Category Archives: Sermon on the Mount

⁵ “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ⁶ But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁷ “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹ “Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰ ‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
¹² ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]

¹⁴ For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

¹⁶ “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ¹⁷ But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face ¹⁸ so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Dear God, if there is one thing I feel like I have failed at it is trying to inspire others to do prayer journals like this. It’s the reason I first started sharing these prayers publicly. It’s not so that others would be impressed with me. In fact, nearly everyone who sees these prayers has no idea who I am. I am anonymous to them. But I would love for people to see these prayers and be inspired to do something similar themselves. Yes, sometimes I have a surprise insight that I would love to share with people. I’ll be teaching a Sunday school class tomorrow about the Sermon on the Mount, and I will get some of the content from these prayer journals. But mostly I want others to see how your Word can be applied to our lives today. I want them to become intimate with the stories through their own exploration of what you left us as Scripture.

As far as the Lord’s Prayer, I normally use the New Living Translation, but I didn’t like one thing it did for this passage so I shifted to New American Standard (1995). For your kingdom coming, the NLT added “soon” to the passage. I couldn’t find any other translations that used “soon” there. For some reason, using that word gave me shades of “Jesus coming back again” even though that’s not necessarily what it was saying. When I pray, “Your kingdom come,” I am praying in this moment. Right now. Through me. Through other Christians. Through your body. Not “soon” but now. In my next action, let your kingdom come to earth. In the next actions of your Body around the world, let your kingdom come. Even through the ignorant actions of unbelievers, let your kingdom come.

It’s interesting that Jesus felt the need to teach us how to pray. I heard someone say once that it’s the only thing the disciples ever actively asked Jesus to teach them. How do we pray?

Father, these verses for today seem to be all about motives. What are my motives for being here today? I was thinking about this question this morning: “If I think that Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection is about being reconciled to God, then what does being reconciled to God in my daily life look like and am I living like I really want that?” Some seek Jesus’s reconciliation power so that we can one day avoid hell. But that’s not what it’s about. It’s about what Jesus is talking about here: my private, earnest, honest relationship with you. That’s what I’m seeking even in this moment. I am here to worship you, to bow down, and to say that you are my God. I am sorry for all of the other gods I put before you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

P.S. I just looked at the beginning of verse 5 again and had another thought. These public displays of faith only work to my benefit if I live in a place like rural Texas where Christian faith and activity gets rewarded by society. But in a place like Portland it wouldn’t be. Quite the opposite. So maybe a good question to ask myself is would I do what I’m doing in Portland as much as I do it in rural Texas?

6 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. ² When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. ³ But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. ⁴ Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Matthew 6:1-4

Dear God, it can be hard to keep our good deeds totally private. And there are other times when it is actually appropriate to let others know we’ve done something because it will serve as an endorsement for them to support it as well. As a nonprofit, there are times when I need to be able to list a donor’s name on something so that others will know that this person of credibility endorses us so they can feel confident endorsing us as well.

But that’s not Jesus’s point here. Jesus, as always, is looking deep into our hearts. Why are we doing what we do? Are we doing it to manipulate other people to like us (ironically, such public displays usually turn people off more than attract them to us), or worse still, because we think we can manipulate you into liking us more? It’s probably surprising to know how many of us think we can influence your love for us. In modern American Christianity, there are so many people who are worried about getting their “fire insurance” that they make that their goal instead of relationship with you. Reconciliation with you isn’t primarily about my eternity. It’s about my here and now. It’s about this moment I have with you. This day I have with you. It’s not about tomorrow. It’s not even primarily about the past. No, it’s primarily about this moment and my communion with you in real time.

So why am I doing what I do? I like to think it’s that fruit of your Spirit that grows in me through being with you and worshipping you. Why do I take someone’s cart for them when they are done unloading it into their car and I’m walking into the grocery store? Because I’m filled with love for them and I want to help. Why do I close the lid on someone’s garbage can as it sat in the street with a lid that had blown open after a storm? Because I want to serve them. You grow in me. And if that’s you growing in me that is driving me to do these things then that must mean that that is your nature too! You love us. You want to show us love. We will get later to the part about fathers and good gifts, but it’s that kind of thing. My evidence that you are good is that the closer I get to you the “gooder” I get.

Father, I am grateful for you. I am grateful to sit here this morning and be able to think through this sermon from Jesus with you. I’m grateful to have different layers of your nature revealed to me the more I do this. I’m grateful for Jesus’s life, teaching, death, and resurrection. I’m grateful for his love for me. I am grateful for the Holy Spirit’s presence with me right now as I type these words. As I go to work. As I love donors. As I love my wife. Oh, how I love you, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.

I pray all of this under the reconciliation Jesus offers and with the Holy Spirit in my presence,

Amen

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

²³ “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

²⁵ “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

Adultery

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Divorce

³¹ “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Oaths

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ ³⁴ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

Eye for Eye

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ ³⁹ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. ⁴¹ If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. ⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Love for Enemies

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:21-48

Dear God, “You have heard it said…” That seems to be the theme of this whole section: “You have heard it said…” In other words, “You’ve been told this is important, and you tell others this is important, but you’ve actually missed the important part.” What are some of the things I have heard said about which I am missing the important part? I really need to think about this. We can get so immersed in the dogma of our time or of our tribe that we lose perspective. At least I do.

I really want to be able to live up to the standard here. I really want to not hate or disdain. I really want to love my wife completely and purely. I even want to see those who do wrong or whom I do not like suffer for their mistakes or bad deeds. I want to be known as a man of truth who is trustworthy.

The one “you have heard it said” that keeps coming to mind is, “You have heard it said do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman, that is detestable.” (Leviticus 18:22) What would Jesus’s words to follow that sentence be? Would he raise the bar or lower it? Would he turn it around on the heterosexual and point out a sin in our lives that we commit often? All of his “you have heard it saids” seem to be for the judge and not the judged.

Holy Spirit, my Counselor, Advocate, Comforter, and Healer, please guide me closer to the Father today. Help me to have eyes to see and ears to hear. Help me to see myself and hear myself. Help me to be what you need me to be for others. And I have some friends who are on my heart now who are really struggling. Some are having marital problems. Some are facing serious health issues. Some financial. Some addiction. Some are just facing a difficult path. I pray for all of them. Heal. Comfort. Counsel. Reconcile them to you. Help them to completely find you.

I offer this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen