1 00:00:01,880 --> 00:00:04,600 So we're working our way through the Lord's Prayer. 2 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:12,920 I will take some time to review if you would turn in your Bibles 3 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,120 to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 6, verse 9. 4 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:20,440 That's where the Lord's Prayer, one of the places that we find 5 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:25,560 the Lord's Prayer. But as a reminder to just show 6 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:32,280 where we've been, where we're going, we've been arguing that 7 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:37,840 any program of deep and robust discipleship has to include 8 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:39,720 these different legs of the triangle. 9 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:45,000 You need biblical literacy, but you also need doctrinal 10 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,120 discernment. You need to know your theology, 11 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,560 your beliefs, but you also need to know something about how to 12 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:54,000 live the Christian life, spiritual disciplines, holy 13 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,760 habits. And another triangle that I've 14 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:02,000 been showing, which is important to our vision has to do with the 15 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:07,000 basics of Christianity. That there is this triad, that 16 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:11,760 it's been used for thousands of years to teach people the center 17 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:16,000 of Christianity, the Apostles Creed, the 10 Commandments, and 18 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,480 the Lord's Prayer, which are profoundly biblical and 19 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,400 important for us to gain theological discernment. 20 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:27,400 And indeed, Martin Luther argued that if you don't know something 21 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:30,400 about these things, then your pastors are to blame. 22 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,240 They are guilty of a type of negligence. 23 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:36,240 And I take that seriously, and so does our church. 24 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:40,080 And so we have been going through series around this 25 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,120 triangle this spring. We're on the Lord's Prayer, but 26 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,960 we've taught before on the Apostles Creed and the 10 27 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:48,560 Commandments. Today we'll notice a linkage 28 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:51,520 point, very important overlap between the 10 commandments and 29 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,320 the Lord's Prayer that I'll point out later in this sermon. 30 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,560 GI Packer sees and the Creed, the commands and the prayer, a 31 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:02,080 way of believing, a way of behaving, and a way of 32 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:04,680 communing. It's beautiful, very helpful. 33 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,320 Again, understanding that this is not separate from your Bible, 34 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,160 but as a way of understanding and be able to read your Bible 35 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:15,920 wisely. Also by way of review, I don't 36 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:18,240 know if you're the kind of person that writes in your 37 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:20,160 Bible, but I do actually recommend that. 38 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,320 And as we kind of go very slowly through these words, I don't 39 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,160 want to us to miss the forest for the trees. 40 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:29,960 So how would I mark up my Bible or a printing of the Lord's 41 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:32,000 Prayer? The first week we looked very 42 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:36,520 closely at the word Father, and we noticed that this is a 43 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:39,880 familial term. It implies family, and we talked 44 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:44,160 about prayer being a family affair, not first of all with 45 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:48,160 the family of Godfather. God the Father implies God the 46 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:52,480 Son in whose name we pray, and because of his work on our 47 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,480 behalf, we may have a relationship with the Father. 48 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,160 Besides the Father and the Son, we also have the Holy Spirit who 49 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:02,800 is animating our prayers and forming us into the image of 50 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,920 Christ the Son, to the glory of God the Father. 51 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:09,480 So we talked about this being a Trinitarian prayer, though we 52 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:17,480 are saying in the address our Father, we tied this idea, this 53 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,920 family affair idea to a theology of adoption. 54 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,720 And we looked at the book of Ephesians as a place to learn 55 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:28,480 this theology of adoption. We are adopted into the family 56 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,280 of God. So let me circle that and jot a 57 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:36,000 note in the margin. The Gospel a story of 58 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:42,840 Trinitarian adoption all implied and inside that word Father but 59 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:46,320 we also talked about prayer being a family affair Part 2 60 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:48,760 that we're not only in the Trinitarian family of God 61 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:52,960 adopted but we are adopted into this huge company, this great 62 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:57,240 family, this brothers and sisters in Christ and so we 63 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:02,200 looked at this possessive plural first person pronoun our and 64 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,120 talked about the importance of the church as a praying family. 