Heaven And God's Hallowed Name
Adult study
Abba
Another Look At The Lord's Prayer
In the Lord's Prayer, we speak to God as our Abba, our daddy. But note that this Father we address is our heavenly Father. In other words, God is perfect, unlike our earthly fathers. Even if our earthly fathers are very good, they are imperfect and sinful. God is holy.
In the first petition of the Lord's Prayer, "Hallowed be your name," we confess not only that God is holy; we also confess that God's name is holy. Martin Luther puts it this way in The Small Catechism:
God's name certainly is holy in itself, but we ask in this prayer that we may keep it holy.1
In other words, we are praying to the holy God who has a holy name, and we pray that we may keep this God and his name holy in our lives. Let us start with the holy God, our heavenly Father.
Heaven -- The Hereafter And The Here And Now
In a materialistic and secular world, it never ceases to amaze me how interested people are in the topic of heaven. Some years ago when I spoke at a service club, one of the men asked to talk to me afterward. He said, "Do you believe in heaven for this life or the next?" My response was: "Yes." "Yes?" he asked. "Yes," I said, "because heaven is for the here and now and the hereafter, not one or the other. Heaven begins here through faith in Jesus Christ even while we are sinners. We experience heaven in its perfection in the hereafter."
People are fascinated with the topic of heaven. Books about after-death experiences are popular. While there are many distortions in the popularization of heavenly matters, the point is that people really have questions about and interest in heaven, even though many live as if there is only today.
There is much confusion about heaven. When we pray, "Our Father in heaven," we don't mean that God is off in the celestial clouds, 100,000 miles beyond the moon. When we say, "Our heavenly Father," we are not saying that we believe in a God who is located on Cloud 22.
God is not off in the heavens like some super Santa Claus. He is heavenly in the sense that he is perfect, beyond measure, high and holy. In addition to being perfect, beyond measure, and high and holy, this heavenly Father brings eternity to earth. He adds a heavenly dimension to all he touches. The kingdom of God can break into people's lives not only in the hereafter but in the here and now.
Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father in heaven." What did he mean? Dr. George Forell, a Lutheran theologian, in a lecture on the Lord's Prayer, said that many people have pressing questions about heaven. "What is heaven like?" he asked. "Think of it this way. If you tried to explain the joys of sex to a seven-year-old boy, he would think that you were crazy. Chocolate, yes; sex, no. He wants to avoid girls. He doesn't like them at all. In other words, the category is beyond his comprehension. Likewise, Jesus said that heaven is better than anything we can presently imagine."
The Bible says, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). I'm sure of one thing, it won't be a matter of playing or listening to harps forever and ever.
Earlier in this book, I said that the Lord's Prayer is all about the kingdom of God. This kingdom or rule of God is called heaven. Jesus often referred to the kingdom of God in terms of a banquet. In his parables he often said, "The kingdom of God is like a great banquet ..." Heaven is a party, a happy family party with lots of joy and relationships.
There are many things we don't know about heaven -- where it is, what it looks like, etc. -- but there are some things we do know about it. It is primarily a matter of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ as the Gospel of John says, "He who believes has eternal life" (John 5:24 and 6:47). In theology, that is called realized eschatology. In practical terms that is called present tense religion. Heaven begins now when we have a relationship with God through faith in Christ. Eternal life is perfected after death, but it begins in life -- now. To pray "Our Father in heaven" means that we have a preview of the kingdom right now through Jesus Christ. Heaven means having a relationship with God. Hell is the absence of that relationship. Heaven begins in the here and now and is brought to its completion in life after death. As you come to Holy Communion, you are touched by the heavenly Father with a foretaste of heaven, the heavenly banquet, God's party.
Secular humanism is sweeping across the world. There is no touch of eternity in secular humanism. An immediate gratification syndrome among young and old is evidence of the deep spiritual disease of people today. There is no kingdom content in lop-sided, this-worldly self-centeredness. We need contact with the eternal Father. We need relationship with God through Jesus Christ as the corrective for shortsighted secular humanism and uncaring selfishness. When we point to the heavenly Father in the Lord's Prayer, we find that corrective. We also discover that we are part of the family of God. We pray, "Our Father."
