Sunday Message: Lord's Prayer pt. 3

Long long ago, I was a second grader in a Catholic school.  Which meant we had a daily religion class taught by a nun.  One day, Sister Ann asked as SHE taught this same subject, "What does it mean to be 'hallowed'?"  I raised my hand to say, "Holy", but she called on a girl, who said, "Hollered?"  I knew that was nowhere close to the point, but Sister Ann wasn't so much hoping for a right answer as a right direction- remember, second grade.  And so she said, "RIGHT!  His Name should be holllered!"

Amazingly, even then I understood WHY she did it, but I still thought it was stupid.  Personally, I think she would have accomplished more with, "Well, not quite..."

So what is 'hallowed'?  Keep in mind, we have to look at two places it is used and see how they match up- the Hebrew Old Testament, and the Greek New Testament.

The earliest OT use I found (not claiming exhaustive research here) is Exodus 20:11-

Exo 20:11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (KJV)

Now this word- which other versions translate here as 'sanctified', 'made holy', 'set apart', or 'very special', is this one:

קדשׁ
qâdash
kaw-dash'
A primitive root; to be (causatively make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally): - appoint, bid, consecrate, dedicate, defile, hallow, (be, keep) holy (-er, place), keep, prepare, proclaim, purify, sanctify (-ied one, self), X wholly.

Of course, the well-known use in the NT is in the Lord's Prayer-

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 

And there, the Greek version:

ἁγιάζω

hagiazō

hag-ee-ad'-zo

From G40; to make holy, that is, (ceremonially) purify or consecrate; (mentally) to venerate: - hallow, be holy, sanctify.

So what do we have in common?

- To make Holy

- Consecrate

- to be or keep holy

- clean, purified

So now, we ask ourselves, how does this apply to the text in Matthew?  Can we make God's name holy?  No, God does that.  Can we ceremonially consecrate it?  Hmmm.  If you keep in mind that consecrating isn't making something holy, but setting it apart for a purpose, yes we can.  We can tell ourselves, "If we are to hallow His Name, we have to set it apart for no other use but His Name."  And into that definition, all the others flow.

See, we aren't praying that God does this for Himself, we are praying that WE would remember to keep His Name to it's pure use, its set apart reason.  Not to attach it to some exclamation.  And this is no laughing matter to God.  Even the objects attached to His Name are serious business...

2Sa 6:6  And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 

2Sa 6:7  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. 

Lev 10:1  Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. 

Lev 10:2  And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. 

Lev 10:3  Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD has said, 'Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.'" And Aaron held his peace. 

Joh 2:13  The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 

Joh 2:14  In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 

Joh 2:15  And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 

Joh 2:16  And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade." 

Joh 2:17  His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." 

But we probably fail here- I fail here- more than any other command of God's.  So easy to do, since we are so trained to open our mouths without thinking.  I remember that same second grade me being very zealous to avoid such language- until a 6th grade me found out it "made me cool."  No, it just made me "hollered."  Lord, remind me daily to set Your Name apart, as hallowed, and give Your Name the awe and respect it deserves.