65 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:12,600 We also looked at and so again, back to your markup, our implies 66 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:17,079 the church, doesn't it? We also wanted to kind of in the 67 00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:21,959 next week talk about how Father in Heaven represents A2 pronged 68 00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:24,560 notion of God and reminds us of our identity and our 69 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:33,760 relationship to God. It's interesting how children 70 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:37,280 that grow up in the White House kind of capture the imagination. 71 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,960 What would it be like to grow up in the White House? 72 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:44,880 I remember being a little kid the first time I found out that 73 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,880 there's a bowling alley and a swimming pool in the White 74 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:49,920 House. Super cool. 75 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:52,480 And your dad's the leader of the free world. 76 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,640 Interesting. And so when we are approaching 77 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:59,680 God as our Father, we have to consider this, this term of 78 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,720 intimacy. He is our Father, His closeness 79 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,440 all the while not forget, not forgetting that he is the Master 80 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,240 of the universe, the creator of the immensity that we don't know 81 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:16,400 the first thing about as we point our telescopes into the 82 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,840 heavens. And so we think about Father and 83 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:23,400 our Father being a heavenly Father, a great Father, a 84 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:28,920 transcendent Father. And now we are coming close to 85 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,000 finding the preparation that we need as we rehearse our identity 86 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:37,840 in the adopted family of God. Finding the posture that we need 87 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:41,480 to present our request to a loving Father who is able to do 88 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:47,560 all things. This posture of awe and intimacy 89 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:52,640 together in the address, our Father in heaven. 90 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:58,560 We move on now to the next part of the prayer, The first 91 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:01,440 petition of the prayer. There are 6 all together. 92 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:09,440 The order is important. Our Father in heaven hallowed be 93 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:13,280 your name. And we consider the order of the 94 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:15,160 petitions. This is the most important 95 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,680 petition, the foundation and summary of all of the petitions 96 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,040 that calibrate and focus our hearts and minds. 97 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,960 For all of the petitions that come later, our first concern is 98 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:32,880 for God, for His Kingdom, for His will. 99 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:38,600 Now we're ready to ask Him for our personal needs, Our Daily 100 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:43,760 Bread for forgiveness, etcetera. So we're going to talk about how 101 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,640 those are important that that ordering is important to even 102 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,720 shaping our lives. The prayer is not only our 103 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,240 communication with God, but God communicating with us, 104 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:59,720 questioning us is God, Dan, right now your most important 105 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:03,200 chief and your most important priority. 106 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:09,560 And so as I pray for God to make holy his name, I'm not only 107 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:13,200 praying for the advancement of his reputation, I'm also praying 108 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:14,920 that that will be true in my own life. 109 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,160 Hallowed be your name. What does that mean? 110 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,640 That's kind of a, a weird word, hallowed, isn't it? 111 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:27,480 We don't use it probably anytime except when we're praying the 112 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:29,200 Lord's Prayer. And I think that that's 113 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:34,040 appropriate because the word means to make holy, emphasizing 114 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:37,760 the otherness and the sacredness and the set asideness of God and 115 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:42,200 his unique perfections. So I think it's appropriate to 116 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:45,800 use a, a weird word for that, that we only use when we're 117 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:49,400 talking about this. The word itself conveys what it 118 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:53,480 means, a setting aside, a sanctifying aspect. 119 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:58,640 Friends, I think that the most important things in our life are 120 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:02,600 often taken for granted, almost always taken for granted. 121 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:07,280 For example, I bet for most of you so far today, this morning, 122 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,480 having given one thought about the oxygen content in the air 123 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:15,880 that you're breathing. Breathing, praise God, I don't 124 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,000 have to worry about that. Be very stressful. 125 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:22,440 I'm pretty sure most of you haven't given awakened thought 126 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:27,520 this morning about the ongoing faithfulness of your internal 127 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:33,039 organs, your heart beating, your gut digesting, your lungs 128 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:35,760 breathing. These are very important matters 129 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,480 that we take for granted all the time. 130 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:44,560 If you enjoy a good reputation, your reputation is similar. 