To unravel the meaning, we need to look at what hallowed and name mean.

Transcription

1 Hallwed be yur name When I was a child and heard the Lrd s Prayer being said, I wndered what this phrase meant. I guessed that Hallwed had smething t d with Hallween, and I knew frm experience that Hallween was cnnected with getting candy. But what cnnectin culd there pssibly be between Hallween, candy, and the name f Gd?... It was all a mystery. T unravel the meaning, we need t lk at what hallwed and name mean. Hallwed is an ld wrd meaning made hly. The wrd hly itself needs sme explanatin. The basic meaning f hly is devted t Gd, i.e. smething (temples, sacrifices, etc.) is set apart as Gd s wn. It is made by Gd t be his wn and purified and, in its current state, it is pure because f Gd and therefre deserves hnr and respect. (When used f a persn, can als mean smene wh is chaste, i.e. is made clean by Gd frm the defilement f sexual immrality and has a new state f purity frm Gd, being free frm all past stain and guilt.) Hliness cmbines tw therwise ppsed ideas purity in separateness with Gd bringing unremarkable things int supernatural cmmunin with himself. Christ is hly, harmless, undefiled, separate frm sinners, and fr this very reasn He can save, He can succr the tempted, He can cleanse by his tuch the leper, and give rest by His presence t the weary and heavy-laden (Adlph Saphir, Our Lrd s Pattern fr Prayer [Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1984], 139). Name refers t the way a persn is knwn, including the gdness and pwer that is specific t them (their fame r renwn ). A name stands fr a persn (with their full pwer and authrity t save and t ward ff evil) Ps. 5:11b: that thse wh lve yur name may exalt in yu Ps. 9:10a: Thse wh knw yur name put their trust in yu Ps. 72:18-19: Blessed be the Lrd, the Gd f Israel Blessed be his glrius name frever Dt. 28:58: that yu may fear this glrius and awesme name, the Lrd yur Gd shws that individual s essential character and relatinship t thers Cf. Jacb in Gen. 32:29: Tell me yur name. We realize by the name individual life and relatinship. It brings with it lve and trust. Withut it we lse reality. Abstractin is but the shadw f death. As lng as Israel knew Gd by name they had life (Saphir, 145) When we read in the bk f Acts abut the Apstle Paul, every time his name Paul appears, we think f him and remember wh he was that ne particular persn wh studied and strived t learn, whse zeal led him t desire the imprisnment and death f the Christians, wh was uniquely met by Gd and ultimately became an apstle t the Gentiles, a clleague t Priscilla and Aquila, a spiritual father t

