Let's turn to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, and we'll read verses 7 through 9. Let's stand for the reading of God's Word. Hallowed be your name. May God bless to us his word. You may be seated. Let us pray. O Lord, we pray for insight, for understanding, but also a humility and responsiveness as you speak to us. Work in us what is pleasing to you. Through Christ we pray. Amen. One of my professors taught us that when it comes down to it, there are two religions. one-ism or two-ism. Now, this is not some kind of cult of mathematics or numerology. He defined one-ism, or otherwise known as monism, as the worship of the universe or something within it, whether that is a visible object, an experience, a person or personality, or even a human theory or construct. This is the kind of philosophy that gets the most airtime or shelf space in our culture and it's reason is not too hard to see because it's taking what's immediately available around us within arm's reach and it takes that and turns it into something we love most of all, something accessible and non-threatening, something manageable and even able to be manipulated. Now in our late or hyper-modern context, this philosophy has taken the form of consumerism, stuffing yourself to the gills, or spiritualism, finding the so-called inner light within through self-awareness. Now notice, while materialism and spirituality may sound different, they're really two sides of the same seesaw based on the one fulcrum of the understanding, as one scientist wrote, the cosmos is all that there is, was, and ever will be. So, in other words, when it comes to divinity, one-ism says that godness is part of something we all share. The sparks and embers of the divine flame are all burning more or less brightly within us. Included then in this outlook is the worship of man himself, elevating us to the place of trusting ourselves. Consider, for example, what one influential figure, Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple, said, Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have a faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and that if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them. Problem is, of course, if you put technology into someone's hands, whether that's an iPhone, or a pen, or a pencil, or a shovel, it becomes clear that people don't always do wonderful things with them. The verdict is not the rosy one that Mr. Jobs gave, because humans are not basically good, rather quite the opposite. Totally depraved. And so we do carry out disgusting and wicked things with or without technology. And so one of the many tragic outcomes of one-ism is that it demands this kind of false optimism, of trusting that which is not really trustworthy, of relying upon that which is unreliable. But on the other hand, we have two-ism, based on the reality that creation and all that is in it is one thing. and that God as the creator and sustainer is in a class all by himself, far above, distinct from what he has made. And this is part of the biblical religion that says that creation, while it exhibits and manifests the glory of God, is not itself an extension or an emanation of God's own being and nature. Only God occupies the place of worship. He alone deserves the honor and obedience and trust of His creatures. And this living God is not kept to Himself. He has not remained hidden. He has opened Himself most finally and fully through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. As Jesus Himself said, He who has seen Me has seen the Father. we can name God because he has named himself in Christ. One preacher has said, when we're baptized, we learn to pronounce the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Lord's Prayer assumed what my teacher called two ism that we're not offering our prayers horizontally to a fellow creature or individual not even to what the world calls mother nature as a whole but vertically and verily our father in heaven hallowed be your name In praying this way, we are affirming that we love Him as He has first loved us, that we submit to Him, but now with this petition are exalting of His name. All other names are perishing and perishable. His name alone is enduring, imperishable. We are called to call him our father, knowing that he is not of this world, but also that he is not inaccessible or aloof, he is near to every one of us. But now with this petition, hallowed be your name, our Lord Jesus is setting down and asking us a question. What are you really after in your prayers? What is really driving your coming and seeking of God? What is the first thing that you should think about Him? What is the reason you are praying to Him? And the first words are the most important ones. It is for His glory. As one of the solas has it, soli deo gloria. This, you might say, is the supreme petition of petitions. Hallowed be your name. It teaches us that we are to leave self-centered and self-promoting ways at the door of the worship of our God. To pray not only to Him, but ultimately for His sake. We are to ask then that God would make His name glorious in this world and in our hearts. Firstly, to find Him praiseworthy. Hallowed be your name." This word, as we learned this morning, is not used very often, is it? Outside of our reciting the Lord's Prayer. But hollowed is used in popular cultures on some occasions. For example, hollowed