131 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,480 It's something that you're able to take for granted. 132 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,360 But if you didn't have one, your life would become a hellish 133 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:52,360 nightmare that is hard to imagine. 134 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:59,880 Loss of good reputation, many believe, is worse than death, 135 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:03,760 and in fact, many will commit suicide in order to escape the 136 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:08,160 shame. Your reputation is fragile, we 137 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:10,240 tell kids. Growing up all the time takes a 138 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:13,280 lifetime to earn one, just a minute to destroy it. 139 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,320 It's true. That's wise. 140 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:20,840 It's fragile. It's not only our own to carry 141 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:25,280 with dignity and honor and respect, but it's also a 142 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:27,480 communal construct. What does that mean? 143 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,440 That means that you carry a little bit of my reputation 144 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,880 around with you, and I carry a little bit of your reputation 145 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:39,080 around with me, like a beautiful, expensive China 146 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:43,400 teacup. And based on how we handle it, 147 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:49,680 we can harm it. That's one thing for our 148 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:52,840 reputation. If we suffer damage, what does 149 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:55,480 that do to our own happiness and our flourishing in the world? 150 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:59,880 But what happens if God suffers damage to his reputation? 151 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:06,520 Devastation orders of magnitude beyond imagining. 152 00:10:07,560 --> 00:10:13,760 What happens when God is slandered, lies given in his 153 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:20,760 name, ideologies propelled according to his wishes, 154 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:33,040 purportedly terrible things. The first petition, hallowed be 155 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:39,000 your name, means that we pray that God's reputation comes 156 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:45,120 first in our attitudes, in our words, and in our deeds. 157 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:48,400 Friends, we need God's reputation to be our chief 158 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:51,520 concerned. This is the secret to life, our 159 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:55,240 prime objective and the only thing that can make us truly 160 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:57,720 happy. And yet it's hard to believe 161 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,960 because the devil has been whispering since Eden that he's 162 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:09,120 not what he says that he is. I care deeply about Deidre, my 163 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:14,760 precious wife's reputation when it comes to women. 164 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:19,800 She needs to be my chief concern, and for our marriage to 165 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:25,480 work, I need to be her chief concern in her affections, in 166 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,880 her words, and in her actions. And our joy is wrapped up in 167 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:34,560 that prioritization. Friends, the only way we can be 168 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:38,240 truly happy and fulfilled in life is if God's glory is our 169 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:46,600 chief end, that we may magnify that, exemplarize, be examples 170 00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:51,680 for that speak about that We glorify God and enjoy Him 171 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:54,520 forever. So what is this? 172 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:56,560 What does this mean? Let's unpack it a little bit. 173 00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:58,560 What does it mean? I've been alluding to some of 174 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:01,840 this in the introduction. Hallowed is a weird word. 175 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:08,160 It means to make sacred to me, to mean to make holy, to have in 176 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:12,720 the highest place to be recognized as most important 177 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:16,440 hallowed be your name. What is this? 178 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:21,440 What's the what's the name part? You know, and Shakespeare's 179 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:25,360 maybe most famous play to you, Romeo and JJ's on the balcony. 180 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:29,320 And she says what's in a name? She's worried about Romeo being 181 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:31,600 from the wrong family. What's in a name? 182 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:37,760 She says that which we call a rose would by any other word, by 183 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,080 any other word, would smell as sweet. 184 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:45,800 Is she right or wrong? You decide over lunch and of 185 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:52,560 Avonlea does not agree. She says, I do not believe, I 186 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:58,040 don't believe a rose would be as nice if it was called a Thistle 187 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:03,920 or a skunk cabbage. And thinks words matter, that 188 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:06,960 names are important. We agree. 189 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,560 What is a name? A name is a sacred symbol of a 190 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:15,400 person's essence. It carries their personhood as a 191 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:19,680 sign. And along with this idea comes a 192 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,640 couple of other very important biblical words you can think of. 193 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,880 Holiness is that which you can't see. 194 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:28,280 Think about the sun for a second. 