"Hallowed be your name"
We're picking up our series working through the Lord's Prayer today having looked at the words "Our Father in heaven" a few weeks ago.
Words matter - as they bring understanding.
And so it is right that we try to use words that we understand, and words that we normally use in our services. That's why we updated our Bibles in church a few years ago.
The same has been done to the Lord's prayer over the years. Not to change the meaning, but to make sure that we understand what we are praying.
We've dropped the word "art" because we don't talk like Shakespeare anymore.
We've changed the word "Thy" to "Your" for the same reason.
And changed "trespasses" to "debts" and then to "sins" again to try and use a word that we understand.
But the word "Hallowed" has generally remained. We don't really have an alternative, even though we seldom use it in everyday language.
To be hallowed is to be kept holy, to be set apart as worthy of honour, to be held in high regard. And so the prayer is that God's name - that is his character and his reputation - would be held in honour by all. That all would know how great and good and glorious our heavenly Father is.
Winston Churchill's name has been in the spotlight this weekend. His reputation as well as his statue have been tarnished. With humans of course this is always likely. We all have weaknesses and failings. That's one way that our heavenly Father is different to us: He is and will always remain pure and perfect. So when we pray "Hallowed be your name" we are saying back to God something that is true and always will be and so we are reminding ourselves of this fact. We are reminding ourselves of God's character. That He is always worthy of our respect and worship.
There is a sense too when we pray this that we are prioritising the response to His name over the response to ours. He should get the glory and honour - not us. We need reminding of that perspective because we are prone to be glory thieves.
But there is also a sense when we pray "Hallowed be your name" that we are reminding ourselves that what we do in His name, as His people will influence what others think of his character. And so we are challenged to think of our response to racism or abortion or poverty. And we are challenged to think of our witness in our home, with our next-door neighbour, or in our workplace. That through us, God's reputation would be upheld.
And so with these things in mind we pray to our heavenly Father: "Hallowed be your name."
Photo by Arthur Osipyan on Unsplash
Thank you Nigel, I have added it to my other Religious statements for future reference