2. Hallowed be your name (Matthew 6:9)

“Hallowed” is a word we do not use that much anymore.  It essentially means “holy” or “consecrated” – to be set apart. 

When we meet someone, one of the first things we find out about them, or they us, is our name.  Our names say something about us – whether we go by our birth name, a shortened form or a nickname.  We can also tell a lot about a person’s relationship with someone based on what they call them.

God’s name and nature go together.  He is not just a greater version of us, He is someone of a completely different order. He is not just a more moral version of us, He is himself pure, holy, an all-consuming fire, bright shining as the sun.  His name is holy, it is sacred.  It is to be revered, respected, honoured, worshipped.

When Moses encountered the Lord for the first time in the book of Exodus it was when he saw a bush that, although burning, was not consumed.  As he approached, he was told to take off his shoes for this is holy ground.  It was here that the Lord revealed His name to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM” or “I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE” or, just simply, “I AM.”  The revelation of God’s name as Lord, which is how we translate YHWH, comes in the context of sacredness, a holy moment.  What a far cry from people who use the name of God or Jesus as a swear word.

God’s essential nature is that He is holy.  In the Hebrew of the Old Testament if you want to emphasise something a word would be used twice.  We do the same but, instead of saying something is “good, good” we say it is “very good”.  In Isaiah 6 the prophet sees the Lord’s glory fill the temple and the angels cry out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty”.  This is unparalleled.  To say He is very holy is not enough…He is so much more. 

And this is the God whom Jesus invites us to address and pray to.  This is the God in whose image we are made.  This is the God who loves us so much He sent His Son to rescue us, dying in our place.  Incredibly we are called to be holy as God is holy.  We are declared holy because of our faith in Jesus and union with Him.  Throughout this life we become who we are - holy, and grow increasingly in holiness.