If there is one word in Scripture that I wish English translations could do a better job for it would be in the very first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.
“Hallowed be your name.”
Nobody says “hallowed” in ordinary conversation — so day after day, week after week, a whole lot of Christians pray for something they have no intuitive grasp of. I once heard about a kid who thought this line meant God’s real name was “Harold.”
The word refers to holding something as holy. In the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, then, we ask that God’s Name may be held as holy.
Question 122 of the Heidelberg Catechism takes this line of the prayer in two directions. The phrase means, first of all,
“Help us to truly know you”
If we know God on a first name basis then we really know God — as opposed to just knowing some things about God. In the biblical world of both the Old and New Testaments names go to a person’s essence. Encounter God and you may find your own name changed, from Sarai to Sarah or from Simon to Peter. Knowing God’s Name is shorthand for having an intimate interpersonal knowledge of God — and that will change your life. And according to Heidelberg it implies that
- we will look for what God is doing around us
- we will look to see who God really is — God’s qualities and character.
And even in this text’s brief treatment we are supposed to be looking for a pretty significant list of qualities:
“almighty power, wisdom, kindness, justice, mercy, and truth.”
Praying that we will hold God’s name as holy means looking for all these things; and finding them turns our lives around so that we “honor, glorify, and praise” God
In a way, that is the easy obvious bit. Heidelberg has a second, more challenging meaning to draw out. We should aim to live so that God’s name is actually honored by other people
“Help us to direct all our living—
what we think, say, and do—
so that your name will never be blasphemed because of us
but always honored and praised.”
Personally I find that really convicting. I am acutely aware of times I’ve just been a jerk. And being a Christian jerk can cause people to dislike, distrust, and dismiss a Christian’s God — in short, to blaspheme God’s Name because of me.
On the other hand, I have friends and mentors whose ordinary living moves me to praise God.
- I think of Elaine Seppa a member of the congregation I joined in college who quietly came alongside university students, caring and praying and modeling adult faithfulness.
- I think of Samuel Hugh Moffet, my mission professor at Princeton Theological Seminary whose life and teaching and hospitality all embodied the Gospel with humble gentle love.
I could name others. Being around them makes me love God more. What they have in common is lives that reflect Christ’s endorsement of a very particular way of showing off:
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
They hallowed God’s name.
What do you think of when you pray this line of the Lord’s Prayer?
Who have you known whose way of living makes God’s holy Name shine?
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Sometimes getting started in prayer is the hardest part. The “hallowed be Thy Name” part connected with the “Our Father in Heaven” part makes me jump past the first hurdle right away. This is what that hurdle looks like to me: I know God is holy. Yet God tells me to admit and claim my “child of” relationship to him (and brother relationship with other Christians). Sometimes starting prayer feels like ringing the doorbell of the next door neighbor… because your baseball is in their living room…next to all the broken glass. “Gulp.” When I pray the first line I’m challenged to jump in the (hope it’s not too cold) water and bring together God’s holiness and my “whateverness.” Sometimes it feels overwhelmingly sweet, other times it grinds like rusty gears.
Who makes God’s name shine? Gerry Sittser. Brad Longfield. The parish nurse from First Congregational church in Corvallis Oregon who walked me through my father’s death in December of 1995. Aaron Sutherland. Brianna–a high school senior in my youth group. Mary Ellen Connors of PRMI. Kris Naumann…
Thanks Dana! You are both hilarious and insightful.
And it sounds like you know some wonderful saints.
I’ve taught my children to pray “Holy is your name” at this line.
Thanks, Claudia — I may try that with my kids too.
I do, however, like the way the original form (despite the odd word) pushes me to ask for God’s name to shine even more brightly. I like to think of it in concentric circles: May I find ways to hold God’s name as holy; and may my family do so; and my church; and my community — and on out to the ends of the earth.
Dr. Hansen, I must admit I too am like the child who thought the name was Harold! Not that I really thought it was Harold, but I never gave much thought to what “hallowed” meant, so as I’ve studied in your class to see that it means “holy” and that it is intended to draw us nearer to God, well, that’s a place I long to be. I will forever when saying the Lord’s prayer think of that part a bit differently.
Names of those that draw me nearer to God…there are many, Tom Cothran, Martha Moore, Caral Williams, folks who seem to simply live to serve and serve with a joy that makes others around them want to serve and love more as well….