Author: pensandpicks

Thoughts on Matthew 6: 19-24

Why would Jesus go from talking about treasure to talking about good eyes and bad eyes, and then go back to talking about treasure (money, or “mammon”)? This whole eyes, light and darkness insertion can be quite confusing, both because of it’s seemingly obscure meaning and odd placement. I believe what Jesus is doing here is building an argument, addressing an unstated counterargument, summarizing his position, and then dropping the mic.

Jesus has said multiple times up to this point in his sermon that we are not to seek the praise (rewards) of men, but rather rewards from the Father. He then, in these verses, transitions into the fact there really are treasures to be laid up either here (likely alluding to the religious leaders’ attempt to “accumulate” praise and rewards) or in heaven, and makes it quite clear that imperishable heavenly rewards given by the Father are of far greater value than anything we can obtain here on Earth, whether tangible or intangible. He concludes the first part of this argument by stating that what we treasure leads our heart – whether that’s money, possessions, power, relationships, knowledge – to its final destination.

Jesus then appears to interrupt his train of thought about rewards and treasure to talk about our eyes being the “lamp of our body,” but what he’s doing here is answering an unstated counterargument (but one I suspect he knew some people in his audience were thinking) which is this: We can please the Lord and seek/receive riches and the praise of men. Rather than answer the face of this fallacious argument directly right away, Jesus cuts to the heart if the issue (pun intended). The reality is that many who hear him will remain in darkness because their eyes are “bad” and the light of the truth will not shine on their hard hearts. Moreover, what light they think they have – knowledge of the Law (religion), self-righteousness, Jewishness (cultural/ethnic superiority) – is actually extreme darkness.

Another aspect of this section to consider is that the lamp of the eye faces inward, not outward. This passage is not about what’s inside of us shining out through our eyes and revealing what’s in our hearts. Rather, the good eye that sees the things of God allows light to shine into and fill the body with light. However, a bad eye does not let the light of God in, and the body is full of darkness.

In order to completely destroy any notion that we can please God while simultaneously seeking riches and glory, Jesus concludes his argument forcefully saying, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” Though, even this statement is somewhat metaphorical. So, because we are often so hard of hearing and love to try to twist any ambiguous words, Jesus asserts this mic-drop conclusion: “You cannot serve God and money.” This will be important to remember moving forward because the main point of next passage flows directly from it.

However, the takeaway from this section is this: our hearts are led by what we treasure. This is slightly nuanced from the idea that what we treasure is a result of what’s in our hearts. What Jesus says is that wherever our treasure is accumulated, whether here or in heaven, is where our hearts will be. If we seek the praise of men and toil after temporal wealth, our hearts will perish with it in the end; but, if we pray, give, fast and love others to please the Lord, our rewards will be eternal and flow from our heavenly Father.

God cares about our hearts, which, if you’ve been following this blog series on Matthew you’ll know, is the whole point of the Sermon on the Mount. However, this is not the only portion of Scripture where we learn this. Here are just a few verses to consider as both an admonition and encouragement.

“Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them.” – Deuteronomy 11:16

“He said, ‘Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.’” – Joshua 24:23

“For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.” – 1 Kings 11:4

So the big question to wrestle with is this: What do we treasure in our hearts? Is it Christ and his Kingdom, or is it another master and the kingdom of this world?

Thoughts on Matthew 6:16-18

Think back to the posts about giving and prayer and how there were two main points – 1. Jesus assumed those acts would be done and, 2. Jesus cares more about the condition of our hearts than the outward act. These few verses on fasting are not much different in that Jesus says again, “when” to do an action, not “if.” In Matthew 9:15, Jesus states that His disciples “will” fast after He is gone; so again, there’s an assumption fasting is a practice in which Jesus’ followers will participate. Jesus also paints a picture of what fasting should not look like – seeking to let others know how holy we are for depriving ourselves of food or some other thing. Rather, Jesus wants our goal to be to please the Father “who sees in secret” and to not even appear like we’re in need to others.

