Understanding The Lord’s Prayer: Hallowed Be Thy Name

Chapter 2

Hallowed be thy name…

(Understanding God’s Identity)

Jesus establishes God as a heavenly father figure, but that’s not enough for most of us. Without a name, he seems lost in abstraction. Try as we might, we simply can’t bring him into view. There is only the vague presence of someone hovering around us—like the adult of a Charlie Brown Peanuts Special, always outside the frame, speaking in a strange indecipherable language. Jesus understands our predicament, but unlike Moses, who chiseled the Word to fit the hardness of our hearts,¹ he isn’t going to bend the gospel around our weaknesses. He’ll allow for the idea that God has a name, but he isn’t about to tell us what it is.

Why the secrecy? Because Jesus understood that once God is given a name such as Yahweh or Elohim, it doesn’t take long before we start asking for special favors.² Jesus, as we know, wanted to break the belief in a God that plays favorites. He wanted his followers to realize that in the Father’s eyes all races of people are equal: the gospel of Christ beating at the heart of all true religions. “He who is not against us are for us,”³ proclaimed the carpenter’s son. That includes Buddhists, Muslims, Taoists, Jews, and others. What we label ourselves isn’t important as long as we follow Christ’s gospel of love, charity, and good works—as long as we climb the mountain and live up to our potential as God’s children.

Our journey though is hard and steep—especially at the beginning—which is why when churches offer a shortcut to the kingdom of heaven we are quick to accept. It’s quite comforting to think that Jesus did all the legwork, and that we can just coast into heaven on the belief that he is our savior. Unfortunately, Jesus never made such a claim. In fact, he makes it quite clear that he expects us to do our own walking, carrying our own crosses.⁴ The obstacles we face on the way are our responsibility to remove because, more often than not, they are of are own making.

One obstacle to the kingdom is our habit of seeking God from without rather than within. In Old Testament days, this habit regularly took the form of idol worship. Today it is much the same, except we’ve replaced the golden calf with images of Jesus of Nazareth—fetishizing his likeness in our churches, art work, books, and car ornaments.

We’ve fallen into this trap because Jesus, while being cagey about God’s name, says that salvation is to be found through his own “name”.⁵ As usual, we have to be careful of taking Jesus’s reported words too literally. It is clear that he never wanted to be personally honored for the things he did.⁶ Throughout the Gospels he shuns the ego–trip, cherishing anonymity over fame.⁷ He even goes so far as to tell the disciples not to call him “good,”⁸ while urging secrecy from those whom he heals.⁹

When Jesus talks of Christ, God, or the kingdom of heaven, he always speaks in metaphors and parables,¹⁰ expecting us to seek the deeper meaning. When Jesus says that he is the pathway to the Father,¹¹ he is not talking as Jesus of Nazareth but as the Christ child who lives in us all. He is calling each of us to turn our attention inward, to reconnect with that child through the power of the Holy Spirit.¹² What he is not doing, is asking us to bow down and praise him, or go through life as spiritual automatons asking, “What would Jesus do?” If we are to kneel before anyone it is our neighbor, so as to wash their feet and honor them as sons and daughters of the Lord.¹³

This teaching has always been a pretty hard one to…

The Lord’s Prayer. To continue reading, click on page 2 at the bottom.

