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Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord join us here today.
Tender Lord, make us tender.
Dropping our defenses
Open to you
Your voice
Your moving toward us
Around us
Among
and through us.
Make us tender,
Willing
Receptive
Even broken a little
Even craving you a little
Even just openly acknowledging
our great need for you.

And make us tender to those you bring in our lives this week
Welcoming
Accepting
Feeling their hurts
Their pain and their fears
Let us share them
With them.
Be present with them

And Lord,
Help us to be tender with ourselves
To forego our inclination to judge ourselves
To condemn ourselves
To dishonor ourselves
Help us to hold on
To trust
To rely upon Your affection for us
As we make our way
Through our day
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:16-18

Intro: This week I met with Harry Robinson – a few of you may know him

He is a man of God and a visionary, and for awhile we worked together
– he is also someone I love and respect
• during our long, rambling conversation, Harry said something that woke me up
• he said, “I’ve been finding beauty lately–everywhere”
– it seems I need to be awakened to beauty
• friends do this for me – though they don’t always know it
◦ maybe, I’ve been trudging through too much muck, concerned with
◦ the condition of our nation and disappointed with obnoxious Christians
• but since our meeting on Tuesday, I’ve been seeing more beauty

I’ll tell you why we begin with beauty today

Because Jesus has been warning us away from behavior
– we could describe as “ugly religion,”
• and it has been spreading through our culture in recent years
◦ it’s always been here: people who enjoy heated arguments
◦ who assume it’s their job to pronounce judgments,
◦ who will always act like they’re more righteous than others
• it’s possible you’ve seen your share of ugly religion
Through Isaiah, God addressed religious people like this:
“I spread out my hands all the day
to a rebellious people
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices . . .
who say, ‘Keep to your self,
do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all the day” (Isa. 65:2-5)
– in this passage Jesus describes people,
• who make themselves ugly to appear righteous
“for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others”

My granddaughter, Addy, is now taking classes at Saddleback College

One morning she was telling me about an essay she was writing
– the first step was to create an outline, and give it to her professor
• I explained that I wrote outlines for every talk I give
◦ that surprised her, and she was duly impressed
• if we had an outline of the Sermon On the Mount,
◦ we would see that we’ve come to the end of a subheading
◦ this block of the Sermon began in v. 1,
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven”
– this is Jesus’ third example of displaying piety to impress others
• first charity, then prayer, and now Jesus moves on to fasting
• he could have made a longer list of ways people show off their piety
◦ for example: how many Bible verses they’ve memorized, how many missions trips they’ve been on
◦ all the Christian celebrities they’ve met, and all the Bible studies they’ve attended
◦ but three examples are enough to make his point
Jonathan Pennington, “The desire to have others reward one with praise for piety is a powerful drug.”
◦ the implication is that it can also become addictive

Jesus says, “When you fast”

Jesus assumes that there may be a time when his disciples fast
– he is not telling them that they have to do this,
• nor is he giving instructions for when to fast or how to fast
• but if they decide to fast, they must not advertise it
◦ like other spiritual disciplines, fasting is between them and God
– believers fast for a number of different reasons
• to clear their minds to listen to God, to clear a space to meet with God
◦ to increase their concentration on prayer – they both prayed and fasted in Acts 13
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off (Acts 13:2-3)
◦ fasting can be an act of humility, an expression of repentance, or simply setting one’s own needs aside
• fasting does not add power to our prayers, or twist God’s arm
◦ like a child who refuses to eat because they can’t get their way

More than once in the Old Testament, God criticized Israel’s fasting

“Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call that a fast,
and a day acceptable to the LORD?

“Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free?
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house . . . ?” (Isa. 58:3-12; this looks a lot like “woke” fasting)
– and then in God’s word to the prophet Zechariah:
“When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh month, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?” (Zech. 7:4)
– a question about fasting comes up later on in Matthew and it’s worth looking at
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. (Mt. 9:14-15)
• John’s disciples and the Pharisees fasted “religiously”
◦ perhaps they saw it as a necessary discipline, that it kept them on the right path
• there’s value in developing righteous habits
◦ but there’s also the danger those will become only habits, repeated mindlessly
– Jesus indicates that fasting is connected to loss and sadness
• it’s true, in the deepest experiences of grief, our bodies shut down
◦ we don’t want to eat – we, literally, cannot eat
• in those situations, fasting isn’t specifically spiritual (though we may feel God near)
◦ yet there are moments when we feel God near
◦ but the point is, fasting was not appropriate while Jesus was with them

Fasting can take different forms

Certain health conditions do not allow some people to not eat
– they might be able to abstain from one particular food (avoid a favorite treat, perhaps)
• or they may choose to take a break from television, the news, or contemporary music
• whatever the form, there must be some element of self-denial
– a strict fast from eating would include food and water–but it’s not wise to do this for too long
• or to fast food only, but still drink water
• Israel sometimes fasted specific foods–or ingredients
◦ no yeast could be used in baking breads the week before Passover
◦ a vow might require a person to avoid grapes, or wine, or any produce of the vine
– fasting for us may be one meal at a time
• perhaps most of us are used to skipping meals
◦ when it is a sacrifice we make for someone else’s benefit, consider making that loss an offering of love

Jesus stresses a point that is hinted at in the Psalms and hammered on in the Prophets

The effectiveness of Israel’s ritual sacrifices was conditional
– when I was young and first read Psalm 51, what David wrote shocked me
“For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering” (v. 16)
◦ I thought, “But God required those sacrifices!” I read on,
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (v. 17)
◦ David discerned the critical role that the heart plays in worship
• God’s word to Isaiah is much harsher regarding sacrificial rituals
“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?” says the LORD . . . .
When you come to appear before me,
who has required of you this trampling of my courts?” (Isa. 1:10-13)
◦ the answer, of course, is “You did!” But Israel’s faith and practice had gone off the rails
◦ God goes on to tell his people the service he wants
“cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless
plead the widow’s cause” (Isa. 1:16-17)
– the poets and prophets realized, if the heart doesn’t belong to God, the ritual doesn’t work
• worship wasn’t magical, it was covenantal
• Jesus says hypocrites have lost sight of true fasting
Jonathan Pennington, “They are hypocrites because they are not unified in heart and action; they actually do the right things, but they are not the right kind of people because their hearts are wrong.”

Conclusion: In his three examples, Jesus has emphasized the fact that we have a secret life

We share it only with God, our Father who is in heaven,
and is also encountered in secret
If we try to cash-out our religion in this life, we will have nothing in the next

“One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD” (Ps. 27:4)

When we leave that sacred space of encounter,
we discover that beauty is everywhere,
Our souls inhale the experience beauty and are refreshed
Beauty gives us a rest from the dark effects of human behavior
It flushes the gunk our of our brains, and expands our souls
We become larger than our thoughts and feelings
And our awareness of God is renewed – again and again

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Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord and join us today
Bind us together
Make us one in you

Thank you Lord for friends who
Love us without judging
Who listen without correcting
Who engage without controlling
Thank you for friends who
Help us up when we are knocked down
Who steady us when we are wobbly
Who are like rocks when we need to lean

Thank you for friends who
Will tell us the hard truth
Who hold our feet to the fire
Who expect the best from us.

Help us Lord to be these sorts of friends
And help us be the sort of community
that helps each other become better friends
Ready to love
Willing to love
Strong and gentle
Forgiving and long suffering
Kind
Patient
Steady
Full of joy
Full of goodness
Ready to trust

So our friends can know that they are loved
by us
In the way
we have been loved
by you
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Father of us, the One in the heavens,
Let be revered the name of You,
Let come the kingdom of You,
Let be done the will of You,
As in heaven also on earth.
The bread of us daily give to us today.
And forgive us the debts of us,
As also we have forgiven the debtors of us.
And do not bring us into temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
[Some later manuscripts add, For the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours forever. Amen] Matthew 6:9-15

Intro: Jesus has given the world this incredible prayer

Recited every day and prayed in almost every language,
– it contains the essence of what everyone needs to say to God and ask of him
• and yet, when Jesus taught this prayer to his disciples,
◦ it was in a side comment he felt needed to be included
• up to this point, Jesus theme beginning in verse 1 was, “Don’t advertise your spiritual devotion and service to God”
◦ he follows this statement with three examples: charity, prayer, and fasting
• there are four parts to each example:
First, “Don’t be like the hypocrites, to be seen by others”
Second, “The hypocrites are rewarded when others notice them”
Third, “Serve God in secret, keep it between you and the Father”
Fourth, “Your reward will come from the Father”
◦ this was how he began this second example, “Don’t pray like the hypocrites”
◦ but then the Lord swerved onto a side-track
Don’t pray like the Gentiles
• and he was still off-topic when he taught them the “Lord’s Prayer” (AKA: the “Our Father”)
◦ the impression I get reading this is that Jesus felt this point required elaboration
◦ in a sermon that defines our spiritual life, prayer is key!