195 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:30,960 We can't see you and I, you're not even supposed to look at the 196 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:32,280 sun, right? They tell you that when you're a 197 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:33,600 little kid, don't stare at the sun. 198 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:35,880 It's so bright and it has a core. 199 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:41,960 You can't see it. So we talk about holiness being 200 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:45,240 that sort of invisible, mysterious essence of a person 201 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:48,880 or of God. And yet there are things that 202 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,760 are visible as God chooses to reveal himself. 203 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:57,400 There are these revelations that emanate out of his mystery. 204 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:02,160 And we call that glory. We call that the Shining. 205 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:04,920 And if you want to think about human beings, we have sort of a 206 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,600 mysterious essence. But then we have ways that that 207 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,440 mystery of you is made visible, principally your body. 208 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:14,000 I look at you and I'm like, oh, there's Elijah. 209 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,120 Great. I can recognize his mysterious 210 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:20,640 essence by the glory of his beautiful, handsome face. 211 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:26,600 You did well. I'm a good job, but besides the 212 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:30,120 visibility of your, of your person revealing something about 213 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:33,600 your essence, your name is super precious and important too, 214 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,720 because it carries with it, when your person isn't around, the 215 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:42,000 idea of you and your unrepeatable, beautiful mystery. 216 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:48,040 And so we care very deeply God about God and about one another, 217 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:52,000 about names and images and likenesses. 218 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:58,240 It's a big business in college sports, big business everywhere. 219 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:00,480 We're talking about sacred things. 220 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,160 And here's where the prayer kind of lines up with the 221 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:09,200 commandments. What does Jesus tell us to pray 222 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:13,000 about? First, the holiness of God's 223 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,560 name. What do the commandments say? 224 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:23,200 First set of commandments protecting and commending and 225 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:31,320 reminding us about the holiness of God's name begins with this 226 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:33,240 introduction. He says who he is. 227 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:35,320 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of 228 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,680 Egypt, the House of slavery, the Redeemer. 229 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:43,000 Remember Me. And then he goes on to say 230 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,120 what's expected now, just like a good marriage. 231 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:47,920 I'm not going to gossip about my wife. 232 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:50,280 I'm going to protect her name. You should do this with God. 233 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:53,800 You should have no other gods before me. 234 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:56,560 I don't want any other women before Deidre. 235 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:02,760 You should not make for yourself a carved image to worship it. 236 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:05,880 When I preached this text before, I said it would be super 237 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,800 weird if Dan got a cardboard cut out of Deidre and made it the 238 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:11,920 object of all my affections carrying around the grocery 239 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:15,600 store and everywhere I go. Huh, madness. 240 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:22,040 So it is with God. Should not take the name of the 241 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,200 Lord your God in vain. It isn't something to lie in his 242 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,240 name, to defraud, or to get what you want. 243 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:37,000 And as much as I see Deidre's name as sacred and special in 244 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,160 the last commandment, in this great grand first table of the 245 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:44,560 law, it talks about keeping God's day sacred as a way to 246 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:47,160 protect all of it. And we'll talk more about that 247 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:49,680 next week as we talk about the Kingdom and the will. 248 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:53,240 Hallowing God's name we've talked about a little bit in a 249 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:55,320 positive way. What would it mean in a negative 250 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,200 way? The opposite of hollowing God's 251 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:06,200 name would be to profane or make common his name, to slander it, 252 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:12,720 to besmirch his reputation maliciously gossiping, dragging 253 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:16,640 through the mud, defaming, cursing, blaspheming, 254 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:22,480 misrepresenting, impersonating in order to defraud, invoking in 255 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:29,720 order to manipulate, starting to sound like the devil, the great 256 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:35,240 adversary, the accuser, the slanderer, the sin before eating 257 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:39,960 the forbidden fruit is a slander against the name of God. 258 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:45,040 He's not good. He's holding out on you. 259 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:50,600 I got a better idea O this hallowing. 260 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:53,160 What does it mean? We want to talk about our 261 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:54,920 attitudes and our words and our deeds. 