Some years ago, when my wife and I traveled in Europe on the way to the Holy Land, we stopped to see the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany. The Sunday morning before we saw the play, we attended worship at a small Lutheran church about a block from the theater. The pastor was German. The service and sermon were given in both German and English. It was quite a broadening experience to hear the words of the liturgy in German translated into our native English. When it came time for the Lord's Prayer, the pastor turned to the worshipers and said, "Now I am going to ask you to pray the Lord's Prayer in your native tongue, whatever it may be." One of the great thrills of our trip was to feel the touch of eternity in the here and now and the great fellowship of God's family as we prayed in the languages of the world, "Our Father in heaven...." God's children, who speak all the languages of the world, are one family as they believe in the one true God, our heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ who brings us a touch of eternity in the here and now.
We are called by our heavenly Father to prepare one another for eternity -- not just helping people to prepare to die, but helping one another to prepare to live more meaningful lives by adding the touch of eternity as a corrective for the materialism and secular humanism of today. We need an eternal dimension today. We need the kingdom of God! That kingdom comes as we sincerely pray, "Our Father in heaven."
As we pray the Lord's Prayer, we are in touch with our heavenly Father who is always waiting for us to come home. Our home is the kingdom of God. Our heavenly Abba is waiting.
The Holy Name Of God
The Lord's Prayer teaches us to pray, "Hallowed be your name." The second commandment says: "You shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." The name of God is of tremendous significance to God's people. The second law of God and the first petition of the Lord's Prayer deal with God's name.
Words often dishonor God's name -- words lacking love and compassion, words filled with invective and judgment, words spoken in hot anger against God or people. A friend of mine who works in the construction industry and often hears God's name taken in vain put it this way: "Contrary to popular belief, God's last name is not 'damn.' " Words which take God's name in vain are out of harmony with this prayer petition.
Deeds too. Deeds which dishonor God, deeds of which we can't be proud, deeds which we try to hide from God -- they, too, cause our prayer, "hallowed be your name," to be empty of meaning. To pray this petition correctly means that by the power of God we throw unholy words and deeds behind us. Respect, the forgotten virtue of modern times, is the heart of the first petition of the Lord's Prayer. Disrespect is a communicable disease today; it has reached epidemic proportions. Chaos is catching. Often we succumb.
As we consider this petition, we discover our sin and separation from God which comes from giving him so little attention. Giving attention to God means respect. Charles Lamb said, "If Shakespeare walked into this room, we would all rise; but, if Jesus Christ should come in, we would all kneel."
Martin Luther, in one of his expositions of the Lord's Prayer, said about this petition: "I know of no teaching in all the Scriptures that so mightily diminishes and destroys our life as does this petition." He was speaking about diminishing all forms of self-centeredness. We all malign and dishonor God's name by our self-centeredness, by the worship of false gods, by our speech, by our sinful deeds, and by our disrespect for God and for other people.
Helmut Thielicke says: "He who has not yet learned to pray this prayer de profundus, out of the depths of repentance, has not really prayed it at all." We have taken the name of God in vain. We have dishonored God's name by idolatry, by wrong words, sinful actions, and by disrespect.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer observed that to believe in God and properly pray the Lord's Prayer means to recognize that God is different from everything else, not just better than everything, for that would imply that he is the best in his class. In fact, nothing is on the same level with God. Everything is below God. That is why we pray, "Hallowed be your name."
To hallow God's name literally means to let God be God, and to treat God as the holy One. Love of everything else, even very good and wholesome family members and precious things, is below God. Respect is restored to everything else only when we respect God who is above everything else. God's name is above every name. How we use God's name indicates what we think of God.
There is a story told about an Army chaplain and a general who were walking along a street one day when they spotted a soldier who was obviously drunk. His uniform was wrinkled; his shirt was pulled out of his pants and his hat was crooked. "Excuse me," said the general to the chaplain. The officer then proceeded to walk up to the soldier and with strength from the anger he was feeling, lifted him high up against a wall and said, "Who do you think you are to dishonor the name of your country like this? You represent the United States of America. Now get your self back to camp and get cleaned up."
The Army chaplain who told the story said, "That's how it is with God." Someone should remind us forcefully that our conduct is representative. We are called to represent God. We often misrepresent him. God is holy. His name is holy. We are called to represent God's name in our words and deeds.
To have faith means to revere God's name. Faith also means that we stake our life on the belief that God knows us by name. God never demands anything without first giving a gift. Before God says, "You shall not take my name in vain," he says, "I know you by name, you are mine."
God is holy. His name is holy. What we say and do indicates what we think of God. But there is something else behind God's insistence that we keep his name holy. God makes our names holy before he demands that we keep his name holy.
A little boy once got a little mixed up when he was praying the Lord's Prayer. He prayed: "Our Father in heaven, how do you know my name?"