ground. We speak of a place or territory that has a kind of status or special aura because of a activity or history associated with it. It's set apart from an ordinary or common use. Now, you can hear even in the word hollow that it derives from the word holy. Holy. And so even though it's not in a dictionary, an appropriate rendering might be holy. be your name. As we saw this morning that holy is not only a noun or an adjective but it can come in the verbal format and consecrate or sanctify. For a few examples Matthew 23 19 you blind men for which is greater the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred Or 1 Timothy 4, 4 and 5, everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving for it is made holy by the Word of God and prayer. But what's the difference between the elements and the furniture of the temple and even the food we eat set apart for our nourishment and God's own name. When we say sanctified be your name, we are saying this about something that is already holy. You see, food or gold or wood, anything associated with the holy presence of God doesn't start as holy. It ends up that way because of God's definition and God's decree but with God's name it starts and begins as holy by definition without any diminishing he is the only one that is natively that is by nature glorious and holy God doesn't become holy he is in his being and wisdom and power. And so we are affirming by saying this and praying this that something already is fixedly and unfailingly true that His name is righteous and pure and blameless. But we ask for something as well, hollowed be your name. It's not simply a declaration or a confessional statement, an affirmation, you are holy, but it's actually a petition. May you be considered holy. May you be esteemed. May you be glorified. May you sanctify yourself. Sort of like the idea of may you magnify yourself, because to magnify something means it already is there, but we're asking that what is already true would be amplified, would be highlighted, would be enforced. In the original, this is an imperative verb as most of the petitions are. It means we're calling upon God and appealing for God to act and to move. Now why do we ask this? Hallowed be your name. Because only someone who is holy can make holy and only he can manifest his holy character. God alone sanctifies. We cannot sanctify or holy ourselves only by God's choice and His will can we recognize and see His splendor. Psalm 138 verse 2, I bow down towards your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. God exalts his own name and his own word, most of all of all the great things, all the splendor and great things in this world. We know that God highlights his own name and his word, most of all, so that we would marvel at them. And so if we lift him up in praise, it's because he is lifting us up to praise him that we might do what we are made to do. As the psalm so succinctly and memorably puts it, not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be glory. And it should be the believer's increasing and growing instinct to be quick to praise the Lord, to render to Him what He deserves, what He has called us to give to Him. The whole book of Psalms, we could say, is one of hollowing the name of God. O come, let us sing to the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation, for the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods. God's people say, hallelujah. When God's people lift Him up, He is hallowed. He is being magnified. When we praise Him for the good things that come to us. You see, the world just thinks, well, pleasure comes out of nowhere and good experiences might be self-generated. But the children of God praise the river back to the source, as we sing regularly, praise God from whom all blessings flow. But even when we're weighed down by sorrow, how can we hollow God's name? One, we can praise the Lord that whatever we bear in this world, we do not have to bear a single one of our sins. to our account. And what a comfort that should be, that our status before Him is one of true righteousness, that we have peace of conscience, something you can't buy, something you can't attain through any of your own efforts. Hallowed be the name of God because of what He has done in forgiving our sins. Blessed be the Lord who daily bears our burdens. We're to remember Him in order to praise Him. Sometimes we grow forgetful. Sometimes when we grow forgetful, we think God has forgotten. We think He has wiped away His own memory. And then the Psalms help us here to Psalm 77. Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion? Then I said, I will appeal to this to the years of the right hand of the most high. I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What God is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders. You have made known your might among the people. If the name of God ever becomes stale to us in our meditation or on our lips, we should remember just what is associated with His name. The name of salvation. The name of patience. The name of provision. the name of outpouring of blessing despite the sins and the failures and the faithlessness of his people. God is the one whose name, as the hymn says, should be sweet to our ears. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ears. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fears. This is the kind of response our heart should have to the name of the Lord, a name of refuge. But secondly, we are praying that His fame might be preeminent. Now, his fame is connected with his name. Now, if you think about a name, when you meet someone for the first time, you ask them for their name. Giving this to someone is like opening the door to let them in to some extent to your lives and to open the door to a subsequent relationship. You don't go up to someone and say, hello, I'm a pilot or hi, I'm a teacher, but my name is this. And when you learn the name, you can address that person, you can ask that person, you can call upon that person. There's no such thing as an anonymous friendship after all. To know and to be known means mutuality and knowing someone's name. And what's in a name? Not simply letters, but a living presentation You know, even as moderns, I think we recognize there is this connection and something very personal about our names that differs from a number or a category. It feels more or less unpleasant when others misspell or garble our names because it stands for our honor and our worth, our person, our individuality. But this linkage between a person and his name was even more clear in the time of Scripture because the name actually revealed something about who you were. Think about the names of the Bible. Adam, the first name, it means from the ground of the dust. You know who he was by knowing his name. Melchizedek meant king of righteousness. And the writer to Hebrews is able to pursue the line of the meaning of that, in part. Benjamin, the name means son of my right hand. And so you're going back to why Jacob names him that and what that meant. And so in revealing his name, God is revealing his own character and his attributes to us. And he is making himself known. This is part of the marvel of what he has done. That God has spoken and that God has drawn near. Now, knowing God is different than knowing about him like looking something up in an encyclopedia. To know the Lord is to know him in this familial way, in this intimate way. And so it's not only meant to establish certainty, but closeness with us as we start the prayer. Our Father in heaven, we have the adoption as sons, we have Him as our Father who knows us through and through. And so we might say that our Father, the Father, is the name He has given to introduce Himself to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because when He calls us, He calls us effectually as His children, to be His children. And so to use this name, Our Father, is to do so in a loving way. But not only does God reveal Himself so that He would be known, but that He would be called upon. When you say your name to someone, you are telling them, this is how you can reach me. The divulged name becomes then the name that is called upon. And so, the worship of God's people to the Lord is from the very beginning described as calling upon the name of the Lord. Genesis 4.26 says to Seth, also a son was born and he called his name Enosh. At that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord. Abraham after he was called from his idols and the land of idolatry, came, it says in Genesis 13, 4, to the place where he had made an altar at first, where God revealed himself. And what did Abram do in response? He called upon the name of the Lord. To hallow God's name, then, means also to invoke that name. to run to it. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runs into it and is safe. And remember as we call upon his name that his name encompasses everything about himself that he has given, that he has revealed. The God who delivered his people from the dangerous and deadly waters And when they were themselves parched and dried up in the wilderness, then he split the rock to give them drink. The name of God at every turn proves to be mighty, to be sufficient, to be powerful for all the needs of his people. The name of God, summed up in many names and titles, the Most High God, the most exalted God, the most merciful God, the most gracious God. And in response to all this, what does the psalm say? Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. This is what we are paying when we say hallowed be your name that we would know his excellence and his greatness, that we would ask that his reputation would endure and expand. If you've ever worked in a school or office for some period of time, you might think to yourself at some point, after I'm gone from here, will anyone remember my name And yes, a few people might, but the fact is, soberingly, that a few years or a few decades later, your footprints will have all but disappeared. Our names are sort of like chalk markings written on pavement that are washed away by tomorrow's rain. In Greek epics, what defines a hero? Blighted Achilles and Hector fight it out outside of not only to see who's the man, but to see whose name would endure, who would go down in fame and in memory, who will be the hero. God says he alone is the hero and victor whose name will endure. He says when he delivers his people from Egypt, I will get me a upon Pharaoh. I will have the honor. It is my name that is at stake here and it is my name that will be exalted. God is greatly jealous for the love of his people. It's a burning and it's a powerful jealousy. But he's jealous for something even more than that. And that is the glory of his own name. And that