262 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,840 Let's talk about our attitudes. First of all, Romans chapter 1 263 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:03,080 actually names the problem of a wayward heart with reference to 264 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,040 God's reputation. Look at Romans 121 and 265 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,280 following. For although they people knew 266 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:10,960 God, they could see him in the things that God had made. 267 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:16,200 They did not honor him as God or give thanks to him. 268 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:21,080 And because of this failure of adoration, this failure of 269 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:25,560 Thanksgiving, they descend into a futility, A foolishness that 270 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:27,920 ends up in idol worship. Keep reading. 271 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:30,480 But they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish 272 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:32,960 hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise. 273 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:35,760 It became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God 274 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,720 for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and 275 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:43,320 creeping things. And the writer Paul says it's a 276 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:47,840 failure of gratitude and honor. And so before we ever get to 277 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:50,080 words and deeds, we have to look at the heart, because it's 278 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,720 possible to have pretty good words and pretty good deeds and 279 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:58,200 have a rotten, stinking heart. And indeed, the fall itself is 280 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,480 not only the result of a slander, but a a result of Adam 281 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:04,160 and Eve failing to be grateful for everything that they had in 282 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:07,200 paradise. They wanted more, and they stole 283 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,880 it. The fall was instigated by 284 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,280 slander and perpetrated by ingratitude. 285 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:18,000 Gratitude, my friends, is at the center of the Christian life. 286 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,560 If you meet a mature Christian, they are a thankful person. 287 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:23,520 They can't help it. It comes bubbling out of their 288 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:26,840 mouth. Thankful for God, thankful for 289 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:28,760 what he's doing, thankful for the community of faith. 290 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:30,760 It just comes bubbling out of them. 291 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:35,120 Gratitude is central and necessary to vindicating God's 292 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:38,760 name and reputation in our lives and in the watching world. 293 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:41,960 Gratitude indicates a heart change, a realignment of our 294 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:48,240 most important allegiances, and it's evidenced by other closely 295 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,640 related activities that are overflows of a grateful heart. 296 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:55,200 We've been talking about some of them this morning, praising God, 297 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:01,960 thanking him, blessing him, an aspect of gratitude. 298 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:06,640 Also, the Bible talks about zeal, or a great energy, a 299 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:11,720 spiritual fervor, A kindled heart, alive, full of love for 300 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:17,800 God. Animated by praise, this then 301 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:21,560 affects the words that we say and the deeds that we do right. 302 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:26,280 And so if there is a a, a, a hallowing of God's name and a 303 00:20:26,360 --> 00:20:28,960 heart full of gratitude for what He's done for us, then we 304 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:31,520 represent Him well in the world. With our words. 305 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:38,280 You speak truthfully. As individuals, we want to 306 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:42,040 represent Him well in our witness and corporately as a 307 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:44,560 church. We care about God's reputation 308 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:50,120 in this community and in the world, and care for His hallowed 309 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:53,480 name. Is a prayer too, for the lost, 310 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:57,120 who don't yet know it, or who have heard it and reject it. 311 00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:00,960 In our worshipping idols, we want to tell them the good news 312 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:06,160 with our words, but our words are nothing without the 313 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,600 obedience that accompanies them and supports them and proves 314 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:13,320 them. So we want to have words and 315 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,760 deeds. They're mutually informative and 316 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:22,040 reinforcing our individual deeds of love and mercy from the Holy 317 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:26,080 Spirit, but also our deeds as UCC in the community and in the 318 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:31,120 world, but also as we go out to the nations doing deeds in the 319 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:36,280 name of Jesus Christ to those who need humanitarian care as 320 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,680 well as the gospel. May his name be enhanced in the 321 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,680 world. So we talked a little bit about 322 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:43,920 our hearts. We talked about our words. 323 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:46,720 We talked about our deeds. Now we just need to look briefly 324 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:49,320 at how this all comes to a head in the gospel. 