"How do you know my name?" the boy asked. How indeed? There are so many people on earth that it is inconceivable God should know them all personally and intimately, but the Bible says that God knows each of us by name. Jesus said, "... even the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matthew 10:30). In addition, every one of us has sinned and hurt the Father, the result of which is estrangement. In human affairs, hurt and estrangement are accompanied by name-calling. God overcomes the estrangement from him through Jesus Christ and calls us by name.
Saint Augustine observed that our heavenly Father loves each of us as if there were only one of us. Think of it -- all the love of God focused upon each one of us as if God had only one child to love instead of millions upon millions. Before God says, "Keep my name holy," he says, "you, my child. You are made in my image. Therefore, you are holy and you have a holy name." God knows each of his children by name.
To be known by name means to be known individually. A pastor made a home call on a large family and asked, "How many children do you have, Mrs. Jones?" "Well, there's Billy, Joe, Carol and ..." she started. "I just want their number, not their names," the discourteous pastor snapped. "They have names, not numbers," the mother replied. That is how it is with God.
The Lord is not like his sinful children who tend to herd people into categories. He knows no one by labels like Chinese, Jew, or Black. God knows his people by name. "I know my own and my own know me," Jesus once said. Since you are known by name as a person, you are invited to reflect that kind of love and reverence for God and his name.
A visitor to Copenhagen, Denmark, told of visiting the great cathedral there and viewing the famous statues by the gifted sculptor, Thorwaldsen. The guide took the visitor and his party through the cathedral and showed them the six disciples on the north wall and the six disciples on the south wall. Then he led them to the high altar to see the greatest statue of all, that of Jesus the Christ. The visitors were impressed but could not see his face. The guide, with a tone of deep respect and reverence said, "The statue has been designed in a very special way. If you want to see the face of Christ, you must kneel at the feet of Christ." When the visitors knelt and looked up from that position of deep respect, they saw the holiness of God reflected in the face of Jesus.
That is what it is like to pray these words, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."
Questions And Ideas
For Your Consideration And Discussion
1. Why do people abuse God's name?
2. Bible scholars tell us that God's proper name in Hebrew was "Yahweh" which means "I am who I am." What does that mean? In respect for that name, and fear of misusing that name, the Jews did not speak that name at all. They wrote it but did not use it in speaking of God. Since the vowels in the Hebrew language were added later, the written word looked like this: "YHWH."
Compare that kind of respect with the the way God's name is abused in language today.
3. Count the number of times you hear the name of God taken in vain this next week. Record the number here. ____________
In the first petition of the Lord's Prayer, "Hallowed be your name," we confess not only that God is holy; we also confess that God's name is holy. Martin Luther puts it this way in The Small Catechism:
God's name certainly is holy in itself, but we ask in this prayer that we may keep it holy.1
In other words, we are praying to the holy God who has a holy name, and we pray that we may keep this God and his name holy in our lives. Let us start with the holy God, our heavenly Father.
Heaven -- The Hereafter And The Here And Now
In a materialistic and secular world, it never ceases to amaze me how interested people are in the topic of heaven. Some years ago when I spoke at a service club, one of the men asked to talk to me afterward. He said, "Do you believe in heaven for this life or the next?" My response was: "Yes." "Yes?" he asked. "Yes," I said, "because heaven is for the here and now and the hereafter, not one or the other. Heaven begins here through faith in Jesus Christ even while we are sinners. We experience heaven in its perfection in the hereafter."
People are fascinated with the topic of heaven. Books about after-death experiences are popular. While there are many distortions in the popularization of heavenly matters, the point is that people really have questions about and interest in heaven, even though many live as if there is only today.
There is much confusion about heaven. When we pray, "Our Father in heaven," we don't mean that God is off in the celestial clouds, 100,000 miles beyond the moon. When we say, "Our heavenly Father," we are not saying that we believe in a God who is located on Cloud 22.
God is not off in the heavens like some super Santa Claus. He is heavenly in the sense that he is perfect, beyond measure, high and holy. In addition to being perfect, beyond measure, and high and holy, this heavenly Father brings eternity to earth. He adds a heavenly dimension to all he touches. The kingdom of God can break into people's lives not only in the hereafter but in the here and now.
Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father in heaven." What did he mean? Dr. George Forell, a Lutheran theologian, in a lecture on the Lord's Prayer, said that many people have pressing questions about heaven. "What is heaven like?" he asked. "Think of it this way. If you tried to explain the joys of sex to a seven-year-old boy, he would think that you were crazy. Chocolate, yes; sex, no. He wants to avoid girls. He doesn't like them at all. In other words, the category is beyond his comprehension. Likewise, Jesus said that heaven is better than anything we can presently imagine."
