Midweek Musing- June 5, 2025

I am reminded every once in a while, in our worship that we say certain things over and over week after week. Many of these words are beautiful, even holy and they have been passed down by generations before us.

But sometimes while standing up there leading worship I wonder… do we ever think about what we are saying, or are we just on Sunday liturgy autopilot?

Sort of like brushing our teeth, which is a necessary routine, but let’s be honest, how often do we reflect on the deeper meaning of flossing and toothpaste?

And I worry sometimes worship feels like my drive to work sometimes when I pull into the parking lot only to realize I don’t actually really remember a single turn I made.

One particular worry from our worship that I have considered recently is do we say the Lord’s Prayer without really giving it any thought at all.

We say it.

We know it.

We could recite it in our sleep.

But do we pause to really pray it?

Because of my concern both this week and much of this summer in my musings I will be slowing us down to consider this prayer taught to us by our Lord.

So, let’s start at the beginning because I hear Julie Andrews says that’s a very good place to start: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” KJV

The Greek word we find here for Father is Pater. In Greek this word conveys more than just a biological connection. This word implies far more. It conveys intimacy, relationship, deep care, and also authority.

The word next to it we translate as Our has a strong emphasizes on humanities communal belonging to God. This also the declares we all belong to God. This is not a prayer to my Father only—it’s a prayer to Our Father. And by this declaration we are stating we have a relationship as siblings because of our heavenly Father, our holy Creator.

Now the words we find are literally who is in heaven. It is important to understand that heaven here could mean the moon and stars and sky but in Jewish thought, this term really denoted the spiritual realm, which is the domain of God. This phrase places God as entirely something different from this world—God is divine, transcendent, omnipotent and sovereign. As John poetically wrote God is the word and Christ was the word made flesh.

The next Greek phrase would be translated as may your name be sanctified or kept holy.

This is more than just being sure not to use the word god as an interjection which I got in trouble for doing as a kid. The phrase here has a variation of the word Hebrew word shem.

For the Hebrew nation shem represents the true nature, character, and presence of the person or thing. And shem when connected to God’s name is more than a title—it is a way of referring to God’s essence, being, and reputation. Thus, when Jesus teaches us to pray what we translate as, “Hallowed be thy name,” He’s inviting us to pray that God’s very essence would be revered, honored, and treated as holy—not just in our hearts but in the world.

Jesus is not making a throwaway passive statement, like saying, “God’s name is holy.”

Christ in these few words is presenting a request, even giving us a calling: that God’s nature and glory be seen and worshiped rightly by all people. I have seen these lines interpreted poetically this way.

“May who You are, O God—Your mercy, justice, truth, love—be known, lifted up, and honored in the lives we live and in the world we’re shaping.”

Thus to "hallow" God’s name means to live in such a way that God's character is made alive through us.

Just like the phrase Our Father it is both deeply personal and deeply communal. This second petition should shape how we speak, how we act, and how we share God's nature to the world.

When we pray “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,” we begin not with ourselves but with God—who God is, where God is, and how we are called to live as God’s beloved children.

As we begin this prayer we claim our community indeed our very family with God as Father.

We remember that God is close and kind, yet beyond human understanding and holy.

And we begin to declare our purpose in this life which is that God and God’s character would be glorified not just in words, but in action.

If you are like me, it is very easy to skip over this line. Indeed, we’ve all said it countless times and in countless places.

But I invite us all to pause this week. As you pray that line stop for a moment and in that holy pause let it reorient you.

Because what if our lives began not with striving, but with remembering who God is?

What if our prayers began not with our problems, but with our praise?

What if our name—our reputation, our like, and retweets, and thumbs up—were secondary to God’s name and character being made alive and holy through us?

Well, if that happened, we all might be on the road to a prayer that changes us and perhaps even the world.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Alleluia Amen.