The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:1–8, 16–18 (day five) Anyone else notice the possible contradiction in the preaching of Jesus?  Just a few verses before, He says, “Let your light shine before men.” And yet in our Re:verse text, He says, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them.” Why would He seemingly be saying two different things?  One is commanded and the other is prohibited.

If we look more closely, we realize that Jesus is confronting the sinful tendency of the human heart. He is calling out two particular sins- cowardice (in the earlier passage- that would keep our light from shining) and vanity (in this week’s text- that would cause us to want to be seen and get recognition). So, how do you know which is which?  What is the litmus?  I believe the telling issue is the Glory of God. We must answer the question that comes from both passages, “Who gets the glory?”  Is it God or man?  Our heart’s desire should always be that by what we do and where we do it, that God, not man, be glorified. This discerning ability demands constant communication and engagement with the Lord- a vibrant personal relationship with Him. Perhaps a worthy resolution for the new year.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18 (day four)

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8)

Pious actions can have impure motives. When we pray, fast, and give with the hopes of creating the right social reputation for ourselves, Jesus says we’ll get what we’re after – but we’ll still be missing out. We’ll be so busy looking at our admirers that we won’t see God. But when we do these things as Jesus instructs us too – with anonymity, humility, and sincerity, in the secret place we share with him alone – then we shall see God. Outward appearance matters much less to us after we’ve had an encounter with the God who created humility.

This is what we celebrate at Christmas – the fact that God came down, condescended into human form, humbly taking the form of a child so that we might see him, know him, and be reconciled to him. When we allow our piety to make us prideful, we’ve missed the point.

Let’s pray Psalm 139 this week, “Search me, O God, and know my heart…” that he may continue to create a pure and humble heart in us, just like the heart of Jesus.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:1–8, 16–18 (day three)

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them.”

How would you like to be seen by others? That very image is exactly what you will want to announce about yourself – both in direct ways (trumpet blast) and in nuanced ways (gloomy face). “I am devout.” “I am generous.” “I am disciplined.” These are good things. And you want good things. But good things are hard to find and learn and practice. So you’ll settle for people thinking you want good things. Who hasn’t experienced this? We’re all Pharisees now. It’s not merely that living this way is a bad look. It’s that living this way isn’t devoted or generous or spiritually disciplined at all. There are some things so intimate that the only place to keep them without destroying them is between you and God.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18 (day two) 

So when you ^[a]give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Vs. 2a

Happy Boxing Day! This second day of Christmas tradition dates back to the Middle Ages. In more recent times it has been associated with aristocracy presenting gifts, or boxes, filled with food or other things to their servants who had worked hard the day before to make sure Christmas Day was properly celebrated. Before that churches and other charitable institutions had collection boxes for the poor and needy which would be distributed on December 26.

Thinking about Boxing Day with regards to these verses, I realized this is a picture of the Christ child. He did not come with fanfare. He, for a time, was weak and helpless, not mighty and authoritarian. His beginning was quiet and humble. And he came for the poor. Those who were broken, and those who were in need. Regardless of your station in life, he came for you. Happy Boxing Day.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 5:33-48 (day seven)

Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Vs 48

If Christians were to live exactly as Jesus lined out in this sermon, we would be perfect. Why then are we not? Why are there unhealthy churches? Why are “Christians” often the hinderance for non-Christians finding Christ? The reason lies in the midst of the sermon. We do not love others as much as we love ourselves. Self absorption is at the root of all sins. It invades our heart and impacts how we interact with the world. It becomes “What’s in it for me?” instead of “How does this bring glory to God?” The truth is we can’t be perfect on our own. This self absorption always finds a way to rear its ugly head at the worst time.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us […] made us alive together with Christ […] it is the gift of God.  Ephesians 2.

The gifts we receive in the coming days pales in comparison to the Gift God sent us. With that Gift, we can be perfect. Only with the love of God can we overcome the love of self to show the world true love.

Merry Christmas!

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 5:33-48 (day six)

May the words of my mouth
    and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

God cares about your inner life; your thought life and love life are of grave concern to him. He cares about your business dealings, how your heart handles your enemies, and your thought life when bad things happen.  He cares about the integrity of your inner life.

That’s why the whole law can be reduced to one command: love.  That’s what Jesus is getting after in his greatest sermon.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 5:33-48 (day five) ”But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,“
Jesus is teaching a complete perspective of what loving really is, and who our neighbors really are. Certainly loving through our deeds is a natural and understandable application. “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,” Luke 6:27. Jesus modeled this for us.   See Romans 5.

Jesus also preaches, we are to love with our words- our prayers. Maybe the more difficult assignment. “This is the supreme command… through the medium of prayer we go to our enemy, stand by his side, and plead for him to God.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer  And didn’t Jesus model that very same thing on the cross?  “Father forgive them…”  Oh that our words and prayers would shape our thoughts and hearts to love all of those around us.  

“It is impossible to pray for someone without loving him, and impossible to go on praying for him, without discovering that our love for him grows and matures. We must not, therefore, wait before praying for an enemy until we feel some love for him in our heart. We must begin to pray for him before we are conscious of loving him, and we shall find our love break first into bud, then into blossom.”- John Stott

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 5:33-48 (day four)

We started this series a few weeks ago by looking at the beatitudes. When we hear things like, “Blessed are the gentle,” “Blessed are the merciful,” or “Blessed are the peacemakers,” that sounds nice to our ears. But here is where the rubber meets the road. The command to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile, to prayer for those who persecute us – these all serve big hits to our pride. They go entirely against the culture that surrounds us and influences us.

I’ve noticed that it’s one thing to treat a stranger in this way, or to be graceful and merciful to an acquaintance, but it is much harder to live this kind of life when it comes to family or the people closest to me. Sometimes the ones closest to us can quickly take on the title of enemy, as wounds from them hurt even deeper. When a family member offends me, it is a much bigger hit to my pride to turn the other cheek than if a stranger said something hurtful. It is in these close relationships that our ability to show patience, mercy, or grace is pushed to the limits. But it’s at these limits that the Spirit meets us, grows in us, and causes us to look more like Christ.

If you find you’re at your limit, look for the Spirit. Through him, this kind of Kingdom living is possible.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 5:33-48 (day three)

“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.”

It’s not easy to put your words out there unadorned with any kind of agenda. Even to declare, “I just say what I mean and mean what I say” is to use words to attempt to shape your image as a fearless straight shooter. You discovered very early in your life – we all did – that words have power. In the mouths of human beings, words can function as a means to gain influence over one’s neighbor – to bolster one’s own position, to confuse, to obfuscate, to distract. One human being, the divine son of God, showed a brilliant way to resist the temptation to use words to gain the upper hand: silence. Standing before Pilate, Jesus kept his yes, yes and his no, no by saying nothing.