1. “Moses,” they said, “permitted a man to ‘draw up in writing a notice of separation and divorce his wife.’” 5 “It was owing to the hardness of your hearts,” said Jesus, “that Moses gave you this direction; 6 But, at the beginning of the Creation, God ‘made them male and female.’” – Mark 10:4-6 [↩]
2. Then the mother of Zebediah’s sons came to him with her sons, bowing to the ground, and begging a favor. 21 “What is it that you want?” he asked. “I want you to say,” she replied, “that in your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right, and the other on your left.” – Matthew 20:20–21 [↩]
3. Mark 9:40, Luke 9:50 [↩]
4. If anyone wishes to walk in my steps, let them renounce self, take up their cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34 [↩]
5. And you will be hated by everyone on account of my name. Yet the one that endures to the end shall be saved.” – Matthew 10:22 [↩]
6. Not that I am seeking honor for myself; there is one who is seeking my honor, and he decides. – John 8:50 [↩]
7. “You are the Christ.” 30 On which Jesus charged them not to say this about him to anyone. – Mark 8:30 [↩]
8. ““Why do you call me good?” answered Jesus. “No one is good but God. – Mark 10:18 [↩]
9. Her parents were amazed, but Jesus impressed on them that they were not to tell anyone what had happened. – Luke 8:56 [↩]
10. Of all this Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables; indeed to them he used never to speak at all except in parables. – Matthew 13:34 [↩]
11. I am the door; you who go in through me will be safe, and you will go in and out and find pasture. – John 10:9 [↩]
12. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you always—the Spirit of Truth. – John 14:16 [↩]
13. If I, then—‘the Master’ and ‘the Teacher’—have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet; 15 For I have given you an example, so that you may do just as I have done to you.” – John 13:14–15 [↩]

Lord’s Prayer: As We Forgive Those Who Trespass

Chapter 9

As we forgive those who

trespass against us…

(Removing Our Hindrances, Part II)

Removing the hindrances that block the coming of Christ involves more than just seeking forgiveness. It means giving forgiveness, too. And that can be pretty tough sometimes. As Christians we often think that unless punishments are meted out swiftly and severely our communities will turn into modern day Sodoms & Gomorrahs.

In America this fear fuels our continuation of the death penalty, world record incarceration rates, and overflowing court dockets. There is not a lot of forgiveness going around—to put it mildly. Christians know (or should know) that these actions run contrary to the teachings of Jesus and our faith. But we justify our behavior by revisiting Old Testament laws.

An “eye for an eye” makes so much better sense, because it is like a balancing of the ledger books. And it feels a lot better, too. Because it satisfies our desire for revenge. But playing tit for tat doesn’t balance our offenses before God. The book of life is not a ledger of rights vs. wrongs; it is a story of forgiveness and hope. And unless we forgive others, the forgiveness we ask of the Father will not be given.¹ For it has, in fact, never been heard.

To better explain this, let’s return to the parable of water. We already know that water follows the path of least resistance. It also has another defining characteristic: it seeks its own level. This means that when water flows into a container (be it a cup, lake, or pool) it rises to a height that is level all around. Likewise, the Holy Spirit seeks its own level within of us. And its height is largely determined by our ability to forgive others, just as God forgives us.²

When we refuse to grant forgiveness, the water of the Holy Spirit dries to dust—the same dust that Jesus writes in when the angry crowd seeks to stone the adulteress.³ The dust we shuffle through daily, when we demand that others pay for their offenses and failures to live up to our expectations.

In our anxiousness for retribution, we forget that ultimately every offender pays for the offense that matters most: trespassing against the Holy Spirit.⁴ And the payment levied by God is that person’s continued separation from his kingdom and a life more abundant.

We must remember that an individual’s spiritual journey is long and hard, and no journey is the same. When we lose patience and are quick to judge others, we should recall how “slow to learn”⁵ the apostles were. Yet slow to learn doesn’t mean can’t learn. Christ’s wisdom is a seed that grows differently in every person. Even God does not know how and when it will grow inside us.⁶ But grow it will if we have the faith to let the will of the Father run its course, and don’t act as hindrances in its way.

It might seem impossible to forgive someone who has wronged us “seventy times seven times”.⁷ Because it feels like we are letting the offender off the hook. But actually we are leaving ourselves of the hook; releasing ourselves from the anger, frustration, disappointment, and superiority that often accompany our judgments.

A few chapters ago, we mentioned that we can take…

The Lord’s Prayer. To continue reading, click on page 2 at the bottom.

