Hallowed Be Your Name

The Lord’s Prayer - Hallowed be your name

We talk about a person’s ‘name’ as something that matters. Our name is our reputation. A good name is highly treasured (Prv 22:1).

In the ancient world names were seen as representing the person. Parents chose names with great care as to their meaning. In some circles, to know a person’s name was to gain some power over them. We see a little of that today, for when we invite someone to call us by our most familiar name we invite them to come closer to us.

What of God’s name? Our God reveals himself under several names in the Bible. It was highly significant when he identified himself to Moses by the Hebrew word YHWH (Ex 3:14). We generally render this as Yahweh. ‘Jehovah’ is another attempt to render the same Hebrew word. Most English Bibles translate YHWH as Lord, as distinct from Lord. It’s a name that means ‘I will be who I will be’ and reminds us that the Lord is who he is and not who we want him to be.

What does it mean to hallow God’s name?  The word hallow comes from the same root as holy. To treat God’s name as holy goes beyond respect. It is to treat God’s name as special or different.

The ancient Hebrews took this literally and did pronounce YHWH for fear of misuse – and that is why we do not know how to say it. But is that what it really means to hallow God’s name?

Of course we should take care with God’s name in a literal sense and thus not use it flippantly or irreverently (Ex 20:7).  Some of us may need to correct our speech here.

However, the real hallowing of God’s name is hinted at in the following words of the Lord’s Prayer. God’s name is hallowed in the coming of his Son’s kingly rule and as his will is done.

This has a personal aspect. God’s name is tied to his people. When we tell people that we are Christians, God’s reputation becomes tied to our behaviour. We are the banner for his name. What messages do the banners of our lives give?

So let us indeed pray that the Lord’s name will be hallowed. But let us be part of the answer to that prayer with a life lived under Jesus’ kingly rule and doing his will.

Your Kingdom Come

Your Kingdom Come

The kingdom of God is a common phrase of Jesus and his teaching. What is this kingdom and what does it mean to pray for its coming?

The kingdom of God has been defined as God’s rule over God’s people in God’s place. This theme can be traced from one end of the Bible to the other and used to ‘unpack’ the key movements in the ‘creation, fall, redemption’ pattern of God and humanity.

God’s king is central to his kingdom. The Old Testament has big promises about a future king of David’s line who will have an endless kingdom (2 Sam 17:12-16). Zechariah is one of many prophets speaking of this king’s coming and describing his kingdom (Zech 9:9-10). Matthew introduces Jesus to us as God’s king (Mat 2:2-6). Jesus’ first sermon was to announce that the kingdom was at hand and to command that we enter it by repentance (Mat 4:17).

God’s promised king came in Jesus. He came to inaugurate the kingdom in his Cross and he will come again to consummate it at that time when every knee shall bow and acknowledge his Lordship (Phil 2:10-11).

The prayer your kingdom come has present and future aspects.

Its present aspect has inward and outward dimensions. The outer dimension is that more and more people enter the kingdom by obeying the command to repent and believe in Jesus. The inner dimension is that every part of our life is presented to God as a sacrifice under King Jesus’ rule (Rom 12:1-2). In short, we are to be loyal to our king in every part of our life and to seek to bring others under Jesus’ rule. Do we really mean that when we pray this part of the Lord’s Prayer?

The future aspect of your kingdom come is bound up with the end of things when God is all in all and all is subject to God (1 Cor 15:28). This is echoed in the final words of our Bible: Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus (Rev 22:20).

Your kingdom come: Let us give our prayer integrity by submitting to Christ as king in every part of our life; seeking to bring others into his kingdom, and by pinning our greatest hopes on his return and rule.

Thoughts on Thaipussam Feb 2009

Thaipusam was celebrated on Sunday 8 Feb in 2009. That meant an all day procession of devottees making pilgrimage between temples and passing in front of our church buildings. Many of these carried huge burdens on their shoulders and attached to their bodies through skin piercing. It was also a day when we celebrated the Lord's Supper. That led to this reflection.

Oh Christ my Lord and Saviour,

I thank you that you made the pilgrimage to Golgotha for me;

And that you carried the burden of my Cross, my sins;

And that your flesh was pierced for my transgressions.

Give me grace to make my life a pilgrimage .

.. of trust in your piercings 

... taking up my Cross to follow you;

All because you made this journey first for me.

Definitions of Worship

Here are some definitions of worship, picked up and summarised from here and there.

Can we add more?