Jesus did not mean for “Lord’s Prayer” to be our only prayer

What he has given us is more of an outline or template for prayer
– perhaps if we think of bullet-points – abbreviated topics
• we personalize each point with our immediate concerns
◦ our joy or sadness, problems or opportunities, and so on
• following the template, the substance of our prayers comes from our own hearts
– there are other types of prayers–some of them cover extraordinary circumstances
• this prayer covers most the important and universal themes
• so let’s learn from Jesus a basic form of prayer

Sadly, lots of people have trouble with the first words

The more common issue, is the idea of God as a “father”
– man I worked with, explained his father abandoned him and his mother
• he was a Christian, loved God and prayed,
◦ but he found more resonance with Jesus as his brother than God as a father
• others sexually, physically, verbally abused by their father have trouble accepting God in that role
◦ so some of us need to rehabilitate the word father
◦ this is one reason why I appreciate the distinction Jesus makes: “our Father in heaven“
– another person I knew of wrestled with the first word, “our”
• their relationship with God is very personal and healing
◦ he is a refuge from an abusive relationship
◦ or from others – some who are dangerous
• they had trouble sharing God with them, and so stumbled over “our,”
◦ and idea they’re related to each other by a heavenly Father
– these are very real and serious psychological blocks
• we can’t expect people to bully their way through them
◦ that is not a sincere response, and it does not heal
• the Holy Spirit has been the source of my best therapy
◦ through the Scriptures mostly, but also through wise counselors too

Every prayer is an encounter with God

We’re not just floating balloons up into the air
– we’re entering a conversation with God, the Creator of heaven and earth
• it seems appropriate to begin with who he is and what he wants
– the first three requests are intertwined in one great project
• think of it as a threefold prayer, not three separate themes
◦ the big idea is the total completion of God’s will
◦ it is the culmination of all time and space

First, there is “hallowing” the name of God
– as I read through the Old Testament, I have to keep reminding myself:
• the Hebrew concept of a name means far more than it does to us
◦ a name is not just a word, it stands for a person,
◦ and everything that person is and represents
• one of God’s great concerns in the Old Testament,
◦ was that his name would not be “profaned” by the sins of his people
◦ that means that God himself would be degraded in the eyes of the world
• to be “hallowed” means to be treated as holy–
◦ that unique quality of God, so present and dangerous when he is near
◦ to show reverence for God’s name–is to show reverence to God himself
– this first request is that the entire world will one day revere God
(that would change everything!)
Second, Jesus teaches us to pray for God’s kingdom to come
– we have already seen his emphasis on the kingdom
• his central message being, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. 4:17)
– it is present in a way that we can experience it now,
• but it has not yet come in its overpowering fullness
◦ that is what this part of the threefold request is about
◦ that his realm will break into our 4-dimensional universe
Third, we pray that God’s will would be done
– the way I imagine this,
• that God’s will would permeate the laws of nature
◦ like a universal principle that governs the behavior of all things
◦ from fundamental particles and forces of physics to the largest galaxies
and that it includes all living things

Finally, what ties these three requests together is the line, “on earth as it is in heaven”
– the perfect reality already exists in the (now hidden)realm of God
• the first request of the Lord’s Prayer is that the dimension of God’s realm would break into ours
• when that happens, I don’t think we’ll need to pray for anything else
◦ all that will be left for us to add is worship and praise

The remainder of the prayer covers practical needs of life
Give us this day our daily bread