325 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:59,840 The slanderer maligned the name of God, and God in his gospel 326 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:03,680 not only redeems and rescues sinners, but he vindicates his 327 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:05,920 reputation in the world. How? 328 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:11,600 By sending his Son, perfect image of the unseen God, the 329 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:15,840 Word of God, perfect representation of the Father as 330 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:20,520 the agent of redemption, to restore this lost reputation. 331 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:24,480 In fact, it's his principal concern, the thing that animates 332 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:26,800 his whole mission. What does he pray? 333 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:32,480 In John chapter 12, verse 28, he says, Father, glorify your name. 334 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,360 And it goes on in that text to talk about what he's going to do 335 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:39,320 to restore the name of God to its rightful position, it's 336 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:42,160 Creator and Redeemer. It's going to be accomplished 337 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,640 through the humiliation and then the subsequent glorification of 338 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:47,360 the Son. And his reward for this is that 339 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,320 he is given the name above every name. 340 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:55,120 Beautiful. So we've talked about our 341 00:22:55,120 --> 00:22:58,120 attitudes and our words and our actions and how Jesus is 342 00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:02,600 involved in in is causing this very mission of glorifying the 343 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:04,880 Father. Now let's ask ourselves some 344 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,440 really practical questions about how we're going to do this. 345 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:08,680 How are we going to do this, friends? 346 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,800 How are we going to pray this request? 347 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,320 Well, the first thing to notice is that we are praying in the 348 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:21,280 name of Jesus. He's not alone or he's not. 349 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:24,360 We're not alone in this prayer. When we pray our Father he, we 350 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:29,520 pray in the name of Jesus the Son and we pray with him to God. 351 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,320 Hallowed be your name, so you play in Jesus name. 352 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:35,520 We're also praying by the power of the Holy Spirit. 353 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:37,680 So we pray it. How do we pray it? 354 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:42,560 We pray it in the name of Jesus by means of the Holy Spirit. 355 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:47,160 Finding a theme here. But then remember, it's not only 356 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,080 a prayer for God to do things, it's also a prayer for him to 357 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:51,480 work in us. It's a prayer for 358 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:53,480 sanctification. Look, maybe I have a crummy 359 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:59,960 attitude. I don't feel very thankful when 360 00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:02,680 I say hallowed be your name. I say, God, change me. 361 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:04,880 I'm believing the lies of the serpent. 362 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,840 I'm tempted by lesser loves. Hallowed be your name. 363 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,520 Restore my gratitude, my my zeal. 364 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:15,640 Rekindle afresh a love for Jesus, for his name in the 365 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:17,760 world. So we're praying for our own 366 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:20,400 attitude to have reverence and gratitude in zeal. 367 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:23,720 But we're also praying for our words to be true and wholesome. 368 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:29,840 So often we commit sins of speech who contain the tongue. 369 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:32,840 It's a restless evil full of deadly poison we mess up every 370 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:34,680 day. Lord, hallowed be your name. 371 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,960 Protect the words of my mouth and my speech. 372 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,040 Be holy. And if I'm not, when I'm a real 373 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,760 stinker and I'm causing harm, protect those people from me, 374 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:49,640 Lord, Purify my lips as you did Isaiah's. 375 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,800 But not only am I asking him to purify my attitude in my words, 376 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:56,600 I'm asking Him for deeds of love and mercy. 377 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:03,760 Help me to advance your reputation with holy deeds. 378 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:07,760 Let me remember your name as I go out from this house into the 379 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,920 world. I know one of my good friends 380 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,000 used to tell her kids as they were leaving and going out. 381 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:18,440 Remember whose you are. Remember whose you are. 382 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:22,480 You carry a name with you. You carry a reputation with you. 383 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:27,640 And it constrains your ethic as we remember whose we are. 384 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,120 But it's not only a prayer for ourselves, for our individual 385 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:34,240 sanctification. It's for the prayers of the 386 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:38,640 glory of UCC in this place, in this moment in time, that our 387 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:43,000 doctrine will be pure, that our deeds will be compelling, and 388 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,840 that we will have influence in this little community, but also 389 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:51,840 in the waving of all of the students that go out from this 390 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:54,000 place. So there's just a little slice 391 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,520 of UCC in there that they will be name Hallowers wherever they 392 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:01,360 go. May it be true of our church. 393 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:04,800 So it's a prayer for ourselves, for our sanctification. 