Hallowed Be Thy Name

What is Holy? How is something made to be Holy? The (online) dictionary defines Holy as - dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose; sacred.
So then the next question is – What is sacred? This is not meant to be difficult but I don’t think there’s a quick and easy way to convey the depths of what “Holy” is. Although, we often look for the clear and simple answers, some things require more of a conversation than a comparison of ubiquitous, yet elusive terms.
In this part of the Disciple’s prayer, we continue to build upon the theme of “uncommon”. With all the sermons I’ve heard, the one thing I would say that falls short is that sermons eventually end - but the idea of “Hallowed be Thy Name" is an ongoing, moment by moment realization that God, and everything about Him should be SO much more highly esteemed, SO much more highly revered and SO much more highly …… Exactly.

So, in trying wrap my mind around “Hallowed”; more than words, it’s two ideas: SEEING God as uncommon and SO much higher, and SEEKING to interact with and reverence Him accordingly.

Here’s the Word

Ezekiel 38:23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

Leviticus 21:8(b) for I the Lord, which sanctify you, am holy.

Psalm 99:3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Deuteronomy 10:17 For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

Revelation 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Isaiah 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

Revelation 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Again, this was less about finding verses that contain the word Holy and more about seeing and reverencing God in His Holiness, His Awesome Wonder, His unapproachable Glory. In this case, we need to reclassify the word 'terrible' which to us usually connotes something wholly undesirable. Here in its truest form, it leans to the idea of inconceivably and overwhelmingly awesome. We may see an immaculate sunrise, or sunset or some other majestic landscape and somehow, in it's awesomeness, the image is also very endearing...we just wish we could hug it. Trust me, if you saw GOD in His full glory, a hug would be the last thing on your mind (just look at Isaiah's and John's reactions). The word sanctify as seen in a few of the verses speak to the process by which something becomes or is established as Holy, set apart, consecrated or identified as especially uncommon. This leads to a good point on fully understanding what we’re supposed to be about as well as our natural inclinations that prevent the full expression;
Our natural tendency is toward what’s comfortable and common for us. Sadly, our fallen and depraved state taints the things we touch. This also creeps into our relationship with God. For God, Holy IS common, comfortable and natural. So we see there’s a distance we must travel whereby we should not seek to make Him common by our earthly standards, but rather yield ourselves to seeing Him in Truth, and realize thankfully, that it is Him who’s making us Holy.

When we see the word “Hallowed”, all we can do is imagine glimpses of something too magnificent for words. Remember, even the angels in Heaven have wings that cover their faces as God’s Glory is even more than they can become overly familiar with. All they say is “HOLY HOLY HOLY!”… I pray that in some similar way, we’d allow God bring us to that understanding. The way that God’s holiness becomes ‘most’ real to us is when His deliverance has affected us directly. When He does something that we could never have possibly done, expressed most in how His great Love for us, gave us the one thing we needed most – Salvation.

In Him,
Cros