DAVID PETERSON

A whole of life engagement with God on his terms

FROM A CLASS AT SINGAPORE BIBLE COLEGE 12 JAN 09

·         Worship is a response  of who God is and what has done. It is an outward expression of an inner faith.

·         Worship is a God-centered and Christ-centered expression of our ultimate response to God whereby we glorify Him with our whole being for who he is and what he has done (receptively at the cross of Christ), and it is demonstrated in every areas of our lives.

·         Worship is having a disposition of heart and mind bowed down to God in recognition and appreciation for who he is.

·         Worship is a reverent response to a holy God with our entire being.

·         Worship is giving ourselves and every aspect of our life completely to God in reverent submission and worshipful adoration.

·         Worship is the acknowledgement of God & His worth (who he is) through our lives.

·         Worship is man’s response of reverence towards God’s character as well as our communion with God

·         Worship is en expression of our relationship to God through our offer praise for who He is. An outward expression of an inward disposition

·         Worship is both an inner disposition and an outward expression to reflect our reverent adoration, love and praise of God

·         Worship is an expression of love, adoration to God. In the form of serving God through people and giving our allegiance to God.

Euthanasia

Dying to Go?

Advances in medicine mean that we now have increasing control over both ends of human life. Children who were once inconceivable are now healthy toddlers. The timing and manner of death is now more manageable. However, increasing control also means increasing dilemmas.

Euthanasia is back in public discussion. Consider these scenes ...

·         Uncle Jack is in the last stage of a terminal illness. The family say their farewells, request no extra treatment and he passes away.

·         Uncle Jack still has days to live but he is given medication to stop vital functions and passes away.

 There is a vast difference between these two scenes. The first is a decision not to prolong the dying process and is akin to the prayer ‘Your will be done. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord’. Many of us have been part of these decisions and may even have provided for it through an Advance Medical Directive. This is not euthanasia. There are few issues here - providing that the decision to abandon curative treatment is not taken too early and providing that there is open discussion with relevant people.

 The second scene involves intentional acts to end a life. It is not an action that leaves the life in God’s hands, but is an act that asserts ‘my will be done’ – whether the ‘will’ is that of the patient, the family or the doctors. This is euthanasia and raises serious Christian issues.

 The Bible teaches that all human life comes from God – it is his to give and take (Gen 1:26-27; Job 1:21; Ps 100:3). Because all human life bears God’s image it has a sacred quality and God calls us to account for any wilful taking of a human life (Gen 9:5-6). We are to help the gravely ill and not harm them. Euthanasia is ‘not on’.

 There has long been a tacit understanding that doctors sometimes cease active treatment and switch to purely palliative care – perhaps in consultation with patient and family. In some places, there is now an explicit permission for active euthanasia. This is generally with supposedly tight controls over what kinds of patients can be killed, under what circumstances and with carefully specified consent mechanisms. Evidence from the Netherlands suggests that the safeguards readily break down and people are being killed without their informed consent. This is a dangerous path. How long before aggressive social engineers create a new holocaust by euthanizing certain categories of people such as people with disabilities, people from unwanted ethnic groups, or just people who are expensively old?

 The Christian church has largely lapsed into silence with respect to the abortion of yet-unborn children. Let’s not repeat that silence at the other end of life. In God’s name, we must protect the vulnerable.

 The medical and family issues associated with death are complex and the line between allowing someone to die and hastening their death can be blurred. Families do well to consider these issues in advance, seek competent advice (perhaps including a pastor) and take their time.

 However it is basic to a Christian view of life’s beginning and ending that it is God’s life and not ours. Let’s set our moral compass around this point and encourage others to do the same.

David Burke

Homosexuality

Many Christian churches include men and women who struggle with homosexuality, along with such heterosexual issues as premarital sex and adultery. They also include people who struggle with greed, selfishness, hatred and such like.

That should not surprise us, for Paul saw the same struggles when he looked at the early church (see 1 Cor 6:9-10 for a fuller list). The mix may vary from time to time and place to place, but the same struggles occur among Christian people across time and space boundaries.

Some activists claim that as many as 10% of the population are homosexual. This may well be overstated. However, there is a significant number of people struggling here, whether they are 'out' or maintaining a life of quiet concealment.

What can Christians say about same sex relationships?

Let's first distinguish between orientation and action. Someone may may a disposition to homosexuality but choose not to act on it. (As may also be true for other struggle areas.) Another may give may to homosexual thoughts as a purely private and inward action. (As again may happen in other areas.) Yet another may act out their thoughts. The last two are problem areas in Christian perspective, for Jesus teaches that our inward thought actions are morally significant, along with outward body actions (eg Matt 5:21-29).