1. Whenever you stand up to pray, forgive any grievance that you have against anyone, that your Father who is in heaven also may forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” – Mark 11:25–26 [↩]
2. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. – Luke 6:37 [↩]
3. They said to the Master: “This woman was taken in the very act of adultery. 5 Now, the law of Moses says that we must stone her. What do you say?” 6 They asked this to tempt Jesus, so that later they may have something to accuse him with. But Jesus only stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground. 7 When they continued asking, he stood up and said: “He that among you is without sin, let him cast the first stone at her.” 8 And again he stopped down and wrote on the ground. 9 And those which heard it, being stricken by their own conscience, left one by one, beginning with the eldest unto the last. John 8:4–9 [↩]
4. I tell you that all will be forgiven every sin and slander; but slander against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Whoever speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. – Matthew 12:31 [↩]
5. The disciples were utterly amazed, 52 For they had not understood about the loaves, their minds being slow to learn. – Mark 6:51-52 [↩]
6. This is what the kingdom of God is like: like a farmer who has scattered seed on the ground, 27 And then sleeps by night and rises by day, while the seed is shooting up and growing, he knows not how. Mark 4:26-27 [↩]
7. Peter came up, and said to Jesus: “Master, how often am I to forgive others when they wrong me? As many as seven times?” 22 But Jesus answered: “Not seven times, but ‘seventy times seven.’ – Matthew 18:21-22 [↩]

Death & The Tao

Spiritual Progressives who have studied some Eastern philosophy are no doubt familiar with Lao Tzu, whose book the Tao Te Ching (The Way of Nature & Its Power) established the religion of Taoism. Not so many though are familiar with the second great teacher of Taoism, Chuang Tzu, who more than anyone preserved Taoism from the encroachments of Confucianism. One of the most memorable stories about Chuang Tzu surrounds the death of his wife, and now follows.

After Chuang Tzu’s wife died, his friend Hui Tzu went to his house to console him. When he got there, he found Chuang Tzu sitting on the ground, banging on a drum, and singing joyfully.

“This is too much!” exclaimed Hui Tzu. “To live with your wife and raise a son together, then not shed a tear after you’ve buried her in the ground, that would be bad enough, but to drum and sing! Surely, this is going too far!”

“Not at all,” replied Chuang Tzu. “When she died, I could not help being saddened by her death. But soon I remembered that she already existed as a spirit without substance or form. Substance was later added to that spirit, and her next stage was birth, after which she grew to become the person that I knew and loved. Now, by virtue of another change, she is dead, passing from one phase to another as spring turns to summer, fall, and then winter. Since she has passed into the next phase of life, for me to go about weeping and wailing would show that I am ignorant of the way of nature. Therefore, I refrain.”

Jesus of Nazareth took a similar view towards death, as is shown in the Gospel of Luke:

Jesus said: “Follow me.” “Let me first go and bury my father,” said the man. But Jesus said: “Leave the dead to bury their dead; but go yourself and carry far and wide the gospel of the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-60)

By living joyfully after his wife’s death, Chuang Tzu was carrying the gospel of Christ, and honoring both his wife and God.

—

Gain fresh insight into the Lord’s Prayer. Read our free online book The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life. The prayer’s hidden teachings will enrich and inspire you. Click the following link to begin reading the Living Hour book now: The Lord’s Prayer.

Jesus & Miguel de Unamuno – Solitude & Society

Jesus tells us we cannot enter the kingdom of God unless we are born of both water and spirit¹. Most of us can work out what Jesus means by born of spirit but born of water is a bit trickier. The literalist will just say, “Oh, he must mean baptism,” and leave it at that. But Jesus never wanted us to leave his words just at that. He infused all of his teachings with many levels of meaning, discernible to those who have the ears ready to hear it.²

As well all know, Jesus liked using parables to teach. Sometimes these parables are explicit, such as in the parable of the prodigal son, and other times they are implicit. For Jesus, water is a natural element that is a parable in itself. For example, if we look at Jesus’s life as depicted in the Gospels, we see that it echoes the flowing in and receding back of the ocean’s tides. Jesus would repeatedly flow out into society to teach, spread the gospel of Christ, and share fellowship with his neighbors, only to recede back into himself, into lonely places to pray³.

