THE BREATHTAKING IMPLICATIONS HIDDEN IN GOD’S NAME
Matthew 6:9; Ephesians 3:14-20
Rev. Paul Wrightman 11/20/22
WE CONTINUE OUR STUDY OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
WE ARE CURRENTLY EXPLORING THAT PART OF THE SERMON
KNOWN AS “THE LORD’S PRAYER” BY PROTESTANTS,
AND “THE OUR FATHER” BY CATHOLICS.
TODAY WE LOOK AT THE FIRST OF THE SIX PETITIONS
CONTAINED IN THE LORD’S PRAYER:
“HALLOWED BE THY NAME.”
WE SHOULD NOTE THE PARTICULAR ORDER
IN WHICH THESE SIX PETITIONS ARE PLACED.
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD – IN THIS CASE VERY MUCH AS IT IS
IN OUR WORLD – THE SPECIFIC ORDER IN WHICH ITEMS
ARE PLACED IN A SERIES WAS OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE DISTINCT ORDERING
OF THE SIX PETITIONS CONTAINED IN THE LORD’S PRAYER,
WE SEE THAT THE FIRST SERIES OF THREE HAVE TO DO WITH GOD:
HALLOWED BE THY NAME.
THY KINGDOM COME.
THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
--AND THAT THE SECOND SERIES OF THREE HAVE TO DO WITH US:
(1) GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD.
(2) AND FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES
AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US.
(3) AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION,
BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
THUS, IN THE VERY ACT OF PRAYING THIS PRAYER
WE PUT GOD FIRST AND OURSELVES SECOND.
THIS DOESN’T SEEM LIKE SUCH A BIG DEAL
BECAUSE WE ARE ALL SO USED TO DOING IT,
BUT IN OUR CONTEMPORARY WORLD,
WHERE HUMAN AUTONOMY AND HUMAN INDEPENDENCE
ARE OFTEN PROCLAIMED AS LIFE’S SUPREME VALUES,
THE VERY ACT OF PRAYING, ESPECIALLY PRAYING THIS PRAYER,
WHERE WE PUT SOMEONE ELSE – NAMELY, GOD –
AHEAD OF OURSELVES:
IS A BOLD STATEMENT THAT WE ARE DEPENDENT ON GOD.
SO. . .WHAT ARE WE REALLY PRAYING FOR
WHEN WE PRAY “HALLOWED BE THY NAME,”
WHEN WE ASK THAT GOD’S NAME MAY BE HELD HOLY?
I ASK WHAT ARE WE “REALLY” PRAYING FOR
BECAUSE THIS PETITION HAS BEEN LARGELY MISUNDERSTOOD
THROUGHOUT CHRISTIAN HISTORY.
AS I DID FOR MANY YEARS, YOU PROBABLY TAKE THIS PETITION
TO BE A PRAYER FOR THE PROTECTION OF GOD’S HOLY NAME;
OR, PUT IN A NEGATIVE WAY, A PRAYER AGAINST SWEARING.
AS WE SHALL SEE, THIS IS A SECONDARY, EVEN A TERTIARY, MEANING
OF WHAT IS ENCOMPASSED IN THIS PETITION.
“HALLOWED BE THY NAME.”
THE PROBLEM, FOR A CHANGE, IS NOT WITH THE TRANSLATION,
WHICH IS ACCURATE ENOUGH,
BUT WITH OUR LACK OF UNDERSTANDING,
IN THIS CASE, OUR LACK OF UNDERSTANDING CONCERNING
THE MEANING OF GOD’S NAME
AND THE CONTENT OF GOD’S CHARACTER.
OUR MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE FIRST PETITION
GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO OUR MISUNDERSTANDING
OF THE THIRD COMMANDMENT, “YOU SHALL NOT
MISUSE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD” (EXODUS 20:7).
NEARLY EVERYONE IN SUNDAY SCHOOL AND CATECHISM CLASS
IS TAUGHT THAT THE PRIMARY MEANING OF THIS COMMANDMENT
IS THAT WE ARE ORDERED BY GOD NOT TO SWEAR --
NOT TO USE THE WORD “DAMN” AFTER THE WORD GOD,
NOT TO USE THE WORDS “JESUS CHRIST” AS A PERJORATIVE PHRASE
WHEN WE STRONGLY DISLIKE SOMETHING,
AND FOR GOOD MEASURE,
NEVER TO USE CERTAIN FOUR-LETTER WORDS.
NOW, WHILE THE THIRD OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
AND THE FIRST OF THE SIX PETITIONS OF THE LORD’S PRAYER
CERTAINLY WOULD NOT CONDONE SWEARING,
THIS IS NOT WHAT THEY WERE ABOUT ORIGINALLY.