The Bible teaches that homosexual action is sin (see Lev 18:22; Rom 1:25-27; 1 Cor 6:9). On the basis of Matt 5:21-29, this surely includes homosexual lust as well as outwards homosexual behaviour. It is sin because it is against the God’s ‘order of nature’. Our sexuality is a good gift of God. But like all good gifts it can be put to sinful uses when driven by our fallen nature. Because our sexuality is so powerful, it does greater damage when misused (1 Cor 6:12-20).

While homosexual action is sin, it is no worse than other sexual sins. (In some cases it may be less worse - for example consensual homosexual activity between adults is surely less of a problem that rape or pedophilia.) Along with other sexual sins, it draws God’s judgement if it continues (1 Cor 6:9). Along with other sexual sins, it draws God’s grace if it is confessed and repented with faith in Jesus (1 Cor 6:11).

How should we react to proposals for decriminalising homosexual behaviours, or allowing homosexual marriage?

On the one hand we can bear strong witness to Christian moral values. And, we can argue a ‘public benefit’ case that society gains by reflecting Christian values in legislation. However, we need care. Why legislate against homosexual behaviour while being legally silent on heterosexual sins which are far more common? This seems to be an area where it is an odd discrimination to punish a minority sexual sin while leaving the majority ones untouched.

We need a good sense of priorities. Rejection of God’s rule is the root problem, not homosexual actions or other sinful behaviours. Romans 1:18-32 gives a clear perspective on this. We need to focus on ministering to the homosexual at this root problem rather than being distracted by the symptoms. We may get a lead from John 8:1-11. Try substituting ‘homosexuality’ for ‘adultery’ in this passage and see where it takes us.

My point here is that it may not be productive to attack the fruits of rejecting God's kingship in such a way as to cloud the root issue. We may well start with the fruits of rejecting God, but this should be done in such a way as to talk of a person's need of Jesus and offer them grace. This is especially so with regard to the homosexual community which sometimes makes strident accusations of homophobia against Biblical Christianity and Christians.

From a pastoral note, there is a vast difference between the homosexual struggler and the one who denies the sin. The struggler labels their behaviour sin, confesses it, and battles against it with God's help. Their is an apt word of absolution and encouragement for this person (1 Jn 1:5- 2:2; Heb 4:14-16. The homosexual who denies the sin and revels in it needs to hear a sharp gospel message of God's judgement and God's salvation.

We are all sinners and strugglers at one point or another. What matters is that we confess sin and struggle against it. Christ came for people like all of us (Lke 19:10). Let us extend his welcome to one another, whatever the point of struggle.

Organ Trade

The Gift of Life, or Organised Trade?

My friend was a 19 year old medical student when she diagnosed her own kidney problems. Disease lurked and death loomed. Finally her mother donated one of her kidneys and a successful transplant gave two decades of extra life.

This is a touching story of filial love. It has rich echoes of the news that Jesus donated his life in love for his estranged spiritual family (Jn 10:15-18; Rom 5:8). That goes way beyond organ donation and is filial love to the max!

Organ ‘donation’ is back in the news. The media reports proposals to allow ‘compensation’ for kidneys supplied by strangers and for human eggs supplied for research. Some reports suggest that the compensation for a kidney could be five or six figures.

How do Christians respond? There seems to be no Christian problem with organ donation, so long as there is no undue pressure or harm to the donor, and so long as the donated purpose involves no ethical dilemmas. (The later may be an issue with egg donations.) In these cases it may be a noble act of love to give an organ (or other body tissue) to benefit another. This is the gift of life.

‘Donation’ and ‘gift’ are key words in this discussion.

Few will object if donors are compensated for their time and expense and are given coverage for any medical expenses arising from the donation. However, it’s a worrying sign as enlarged compensation threatens to turn the gift into a trade. How many figures does it take for ‘compensation’ to become an ‘inducement’? Consider a poor person in a debt trap who faces a choice between giving a six figure kidney or facing debtor’s prison.

Our sense of human depravity cautions here, for the Bible urges God’s people to care for the vulnerable and not exploit them (eg, Lev 25:17, James 1:27). Organ donation is an act of grace. Organ trade easily becomes a means by which the sick rich and greedy middlemen find a new way to exploit the poor.

Let’s not turn the gift of life into organised trade.