If we are truly to realize Christ in its fullness, we should remember that both solitude and society are essential. The artist, poet, or musician who spends their life creating great works yet ignores regular fellowship with his community is as spiritually off-kilter as the good hearted soul who dedicates their life to helping others yet ignores that solitary inner dialogue which is essential to self-growth. Solitude and society are like a tidal river, each side continually feeding the other. Or in the eloquent words of the Spanish author and statesman Miguel de Unamuno:

Only in solitude do we find ourselves; and in finding ourselves, we find in ourselves all our brothers [and sisters] in solitude–in solitude and only in solitude can you know yourself as a neighbor, and as long as you do not know yourself as a neighbor, you can never hope to see in your neighbors other I’s–It is solitude that makes [us] really sociable and human.

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Please subscribe to The Living Hour’s free Daily SBNR Motivationals by entering your email address into the “Opening the Small Gate” box in the right corner of this web page. This Progressive Christianity series is written for Unitarians, Agnostics, and all who seek a richer life.

To read about Teilhard de Chardin and the inherent goodness of the world, please go to: Having Faith in the World.

1. “In truth I tell you,” exclaimed Jesus, “unless you are reborn, you cannot see the kingdom of God.” “How can someone,” asked Nicodemus, “be born when they are old? Can we be born a second time?” “In truth I tell you,” answered Jesus, “unless you owe your birth to water and spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God.” John 3:3-5 [↩]
2. “Nothing is hidden unless some day it comes to light, nor was anything ever kept hidden but that it should some day come into the light of day. 23 Let all who have ears to hear with hear.” Mark 4:22-23 [↩]
3. The story about Jesus spread all the more, and great crowds came together to listen to him, and to be cured of their illnesses; But Jesus used to withdraw to lonely places and pray. Luke 5:15-16 [↩]

Progressive Christians: The Question of Ministry

There have been discussions recently among Progressive Christians about what does (or should) ministry include. The question is being posed a bit incorrectly. The question should be, “What does ministry NOT include?” Because when we begin to think about it from this vantage point, we start to realize that there are no good works, no vocations, and no discussions that are beyond the province of Progressive Christian Ministry.

Let’s return again to Henry David Thoreau. The famous 19th century transcendentalist once wrote: That which we are, we are all the while teaching. This sounds like something Jesus might say. For when we are in Christ, and following the path of love, patience, and diligence, it does not matter the work we are doing (be it carpentry, teaching, chemistry, or waiting tables), we are performing a ministry through the example of who we are. But when we lash out in anger, rush through jobs impatiently, or judge those around us harshly, our Christian ministry stops dead in its tracks.

For the Progressive Christian, there should be no division between ministers and lay people. In Christ, the reverend and the software developer are both ministers. We are all meant to be ministers and stewards of each other’s divinity, as well as the unique skills and talents that God grants us. Finding and developing those skills is a ministry in itself, a ministry to the Christ in us. Applying those skills through good works, and in a loving manner, is another ministry, one offered to the world at large. But these are not the only ministries. Ministry does not stop when “the work” stops. It continues on through each and every aspect of our lives: from the ways we deal with friends and family to the ways we play and express our joy. So to paraphrase Thoreau, That which we are, is a ministry we are all the while teaching.

To read about the suggested role of the Progressive Christian Pastor in today’s church, please go to: The New Reverend’s Role.

The Lord’s Prayer In Aramaic

There have been many translations of The Lord’s Prayer in hundreds of languages. But the one which perhaps is most fascinating to Christians is the translation in Aramaic, the language which Jesus spoke.

The following is an Aramaic translation of The Lord’s Prayer, the prayer which Jesus taught his disciples when they asked him how to pray, the prayer which is the Rosetta Stone for understanding the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

The Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic

Abwûn:
Oh Thou, from whom the breath of life comes,

d’bwaschmâja:
Who fills all realms of sound, light and vibration.