394 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:06,640 It's a prayer for our local church family. 395 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:10,080 It's also a prayer for outsiders, my friends, because 396 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,800 they don't know Jesus. They're blasphemers, idolaters, 397 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,360 and they need to know. So it's a prayer for evangelism 398 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:21,360 and for the success of the gospel to make unbelievers and 399 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:24,080 God haters into worshippers who bless his name. 400 00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:30,640 So it's a prayer for outsiders. Friends, pray this petition 401 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:33,240 hallowed be your name with fervor. 402 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:38,560 The results may surprise you. As we really recalibrate our 403 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:42,240 hearts and our minds and our loves, and we recenter God's 404 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:48,320 priorities over our desperately felt needs, it makes those needs 405 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:50,480 somehow seem a little bit smaller and a little bit more 406 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:53,280 manageable. Because we've reminded ourselves 407 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:58,040 already that God's got this. He knows the end from the 408 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:00,520 beginning. He even understands my 409 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:04,520 suffering. And I want to, I want to end on 410 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:11,160 this note of how God care. And our prayer for God, making 411 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:15,400 His name big and great, His reputation big and great in my 412 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:18,480 life and in the life of the world, gives tremendous comfort 413 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,960 to my own suffering. And it teaches me what I ought 414 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,960 to do when I don't understand the chaos that's going down all 415 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:28,960 around me. And that fear that he may not 416 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:32,200 know or that he may not be good, and that all this horrible stuff 417 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:38,240 is just so absurd and awful. This prayer for His glory helps. 418 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,800 Packer shows us in such a beautiful way with such few 419 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:47,160 words, how the prayer for God's glory can help us change the 420 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:51,960 question that's tormenting us and say you're suffering. 421 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,880 If you ask why is this happening, you may or may not 422 00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:58,520 get an answer. You're probably not going to get 423 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:02,720 an immediate answer. Packer says very pastorally, No 424 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:06,160 light may come. No light may come. 425 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:13,520 But if you ask, how am I to glorify God now, there will 426 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:18,080 always be an answer. There will always be an answer, 427 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,560 friends. The madness, the absurdity of 428 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:25,600 your situation, the whispering slanderer who says, see, I told 429 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:28,720 you God's not good, just curse him and die. 430 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:34,360 Just curse him and die. And instead you get this. 431 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:39,840 There's pain in the offering. I will bless the name of the 432 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:47,640 Lord though he slay me. I will bless him that there's a 433 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:50,560 higher concern greater than even my own life. 434 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:56,960 I will bless him. Lord hallowed be your name and 435 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:58,960 the very practical thing to do next. 436 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:03,000 That next little step may be clarified by asking the 437 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:08,040 question, how am I to glorify God now? 438 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:13,440 Very powerful petition. The summary and ground for 439 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:18,000 everything that's coming next to conclude, the devil is a 440 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,240 slanderer. He slanders the name of God. 441 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:28,080 Jesus restores God's reputation and invites us to do the same as 442 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:32,920 we pray with the church. Hallowed be thy name as our 443 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:37,320 chief concern. I've been concluding by inviting 444 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:39,600 you to pray out loud with me the Lord's Prayer. 445 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:42,480 If you don't know it, that's OK. Maybe over the course of weeks 446 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:45,160 you'll learn it. And also I let people know when 447 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:47,000 we get to the confusing part. If we don't know if we're 448 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:49,720 supposed to say trespasses or sins or debts, we're going to 449 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:52,920 say trespasses because that's the way my grandma taught it to 450 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:56,120 me. So I invite you to pray now with 451 00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:58,360 me, and then we'll sing a song of response. 452 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:03,320 Let us pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, 453 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:08,760 hallowed be thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done 454 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:13,800 on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day Our Daily 455 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:18,760 Bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those 456 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:23,680 who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but 457 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:27,560 deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and 458 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:31,400 the power and the glory forever. Amen.