The Greek construction of our request for bread is confusing
– some read it, “Give us tomorrow our daily bread”
• as if to say, “We’re good for today, please bless us with food again tomorrow”
• either way, we are looking to God for our provisions
◦ Jesus’s Sermon will soon take us further in regard to God’s provisions
– bread has already been an issue in Matthew’s gospel
• and I feel that we’re meant to see a connection
• it was the first temptation Satan tried on Jesus
“People do not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt. 4:4 NLT)
◦ so even when we pray for our daily food we aren’t to forget that something more important sustains us

Our prayers cover every physical need, but we also have spiritual needs and issues
“And forgive us our debts
as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

This is an interesting way of interpreting the wrong things we do
– if it’s true that we owe our lives and allegiance to God,
• then our sins create a deficit, a lost opportunity, an imbalance
• if a fine must be paid to correct the deficit, we cannot afford it
◦ we can only ask that our debt it will be forgiven

“And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one”

Amy-Jill Levine, “In Greek, the verb peiradzo and the noun peirasmos can be translated as both ‘temptation’ and ‘test’ or ‘trial.’ Both translations make sense because a test can become a temptation ….”
I don’t believe God leads us into temptation, but he allows temptations to test us
– it is not that God discovers what the test reveals about us
• that discovery is important for us, so we can see what needs work in our lives
– perhaps the best commentary on this is in James
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” (Jas. 1:12-14)
• “Lead us, O Lord, but not into an encounter with the evil one” (or, perhaps, evil in general)

Jesus adds a note of explanation
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespass Verses 14-15

Jesus explains the part of the prayer that spoke of forgiving debts
– I think it would have been wonderful if he gave a word of explanation regarding every verse in the prayer
• the issue of forgiveness must have been important to Jesus for him to go into this much detail
• it’s important to him that we accept our role in this part
◦ our cooperation is needed to answer the request for forgive
◦ some Christians become extremely agitated and upset over these verses
(if you’re one of them, Jesus said it so get over it)
– I know that sometimes forgiveness seems impossible
• and for us it is impossible; just as Jesus said that for us salvation is impossible (Mk. 10:26-27)
◦ God is always willing to work with us on forgiveness
• and I believe he gives us the time we need to heal, so that it becomes possible for us to forgive

Conclusion: Consider this, that you could be someone’s answer to prayer

Today there are millions of people around the world, praying that God will take up the slack resulting from shut down of food and medical supplies
They are begging God to provide their daily bread
and the medications that have been keeping them alive
God can use even our small donations to get help to them through one of the Christian an humanitarian organizations that are still able to operate

In the meantime, we can encourage ourselves with this encouragement from Hebrews 4:16
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need”

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Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, Join us here today

Eagerly we thank you.
For all the good you give us
Every grace
Every mercy
Every reassurance
Every redirection
Every happy surprise
Every warm smile
Every hope

And for those things that confuse us
Upset us
Disappoint us
And those things that generate fear
And resistance
And resentment
And for those things that sap our joy
Undermine our confidence
Overwhelm us
Discourage us
Knock us down
Throw us back
We thank you just the same

Knowing all along of Your great love for us
Your abiding care
Your steadfast presence
How you catch us when we fall
How you make things new
How you repair what has been broken
How you walk beside us through everything

Thank you, Lord
Thank you, for all of it
Thank you, for every little thing
For this moment
For each breath
For life
Thank you, Lord
Thank you
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, they have received their reward.”
Matthew 6:5

Intro: The next point of Jesus’ sermon has to do with prayer

I don’t think you need me to teach you anything about prayer
– one year in Russia, an orphan tried to teach me the alphabet
• but she gave up on me – there was just one letter, I could not pronounce well enough to please her
◦ I couldn’t even hear the sound she was making when she said the letter
• prayer isn’t like that– prayer is the native language of every child of our heavenly Father
◦ we may feel we’re not doing it right,
◦ but God hears what we feel and need even if we can’t put those things into words
– there’s no Christian life or experience without prayer
• if you want lessons on prayer, read the Psalms
◦ there you’ll find every prayer imaginable, and nothing is out of bounds
• otherwise, there is also Paul’s explanation of how God’s Spirit helps us and prays within us
◦ and in those instances, words are optional

