“HONOR” Matthew 6:9b
FBCF – 2/21/21
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Scottish Historian Thomas Carlyle: “Show me the man you honor & I will know what kind of man you are.” To honor someone is to show them great respect, especially in a public setting. We say, “Your honor” to a judge, showing our respect to his/her place of authority in a courtroom. We throw a party in honor of someone’s accomplishments, respecting their achievement. When we meet someone who is worthy of great respect, we may say, “It is an honor to meet you.”
There are certain people whose names receive widespread honor:
- National/world leaders like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill
- Humanitarians like Clara Barton, founder, American Red Cross or Bono
- Athletes like Hank Aaron, Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan, or Jackie Joyner Kersee
- Religious leaders like Mother Theresa & Billy Graham
But even these “greats” who have been honored are all imperfect. They’ve all failed in some way; disappointed someone along the way; & done something at some time in their life that was sinful & shameful. There’s no human being who is completely & perfectly worthy of honor 100% of the time.
But that’s not true of our God, our “Father who is in heaven.” He is always & forever completely worthy of all honor. Which is what brings us to the next portion of the Lord’s Prayer in this series, “Pray Like This.”
EXPLANATION – Matthew 6:9b
Sermon on the Mount – Matthew 5-7 – Jesus most significant & comprehensive teaching on what it means to know God & how to be rightly related to Him in our everyday life. Not a legalistic list of do’s & don’ts, but a message of what true righteousness is all about – a righteousness not built upon the faulty, shifting foundation of our external good works, but the true & vital righteousness that begins internally in our hearts. The religious folks of that day AND ours want to have a checklist of all the good things they can do to make sure that they are right w/ God. It’s a righteousness based on the Law & the keeping of all the rules regulations – a righteousness on the outside that attempts to hide what’s truly on the inside.
But Jesus’ taught that what is on the inside will show on the outside. Conduct follows character. That’s why He said several times, “You have heard it said…But I say to you…”
This sermon that Jesus gave was not a sermon for the unsaved world at large, but a sermon given to individual believers. Matthew 5:1-2 says that Jesus went up on the mountainside & sat down. His disciples came to Him & He began to teach them how to live a life that is dedicated & pleasing to God, a life free from hypocrisy, a life full of love, grace, discipline, discernment, & wisdom. Central to that life is a full understanding of prayer. His teaching on prayer is right here in the middle of this sermon, & it needs to be right in the middle of our lives.
- “Whatever applications the Sermon on the Mount may have to world problems, or to future events, it is certain that this sermon has definite applications for us today.” (Warren Wiersbe)
- And that definitely includes Jesus’ teaching on prayer here in chapter 6.
APPLICATION – Honoring God’s name helps you approach Him with the right mindset.
APPROACH HIM IN NEARNESS – First, let’s remember the nearness to God that Jesus tells us about, the intimacy of calling on Him as “Father.” Based on the intimate relationship that we have w/ our Heavenly Father through our faith in Christ alone for our salvation, we are invited to come boldly into the throne room of God. God is “Our Father.” When we pray like that, we join w/ every other Christ-follower & w/ Jesus Christ Himself in declaring that we are a child of God forever. The Holy Spirit confirms that in us as Paul said in Romans 8:15 – “So you have not received a spirit that makes your fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, ‘Abba, Father!’” (NLT)
- God is not an angry judge looking for an opportunity to condemn us.
- He’s not too busy or too distracted to respond to us.
- He’s our Father who can be approached intimately, confidently, boldly, & freely.
- Ephesians 3:12 – “In [Christ] & through faith in [Christ], we may approach God w/ freedom & confidence” (NIV).
James 4:8 - "Draw near to God & He will draw near to you." Your Father wants you to approach Him in nearness.
APPROACH HIM IN HOLINESS – Let’s understand exactly what we are saying in this portion of the prayer. After approaching God as Father, then Jesus instructs us to hallow God’s name. “Hallowed” means make holy; set apart; sanctified; honored
- John 17:17 – “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
- Hebrews 10:14 – “For by virtue of that one single offering [His sacrificial death on the cross], [Jesus] has perfected for all time everyone whom He makes holy” (Phillips).
