Matthew 6 and 7

I have to apologize that I did not get home early enough to write my thoughts about Matthew 6.  So tonight I am writing for both 6 and 7 to get caught up.  The challenge to read a chapter a day can at times be a real challenge especially when life continues on.  It is the dedication to continue and even when we fall short is not to give up and forget it but pick it up and start anew.

Carter talks about Matthew 6 continuing the Sermon on the Mount and that this chapter focuses on living justly.  The first verse warns us about how we practice our justice.  I often think about am I doing this to make me look good or to please God.  We are reminded that when we do things for others that we need to remember for whom we are doing this.  This will tie into Jesus talking in chapter 25.

6:2-4 talks about the first act of justice being almsgiving.  When we give to others don’t go around announcing it but rather have the left hand not know what the right hand is doing.  Have you ever done something and not let other know what you have done?  Often we want people to notice and give us thanks or accolades for our charity.  This is human nature.  Jesus reminds us the only reward we should seek is doing God’s will in this world.  We are to do justice and mercy not for the honor of others.  Think how often one has heard all the great things another has done.  It can become almost a time of competing with one another as to who is the greatest based on what charity each has done.

6:5-15 the second act of justice is prayer.  The author contrasts two forms of prayer that were common at the time and how this is not the way a disciple should pray.  The first is to stand out on the corner or synagogue or church so that others can see how pious they are.  They love to stand and pray.  It becomes a show look at me.  See how pious I am.  Jesus says rather it is better to go into a room by ones self and remember that we are praying to God not for people to notice.  The second error in prayers to ramble on as the pagans do.  There have been times when someone is praying and they go on and on and on.  As if they say many words, that their prayer is that much better.  Possibly if texting or tweeting were around Jesus might have pointed out that may be the best way to pray.

Here we have the Lord’s Prayer as it is written in this gospel.  There is one also in Luke with some differences.  I will be doing a sermon series on this prayer in November but here are some things to think about.  First the prayer is plural  Our Father, our bread, our debts.  There are three divine petitions and 3 human petitions.  Also note that what we add to the prayer is not present except in the King James translation. 

The third act of justice is fasting found in 6:16-18.  John Wesley encouraged every member of the church to fast at least once a week.  Jesus says if you do this don’t make a big deal of it.

6:19-34 talks about justice and materialism.  It is broken down in 19-21 warning about being distracted by material things.  22-23 a single focus on God’s kingdom.  24 how material things and God compete for the human heart.  25-34 trusting in God to supply what necessities of life.  This last section has been particularly meaningful in my life regarding living in a world the focuses not on trust but on anxiety.

Chapter 7 focuses on 1-6 a community of compassionate correction not condemnation.  How we treat others will be how we are treated.  There is a sense that we can become so concerned about correcting others or pointing faults of others and never developing the self-awareness of our own flaws.  We are tasked to remember that we are also sinners and that judging others without thought about our own sins is not just and is not love.  At the same time we are need to be accountable.  When we seek to help others, it may not be well received.  There is a time of letting go without judgment.  In Jewish life, dogs and pigs were unclean animals.

7-11 talks to about seeking God in life and prayer.  Reflect in your experience of times that you have sought God in prayer.  One person told me in my first appointment that God does answer prayer and sometimes it is yes, sometimes it is no, and sometimes it is not yet.  What do you think about this statement? 

12 summarizes the whole of this sermon.  This is the golden rule that we were taught in school.  “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

The last part of the chapter deals with eschatological issues.  This is the judgment at the end of time.  The assertion is that God’s Will will prevail not the world’s.  It is important the choices that we make and people or things we covet or follow.