The Greatest Partner
When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Father, hallowed be your
name," he suggested many things at once about us disciples and our
relationship to God. Curiously, Jesus used the word "hallow"
in
a sense for which it had rarely been used before. He told his
disciples to say: "God's name be consecrated, made holy," as
if
their saying it had something to do with it being accomplished.
In fact, Yahweh had already made that name holy through centuries
of acting in Hebrew history. God's name means 'being, change,
choice.' Was Jesus teaching them that their own praying, their own
actions accomplished God's holiness? No, I don't think so. Instead,
I believe Jesus offered a remarkable glimpse into God's own nature:
God desires humans to be partners in making holy not only the name
of God, but the whole of God's creation. God desires us to be
change agents, co-consecrators with God.
--From the
sermon "Hallowed Be Your Name"
by the Rev. George S. Yandell
Read
the sermon in its entirety.
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