ORIGINALLY, THEY WERE ABOUT OUR DUTY
NOT TO MISUNDERSTAND AND TO MISAPPLY
THE VERY CONTENT OF THE WORD “GOD,”
OR, AS MANY OF THE AUTHORS OF THE BIBLE
WOULD PREFER TO SAY IT, THE VERY CHARACTER OF GOD.
THE CONTEXT OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IS ALL-IMPORTANT,
AND THAT CONTEXT IS THE EXODUS EXPERIENCE
WHICH BROUGHT THE HEBREW PEOPLE OUT OF SLAVERY IN EGYPT.
GOD IS REPORTED TO HAVE PERSONALLY CONTEXTUALIZED
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS WHEN THE DIVINE VOICE DECLARES,
IMMEDIATELY BEFORE GIVING THE BIG TEN:
“I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT
OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, OUT OF THE HOUSE OF SLAVERY”
(EXODUS 20:2).
WHEN WE REMEMBER THAT FOR THE HEBREW PEOPLE
THE WORD “NAME,” – ESPECIALLY WHEN USED
IN REFERRING TO GOD – IS NOT SIMPLY A FORM OF ADDRESS,
BUT, IF YOU WILL, A SHORTHAND WAY OF STATING AND AFFIRMING
THE CONTENT OF A PERSON’S CHARACTER,
WE CAN SEE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS
THAT WE READ GOD’S CHARACTER CORRECTLY.
THE FIRST, AND GREATEST, OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, STATES:
“YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME” (EXODUS 20:3).
A MAJOR THEME OF THE ENTIRE OLD TESTAMENT IS THAT
TO GET THE CONTENT OF GOD’S CHARACTER WRONG
IS, IN EFFECT, TO WORSHIP THE WRONG GOD!
GIVEN THE FACT THAT THE KEY CHARACTER TRAIT OF GOD
BEHIND THE GIVING OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
IS THE SURPRISING REALITY THAT GOD HAS PERSONALLY INTERVENED
AND FREED A BUNCH OF DOWN-AND-OUT WRETCHES FROM SLAVERY,
IT FOLLOWS THAT THE ORIGINAL MEANING
OF THE THIRD COMMANDMENT IS THAT TO ADDRESS GOD
AS ANYTHING LESS OR ANYTHING CONTRADICTORY
TO THE PRIMAL UNDERSTANDING OF GOD AS LIBERATOR
IS TO MISUSE GOD’S NAME, OR TO TAKE GOD’S NAME IN VAIN.
AGAIN, THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE OLD TESTAMENT WE WITNESS
A STRONG TENDENCY AMONG THE RULERS OF THE LAND
TO ATTEMPT TO REENSLAVE THE PEOPLE,
THROUGH FORCED LABOR AND THROUGH POVERTY,
AND WE SEE THE REPUDIATION OF ALL SUCH ATTEMPTS
BY REFERENCE TO GOD’S CHARACTER AS LIBERATOR.
IN THIS CONTEXT, TO TAKE GOD’S NAME IN VAIN
THROUGHOUT THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES PRIMARILY MEANS
TO DISMISS OR TO NEGLECT THIS OVERRIDING CONCERN OF GOD
FOR LIBERATION.
THE SAD FACT IS THAT OUR REDUCING
OF “HALLOWING GOD’S NAME”
TO A COMMANDMENT AGAINST SWEARING
WOULD HAVE BEEN LAUGHED OFF BY THE ENTIRE COMPANY
OF OLD TESTAMENT AUTHORS AS A BRILLIANT EXERCISE IN –
AS A BRILLIANT EXERCISE IN: MISSING THE POINT.
WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT JESUS STANDS STRONGLY
IN THE COMPANY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS,
AND THAT THE PROPHETS, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, WHEN FACED
WITH THE REALITY OF GOD’S NAME AND THE COMMANDMENT
TO KEEP THAT NAME HOLY,
UNDERSTOOD THIS TO MEAN KEEPING GOD’S NAME HOLY
IN THE POSITIVE SENSE OF EMBODYING IN THEIR OWN LIVES
GOD’S PASSION FOR LIBERATION, JUSTICE, COMPASSION, AND PEACE.
NOT A SINGLE PROPHET – OR ANY OTHER OLD TESTAMENT AUTHOR,
FOR THAT MATTER, UNDERSTOOD “HALLOWING GOD’S NAME”
PRIMARILY IN THE NEGATIVE SENSE OF NOT SWEARING.
AND FOR THAT MATTER,
THERE IS NO NEW TESTAMENT AUTHOR WHO DOES SO EITHER.