Jesus doesn’t begin here by teaching us how to pray

He first tells us how not to pray
“you must not be like the hypocrites”
– for the people Jesus had in mind, prayer wasn’t primarily about seeking God, or his help
◦ they may have used familiar words of praise or petition.
◦ but that wasn’t what was in their hearts
• for the hypocrites, prayer was a means to draw attention to themselves
◦ to put their “deep devotion” to God on display

Let’s go back over the ground Jesus has covered one more time
– if his disciples were going to enter the kingdom of heaven,
• their righteousness would have to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (Mt. 5:20)
• they had to live closer to the heart and spirit of the Law
◦ that meant being devoted to right relationships
1. Their relationship to God had to be right
• not by being religious and legalistic
◦ or be doing the bare minimum of what the Law demanded
◦ but in loving God above everything else; trusting him and obeying his voice (cf. Jer. 7:22-23)
• this devotion had to be internalized
“the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart as this always to fear me and to keep my commandments . . .” (De. 5:28-29)
2. Their relationship to everyone else had to be right
• acting toward them in loving ways had to be the priority
• and this had to be internalized as well
◦ it’s not enough to not cause harm to others, but they had to not want to cause harm to anyone else
– the scribe’s and Pharisee’s “righteousness” was inferior, because it was only external and grossly compromised
• they didn’t get it right, because God’s Law was no written in their hearts

So now, when it comes to prayer, what hypocrites loved about it,
– was the attention they got when others noticed them praying
• the hypocrites used prayer to enhance their image
◦ they were not praying with the proper purpose in mind
• to be seen praying, gave them instant gratification
◦ they immediately received the reward they wanted
◦ and, in the process, forfeited any reward they could have received from God

Is it possible to offer a prayer in public and not be conscious of others who are present?
– probably not – but even then we cannot lose prayer’s essence
• and that is to be aware of God’s presence and speak directly to him

Jesus recommends a better environment for prayer
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” Matthew 6:6

Make it private and make it personal
– last week, Jesus told us when we give to charity, to do it in secret
• he gives the same instruction here
◦ but he adds something
• he uses the same phrase twice, changing only one word (in English):
“your Father who is in secret” and
“your Father who sees in secret”
– this is my greatest frustration with prayer: God’s hiddenness
• we do not live in the same dimension as God and we do not share his “nature”
◦ God’s existence transcends our existence
• so we cannot see, hear, touch, or physically approach God
◦ I assume this was also a frustration for the prophet Isaiah
(when God had made awesome promises that seemed impossible to ever fulfill)
“Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
O God of Israel, the Savior” (Isa. 45:15)
◦ God’s response to Isaiah, in essence, was
That may be so, but,
“I did not speak in secret,
in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
‘seek me in vain.’
I the LORD speak the truth;
I declare what is right” (Isa. 45:18-19)
– it seems to me that Moses spoke to this issue too
• he told Israel they didn’t have to go searching for God’s will
◦ it wasn’t far off, somewhere up in heaven or beyond the sea
“But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it” (De. 30:11-14; cf. Ro. 10:5-11)

Now we can understand the importance of contemplative prayer
– and why it plays an important role in the life of Reflexion
• it is one of our spiritual disciplines in seeking God
• we bring our awareness to God’s presence here and now
– when we approach our heavenly Father in prayer, we find him in secret
• and even if we don’t see him, he “who sees in secret” sees us

Jesus raises one other concern
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” Matthew 6:7-8

Already, Jesus is giving more space to prayer than he did with charity or will do with fasting
– it seems to be important to Jesus, as though he wants to help us make the most of our prayers
• Luke provides several examples of Jesus encouraging his followers to pray
• so he tells us no not be like the hypocrites, on the one hand,
◦ and not be like the Gentiles on the other
– these are two opposite ends of a religious spectrum:
• the hypocrites were obsessive about their one true faith
• Gentiles were pagans who did not know Israel’s God
◦ The New Living Translation may get us closer to the point Jesus is making:
“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again”

In the past couple of years, I’ve begun to catch myself praying “empty phrases.” It’s like I have, over the years, developed prayer habits, so that I make repetitious requests without any thought or sincere attention to what I am saying. God neither desires nor deserves this nonsense.

