July 14th, 2025
by Pastor Stuart
by Pastor Stuart
Hallowed Be Thy Name:
Living a Life Set Apart
In our fast-paced, ever-changing world, it's easy to get caught up in the flow of everyday life and forget that we, as people of faith, are called to be different. We are called to be holy. But what does it mean to be holy in today's context, and how can we live up to such a lofty ideal?
The phrase "Hallowed be thy name" from the Lord's Prayer might seem archaic to our modern ears. After all, when was the last time you casually used the word "hallowed" in a sentence? Yet, this ancient phrase carries a profound meaning that is just as relevant today as it was when it was first uttered. To hallow something means to make it holy, to set it apart as sacred and special.
When we say "Hallowed be thy name," we're acknowledging that God's name is holy, set apart, and lifted up. We're recognizing that God is above and beyond anything we can fully comprehend in our world. This act of setting God apart is crucial for us as people of faith because it reminds us that we, too, are called to be set apart.
In the book of Leviticus, we find these powerful words: "I am the Lord your God. I have separated you from the peoples. You shall be holy to me for I, the Lord, am holy. And I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine." This passage underscores our calling to be God's people, to be different from the world around us. We are expected, out of our reverence for God, to live lives that stand out from our neighbors'.
But what does this look like in practice? How can we be "holy" in a world that often seems anything but holy?
The good news is that being holy doesn't mean following a list of 613 commandments or adhering to a set of rigid, outdated rules. Instead, our call to holiness is summed up in two simple yet profound commandments: love God with all your heart, mind, body, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is the lens through which we are to view the world and live our lives.
Living a holy life isn't about satisfying a punitive God or fulfilling an obligation. It's about embracing a different way of being, one that is rooted in love. We are made in God's image, and because of that, we are designed to share God's love with everyone we encounter. This calling to be set apart in order to love is a powerful thing.
When we act from a place of love, we don't always know where it will lead us. Love can reach far and wide, deep into the world in ways we can't predict. We might get things right from a place of love, and we might get things wrong. But the important thing is that we're approaching life from this place of love, this place of holiness.
Now, you might be thinking, "How can I possibly live up to this high calling? How can I dare to call myself holy?" The truth is, we can't be perfect. We can't meet the incredibly high expectations of perfection at every moment. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive with all that we are to be the best version of ourselves, to be who God is calling us to be in all the ways we can.
We are bound to make mistakes. We are bound to act in ways that fall short of love. But as long as we do everything we can to strive towards love, to act out of love with who we are, we will become something more than who we have been without it. We will become holy.
It's important to understand that being holy and being perfect are two very different things. We're not called to maintain a place of purity purely to avoid punishment or out of obligation. We're called to live out of love, with the hope that God's love will be seen and will radiate through us. We're trying to live a life where we will be perfected in love, not perfected in what the world calls for us to do.
The beauty of this calling is that God understands us. God knows we're going to fall short of the mark. God knows that things aren't always going to be perfect. But what God wants is to see us doing the best we can out of love. Because when we are doing our best out of love, out of the love that God has for us, we are given something truly unique and wonderful: we are given grace.
Remember those words from Leviticus: "You shall be holy to me for I, the Lord, am holy." We will be holy not because we seek perfection or because we follow a set of laws perfectly, but because we seek to love God and to love others with all of who we are. And God's grace covers us in the spaces where we don't quite get there, but we would have liked to.
This is the miracle of God's love and holiness. God is holy and God is love at the same time. We are covered when we are not able to live up to perfection, as long as we approach the throne of God from a place of worship and adoration. This grace is freely given to us because God loves us.
As we go about our daily lives, let's reflect on how we are living into the holiness that God has bestowed upon us. How are we living lives that are clearly different to the world because of God's love? How does our holiness fit into the coming of God's kingdom and seeing God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven?
Let us strive to live lives set apart, not out of obligation, but out of love. Let us embrace the call to be holy, knowing that we are covered by God's grace when we fall short. And let us radiate God's love into the world, showing through our actions and our words that we follow a God who is holy, loving, and worthy of all praise.