I WOULD NOT BE MAKING SUCH A BIG DEAL OUT OF THIS
WERE IT NOT FOR THE FACT THAT THE BIBLE ITSELF
IS SO INSISTENT ON THE IMPORTANCE
OF CALLING GOD BY THE RIGHT NAME,
THE RIGHT NAME BEING THE CHARACTER CONTENT
THAT GOD DISCLOSES IN GOD’S WORD,
A CHARACTER CONTENT MADE PERSONAL
IN THE MINISTRY OF JESUS OF NAZARETH.
MUCH OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY HAS BEEN ABOUT
CHANGING THE CONTENT OF GOD’S NAME
IN WAYS THAT MAKE US FEEL MORE – MORE COMFORTABLE.
THUS, GOD THE LIBERATOR FROM EMPIRE
AND PROTECTOR OF THE POOR, HAS BEEN TURNED INTO
GOD-THE-EMPIRE-BUILDER AND PROTECTOR OF THE STATUS QUO.
THE JESUS WHO EXPECTED HIS DISCIPLES TO FOLLOW HIS WAY
OF COMPASSION, NONVIOLENCE, EXTRAVAGANT HOSPITALITY,
AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE HAS BEEN TURNED INTO
A TYPICAL WHITE, MIDDLE-CLASS AMERICAN OR EUROPEAN
WHO IS OVERLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE MISUSE
OF THE DIVINE NAME IN SWEARING.
THE REALLY SCARY THING FOR ME IS THE BIBLE’S INSISTENCE
THAT IF WE GET GOD’S ATTRIBUTES WRONG, WE GET GOD WRONG,
AND WIND UP WORSHIPPING A DISTORTION OF GOD,
A DISTORTION OF GOD THAT, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT,
LOOKS AN AWFUL LOT LIKE OURSELVES.
FOR MY TIME AND MONEY, I’D RATHER WORSHIP A GOD
WHO CHALLENGES ME TO BE MORE LOVING,
MORE NONVIOLENT, AND MORE COMPASSIONATE
AND LESS OF WHAT I ALREADY AM:
SELFISH, RELUCTANT TO TAKE THE RISK OF NONVIOLENCE,
AND OFTEN RATHER LACKING IN MERCY.
IF I’M GOING TO GO TO ALL THE TROUBLE OF COMING TO ADMIT
THE UNWORKABILITY OF MY LIFE WITHOUT GOD,
I WANT TO BE SURE THAT THE GOD I’M WORSHIPPING
IS THE TRUE GOD, AND NOT A FURTHER PROJECTION
OF MY ALREADY OVERACTIVE IMAGINATION.
JAMES MULHOLLAND, IN HIS BOOK “PRAYING LIKE JESUS,”
USES THE FOLLOWING ILLUSTRATION WHEN HE TALKS ABOUT
HALLOWING GOD’S NAME. HE WRITES:
“WHEN MY BROTHER WAS FIVE YEARS OLD,
HE GOT SEPARATED FROM MY MOTHER IN A GROCERY STORE. . .
HE WAS ALONE IN AN AISLE WITH SHELVES
TOWERING ABOVE HIM AND STRANGERS ALL AROUND HIM.
MY MOTHER DIDN’T REALIZE HE WAS LOST UNTIL SHE HEARD
HIS QUIVERING VOICE CALLING OUT, ‘HELEN, HELEN!’
MY MOTHER QUICKLY FOUND HIM, HUGGED HIM,
AND WIPED AWAY HIS TEARS.
THEN SHE ASKED, ‘WHY DID YOU CALL ME HELEN?’
MY BROTHER REPLIED, ‘I KNEW THERE WERE LOTS
OF MOMMIES HERE, BUT I THOUGHT THERE WOULD ONLY BE
ONE HELEN.”
JUST AS THERE WAS ONLY ONE HELEN WHO WAS
THE REAL MOTHER OF MULHOLLAND’S KID BROTHER,
THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD
WHO QUALIFIES AS THE GOD AND FATHER OF JESUS.
AND THIS IS NOT THE GOD WHO WEEPS ELEPHANT TEARS
OVER PEOPLE MISUSING THE DIVINE NAME BY SWEARING,
BUT THE GOD WHOSE HEART KEEPS ON BEING BROKEN
BY INJUSTICE, VIOLENCE, HATRED, HARD-HEARTEDNESS,
THE LACK OF EXTRAVAGANT HOSPITALITY,
AND THE LACK OF COMPASSION.
# # #
ANOTHER WAY IN WHICH WE BREAK GOD’S HEART
IS THROUGH OUR PERSONAL REFUSAL TO ACCEPT
GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
WE KEEP COMING UP WITH CONDITIONS WE MUST MEET
IN ORDER TO EARN OR MERIT GOD’S LOVE.
