Church of the Holy City

Hallowed Be Thy Name

Hallowed Be Thy Name
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
November 24, 2013

1 Kings 8:27-30, 41-43 John 17:1-13 Psalm 87

This Sunday we continue to delve deep into the Ten Commandments. Swedenborg tells us that the Ten Commandments are the sum total of all that religion teaches. He writes,
they were in brief summary an aggregate of all things of religion, by which conjunction of God with man and of man with God is given, therefore they were so holy that there is nothing holier (TCR 283).
Swedenborg claims that this is the way the Jews have felt about them, and continue to feel about them. In True Christian Religion, Swedenborg asserts that “In the Israelitish Church the Decalogue was holiness itself” (283). Last Sunday we considered the first commandment, “No other gods before Me.” This Sunday we look at the second commandment, “You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain.” As with all the commandments, there are three levels of meaning to this commandment.
The first level of meaning is in the very words themselves, as we find them in the Bible. It tells us not to use the name of God lightly or frivolously. And I think that this commandment is easy to violate. I say further that it is violated all the time.
It doesn’t seem as bad to violate this commandment. It is only words, isn’t it? When you measure using the Lord’s name in vain against other commandments like murder or theft or adultery, it just doesn’t seem as bad.
So we hear all kinds of abuses, almost every day. I don’t even mean that obscenity by which one damns someone or something using God’s name. The name God is used so often that there is even a text-messaging abbreviation that people use, OMG. This expression is used all the time for nothing greater than a form of exclamation. Then in casual conversation when one is trying to emphasize their truthfulness they will swear by God’s name. The name Jesus is also commonly abused. It is used in moments of anger, frustration, and almost any time a person is upset.
But damage is done by casually using God’s name. There is a real power in the name of God. When spoken reverently, God’s name brings God’s presence. Swedenborg writes, “God is in all things of religion; and when He is religiously invoked, He is present through His name and hears” (TCR 297). God’s name and the name Jesus must be reserved for religious purposes. If one keeps God’s name sacred, and uses it only for holy purposes, then God’s presence will accompany His name. We affirm this every time we say the Lord’s prayer. We say, “Hallowed be thy Name.” But when we use God’s name casually, when we are not intending to invoke God, then there is a certain callousness about His Name. It loses its power to bring God’s presence when we use it for all sorts of other purposes that are not holy.
I should say a few words about God’s presence in His Name. Of course God is present with everyone all the time. But it is we who let our consciousness and our heart stray from God’s presence and ways. We can fill our minds and intentions with selfish concerns that cloud over the clear light and heat of God in us. So it takes different kinds of disciplines to bring our consciousness and heart back to God. That is why there are buildings like this one. Here, we can still–even if for only one hour–let go of our worldly needs and cravings and open ourselves up to God’s influx. Of course, it is better if we can always walk with God in our day-to-day living. But that may be asking a lot of us while we are here in this world.
This brings us to a second level of meaning for God’s name. By God’s name we also mean “all that the church teaches from the Word, and by which the Lord is invoked and worshipped” (TCR 298). So as I was suggesting above, this building and the images and furnishings in it, as well as the service that we all go through each Sunday–all these things are meant by God’s name. It also means the ideas and doctrines we have learned. It means the Bible and the teachings and stories in it. These all come from or relate to God. They are the ways we come to God. So they are all included in His name.
The idea that the whole religious complex is included in God’s name can be seen in our reading from 1 Kings. Solomon is praying about the temple that had just been built in Jerusalem. Solomon says of the temple that God’s Name dwells there. Notice the language in this. He is not saying that this temple is named after Yahweh. No. Solomon says that God’s name lives there. What can it mean for a name to live somewhere? Wouldn’t it be that all the name represents and stands for is what is living in the place? Also, wouldn’t it be that the person named would live there? So the temple is a structure in which God’s qualities are invoked and in which God’s presence is sought.