2 Timthy, and a dedicated pastr t the churches he visited. It is that ne particular man we think f when we see the name Paul in the text. Because a name stands fr a persn and reminds us f their persnal character, Gd ften makes a pint f changing peple s names in the Bible when extends his prmises t them and invites them int a different kind f relatinship with himself. Abram becmes Abraham, the father f a great natin. Simn becmes Peter, the rck n which the Church is built. Saul becmes Paul, the apstle t the Gentiles. Gd als prmises a future new name and a new identity t all wh trust him: T the ne wh cnquers I will give sme f the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stne, with a new name written n the stne that n ne knws except the ne wh receives it (Rev. 2:17). Gd s name (his gdness, greatness and purity) is made knwn t us thrugh his Sn Jesus Christ: I have cme in the name f the Father (Jn. 5:43) Father, glrify yur name (Jn. 12:28) I have made yur name knwn t peple (Jn. 17:6; cmpare 2 Cr. 4:6) T knw Gd in this way is eternal life (Jn. 17:3). But nt all peple have cme t knw and experience Gd thrugh Jesus Christ, s fr them Gd s name remains smething unknwn. They d nt knw Gd s persnal character, the specific kind f gdness, greatness and purity that he shws us when he takes n a human life and lives and dies t frgive sins, vercme evil, and change his enemies fr the better. We want t see this made knwn t all peple (peple friendly t us and unfriendly t us, peple wh are seeking Gd and peple wh are ppsing and resisting Gd), s that they might knw and cnfess Gd s gdness and greatness and the purity f his lve fr us. This fulfills the Jewish expectatin, arising frm Old Testament prphecy, that Israel must give itself up t sanctify Gd s name And yet Gd s name will nt be fully sanctified until all the natins f the wrld acknwledge his Gdhead and his Unity (C.G. Mntefire, Rabbinic Literature and Gspel Teachings [New Yrk: Ktav, 1970], 130). Cf. als the third petitin said n the first day f the Jewish year (Rsh Hashanah), called the hallwing *=sanctificatin+ f the Name (Qedushat Ha-Shem): Wherefre we wait fr yu, O Lrd ur Gd, that we may sn behld the beauty f yur strength; that yu may cause the dung-gds [=false things wrshiped by the natins] t pass frm the earth, and that the idls may be utterly cut ff; that yu may rder the wrld in the kingdm f the Almighty, and that all the sns f flesh may call upn yur name; that all the wicked f the earth may turn t yu; that all the inhabitants f the wrld may discern and knw, that t yu every knee shall bw, and every tngue shall swear befre yu, O Lrd ur Gd: let them bw and fall dwn, and give hnr t yur glrius name; let all f them receive the yke f yur kingdm; and speedily reign ver them frever and ever (Mishna, Rsh Hashanah 4.5; tr. f Thmas Rbinsn, The Evangelists and the Mishna [Lndn: James Nisbet, 1859], 45, slightly adapted) Because this knwledge and Gd s renewal f all things have nt yet been achieved, the first three petitins f the Lrd s Prayer are future-riented and ask fr smething mre fr Gd t renew the wrld: Let yur name be set apart as hly, let yur kingdm cme, let yur will be dne, n earth as it is in heaven. When cme t knw and experience Gd in this way, we will have received what we prayed fr:

3 Gd s name (his persn, his character) will be set apart by peple frm every natin as smething which merits hnr and respect because f Gd s unique persnal character, which was revealed when he acted t save. 1 Ezek. 36:23: And I will vindicate the hliness f my great name, which has been prfaned amng the natins And the natins will knw that I am the Lrd when thrugh yu I vindicate my hliness in their eyes. Cmpare Ez. 20:41-42; 38:23. Cf. als Is. 59:19: Frm the west, men will fear the name f the Lrd, and frm the rising f the sun, they will revere his glry. Is. 43:1: But nw thus says the Lrd Fear nt I have redeemed yu; I have called yu by name, yu are mine. They shall all be taught f Gd; my peple shall knw my name. Ps. 33:4: Let us exalt his name tgether ; Ps. 44:18: They shall remember yur name in every generatin and frever. Lk. 1:49: Fr he that is mighty has dne great things fr me, and hly is his name Here speaks ne whse prayer f repentance, Gd be merciful t me, a sinner, has been answered; he is n lnger in the far cuntry, but in the Father s huse; he is n lnger a sheep gne astray, but in the fld f peace; he is n lnger crying ut f the depths, but he is in Christ; and having received the Spirit f snship, he says Abba. Hw natural it is fr us t exclaim, Hallwed by thy name, when we knw what manner f lve the Father has bestwed upn us, that we shuld be called the sns f Gd; when we cntemplate the glry manifested in ur redemptin and adptin in Christ Jesus, and rejice in the lively hpe f His inheritance! We cannt say Father withut immediately, in the spirit f filial reverence and gratitude, giving Him His hnur (Saphir, ) Nthing fair n earth I see But straightway think n Thee; Thu art fairest in my eyes, Surce in whm all beauty lies (Angelus Silesius, quted in Saphir, 143 n.) Tertullian, writing in Nrth Africa arund 200 A.D. put it this way: when we say: Let yur name be hallwed, we ask that it be hallwed amng us wh are in him and, at the same time, in thers whm the grace f Gd still awaits, s that we shuld be bedient t the cmmand t pray fr all, even fr ur enemies [Mt. 5:44]. Cnsequently, as a result f this terse expressin, we d nt say Let it be hallwed in us but manage t say: in all peple. --Tertullian On Prayer 3 (tr. A Stewart-Sykes, Tertullian, Cyprian, Origen. On the Lrd s Prayer *Crestwd, NY: St. Vladimir s Seminary Press, 2004+, 44) 1 Cf. Augustine Enarr. in Ps. ciii,1: Quid erg rgamus? Ut illis hminibus, qui per infidelitatem nndum habent, nmen Dei sanctum sit, quibus nndum est ille sanctus, qui per se et in se et in sanctis suis sanctus est. Rgamus pr genere human, rgamus pr rbe terrarum, pr mnibus gentibus, qutidie sedentibus et disputantibus, quia nn est rectus Deus, et nn recte judicat Deus; ut aliquand ipsi se crrigant, et rectum cr ad illius rectitudinem ducant; et adhaerentes ei, directi ad rectum, nn jam vituperent, sed placeat rectis rectus.