I want to clarify two points so we hear Jesus correctly
– first, Jesus is not saying we should not pray long prayers
• there are several long prayers recorded in the Scriptures
◦ in fact, Jesus prayed a long prayer in John 17
◦ he could also spend an entire night in prayer
– second, Jesus is not saying we can never repeat a prayer
• I’ve heard some preachers say, “Faith means you ask just once”
• when Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, Matthew tells us,
“So leaving [the disciples] again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again” (Mt. 26:44)
– give as much time to pray as you feel you need
• ask and keep on asking until you receive your request, or
◦ until God lets you know you can stop asking
“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Lk. 18:1)

What Jesus does here, is correct our assumptions regarding prayer
– there are gimmicks or devices we can use to try to make prayer “work”
– Jesus wants us to know that instead of those things, we have a heavenly Father,
• and he knows our needs, but still wants us to bring them to him
Amy-Jill Levine, “The purpose of prayer is not to get God’s attention. We already have God’s attention.”
• Jesus has more to say about this later in this same chapter

Conclusion: One of my resources this time, going through the Sermon is Jonathan Pennington’s
excellent commentary
Pennington wrote that Jesus’ point here wasn’t to “provide instructions on proper mode of praying”
I would not dare to disagree with such a wise, educated and gifted scholar,
yet I feel differently about this
Since personal and private prayer is the heartbeat of our spiritual life,
we need helpful, truthful, insightful teaching to get it right
So, even if the “proper mode of praying” is not Jesus’ main point,
he is at least reporting an assumption he has regarding his view of prayer
A proper mode of prayer includes having a secret place you share with our Father,
and that, in itself, forms a special bond between you and God

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Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord and join us today.
Some days Lord I shudder
Shaken to my depths
And I wonder how I How we
Will ever rise to the needs of this day.

How will we ever rise to truth
with both courage and grace
Even when ridiculed
Even at great cost?

How will we ever rise above our fears
Our anger
Our resentments
Our contempt?

How will we ever rise to care for the weak
The vulnerable
The needy
when hate is rewarded,
celebrated, glorified?

How will we ever rise to goodness
and gentleness
and kindness
When empathy has run dry?

How will we ever find joy
As your humble servants
Your grateful servants
when power is wielded like a hammer
Like a scythe?

Pull us near Lord
Hold us tight
Keep us close
Help us show up
Help us rise up
And do
Your work
Your way
In your love.
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven Matthew 6:1

Intro: Peter and Andrew were knee-deep in Lake Galilee. A school of fish swam near shore, so they threw a net into water, dragging out whatever it collected. Jesus, walking the shore that morning, stopped and called to them. When they turned and looked at him, he said, “Follow me.” It was as if they were waiting for that moment, because they dropped everything to go with him. As Matthew tells the story, it was not long after they got the call that they were sitting on a nearby mountainside, listening to Jesus teaching lessons on True Righteousness and how to walk that spiritual path. They heard, first the Beatitudes, then the impossible requirement (5:20), after that Jesus ran through several examples of what the True Righteous looks like.
Now Jesus takes them to a new gate, where written on a sign hanging from it was the word “Beware.”

Verse 1 is an “introduction” to Jesus’ next lesson (that will continue to verse 18)

The message he delivers here is a warning
– back in the day we had “Driver’s Ed,” we learned about “blind spots”
• in everyday life, all of us have blind spots
◦ things we haven’t seen– and we don’t know we haven’t seen them
• after my worst mistakes, there has always come a realization:
◦ “If only I knew then what I know now”
– imagine that you and I have begun to live the Sermon as Jesus taught it
• we have a keener insight into God’s will, we’re growing in humility and integrity
◦ that’s all good – very good, in fact, but now Jesus tells us, “You have blind spots, so beware”

Having explained to us what true righteousness looks like,
– Jesus warns us about a wrong way of practicing our righteousness
• what we are doing may be good,
◦ but something in our heart or mind could sabotage it
• what Jesus addresses is a hidden motive:
“in order to be seen by others”
– this particular problem is not unique to Christians,
• but it is a temptation that’s especially easy for Christians to fall into
◦ am I a good person, or do I just want others to think I’m a good person?
◦ some believers show off how many verses they’ve memorized,
◦ or make sure that we discover how many hours they spend in prayer
• this is the key role that public relation firms play
◦ they arrange events and photo opportunities to “create an image”
◦ but an image is not an identity

