Those who move to the islands of Hawai'i from the mainland, and perhaps even those who have occasion to visit, quickly learn a new word, if they don't already know it. The word is haole, the Hawaiian word for for white foreigners. Though often used without any malice, it can be used with withering disdain [similar to the no longer spoken "N-word" here in the states]. Alice Kaholuoluna described the origin of this term:
"Before the missionaries came, my people used to sit outside their temples [heiaus] for a long time meditating and preparing themselves before entering. Then they would virtually creep to the altar to offer their petition and afterward would again sit a long time outside, this time to 'breathe life' into their prayers. The Christians, when they came, just got up, uttered a few sentences, said Amen and were done. For that reason my people call them haoles, 'without breath,' or those who fail to breathe life into their prayers."
Thus in its original sense, haole was a term of biting religious reproach. Just how deserved it was is subject to question because missionaries often get a bum rap from their would-be converts and from unsympathetic historians. However that may be, haole well describes the condition of multitudes of today's Christians who live life in the fast lane -- dashing into God's presence, uttering some empty conventionalities, pausing to make a few requests, then jumping back into the mad rush of our lives. This problem is extensive, and is undoubtedly one of the great sins of modern Christianity. We are spiritual haoles if we do not take time to breathe life into our prayers.
The remedy for this is found in Christ's pattern for prayer as He gave it to the disciples in what we call "The Lord's Prayer." The foundational awareness that the opening words -- "Our Father in heaven" -- impose on us demands that we take time to breathe life into our prayers. We are praying to "our Father," an ascription that was only made possible by the Lord Jesus, who broke with all tradition and called God His Father. Moreover, the word He used was Abba, the Aramaic word for "dearest father" -- a term of deepest intimacy. Perhaps even more cause for amazement is that He enjoined His followers to pray in the same way -- "our Father." To the traditional Jew, this was absolutely incomprehensible. How could any mortal address deity in such a way? But that was the foundational awareness that Jesus advocated.
The other part of that basic awareness is the rest of the balancing clause, "who is in heaven." Though God is our Father, He is also transcendent and sovereign. He is both our Father and our King and is to be approached intimately, but with deepest awe and respect. Such an awareness is the remedy for the breathless impiety of so many post-modern Christians. We would do well to prepare ourselves before we pray by reflecting on the One to whom we are going to speak.
Having considered the foundational awareness contained in the words, "Our Father in heaven," we are now ready to move on to the foundational petition, "Hallowed be your Name." It is easy to divide the Lord's Prayer into six petitions. Three are for God -- "your name," "your kingdom," and "your will." And three are for us -- "Give us," "forgive us," and "lead us not ... but deliver us." God intends for this foundational petition -- "Hallowed be your Name" -- to both interpret and control what follows.
It is highly significant that this first, foundational petition is upward -- "Hallowed be your Name." The God-given order for prayer is to have regard for God first. To be sure, there will be times when prayer in regards to our own needs is all we can muster, as when Peter cried out, "Lord, save me!" [Matthew 14:30] as he was sinking below the waves. That was not really the time for worship. But worship came soon afterward! To insist that all prayers must begin with the pattern of the Lord's Prayer is in fact a denial of what "Our Father" means to us. We can come to Him at any time and with any need. Nevertheless, prayer normally begins with a loving upward rush of our hearts to God.
The meaning of "hallowed be your Name" rests on two words -- "hallowed" and "Name." While names today don't carry much inherent meaning, in biblical times names were considered indicative of one's character. This is especially true when applied to the name of God. The psalmist said, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name [the character] of the Lord our God" [Psalm 20:7]. God's names revealed aspects of His being. For instance, Jehovah Shalom -- "The Lord Our Peace" -- was a name that Gideon hallowed by raising an altar to God by that name. Jehovah Jireh -- "the Lord will provide" -- was the name by which Abraham came to know God on Mt. Moriah when God provided a ram in place of Isaac. Jehovah Tsidkenu -- "the Lord our Righteousness" -- is the name by which God revealed Himself to Jeremiah during the Captivity. The list of God's names in the Old Testament is quite long, including Jehovah-nissi, El Shaddai, El Elyon, Adonai, are but a few and all reflect His character. So what is the name that is preeminent in the Lord's Prayer? Very simply but quite profoundly it is "Father" -- "Abba Father" -- "Dearest Father."
So what does it mean to hallow God's Name? R. Kent Hughes describes the root word to mean "to set apart as holy," "to consider holy," "to treat as holy." The best alternate term would be reverence. This petition that God's Name as "Dearest Father" be made holy or be reverenced has two distinct times in mind. First, eternity when in a final event his Fatherhood will be fully revealed before all creation. Second, the Father's name is to be hallowed in the present fallen age. This is exactly what Jesus did as He told the Father about His own ministry in John 17:25, 26, "O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me, and I have made Your Name known to them, and will make it known" [NASB]. Jesus literally manifested the Abba-Fatherhood of God to us.
So the divinely given pattern for prayer is first upward to God, not outward to mankind or inward to our needs. The modern mind, which never truly thinks of God first, cannot make anything out of these words, for they sweep the soul upward past what we can touch and taste to the adoration of God. "Abba, Father, may your Name as Father be reverenced among men now and at the end of time -- for all eternity!" Does this petition simply focus upward, leaving our faces pointing toward the sky? Does it have nothing to do with our life and walk now? Indeed it does.
In one of the questions of his Greater Catechism Martin Luther asked: "How is it [God's name] hallowed amongst us?" Answer: "When our life and doctrine are truly Christian." God's Name as Father is reverenced when we lead lives that reflect His Fatherhood. We cannot truly pray "Hallowed be your name" without dedicating ourselves to Him. Jesus Himself is our best example. As the cross grew near, He prayed, "Father, glorify your Name" [John 12:28], but He also knew what that meant in terms of His own commitment. He gave His own life so the Father's Name would be glorified.
How then do we, God's children, hallow His Name in our own lives? There are at least four ways: First, negatively, we are careful not to profane God's Name with our tongues. We avoid swearing or taking His Name in vain. We speak of Him with great reverence. This is perhaps the least demanding aspect of hallowing His Name [not that its always that easy]. Secondly, we begin with the positives: We reverence Him as Father with acts of public and private worship ... yes, we greatly hallow His Name when we worship Him.
There is a third way: We reverence God or hallow His Name when our beliefs concerning Him are worthy of Him. We cannot possibly hallow His Name if we do not understand it. Specifically, in the Lord's Prayer we must understand His Abba-Fatherhood. The deeper our understanding, the more depth there will be to our reverence. This is all the work of the Holy Spirit, of course, but we must yield to that work. Is God our Dearest Father?
And lastly, we hallow His Name by living a life that displays that He is our Father! It was none other than Gregory who said, "For a man can glorify God in no other way save by his virtue which bears witness that the Divine Power is the cause of his goodness." For us too this demands that our lives show that we really do have a heavenly Father. It demands that we display security and confidence in our Father when those who do not know Christ are overcome with fear and despair. It demands that we radiate the self-esteem that comes from knowing that we are loved by our Abba-Father. It demands that we manifest the beautiful loyalty of a child toward his Father in our devotion to God the Father. But there is even more. We are not only to model that we have a Father in heaven -- we must also model His fatherliness toward others. "Dearest Father" must become the refrain of our hearts.
Luther was right. We best hallow God's Name when our life and our doctrine are truly Christian. When we pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name," we are dedicating ourselves to lead lives that reverence all that He is. Holy Spirit of God please help that become the abiding reality of our lives.
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