is why He saves His people. Because He promised to do so. If He failed to do so, then His name would be forgotten. But He came to us. He revealed Himself to us in Christ to give His name as one of salvation and one of promise. Why did Jesus come? We've read in John 17, haven't we? As he says in his prayer, I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were and you gave them to me and they have kept your word. And then in verse 26, I have made known to them your name and I will continue to make it known that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them. And so we're asking in this prayer, may your name be hallowed as it was by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. That others might call upon his name as Paul writes in Romans 10, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. We're praying. as the people of old prayed in Psalm 67. Let the peoples praise you, O God. May you take them from being scattered and may you gather them to your footstool that they would name you and that they would claim you to be their God and King. What happens when we sanctify God's name? You know, I think sometimes we remember the second part of 1 Peter 3.15, but the first part gives rise to it. It says, he writes, in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy and then always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks of the reason of the hope that is within you. No one will find hope in you unless you first treasure up the name of Christ in your hearts to regard Him as holy. And as you do so, that wellspring of hope will overflow so that you can share of the name of Christ. And so in that way, lastly then, our faith is perfected as we pray in this way. Hallowed be your name. Now, this is the only request that asks us and really commands a specific response of our hearts. Because we're not only praying that it would be hallowed in the world, but even as we are lifting ourselves up to him, we are saying, Lord, make your name more glorious to me as I speak to you, as I cast my burden upon you. as you bless us in and by your name. I think the events in Genesis 32 when Jacob is wrestling with God in prayer, it's such a nice illustration of what prayer should be like, wrestling with God. And as Jacob says, I will not let go until you bless me. And that's the attitude we should have as one our fathers in the faith said pray until you have prayed pray until you have achieved the blessing and God will give it he said you shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed God will allow us to conquer him so to speak to allow us to prevail in faith when we call upon Him as He gives Himself, as He opens Himself to us. God will make Himself to be then everything we need for Him to be. I love what Augustine says about this. He says, A fountain is one thing, light another. When you are thirsty, you look for a fountain. And to get to the fountain, you look for light. And if there is no daylight, you light a lamp to get to the fountain. But God is both fountain and a light. To the thirsty, He is a fountain. To the blind, a light. Let your eyes be open to see the light. Let the lips of your heart be open to drink of the fountain. That which you drink, you see and hear. God becomes everything to you, for He is the whole of the things you love. If you attend to visible things, well, God is neither bread, nor is He water, nor light, nor a garment, nor a house. For all these things are visible, individual and separate. But God is. all of these things to you. If you are hungry, He is bread. If you are thirsty, He is water. If you live in darkness, He is light to you, for He remains incorruptible. When you seek God in Christ, when you say, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, you then can rest in Him like a child in her mother's arms. to rest in Him, knowing that it is for your good, but also His glory." You see, this first petition, we could say, is the chief beginning of prayer. We talk about the chief end of man as to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. But here is the chief beginning and really what informs it all the way through that everything that follows your kingdom come, your will be done. Why? For the sake of His name. Give us this day our daily bread. Why? For your name's sake, for your glory. Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors because of your name and your forgiveness. and lead us not into temptation. Why? Because He is a God who neither tempts nor is tempted. Everything is subsumed. Everything serves this purpose, the glory of God. You know, we desire, I think rightly, authentic Christianity. And what separates an authentic Christian from false substitutes? I think at the bottom it is this. that you give God the glory. An authentic Christian says, Lord, it is to you that I am rendering praise, because it is not I, but your grace that is at work within me. And at the end of the day, when all is said and done, we will say, hallowed be your name. Glorious is your name. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for your word to us, and we pray that you might write these things on our hearts, that we would be quick to listen and slow to speak, but when we do speak, that we would be quick to render you the glory that belongs to you. O Lord, we ask these things through Christ, who has revealed to us your name. It is in his name we pray. Amen.