Hallowed (be your name)

Photo by lauren lulu taylor on Unsplash

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
But rescue us from the evil one.

(From the “the Lord’s Prayer” in the Gospel of Matthew 6:9-13)

“Hallowed be your name.”

The closest we come to using the word “hallow” anymore is about once a year when it’s time for “Hallow-een.”

Think about it: When was the last time you heard someone (including yourself) drop the word “hallow” or “hallowed” into a conversation?

Hallowed means “holy, venerated, sacred.”

Jesus prays to his (our) Father in heaven: “Hallowed be your name.”

In my church, we sing and talk a lot about glorifying the name of God. For example, we have a song that repeats the line: “Glorify thy name.”

Jesus does not, however, pray for the glory of the name of an impersonal God; he prays for the name of his (our) Father to be hallowed.

To put this in language that most of us can understand, I think he means: “Your name is very special to me/us; let it always be that way!”

Which doesn’t point to the name as much as it points to the relationship.

Here’s what I mean.

A couple of weeks ago, our family was on an emotional and stressful trip. My wife and I were debating something in the car. I don’t remember what. Let’s say it was our running dispute over whether Chick-fil-a is the greatest fast food chain ever.

This was not the argument we were having, but we’ll use it as an example.

My wife made a point. In our example of the Chick-fil-a dispute, she may say: “It’s just a chicken sandwich,” which is a flash of lightning that she knows calls for my thunder every time.

In agitation, I began my counterpoint. Again, from the Chick-fil-a example, I might say something like this: “Tracy, how would you know? You’ve never even had Chick-fil-a.”

This is where we get back to the actual argument (whatever it was about).

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped.

“Don’t call you what?” I asked.

“That name.”

“Tracy?”

“Yes.”

“But…that’s your name,” I said. “Your name is Tracy.”

“Don’t call me that,” she said. “That’s not your name for me. You only call me by that name when you’re angry. Don’t call me ‘Tracy.’”

This really happened. I’m not making it up.

But here’s why she said that (and why I’m bringing it up here).

“Tracy” is the name the public calls her and she calls herself in public. When she’s at church, work, the DMV, the doctor’s office, parent-teacher conferences, etc., she’s “Tracy” to the people in those places. Anyone and everyone calls her “Tracy” or maybe even “Ms. Irwin.” Those are appropriate names for the public to use when addressing her.

It would be inappropriate in the extreme for anyone in public to call Tracy by the name that I call her: “Baby.” Indeed, it would be inappropriate for even Tracy’s closest friends and family to call her by that name.

In the mouth of anyone but me, “Baby” enters Janet Jackson territory. As in: “My first name ain’t baby, it’s Janet. Ms. Jackson if you’re nasty!”

In my 18-year relationship with my wife, “Baby” is not a slur; it’s a very special name for a very special person that only one other person (me) gets to use. It’s a name that signifies a one-of-a-kind bond between us.

In our marriage, the name “Baby” is hallowed and the marriage is what hallows it.

So, then, when Jesus prays to his (our) Father, the prayer is for the Father’s name to be hallowed in the same way that marriage hallows the special names of those in the marriage. Which makes Jesus’s prayer a prayer for the relationship itself, the relationship between Father and children. It is a prayer for the relationship to grow deeper and fuller and richer. The love between Father and children is what hallows the name of the Father.

To pray, then, as Jesus prays is to open ourselves up to the wild idea that we can live in an intimate relationship with God. One that is so intimate and real that it hallows the name of the Father in our hearts.

It is a prayer that says: “Yes, Father. Hallow your name by drawing us into special intimacy with you.”

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.*

Grace and peace.