4 Fr us wh have believed and been baptized, the hallwing f Gd s name in us als means that we daily ask (and depend n) Christ fr the frgiveness f ur sins and that we might be strengthened by the Hly Spirit and made faithful t Jesus Christ. Cf. 1 Pet. 3:15: but in yur hearts hnr Christ the Lrd as hly T hallw the name f Gd is t lk unt Christ (Saphir, 156) Cyprian, writing in Nrth Africa abut 250 A.D., develps this thught: We ask and beseech that we wh are made hly in baptism shuld have the ability t persist in the way we have begun. And we request this every day. Our need is f daily sanctificatin, s that we wh daily fail shuld have ur sins purged by cntinual hallwing. The apstle states the nature f the hallwing which is cnveyed t us frm the grace f Gd, when he says: Neither frnicatrs, nr idlaters, nr adulterers, nr the effeminate, nr sdmizers, nr, nr thieves, nr cheats, nr drunkards, nr wizards, nr the rapacius shall attain t the Kingdm f Gd. Indeed yu were all f these, but yu have been washed, yu have been made just, yu have been hallwed in the name f the Lrd Jesus Christ and in the Spirit f ur Gd. *1 Cr. 6:9+ He says that we have been hallwed in the name f the Lrd Jesus Christ and in the Spirit f ur Gd and we in turn, because ur master and judge warns the ne wh has been healed and revived by him t sin n mre, lest smething wrse shuld befall him [Jn. 5:14], pray that this hallwing shuld remain within us. We make this plea in cntinuus prayer; we ask day and night that the hallwing and revival which has been received frm the grace f Gd shuld be preserved by his prtecting care. --Cyprian On the Lrd s Prayer 12 (tr. Stewart-Sykes, 73; italics mine) Cyprian (On the Lrd s Prayer 11) als pints his hearers t 1 Cr. 6:20: Yu are nt yur wn, fr yu were bught with a price. Hnr and carry Gd in yur bdy. This accurately summarizes what hallwing r making hly means fr us in ur wn lives that Christ s righteusness and hliness might be revealed there (cf. 1 Cr. 1:30).

5 Origen (On Prayer 24.4), in explaining Hallwed be yur name, similarly cmments, A persn exalts Gd when he has dedicated t him a dwelling place within himself. Time permitting, develp this pint with reference t Renat Crti, Il miracl sarebbe la santità. Meditazini sul ministeri sacerdtale (Piemme, 1992), 82; Stephen J. Rssetti, The Jy f Priesthd (Ntre Dame: Ave Maria, 2005, 37-39; Gertrude Rességuier, The First Lve: Abut Jy in the Priesthd (Petersham, Mass.: St. Bede s, 1998), In wrshiping Gd, we hallw his name by jining tgether with the angels in saying, Hly, hly, hly *is the Lrd+ [Is. 6:3; Rev. 4:8] (Chrysstm). This is the nly prayer which we will cntinue praying fr all eternity, since ur need fr bread, frgiveness and help in temptatin will be past and the Kingdm will already have cme and made all things new and the victry f Gd will be cmplete (Thmas Watsn). Amng thse wh apprach me, I will shw myself hly --Lev. 10:3a That they may knw that yu alne, whse name is the Lrd, are the Mst High ver all the earth. --Ps. 83:18 There is n ne hly like the Lrd --1 Sam. 2:2a Hly and awesme is his name --Ps. 111:9b