“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever 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.
“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matt. 6:1-20 NRSV)
Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator; Jesus, our Redeemer; and the Holy Spirit, our Sustainer. Amen.
Good morning! Welcome to week 2 in our sermon series on “Learning to Follow.” We’re spending 3 weeks in chapters 5, 6, and 7 of Matthew, a series of teachings called the Sermon on the Mount.
Last week, we focused on chapter 5, in which we saw the great reversal that is God’s kingdom. That, unlike the world, which values “winners,” God values the losers. The broken, who are among us and out in our world. Those on the margins.
We also learned that, as God’s forgiven and called people, our lives are also to be lives of great reversals. Lives where our focus is on God. And, then, lives in the world as salt and light. Salt meaning catalyst. Light meaning illumination. So, to be people who get things going and then who lead the way in the world.
So, how do we do this? It’s easy for me to stand up here and tell you to be salt and light. To get things going and to lead the way. But, if you’re at all the practical person that I am, I wonder how we become people like this. What are the steps? What’s the step-by-step instruction to transform us into God’s salt and light? How do we learn to follow?
These are the questions Jesus focuses on in today’s lesson. Now, if you were listening carefully, you heard three steps. Three practices that Jesus lays out in this teaching. What are they?
In the verse 2, Jesus talks about almsgiving. What is almsgiving? Yes, it is giving money to the poor. Practice number one.
Then, near the end of our reading, in verse 16, Jesus gives instruction on fasting. Practice number two.
Finally, in the heart of today’s reading and, interestingly, in the exact center of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches about prayer. Practice number 3. And, given its location in the middle of Jesus’ teaching, it is the focal point. The most important of the three. Prayer.
So, who of you would like to open our time of study today with a prayer? Exactly as I thought. None of you are chomping at the bit to pray, particularly, to pray out loud. I know exactly how you feel. Because I was once in your place. Thinking that praying out loud was for the professionals, right? That’s why we train up pastors to lead our worship, to prepare the prayers for us to be used in worship. Because they’re the professionals!
I have to share with you that earlier this week, I was in a gathering of pastors from our conference - all Lutherans, all experienced pastors, all who have been doing this for awhile. And, when, our conference dean invited one of us to say the opening prayer, we were all just like you. Completely silent. So much for being the “professionals!”
Why are so many of us so afraid of prayer? Perhaps we think that the words we pray aren’t good enough, aren’t sophisticated enough. Or perhaps we think that our simple, 2-3 sentence prayer is not long enough. After all, if we pray to God, to a deity who we profess to be all powerful, all knowing, and all present - doesn’t God deserve some long, flowery prayer from us? (I remember once being at a rally for workers and a local pastor was invited to open the rally with a prayer. It went on and on and on. To the point that I began to pray to God, “Please God, let this prayer end!”)
So, I found it really interesting this week, as I studied this text, that things weren’t much different in Jesus’ day. In verse 7 of today’s reading, Jesus begins his remarks on prayer with this sentence, “When you pray, don’t pile up a jumbled heap of words! That’s what the Gentiles do. They reckon that the more they say, the more they are likely to be heard.”
That was the practice of Jesus’ day in the non-Jewish world. We know from many writings of that time that many non-Jews used a particular formula in their prayers. That they would use long, complicated magic words that they would repeat over and over and over again. They did this because they believed that this would eventually tire out their gods and goddesses to the point that they would eventually relent and give what was asked. They also believed that, unless what one was praying for was given in the greatest possible detail, it was a very real possibility that the wrong favor would be granted. It’s like a child who was not just asking for an animated stuffed animal this past Christmas, but, a child asking, specifically, for Bella, a Fingerlings Hugs - the Advanced Interactive Plush Baby Monkey Pet by WowWee. Just to ensure that she would get what she wanted.
So, Jesus teaches a very different prayer practice. Because Jesus teaches about a very different kind of God. One who already knows what we need even before we ask. One who doesn’t need to be worn down, but who is ready to provide. And one who seeks to be in a relationship with us that is the same as that of a father or a mother to a child. And, so, Jesus gives the crowd - his many followers - a framework for prayer.
Notice I said a framework. Because as Jesus introduces this prayer that we know by heart, he doesn’t necessarily say to use this prayer, but to “pray, then, in this way.” Like this. Not word for word, necessarily. But, using this framework. A simple four part framework that, by the way, Jesus gives in Aramaic. The language of the people. Instead of Hebrew, the language of the synagogue. Which, in itself, is a signal to us that God doesn’t want us to use some magic formula, but to talk to God - the creator of the universe - using our own words and our own language.
First step in the framework. Jesus locates God above all. “Our Father in heaven.” This doesn’t mean a god who exists in some remote place or afterlife. Or a man-made idol. In Jesus’ day, this title for God took the Jewish people back to God’s acts in the Exodus. Acts of deliverance and rescue. Acts by a God who is over all things. Who loved them. And who loves us. Like a parent.
Second step. Jesus acknowledges God’s name as holy. In Israel, after the Babylonian exile, the divine name was regarded as too sacred to be said aloud. It was replaced with the Hebrew word Adonai (My Lord) and, then, in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, with Kyrios, meaning Lord. When Jesus acknowledges the holiness of God’s name, he wants it to be as holy to us as it was to Israel. And that God’s name and the holiness of God name might be spread throughout the world. And spoken with reverence, not as some afterthought.
Third step. Jesus gives privilege to God’s kingdom and God’s will. “Your will be done. Your kingdom come.” In this step, Jesus sets God’s kingdom and God’s will as the priority. God’s kingdom, or God’s reign, brings deliverance and salvation, presence, restorative justice, peace, healing, joy, repentance, and return to God. These are the seven characteristics of God’s reign in Isaiah. We are to pray for it. That it might be accomplished. Not in heaven, where it already exists, but, here. On earth. Now.
Fourth step. Jesus invites us to pray for what we need. But, before we move further into this step, did you notice the focus of three of the four steps? The focal point of 75% of the prayer? Yep. It’s God. Why? Because God and God’s will are to be the priority. And, because God already knows what we need. So, while prayers for gifts of daily bread and material things we need in our lives, plus prayers for mercy - that we might forgive others to the extent that God has forgiven us - as well as, prayers that God might deliver us from trial and temptation and from the wicked...while all of these might be important for us mostly to calm our anxiety and our own lack of faith, for God these prayers for our needs are nearly superfluous. Because God is so attuned to us and our needs that we need not even ask for them.
There you have it. A four-point plan for prayer. A methodology for you and I to reach out to our God. Because that’s really what this is about, isn’t it? It’s about our relationship with God and God’s relationship with us. A relationship initiated and implemented by God through Jesus Christ. A relationship modeled by Jesus. A communal relationship. Because, did you notice that all of the pronouns other than those that refer to God are in the first person plural? Give us our daily bread. Lead us not into temptation. Forgive us. Not me.
Jesus is very practical. He knows that the more we engage in prayer, in talking to God, and in deepening our relationship with God, the more we will turn to God and seek to be among God’s people. To deepen our relationships together, which then lead to the other spiritual practices. Practices that lead us to action. To serve those on the margins - who are the priority in God’s kingdom. To give to the poor. To fast, so that we might fully understand what it feels like to be hungry.
Through prayer God changes us, turning us from our own greed and our own priorities to God’s priorities in God’s kingdom. Today. Now. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” May God make it so. Amen.
Preached February 3, 2019, at Grace & Glory Lutheran Church, Goshen, KY.
Epiphany 4.
Readings: Matthew 6:1-20; Psalm 20:7.
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