The Lord's Prayer--First Petition

Hallowed be Thy Name.

Everybody has either a ‘good name’ or a ‘bad name’—a good reputation or a bad reputation. Sometimes a good person can acquire a bad name because someone else has told lies which have ruined his reputation. This happens to God as well. God is good; He is holy, just, merciful, loving and generous. God should have a good reputation among all people because of who He is and what He has done. But the sad fact is that many people speak insultingly of God and blame Him for things not of His doing. Sinners have given Him a ‘bad name.’ So when we ask that God’s name be treated as holy, we are praying for God’s reputation among us; we are asking for help in preserving His ‘good name’ all over the world.

How can we take part in preserving God’s good reputation? Martin Luther tells us that we do this "when the Word of God is taught clearly and purely…But whoever teaches…otherwise than as the Word of God teaches, profanes the name of God among us." Through the prophet Jeremiah, God said: let the one who has my word speak it faithfully (Jeremiah 23:28). At the end of his life, Moses was concerned about how the Israelites would treat the words of God set down on paper through Moses’ pen; he told them: Carefully obey all the commands I give you. Do not add to them or subtract from them (Deuteronomy 4:1-2). Take careful note of Jesus’ words, given just before He returned to heaven: go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28:19-20).

God’s Word is truth, the only truth, and He expects us to be careful to preserve it unaltered and complete as we learn it and as we teach it to others. There is no significant difference between adultery, murder, or misrepresenting God’s teachings—all are sins against the Lord. If any of these is a worse sin than the others, it is the misrepresentation of God’s teachings, because false doctrine can obscure the path to heaven. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul warns against listening to people who misrepresent God. If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! (Galatians 1:9) Strong words? You bet. Yet it was God Himself who moved Paul to pen these words. False teachings about God smear His reputation and discourage people from coming to Jesus, who is the only means by which sin can be removed and the grave overcome. And so God has zero tolerance for anyone teaching falsely in His good name.

But before we start feeling proud of our faithful adherence to God’s word, we’d better take an honest look within our own hearts. Is it not tempting to fudge on God’s truth every once in a while? Scripture says, Forgive as the Lord forgave you (Colossians 3:13); do we sometimes act as if God had said, "only forgive others when you have first made them suffer enough for hurting you"? Jesus said, As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work (John 9:4); do we behave as if He had said, "take it easy"? Our Lord said, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33); do we live as if He said, "seek first a good education, a good job, or a good house"? Jesus instructed us to pray, hallowed be Thy name; do we spend our time on protecting our reputations, even when it is at God’s expense?

Yes, we have sinned; we have not respected the Lord’s teachings with our lives. But if we want to honor God’s reputation instead of tearing it down, we must seek to put sinful behavior behind us. This is only possible if we have God’s teachings undistorted and free from error; it is only through God’s word that we can know His heart, hear His promises, and receive the gift of faith in Jesus that frees us from eternal condemnation. We can’t come to Jesus if we don’t know who He is; we won’t come to Him for mercy if we don’t know that we’ve angered God. We cannot receive the gift of Christ’s salvation if we are accepting of false teachings that obscure the truth God has revealed to us.

When we know what God expects of us and cling to Jesus for His forgiveness and His help, He equips us to honor God’s name with our lives. This is important, because Luther said that when "we, as children of God, lead holy lives in accordance with [God’s pure Word]", we treat His name as holy, "but whoever lives otherwise than as the Word of God teaches, profanes the name of God among us." Paul wrote a warning to people who took pride in being religious, but disgraced God’s name by their behavior: You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. No wonder the Scriptures say, "The world blasphemes the name of God because of you" (Romans 2:23-24).

Why are there so many nasty jokes about lawyers? They’re not all dishonest, are they? Of course not—but the bad behavior of a few has besmirched the reputation of them all. Christians smear God’s reputation when they swear, get drunk, lie, cheat on a spouse, get divorced for non-Biblical reasons, or treat participation in the church as unimportant. Once, when a husband tried to get his wife to become a Christian and join his church, she retorted, "Why should I? I don’t want to become like you." One of the biggest problems that gets in the way of unbelievers joining God’s kingdom, is the behavior of people who claim to be Christian, but are not seriously committed to following Jesus’ teachings. Outsiders may not know what is preached in church, but they can see what you preach by how you live. By your public life and mine, they judge our church and the God we say that we belong to. This is why Jesus said, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). In our homes, unbelievers ought to see kindness; in our business dealings, they should see honesty; in our hearts, they ought to see joy; in the hour of our death, they should see confidence.

Several years ago, a 55-year-old university professor told his pastor the following story: "I would like to make a confession. For many years I called myself an atheist. Whenever students in my classes admitted their Christian faith, I would ridicule them with snide remarks. But we had the good fortune of moving into a house next door to a Christian family. When we observed how they lived, the love the husband and wife had for each other, the respect the children had for their parents, the way they dealt with us as neighbors, and the inner peace and confidence they manifested in the midst of difficulties and problems, there came a day when I said deep down in my heart, ‘I wish I could be like that.’"

"I wish I could be like that." Do people think that, when they observe your way of life? Could that wistful thought be in the mind of your spouse, your children, a relative, a neighbor, a classmate, a co-worker? Every day, each of us is influencing the people around us, influencing them for good or evil. When we are honest among liars, sober amidst drunkards, patient when provoked, prayerful in sorrow, grateful when blessed with plenty, kind to those who hurt us, and optimistic in the face of illness and even death, then we are upholding God’s reputation and Christ’s name is glorified.

Hallowed be Thy name is a request for mercy. Have you always been the kind of Christian our Lord wants you to be? Haven’t we all been rather dim lights in dark places? So when we pray hallowed be Thy name, we are requesting forgiveness and another chance to honor His name as we should. Thank God for His mercy! Even though we’ve disgraced Him, whenever we return in sorrow, our Lord takes us in His arms and gently says, Take heart [my child], your sins are forgiven (Matthew 9:2).

Hallowed be Thy name is a pledge. It is a pledge to teach God’s Word in all its truth and purity; this implies that we will dedicate ourselves to studying God’s Word so that we can see the difference between truth and error, and that we will make use of every opportunity to share God’s saving Word with others. It is also a pledge to try to lead a godly life, the kind of life that will not reflect badly upon our Lord. This implies turning our backs on all our old favorite sins, and looking for new God-pleasing behaviors and habits to replace them with.

Hallowed be Thy name is a plea for help. Over and over again we make promises only to end up breaking them. We want to honor God’s holy name with our lives, but we find ourselves confused trying to figure out what we should do, and exhausted from trying to do the right thing in spite of continual pressure to just give up. We need our Lord to show us what to do and what to avoid; we need Him to support us and give us strength. We need Jesus, who promised: If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).

This is why Jesus taught us to pray hallowed be Thy name. And so we join together with King David, as he offered a similar prayer to the Lord in Psalm 138: I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart…I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.