WE CONVINCE OURSELVES THAT WE MUST FIRST CHANGE
CERTAIN THINGS ABOUT OURSELVES BEFORE GOD WILL LOVE US,
NOT REALIZING THAT REAL CHANGE CAN HAPPEN ONLY
BY FIRST ACCEPTING THE REALITY THAT GOD ALREADY LOVES US,
JUST AS WE ARE.
PASTOR MIKE YACONELLI CAPTURES THESE DYNAMICS WELL.
HE WAS DEJECTED AND DEMORALIZED AND DECIDED
TO SPEND SOME TIME AT THE L’ARCHE COMMUNITY
FOR THE SEVERELY DISABLED IN TORONTO,
HOPING TO BE REVITALIZED AND TO FIND HIS TRUE SELF.
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED!
HE WRITES:
‘IT TOOK ONLY A FEW HOURS OF SILENCE
BEFORE I BEGAN TO HEAR MY SOUL SPEAKING.
IT ONLY TOOK BEING ALONE FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME
FOR ME TO DISCOVER I WASN’T ALONE.
GOD HAD BEEN TRYING TO SHOUT OVER THE NOISINESS OF MY LIFE,
AND I COULDN’T HEAR HIM.
BUT IN THE STILLNESS AND SOLITUDE,
HIS WHISPERS SHOUTED FROM MY SOUL,
‘MICHAEL, I AM HERE.
I HAVE BEEN CALLING YOU,
BUT YOU HAVEN’T BEEN LISTENING.
CAN YOU HEAR ME, MICHAEL?
I LOVE YOU.
I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED YOU.
AND I HAVE BEEN WAITING
FOR YOU TO HEAR ME SAY THAT TO YOU.
BUT YOU HAVE BEEN SO BUSY
TRYING TO PROVE TO YOURSELF YOU ARE LOVED
THAT YOU HAVE NOT HEARD ME.’”
YACONELLI CONTINUES:
“I [FINALLY] HEARD HIM,
AND MY SLUMBERING SOUL WAS FILLED
WITH THE JOY OF THE PRODIGAL SON.
MY SOUL WAS AWAKENED BY A LOVING FATHER
WHO HAD BEEN LOOKING AND WAITING FOR ME.
FINALLY, I ACCEPTED MY BROKENNESS. . .
AT L’ARCHE, IT BECAME VERY CLEAR TO ME THAT I HAD
TOTALLY MISUNDERSTOOD THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.
I CAME TO SEE THAT IT WAS IN MY BROKENNESS,
IN MY POWERLESSNESS, IN MY WEAKNESS
THAT JESUS WAS MADE STRONG.
IT WAS IN THE ACCEPTANCE OF MY LACK OF FAITH
THAT GOD COULD GIVE ME FAITH.
IT WAS IN THE EMBRACING OF MY BROKENNESS
THAT I COULD IDENTIFY WITH OTHERS’ BROKENNESS.
IT WAS MY ROLE TO IDENTIFY WITH OTHERS’ PAIN, NOT RELIEVE IT.
MINISTRY WAS SHARING, NOT DOMINATING,
UNDERSTANDING, NOT THEOLOGIZING; CARING, NOT FIXING.
WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?
I ONLY KNOW THAT AT CERTAIN TIMES IS ALL OF OUR LIVES,
WE MAKE AN ADJUSTMENT IN THE COURSE OF OUR LIVES.
THIS WAS ONE OF THOSE TIMES FOR ME. . .
THERE IS [NOW] AN ANTICIPATION, AN ELECTRICITY
ABOUT GOD’S PRESENCE IN MY LIFE
THAT I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE.
I CAN ONLY TELL YOU THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE
I CAN HEAR JESUS WHISPER TO ME EVERY DAY,
‘MICHAEL, I LOVE YOU. YOU ARE BELOVED.’
AND FOR SOME STRANGE REASON, THAT SEEMS TO BE ENOUGH.”
# # #
MAY GOD BLESS EACH OF US WITH THE DESIRE NOT TO HOLD
GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AT BAY,
TO KEEP GOD’S LOVE AT A DISTANCE,
BUT TO INVITE GOD’S LOVE INTO THE DEEPEST PARTS OF OUR BEING.
AND MAY GOD BLESS EACH OF US
WITH THE PROFOUND INNER HEALING
THAT CAN TAKE PLACE ONLY IN THE CONTEXT
OF GOD’S ALREADY-GIVEN UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
FOR EACH ONE OF US AS A BELOVED DAUGHTER OR SON.
“ABBA, I BELONG TO YOU.”
AMEN.