The notion that all the elements of religion are contained in God’s name may be the origin of some of the tendencies of fundamentalism. If the teachings that a person has learned about God are like God’s name, then there is a tendency to hang onto them tenaciously and guard against their violation or contradiction. But how will a person grow in their faith, if one closes one’s mind to any new or challenging ideas? Our faith is perfected by the multitude and inner coherence of all we know about God. As we grow up, it is perfectly natural to let go of religious ideas that no longer fit with life as we experience it. And our experiences and studies of other sources of meaning may add to our picture of God and His Kingdom. So we will want to hold onto truths we have learned, but we will also want to test our beliefs against experience and other systems of truth.
The highest meaning of the second commandment is controversial in Swedenborg. It has the do with God’s Divine Humanity. Swedenborg’s claim is that all who deny the Divinity of Jesus Christ violate the second commandment. I think that this teaching needs to be read in context. When Swedenborg wrote, he was in a Christian society. He was a Christian writing to Christians. And in that society, I think it would be a form of blaspheme for a Christian to think Jesus a mere man, and not a God. There were atheists in that world and even learned Christians who couldn’t wrap their minds around the idea of a Man being Divine. It is much easier for a historian to see Jesus as a remarkable man, than to see Him as God. Even today, this idea causes many to stumble.
We find language of Jesus’ divinity in our reading from John. There, the name of God is used interchangeable with that of Jesus. It is said repeatedly in many ways. Jesus says, “I have manifested your name” (John 17″6). if Jesus manifests the name of God, that means that Jesus manifests all the qualities of God. Jesus claims that God has given Him God’s own Name, “Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me” (17:11-12). It is passages like this that teach Jesus’ divinity and His oneness with God. I think that for Christians, the divinity of Jesus is a central teaching, and very important.
But our world is much different than Swedenborg’s. We live in an intercultural society that includes many different world religions. Furthermore there are many in our society who consider themselves spiritual but not religious. For many of them, some of the old, bad ideas of religion have turned them off to the institution of religion altogether. I don’t think that Swedenborg means to say to believers of other world religions that they must worship Jesus. Nor do I think Swedenborg is saying that spirituality without religion is damnable. A person has so many options to choose from today. One may find the mystical poetry of the Muslim Rumi to be highly satisfying. One may find that the Buddhist world view of self-perfection to be satisfying. Or one may want to invoke one of the semi-divine Buddhist savior bodhisattvas. And by the way, I know of a Buddhist guru who teaches that Jesus was one of these savior bodhisattvas. There are many ways to practice spirituality today. I choose Christianity. I think it to be true. But at the same time, I allow for others to worship in the way that seems best for them.
So let us keep the ways we worship close to our hearts. Let us guard against the easy slips, that violate the second commandment by using God’s name lightly. Let us meditate and worship using God’s name, or Names, reserving the holiest place in our hearts for them.

PRAYER

Dear Lord, you have given us 10 clear rules to follow in order to inherit eternal life. Keep us ever mindful of them as we seek to order our lives according to your 10 commandments. Lord, keep us in your name, for all we know of goodness and truth are in your most holy name. Your name stands for everything that pertains to religion and all of religion is in your holy name. May we treasure your name and keep it close to our hearts. let us not use your name lightly, for when we need you we will call you by your most holy name. We ask you blessing on this church. For it is here that we come to forget the demands of this world and to lift our thoughts upward toward you. May we love this place of worship and may we treasure your holy name. For by both do we come to you and you come to us.

And lord, we ask that you watch over those who are struggling and enduring hardship, be it sickness, poverty, or national unrest. Send your peaceful spirit to turmoil. We ask you to continue to watch over those in the Philippines who have been so devastated by the typhoon. May aid come to those in need and may all the nations of the world come together in good will to help the survivors of that terrible catastrophe.

And lord, we ask that you watch over those who are struggling and enduring hardship, be it sickness, poverty, or national unrest. Send your peaceful spirit to turmoil. Send the power of your healing love to those who are sick. We know on faith that in every trying situation, good can come. May we find the good in trouble, and healing where there is sickness.