May we live in such a way that the world sees us truly set apart for love and truly holy because of who we follow. In doing so, we honor the name of our God, making it hallowed in our lives and in the world around us.
The phrase "Hallowed be thy name" from the Lord's Prayer might seem archaic to our modern ears. After all, when was the last time you casually used the word "hallowed" in a sentence? Yet, this ancient phrase carries a profound meaning that is just as relevant today as it was when it was first uttered. To hallow something means to make it holy, to set it apart as sacred and special.
When we say "Hallowed be thy name," we're acknowledging that God's name is holy, set apart, and lifted up. We're recognizing that God is above and beyond anything we can fully comprehend in our world. This act of setting God apart is crucial for us as people of faith because it reminds us that we, too, are called to be set apart.
In the book of Leviticus, we find these powerful words: "I am the Lord your God. I have separated you from the peoples. You shall be holy to me for I, the Lord, am holy. And I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine." This passage underscores our calling to be God's people, to be different from the world around us. We are expected, out of our reverence for God, to live lives that stand out from our neighbors'.
But what does this look like in practice? How can we be "holy" in a world that often seems anything but holy?
The good news is that being holy doesn't mean following a list of 613 commandments or adhering to a set of rigid, outdated rules. Instead, our call to holiness is summed up in two simple yet profound commandments: love God with all your heart, mind, body, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is the lens through which we are to view the world and live our lives.
Living a holy life isn't about satisfying a punitive God or fulfilling an obligation. It's about embracing a different way of being, one that is rooted in love. We are made in God's image, and because of that, we are designed to share God's love with everyone we encounter. This calling to be set apart in order to love is a powerful thing.
When we act from a place of love, we don't always know where it will lead us. Love can reach far and wide, deep into the world in ways we can't predict. We might get things right from a place of love, and we might get things wrong. But the important thing is that we're approaching life from this place of love, this place of holiness.
Now, you might be thinking, "How can I possibly live up to this high calling? How can I dare to call myself holy?" The truth is, we can't be perfect. We can't meet the incredibly high expectations of perfection at every moment. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive with all that we are to be the best version of ourselves, to be who God is calling us to be in all the ways we can.
We are bound to make mistakes. We are bound to act in ways that fall short of love. But as long as we do everything we can to strive towards love, to act out of love with who we are, we will become something more than who we have been without it. We will become holy.
It's important to understand that being holy and being perfect are two very different things. We're not called to maintain a place of purity purely to avoid punishment or out of obligation. We're called to live out of love, with the hope that God's love will be seen and will radiate through us. We're trying to live a life where we will be perfected in love, not perfected in what the world calls for us to do.
The beauty of this calling is that God understands us. God knows we're going to fall short of the mark. God knows that things aren't always going to be perfect. But what God wants is to see us doing the best we can out of love. Because when we are doing our best out of love, out of the love that God has for us, we are given something truly unique and wonderful: we are given grace.
Remember those words from Leviticus: "You shall be holy to me for I, the Lord, am holy." We will be holy not because we seek perfection or because we follow a set of laws perfectly, but because we seek to love God and to love others with all of who we are. And God's grace covers us in the spaces where we don't quite get there, but we would have liked to.
This is the miracle of God's love and holiness. God is holy and God is love at the same time. We are covered when we are not able to live up to perfection, as long as we approach the throne of God from a place of worship and adoration. This grace is freely given to us because God loves us.
As we go about our daily lives, let's reflect on how we are living into the holiness that God has bestowed upon us. How are we living lives that are clearly different to the world because of God's love? How does our holiness fit into the coming of God's kingdom and seeing God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven?
Let us strive to live lives set apart, not out of obligation, but out of love. Let us embrace the call to be holy, knowing that we are covered by God's grace when we fall short. And let us radiate God's love into the world, showing through our actions and our words that we follow a God who is holy, loving, and worthy of all praise.
May we live in such a way that the world sees us truly set apart for love and truly holy because of who we follow. In doing so, we honor the name of our God, making it hallowed in our lives and in the world around us.
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