Redeemer Lutheran Church
1084 W. Bullard Ave.
Fresno, CA   93711
Phone: (559) 439-8500
Fax: (559) 439-8585
office@redeemerfresno.com

The Reverend Clarence Eisberg
Phone: (209) 725-9082
Cell:  (209) 631-3108
pastor@redeemerfresno.com

Worship ~ 8:30 a.m. & 10:00 a.m.
Family Ministries ~ 10:00 a.m.
Holy Communion ~ 2nd & 4th Sundays
Connecting People to Jesus
and to One Another!
www.lcms.org









The Reverend
Clarence Eisberg

April 22, 2007
“Hallowed Be Thy Name”
(Part 2, Prayer:  Connecting To Our Father)
art.

Today we consider the phrase “Hallowed be Your Name”.  It is not the kind of wording we
are accustomed to hearing in today’s world.  When one stops to consider the word it may
seem foolish to pray, “Hallowed be Your name”.  God’s name is already holy.  Our prayers
using this phrase we are praying that His name be made holy in our midst.

In the large Catechism this question is asked.  “How does it become holy among us?  The
answer:  “When both our teaching and our life (actions) are godly and Christian.”  Just as
it is a shame and disgrace to an earthly father to have a bad, unruly child who
antagonizes him in word and deed … so that the father suffers scorn and reproach, so
God is dishonored if we, who are called by his name, and enjoy his blessings fail to teach,
speak, and live as godly … children…”  LC.  B of C, p. 425.

When we pray this phrase, “Hallowed be Your Name:, we are asking that the personhood
of God the Father, His identity, His character, His reputation be honored, revered and
respected.  May God’s name, His reputation, person and character be untarnished,
uncontaminated, unsullied in our life, in our world.  (A Laymen Looks at The Lord’s Prayer
by Phillip Keller).

When we consider God as the master potter, we are encouraged to make sure that we,
His created sculpture, exalt His name.  From the very beginning you and I were created to
become like Jesus.  At creation God said, “Let us make human beings in our image and
likeness.”  In all of creation … only human beings are created in God’s image.  He is the
potter, we are the clay, His work of art.

We live in a culture that tells us we are in control of our destiny.  We can shape our future
… if we are not careful we will begin to believe that we are both the potter and the clay.  
When we pray, “Hallowed be Your Name” we are admitting that God truly is the one who is
in control … He knows the number of hairs on our head.  He is the one who numbers our
days.

When we pray … may your name be kept holy in my life, we are obeying the 2nd
commandment.

The Apostle Paul wrote:  “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the
spiritual forces of evil…”  Satan does not want God’s name to be honored by men and
women.  Satan is seeking the use of human governments to curb and destroy the
influence of Christ and his followers.  Satan promotes anti-God teachings all over the
world.  53% of the American population is now involved in some type of non-Christian
religion.

Satan used communism as a state religion and sought to destroy Christianity’s influence.  
In the nation of Belgium the Muslim population demanded that church bells remain silent;
the government complied.  Recently in Germany a Muslim woman asked the German
courts to stop her husband from beating her – she asked for protection.  The German
Judge said that the Koran over-ruled German law.

Governments in Eastern Europe are battling Scientology, a movement dedicated to
undermining both church and state.  When the Soviet Union collapsed, many anti-
Christian movements worked zealously to recapture the minds and spiritual lives of
citizens and bring them back into spiritual bondage.

Satan does not want God’s name hallowed.  The Church… (with a “C”) through the
weapons of prayer and faith … is the mightiest force for civilization and enlightened social
consciousness in the world.  The only force that is contesting Satan’s total rule in human
affairs is the Church and the prayers of the people of God.

Our faithful use of prayer – without violating the free moral responsibility of individuals,
releases the Spirit of God upon an unbelieving soul so that they will be receptive to the
gospel message.

To enable the Church, the Bride of the Lamb, to overcome Satan, God entered the
stream of human history in the incarnation, born of Mary, in the ancient town of
Bethlehem.  Listen to the confrontation.  (Read Mark 1:21-27).

Hebrews 2:14-15.  Since the children have flesh and blood, he, too, shared in their
humanity so that by His death He might destroy the devil that holds the power of death
and frees those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Herod tried to kill the infant Jesus.  Who motivated Herod to such evil?  Satan …

Jesus had been rejected by the religious Jewish leaders.  They tried to stone him because
he claimed to be God.  In his own home town he was rejected.  They tried to throw him off
a cliff.  Finally, one of his disciples betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver.  He was charged
with treason and executed by the authority of Rome under Pontius Pilate.

On the cross, robbed of all dignity and freedom of movement, strung up with nails or
ropes or both, powerless, it looked like total defeat.  Jesus, the visible image of the
invisible God was crushed by the ruthless power of Rome, yet He himself was crushing the
serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15).

The cross, the cross, the blood of the Holy Lamb of God, reveals the depth of God’s love
for humanity – you and me.  The cross, the cross the blood of the Holy Lamb of God
covers the believers’ sin, making us white as snow, without blemish, holy in the sight of
God by faith.

The cross, the cross, the blood of the holy Lamb of God secures the conquest of evil so
that legally Satan can no longer accuse the believer, for our sins were nailed to the cross
and left there.  “He took this list of sins, having canceled the written code, with its
regulations that stood opposed to us, he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”  (Colossians
2:14)  At the cross, at the cross God the Father, in Christ “disarmed  the powers and
authorities” of evil.

The resurrection of Jesus simply confirms Satan’s defeat, His inability to
hold the believer in the bonds and shackles of the fear of death.  The resurrection of
Jesus validates and publicly confirms that our sins were placed on his shoulders on the
cross, just as he promised they would be.

“Even though the devil has been defeated, he has not yet conceded defeat.  Although he
has been overthrown he has not yet been eliminated.  He continues to wield earthly
power.”   And so we must continue to pray … Our Father in heaven, may your name be
hallowed in our world, our lives, and our culture.

“Prayer is not begging God to do something which he doesn’t want to do.  It is not
overcoming reluctance in God.  It is by prayer that we enforce God’s victory over Satan
and bind his activity.  E.M Bounds said:  God shapes the world by prayer.  The more
praying there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against
evil…”

Prayer is like a safety deposit box in the bank vault.  The keeper has a key and you have
a key.  Neither key alone will open the box.  But when you give the keeper your key the
attendant inserts both keys and the door flies open making available all the treasures
within.  God accomplished the victory over Satan at the cross.  He invites us to do our part
– pray.

It is God who inspires us to pray so that He can accomplish what he wants.

Talk to God.  He loves you.  Pray like Jesus
1)        Pray every chance you get.  Paul wrote.  “Pray without ceasing”
2)        Silently listen and ask.  “God, what would you like me to pray about?
3)        Give thanks in all circumstances
4)        When you pray “Hallowed be Your Name” … you are asking God’s                         
reputation, His character to be honored, in your life.  You are asking Satan’s activity to be
bound.
Connecting People to Jesus
and to One Another!
www.lcms.org