When we say these words, “hallowed be your name,” we are asking God to cause His name to be sanctified, or treated as holy, set apart & completely different & distinct from any other name. Think about God’s name:
- It tells us who He is – “God said to Moses in Exodus 3:14, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God simply IS. He has no beginning. He simply IS – from all eternity.
- It tells us what He does:
o Elohim – Creator God
o El Roi – He sees us
o Jehovah Shalom – He gives us peace
o Jehovah Rapha – He heals us
o Jehovah Jireh – He provides for us
- It tells us how we are to respond to Him:
o Psalm 9:10 – “Those who know your name put their trust in you…”
o Psalm 7:17 – “…I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.”
o Philippians 2:10-11 – “…at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven & on earth & under the earth, & every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
When God sanctifies us, it means that He makes us holy – He sets us apart as being different from those who don’t know Him. When we sanctify God, it means that we treat Him as holy. He is set apart from all other gods.
And when we say, “Hallowed be your name,” we are declaring that we understand that His name is above, before, & over all other names.
- Hallowing His name keeps us from trivializing it or getting too sentimental or being too casual about it. In the intimacy of calling out to God as “Father” or “Abba” – “Daddy” – we have to be careful that we don’t get into a nonchalant mindset that minimizes the reality that we are communing w/ the God of the universe, the God of all creation.
- “Are not our prayers so often ineffective & powerless - & sometimes even prayerless – b/c we rush unthinkingly & unpreparedly into God’s presence, w/out realizing the majesty & glory of the God Whom we are approaching, & w/out reflecting upon the exceeding great riches of His glory in Christ Jesus, which we hope to draw upon?” (https://gracequotes.org/?s=majesty)
- Praying the way Jesus taught us to pray keeps us from rushing into God’s presence, & leads us to pray reverently, worshipfully, adoringly, & rightly. Hallowing God’s names is our saying to Him, “Father, we want to praise you & honor you b/c your name is so holy.”
APPROACH HIM IN SERIOUSNESS – There are a lot of abbreviations that are used in our text messaging communication – LOL (“laugh out loud”), BTW (“by the way”), TBH (“to be honest”). Another well-known one is OMG – “Oh my God.” Used by someone when they’ve received some startling or disturbing news.
I want to challenge you to stop before you utter that statement or even use that abbreviation. Hallowing God’s name means that we are going to be serious about His name, not flippantly using it in some slang way. His name is special. It is unique. It is distinctive. It encompasses His nature, His teachings, & His sovereign authority. When we speak His name & call on Him in prayer, we are calling on the Creator & Sustainer of the universe.
God is serious about His name & we better be serious about it, too!
- Exodus 20:7 – “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain…”
- Deuteronomy 28:58-59 – “If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, then the Lord will bring on you & your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, & sicknesses grievous & lasting.”
- Malachi 1:11 – “…from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great…”
- Psalm 34:3 – “Oh, magnify the Lord w/ me, & let us exalt His name together.”
- “God is not merely a loving Father in heaven; He is a righteous, holy God. Every time those who take His name violate anything He has said, it is a reflection on the name of God.” (Henry Blackaby)
APPROACH HIM IN WILLINGNESS – Jesus concluded the Sermon on the Mount w/ the illustration of the men who built their houses on different foundations, one on the rock & one on the sand – Matthew 7:24-27.
We honor God’s name when we build our lives on His Word & willingly obey Him. His name is holy & His call on our lives is that we be holy.
- 1 Peter 1:14-16 – “Live as obedient children before God. Don’t let your character be molded by the desires of your ignorant days, but be holy in every department of your lives, for the one who has called you is himself holy. The scripture says: ‘Be holy, for I am holy’.” (Phillips)
We don’t begrudgingly live holy lives, but we willingly do so. It’s not a forced submission but a willing submission to the One whose name is holy. We honor His name w/ our willingness to live lives that honor Him.
- Willingly obey His commands
- Willingly resist temptation
- Willingly share the Gospel
- Willingly serve Him in the Church
CONCLUSION/TAKEAWAY – So, how have you been approaching God? Have you been honoring Him? Or…
- Have you been too flippant, too casual?
- Have you been living an unholy life?
- Have you been unwilling to obey Him?