Nethkâdasch schmach:
May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest.

Têtê malkuthach:
Your Heavenly Domain approaches.

Nehwê tzevjânach aikâna d’bwaschmâja af b’arha:
Let Your will come true – in the universe just as on earth

Hawvlân lachma d’sûnkanân jaomâna: Give us wisdom for our daily need,

Waschboklân chaubên wachtahên aikâna daf chnân schwoken l’chaijabên:
Detach the fetters of faults that bind us, (karma) like we let go the guilt of others.

Wela tachlân l’nesjuna:
Let us not be lost in superficial things,

Ela patzân min bischa:
But let us be freed from that what keeps us off from our true purpose.

Metol dilachie malkutha wahaila wateschbuchta l’ahlâm almîn.
From You comes the all-working will, the lively strength to act,
the song that beautifies all and renews itself from age to age.

Amên: Sealed in trust, faith and truth.

——–

What is the Lord’s Prayer? It is a short prayer, but one that is filled with layers of esoteric meanings. Read our free online book The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life to begin discovering the prayer’s hidden messages. Click the following link to begin reading the Living Hour book now: The Lord’s Prayer.

If you would like to read The Lord’s Prayer in a Latin translation, please go to: The Lord’s Prayer in Latin.

The Lord’s Prayer: In Pennylvania Dutch (Deutsch)

The Lord’s Prayer played a strong role in the services and worship of the Germans who settled in Pennsylvania. Pastor David, the director of LivingHour.org, numbers his ancestors among these German settlers. In homage to them, we offer a Pennsylvania Dutch (Deutsch) translation of The Lord’s Prayer, the prayer which Jesus taught his disciples when they asked him how to pray. It is this prayer that Jesus advises us to pray instead of making requests for specific things, as God already knows what we need.

The Lord’s Prayer

Unsah Faddah im Himmel,
dei nohma loss heilich sei,
Dei Reich loss kumma.
Dei villa loss gedu sei,
uf di eaht vi im Himmel.
Unsah tayklich broht gebb uns heit,
Un fagebb unsah shulda,
vi miah dee fagevva vo uns shuldich sinn.
Un fiah uns naett in di fasuchung,
avvah hald uns fu’m eevila.
[Fa dei is es Reich, di graft,
un di hallichkeit in ayvichkeit.
Amen.]

Gain fresh insight into the Lord’s Prayer & how God is with us today. Read our free online book The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life. The prayer’s hidden teachings will enrich and inspire you. Click the following link to begin reading the Living Hour Book now: The Lord’s Prayer.

To read The Lord’s Prayer in a Greek translation, the language in which the New Testament was written, please go to: The Lord’s Prayer in Greek.

The Lord’s Prayer: In A German Translation

German theologians such as Paul Tillich and Gerhard Ebeling have had a tremendous impact on what we call the Progressive Christian movement today, their works being as vital and contemporary now as when they were written.

In tribute to them and other German theologians, we offer the following German translation of the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer Jesus taught his disciples when they asked him how to pray, the prayer that is the Rosetta Stone for understanding the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Lord’s Prayer

Vater unser im Himmel,
geheiligt werde dein Name.
Dein Reich komme.
Dein Wille geschehe,
wie im Himmel so auf Erden.
Unser tägliches Brot gib uns heute.
Und vergib uns unsere Schuld,
wie auch wir vergeben unsern Schuldigern.
Und führe uns nicht in Versuchung,
sondern erlöse uns von dem Bösen.
[Denn dein ist das Reich und die Kraft
und die Herrlichkeit in Ewigkeit.
Amen.]

Gain fresh insight into the Lord’s Prayer & how God is with us today. Read our free online book The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life. The prayer’s hidden teachings will enrich and inspire you. Click the following link to begin reading the Living Hour Book now: The Lord’s Prayer.

If you would like to read The Lord’s Prayer in Pennsylvania Deutsch/German, please go to: The Lord’s Prayer in Pennsylvania Dutch.