Monday, 4th October 2010, 22:07 hrs
Psalm 96.1-13; Matthew 6.9-15
Psalm 96 is a call to the people of Israel to sing to the Lord a new song. The psalm is likely post-exilic, so that the people, having witnessed and experienced Yahweh's deliverance, are urged to sing to him a new song. For they now realised that the exile was not forever.
The Lord's Prayer is Jesus' response to his disciples' request to teach them how to pray. It is not meant to be a magical prayer, nor is it a method that gets a person well simply by having the person press the button! It is Jesus' instruction on prayer.
The term 'our father' is significant in that it tells us that prayer must primarily, and is, relational. The second term 'hallowed' speaks of the person who offers prayers as one who ought to first and foremost offer worship to God. It further tells of the importance of the name of God. To 'hallow' the name of God is to empty oneself, for it focuses one on the God of heaven, who then requires one to empty oneself, for this is the prerequisite of 'hallowing' God's name. There is to be no compromise when it comes to 'God's holiness' and human frailty.
In the early church, this understanding of God as father was quickly transformed into one that includes Jesus Christ. John's Gospel 14.7ff speaks of Jesus and God the father being in each other. In the Old Testament, of course, God was not usually called 'father', though in ancient Judaism this eventually evolved into a common currency, particularly in Aramaic speaking community.
But 'hallowing' God's name carries several ideas: praise; bless; glorify; etc. Essentially it means not only words of blessing and praise, but also refers to acts that demonstrate the holiness, specialness, trustworthiness, and the like, of God. In the Greek, ho pater hemon on en to ourano...Indeed, it speaks of God as 'our', the possessive genitive hemon is striking. We usually think of ourselves as belonging to God, as God's creatures and children. But here in this line, it is we who possess God as our father! Thus, as our father who is in heaven, he ought to be blessed.
The term 'hallowed' here is not an active meaning (as the preacher mistakenly says it is), nor can it be evangelistic (as the preacher erroneously emphasised), for the context here is more doxological rather than evangelistic (although it may have such a by-product). It is a form of wish and blessing. Thus, the line ought to have been translated as 'let your name be hallowed', or 'may it be that your name is hallowed'.
The term en in the Greek in this context of the Lord's Prayer seems to be locative in usage. However, it is likely to carry a sense of God's reign in all spheres. For if God even rules over heaven, then naturally he has authority over the earth. Thus, our father in heaven speaks of humans as having God, but being ruled over by him. Or to put it in another way, humans who submit themselves to the God of Jesus in fact not only acknowledge the fatherhood of Jesus' God, but also willingly and humbly subject themselves to his rule. In fact, this is confirmed by what Jesus will say in the next line: 'thy kingdom come...'.
When we come before the God of heaven, we cannot but 'hallow' him. But how can sin-infested humans ever 'hallow' a sinless and absolutely holy God? This question is being addressed in yet another line later when Jesus teaches that we should ask God for forgiveness. More on this in another note.