The Bible says, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). I'm sure of one thing, it won't be a matter of playing or listening to harps forever and ever.
Earlier in this book, I said that the Lord's Prayer is all about the kingdom of God. This kingdom or rule of God is called heaven. Jesus often referred to the kingdom of God in terms of a banquet. In his parables he often said, "The kingdom of God is like a great banquet ..." Heaven is a party, a happy family party with lots of joy and relationships.
There are many things we don't know about heaven -- where it is, what it looks like, etc. -- but there are some things we do know about it. It is primarily a matter of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ as the Gospel of John says, "He who believes has eternal life" (John 5:24 and 6:47). In theology, that is called realized eschatology. In practical terms that is called present tense religion. Heaven begins now when we have a relationship with God through faith in Christ. Eternal life is perfected after death, but it begins in life -- now. To pray "Our Father in heaven" means that we have a preview of the kingdom right now through Jesus Christ. Heaven means having a relationship with God. Hell is the absence of that relationship. Heaven begins in the here and now and is brought to its completion in life after death. As you come to Holy Communion, you are touched by the heavenly Father with a foretaste of heaven, the heavenly banquet, God's party.
Secular humanism is sweeping across the world. There is no touch of eternity in secular humanism. An immediate gratification syndrome among young and old is evidence of the deep spiritual disease of people today. There is no kingdom content in lop-sided, this-worldly self-centeredness. We need contact with the eternal Father. We need relationship with God through Jesus Christ as the corrective for shortsighted secular humanism and uncaring selfishness. When we point to the heavenly Father in the Lord's Prayer, we find that corrective. We also discover that we are part of the family of God. We pray, "Our Father."
Some years ago, when my wife and I traveled in Europe on the way to the Holy Land, we stopped to see the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany. The Sunday morning before we saw the play, we attended worship at a small Lutheran church about a block from the theater. The pastor was German. The service and sermon were given in both German and English. It was quite a broadening experience to hear the words of the liturgy in German translated into our native English. When it came time for the Lord's Prayer, the pastor turned to the worshipers and said, "Now I am going to ask you to pray the Lord's Prayer in your native tongue, whatever it may be." One of the great thrills of our trip was to feel the touch of eternity in the here and now and the great fellowship of God's family as we prayed in the languages of the world, "Our Father in heaven...." God's children, who speak all the languages of the world, are one family as they believe in the one true God, our heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ who brings us a touch of eternity in the here and now.
We are called by our heavenly Father to prepare one another for eternity -- not just helping people to prepare to die, but helping one another to prepare to live more meaningful lives by adding the touch of eternity as a corrective for the materialism and secular humanism of today. We need an eternal dimension today. We need the kingdom of God! That kingdom comes as we sincerely pray, "Our Father in heaven."
As we pray the Lord's Prayer, we are in touch with our heavenly Father who is always waiting for us to come home. Our home is the kingdom of God. Our heavenly Abba is waiting.
The Holy Name Of God
The Lord's Prayer teaches us to pray, "Hallowed be your name." The second commandment says: "You shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." The name of God is of tremendous significance to God's people. The second law of God and the first petition of the Lord's Prayer deal with God's name.
Words often dishonor God's name -- words lacking love and compassion, words filled with invective and judgment, words spoken in hot anger against God or people. A friend of mine who works in the construction industry and often hears God's name taken in vain put it this way: "Contrary to popular belief, God's last name is not 'damn.' " Words which take God's name in vain are out of harmony with this prayer petition.
Deeds too. Deeds which dishonor God, deeds of which we can't be proud, deeds which we try to hide from God -- they, too, cause our prayer, "hallowed be your name," to be empty of meaning. To pray this petition correctly means that by the power of God we throw unholy words and deeds behind us. Respect, the forgotten virtue of modern times, is the heart of the first petition of the Lord's Prayer. Disrespect is a communicable disease today; it has reached epidemic proportions. Chaos is catching. Often we succumb.
As we consider this petition, we discover our sin and separation from God which comes from giving him so little attention. Giving attention to God means respect. Charles Lamb said, "If Shakespeare walked into this room, we would all rise; but, if Jesus Christ should come in, we would all kneel."
Martin Luther, in one of his expositions of the Lord's Prayer, said about this petition: "I know of no teaching in all the Scriptures that so mightily diminishes and destroys our life as does this petition." He was speaking about diminishing all forms of self-centeredness. We all malign and dishonor God's name by our self-centeredness, by the worship of false gods, by our speech, by our sinful deeds, and by our disrespect for God and for other people.
