative Elizabeth – Elizabeth is the mother of John the Baptist.
Let’s read what happens.
Read Luke 1:39-56
Mary’s world has been turned upside-down. God is definitely at work seeking to bring the Saviour into this world. But it is Mary who will wear the ridicule, the questioning of her morals, the judgements, the loneliness and the pain.
Yet she still hallows the name of God.
My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant.
Luke 1:47-48
Hallowing the name of God means humbling ourselves before God and admitting that He has every right to ask us to give Him priority.
That is easy to say, but it isn’t easy to do … is it?
How do we admit that God has every right to ask us to give Him priority when we go through head-breaking relationship break-ups?
Expand
How do we admit that God has every right to ask us to give Him priority when we are struggle to find a job or make a career, or just get by?
Expand
How do we admit that God has every right to ask us to give Him priority when we are struggling to find purpose in this world?
Expand
Giving credit and esteem and praise to God in all circumstances. That isn’t always easy. But that is the call … isn’t it.
And some days it is hard.
Some days we find ourselves crying to God and saying, “Why would we want to God? Why would we want to give you priority?”
So why would we want to? Why would we want to hallow the name of God?
My soul praises the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. (Luke 1:46-47)
We hallow the name of God because of the powerful significance of His name for us.
“God” and “Saviour” go together.
God’s plan for us is a wonderful plan that involves our salvation.
And God’s method of salvation tells us a lot about His name – especially when we remember that the name of God is perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ.
Remember what the angel said to Mary. Give Him the name Jesus because He will save people from their sins.
He is Immanuel – God with us.
Divinity in the flesh.
The Creator becoming the creature.
The Holy One being willing to bear our sins.
It’s a plan of salvation which requires the One who had every right to punish us to give His life instead.
God doesn’t owe us salvation.
We have no right to demand to be part of God’s family.
God didn’t have to send Jesus Christ.
Yet God places Himself in a position where He promises to save people and show them forgiveness. To know that God is the ultimate goal of all we do is to be blessed with the showers of His grace. If He willingly brought us to Himself He will be unwilling to let us go.
That is the plan. It’s a good plan. So we look to Him always … even in the times we are asking “why?”. Because we know that even our best plans fall apart so often.
All our plans end up in a mess – don’t they.
When we put ourselves and our own desires in the middle how often does life just turn to rubbish.
God’s name … a saving name … turns that all around. When we see that truth it helps us even more to hallow the name of God – because it changes our thinking.
Hallowing the name of God means accepting that He has the right to tell us how we ought to live.
There are so many times when our thinking is just so different from God’s thinking.
He saves people we never thought were worth saving.
He answers prayers in totally unexpected ways.
He puts us in situations we never thought we could endure.
But we accept that and we rejoice in it … because God’s holiness is at work directing our lives and the lives of others. Hallowing the name of God means redirecting our thinking.
God doesn’t come to us and say, “How would you answer this problem, or what method would you use”.
No we go to the Word of God and say, “Lord direct us for we cannot do anything without your help”.
We do this rejoicing in the fact that God is not going to leave us without any resources to cope.
After all … are we not the child of God. We are God’s own … aren’t we?
That’s what God wants you to know.
"My child once you were My enemy
Even though there was never a time when I stood against you. You hated me.
Despite the fact that I loved You more then all creation. You turned your back on Me.
You were not willing to search Me out. To say you were sorry.
Even though I was not to blame.
… …
Despite all this, I call you My own. My precious child. I want to use you in My plans".
Do you want to hallow the name of God? Then you need to understand His love to you. In the same way that Mary understood that love.
She knew how much God sacrificed to show her mercy.
She knew God as a God who had no time for those who continued in self-reliance.
She knew how far she stood from the grace of God.
And she knew how far God had gone to retrieve her.
So in response to God’s holy acts, Mary hallows the name of God by giving His name honour and esteem instead of dragging His name through the dirt. It doesn’t matter what the Lord is going to do with her – she knows His plan is the right one and she is going to trust in His path.
And what does she feel? As you read these words you get a sense that Mary is … full of joy.
Hallowing the name of God leads to an ever increasing sense of joy knowing that our lives are more in tune with God’s will.
It’s a joy that puts God first … before our houses … our jobs … our desire for success … our money … our time.
The joy of salvation is a joy which drives us know God better as we deliberately make time to worship … to learn … to pray … to grow in faith.
The joy of salvation drives us to speak about God. Proclaiming Him as Lord of all.
The joy of salvation drives us to serve God. Seeking to keep His name Holy.
It is at this point that the practical aspect of this pray comes to the foreground. For we are being called to respond in joy …
… not just when things are going well.
… but also when all is not going so well and when we are going through faith testing trials.
To hallow the name of God means that we can’t fail to see His goodness to us in everything. His work is always perfect, even when we can’t see that perfection at work.
Hallowing means humility … the humility that enables us to submit to the control of God.
An excellent example of this is Job.
Job was going through a hard time – and the longer it goes the more we find Job’s heart getting harder. Eventually Job has a bit of a go at God and questions God’s ability. God is patient for a while, but then He has had enough.
Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said, “Who is this that darkens My counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me”.
(Job 38:1-3)
Question after question comes. Job realises through the questions how little he really knows. Job is forced to admit that his way of thinking is the wrong way of thinking. Eventually Job comes to this conclusion.
I am unworthy – how can I reply to You? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer – twice, but I will say no more.
(Job 40:4-5)
Example
I wish I could control this world for just one day.
I wouldn’t want to live even 1 minute in that sort of world.
We live in a sinful world – but it is under God’s control.
He sends prosperity and adversity.
He makes peace but also war.
He gives health but also puts us in the sick-bed.
He makes alive, He also takes away our breath.
We can’t understand it all, we certainly won’t be able to give all the answers, but we still uphold the name of God for His glory.
When we pray Hallowed be Your name we are actually saying,
Father, write Your name legibly in my life, so that others may read it and heed it.
May this day, this hour this moment bring glory to Your Name.
May my work and rest and leisure and service bring glory to Your Name.
May my spending and saving and planning and purpose bring glory to your Name
May everything and all of me bring glory to your Name.
Prayer