The value of having a practice of righteousness is:
– first of all, there is the good it achieves in the world (blessing others)
• secondly, the progress we make in becoming good people through steady disciplines
• third, the rewards we receive from God
◦ not trophies or blue ribbons,
◦ but we are given greater opportunities, responsibilities, and resources
– no one, this side of heaven, knows the wonder of those ultimate rewards
• it might help if we realize that our entire physiological and psychological existence is shaped by internal reward systems
• if we avoid an open flame, we’re rewarded with not getting burned
◦ such lessons are encoded in the human nervous system
◦ the Bible is all about positive reinforcement

Jesus points out three activities that we’re to keep “secret”

Keeping in mind that righteousness is relational:
The first is horizontal righteousness and applies to our relationships with others
The second is a vertical righteousness and applies to our relationship with God
The third is an inner righteousness and applies to what we do out of a spiritual need
• not one of these activities is meant to call attention to itself
• the only audience is our heavenly Father
◦ in fact, Jesus stresses this specific aspect of our relationship with God
◦ he refers to God as our “heavenly Father” or “Father” ten times in these eighteen verses

The first example is charitable giving (“give to the needy”)
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you Matthew 6:2-4

Preachers will typically point out, “Jesus says when not if ”
– I would avoid saying that, except for what happened last week
• the world has been plunged into crisis, creating emergencies all over the planet
• in defunding government agencies meeting world needs,
◦ millions of people will soon be dying from starvation and disease
◦ and the majority of them will be children
– in the past, the rationale for meeting world needs has been, “America is a Christian nation”
◦ no other reason or justification was necessary
• it was not as painful to pay taxes when we knew that some of our money was feeding the hungry and providing shelter and protection for refugees
– now each one of us must ask, “What can I do?”
• there are needs that are within our means and ability to meet
• regardless of how small a gift or an action seems to be, we can find our conduit to assist others

I assume that Jesus placed this concern first for a reason
– here in Reflexion, we emphasize the “spiritual disciplines”
• ways to practice prayer and listen to God in scripture that lead to a greater awareness of his presence the here and now
• but that is not the sum total of our Christian experience
◦ in fact, spiritual disciplines serve to enhance and empower our mission in the world
◦ to reveal God’s love to others through caring for them
– let’s remind ourselves of what Jesus said about us:
“You are the salt of the earth . . . You are the light of the world . . . let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 5:13-16)
• he could have added, “The light is not on you, but in you”
• Paul reiterated and reinforced this when he wrote:
“For by brace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ep. 2:8-10)
◦ this is where the practice of righteousness leads

Jesus tells us how NOT to give to the needy

He tells us not to make a show of it
– again Jesus is using hyperbole to emphasize a point:
“sound no trumpet before you”
• we use a similar figure of speech: “Don’t toot your own horn”
• who does this? Jesus says this is what “the hypocrites” do
– they act like they’re doing something noble, charitable, big-hearted
• but in fact, they are drawing attention to themselves
◦ Jesus says they’re looking for praise from others
◦ we must admit, this is a powerful motive
in fact, it kept some people from following Jesus
“. . . many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (Jn. 12:42-43)
• can we be okay with only God knowing our good deeds?

We encounter more hyperbole when Jesus says,
“do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”
– again, I can imagine Jesus saying this with a smirk
• your gift is definitely secret if not even your left hand knows what your right hand is up to!
• don’t let this anonymity bother you – your gift has not gone unnoticed
“And your Father who sees in secret will reward you”
Amy-Jill Levine, “Jesus raises several questions worth considering: Do we want our names on the buildings, and if so, why? To honor ourselves? . . . We do not need, and should not even desire, public recognition; nothing could be greater, of more value, than God responding, ‘Well done.’”

Conclusion: When we have to put new tires on our cars,

Dealers often let us know they will also rotate and align them
(out of alignment: cars can pull to one side, be harder to handle, and use more fuel)

Jesus is putting our spiritual practice into alignment,
matching our inner motives to our outward actions
We’re old enough to know, that sometimes
there are wrong reasons for doing the right thing
A couple days ago, it occurred to me grace is God’s generosity;
they’re practically synonyms!
God’s way is always the right way,
and the right way is always the way of grace