1st Petition

February 20, 2002

The 1st Petition

“Hallowed Be Thy Name”

INTRODUCTION:  “Hallowed Be thy Name” That’s how the first petition reads.  What does that phrase really mean? What are we asking for when we pray that God’s name would be kept holy?  In a nutshell we pray that God’s name would be hallowed among us. This happens when we keep from profaning God’s Word.

How is God’s Word Profaned?

A.     God’s Word is profaned when anyone teaches otherwise than what God’s Word teaches. There is but one plan of salvation, one doctrinal standard, one message for the ages. That message speaks of sin and grace; of law and gospel.  That message says that we are all sinners for there is none that does good and does not sin. The wages of sin, the bible reminds us, is death, for all have sinned. Yet the gospel tells us that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself not counting our sins against us.  That is why we can clearly and plainly say that in Jesus Christ all sin is forgiven period!

When we teach other then this clear message we profane the Word of God. We need to place a clear message before the world today as our former Synodical President Al Barry put it “keep the message straight and get the message out” We do not want to add nor subtract from what is clearly stated in God’s holy Word. 

B.     The faith is to be taught – it’s also to be caught.  We can profane the name of God when anyone lives otherwise than God’s Word clearly teaches.  Luther in his hymn reminds us “that man a godly life might live God did these Ten Commandments give” the Word of God gives us a clear directive. It teaches us what we are to do and what we are not to do and how we are to live. We want that Word of God to direct us so that our lives may reflect what God’s Word truly teaches.

TRANSITION: The Word of God is profaned when we teach and act contrary to it. How is God’s name hallowed?

II.     God’s Name is Hallowed

A.     God’s name is hallowed when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity. God’s Word is true and pure in and of itself. That’s the beauty of God’s Word.  It needs nothing added to it. It speaks for itself. It is in and of itself clear, pure and bold. All the Lord asks of us is that we present it whole and undefiled. That’s what we pray for in this first petition. 

B.     God’s name is hallowed when we; that is you and I lead a holy life according to the Word of God.  “Savior, lead, I follow Thee” is how the phrase from the hymn reads. God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path. We hallow God’s name when we are directed by the Word in our daily living.

Jesus our Lord and Savior perfectly lived His life according to God’s Word.  He lived a holy and a perfect life. He followed in the ways of the Law of the Lord. Then, He went to the cross and offered up His life as a ransom for us all. He exchanges His perfect life for your and my life of sin. In His suffering, death and resurrection He gives us salvation and life. It is His life and death, which has saved us. It is His Holy Spirit, which fills us to be the men, the women, the body and girls of faith.

CONCLUSION: “Hallowed be Thy Name”. May we use God’s Word correctly.  May the faith among us be taught as well as caught. May we hallow God’s name by honoring His Word in our reading, our study, our teaching and in our living.