Helmut Thielicke says: "He who has not yet learned to pray this prayer de profundus, out of the depths of repentance, has not really prayed it at all." We have taken the name of God in vain. We have dishonored God's name by idolatry, by wrong words, sinful actions, and by disrespect.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer observed that to believe in God and properly pray the Lord's Prayer means to recognize that God is different from everything else, not just better than everything, for that would imply that he is the best in his class. In fact, nothing is on the same level with God. Everything is below God. That is why we pray, "Hallowed be your name."
To hallow God's name literally means to let God be God, and to treat God as the holy One. Love of everything else, even very good and wholesome family members and precious things, is below God. Respect is restored to everything else only when we respect God who is above everything else. God's name is above every name. How we use God's name indicates what we think of God.
There is a story told about an Army chaplain and a general who were walking along a street one day when they spotted a soldier who was obviously drunk. His uniform was wrinkled; his shirt was pulled out of his pants and his hat was crooked. "Excuse me," said the general to the chaplain. The officer then proceeded to walk up to the soldier and with strength from the anger he was feeling, lifted him high up against a wall and said, "Who do you think you are to dishonor the name of your country like this? You represent the United States of America. Now get your self back to camp and get cleaned up."
The Army chaplain who told the story said, "That's how it is with God." Someone should remind us forcefully that our conduct is representative. We are called to represent God. We often misrepresent him. God is holy. His name is holy. We are called to represent God's name in our words and deeds.
To have faith means to revere God's name. Faith also means that we stake our life on the belief that God knows us by name. God never demands anything without first giving a gift. Before God says, "You shall not take my name in vain," he says, "I know you by name, you are mine."
God is holy. His name is holy. What we say and do indicates what we think of God. But there is something else behind God's insistence that we keep his name holy. God makes our names holy before he demands that we keep his name holy.
A little boy once got a little mixed up when he was praying the Lord's Prayer. He prayed: "Our Father in heaven, how do you know my name?"
"How do you know my name?" the boy asked. How indeed? There are so many people on earth that it is inconceivable God should know them all personally and intimately, but the Bible says that God knows each of us by name. Jesus said, "... even the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matthew 10:30). In addition, every one of us has sinned and hurt the Father, the result of which is estrangement. In human affairs, hurt and estrangement are accompanied by name-calling. God overcomes the estrangement from him through Jesus Christ and calls us by name.
Saint Augustine observed that our heavenly Father loves each of us as if there were only one of us. Think of it -- all the love of God focused upon each one of us as if God had only one child to love instead of millions upon millions. Before God says, "Keep my name holy," he says, "you, my child. You are made in my image. Therefore, you are holy and you have a holy name." God knows each of his children by name.
To be known by name means to be known individually. A pastor made a home call on a large family and asked, "How many children do you have, Mrs. Jones?" "Well, there's Billy, Joe, Carol and ..." she started. "I just want their number, not their names," the discourteous pastor snapped. "They have names, not numbers," the mother replied. That is how it is with God.
The Lord is not like his sinful children who tend to herd people into categories. He knows no one by labels like Chinese, Jew, or Black. God knows his people by name. "I know my own and my own know me," Jesus once said. Since you are known by name as a person, you are invited to reflect that kind of love and reverence for God and his name.
A visitor to Copenhagen, Denmark, told of visiting the great cathedral there and viewing the famous statues by the gifted sculptor, Thorwaldsen. The guide took the visitor and his party through the cathedral and showed them the six disciples on the north wall and the six disciples on the south wall. Then he led them to the high altar to see the greatest statue of all, that of Jesus the Christ. The visitors were impressed but could not see his face. The guide, with a tone of deep respect and reverence said, "The statue has been designed in a very special way. If you want to see the face of Christ, you must kneel at the feet of Christ." When the visitors knelt and looked up from that position of deep respect, they saw the holiness of God reflected in the face of Jesus.
That is what it is like to pray these words, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."
Questions And Ideas
For Your Consideration And Discussion
1. Why do people abuse God's name?
2. Bible scholars tell us that God's proper name in Hebrew was "Yahweh" which means "I am who I am." What does that mean? In respect for that name, and fear of misusing that name, the Jews did not speak that name at all. They wrote it but did not use it in speaking of God. Since the vowels in the Hebrew language were added later, the written word looked like this: "YHWH."
Compare that kind of respect with the the way God's name is abused in language today.
3. Count the number of times you hear the name of God taken in vain this next week. Record the number here. ____________