Let’s be honest here. The orthodoxy of fasting is a whole lot easier than the orthopraxy of it – in other words, it’s easier to talk about fasting than it is to actually do it. I confess I have not made fasting a regular, or even irregular, part of my Christian experience. I have done it a few times over the years, but I’m ashamed of how seldom I’ve attempted it (I say attempted because many of my few attempts were merely that). Of all the spiritual disciplines, this is the one that seems to get pushed way into the back, only to be noticed from time to time; and even then, the idea gets toyed with more often than implemented. I say all this not as a form of self-deprecation, but rather to identify with anyone else who has struggled to embrace and benefit from this discipline.

There are two approaches to fasting I have come to understand (there are probably more). The first is the one alluded to above – a planned and recurring time of depriving oneself of food (or some activity or object) as a spiritual discipline. The other approach is a scenario where we’re so burdened for something that we deliberately or unintentionally forego normal meals so we can continue in prayer and supplication. I’m embarrassed to admit I have skipped more meals while wholly wrapped up in fishing than I have while praying about something.

As I see it, there are three takeaways at this point:

1. Fasting is something Jesus said we should do
2. Fasting is a profitable spiritual discipline (evidenced by the fact Jesus said we should do it and by the testimonies and examples from Biblical and extra-biblical history)
3. I have revealed and confess I am wholly unqualified to teach on this subject

As such, I will conclude my commentary on this passage here and provide a link to an article that does a great job of explaining Biblical fasting and some tips on how to go about turning orthodoxy into orthopraxy. May the Lord give us wisdom and grace to understand this spiritual discipline and how to do it in a way that pleases Him and conforms us more and more into the image of Christ.

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/fasting-for-beginners

Thoughts on Matthew 6:14-15

Jesus makes a bold statement in these verses – “…if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” This comes on the heels of verse 12, where Jesus makes the assumption in the Lord’s prayer that we have forgiven our debtors, and thus seems to make the Father’s forgiving us of our debts contingent upon our extension of forgiveness to others. The fact that Jesus reiterates this point in the immediately following verses cannot be ignored. The parallel passage in Luke 6:37-38 says, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” (emphasis mine)

Does this make the forgiveness of our sins and, by extension, our salvation, dependent upon us and our ability to forgive? Does this not make the act of forgiving others a “work” and, therefore, make salvation not of grace alone through faith alone in the work of Christ alone? If the only Scriptures we had were Matthew 6:12, and 6:14-15, then, yes, it would seem clear our ability to be forgiven and saved is wholly contingent upon our willingness to forgive others. However, as with any difficult passage, we must interpret this passage in light of the whole of the Bible.

The first passage we should look at to help our understanding is also in Matthew – in chapter 18, verses 21 through 35. Here the Disciples ask Jesus about forgiveness (specifically, how many times must we forgive someone who sins against us), to which Jesus replies with a parable to illustrate His point that those who are forgiven should forgive. He concludes with another “if” warning that judgment will come to you “if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” The most significant nuance to this particular narrative is that both the servants in the parable owed their master more than they could ever repay (which correlates to all of us), and both had their debts forgiven. It’s important to remember this as we try to understand Matthew 6:14-15.

Paul makes the same point in Colossians 3:12-13 where he says, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.” (emphasis mine) Paul said the same thing Jesus said, which is basically this: forgiven people should be forgiving people. Or, to put it more resolutely as Paul does, forgiven people must be forgiving people.

The answer to the questions above about whether these “if” statements result in a kind of “works salvation” is also a sober warning to us: If we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven; if we are forgiven, we will be forgiving. It seems kind of like circular reasoning, but it’s not. Our ability to forgive is contingent upon our being forgiven, and our forgiven-ness is evidenced by our forgiving of others. Therefore – and here’s the dire warning – unwillingness to forgive on our part can be evidence that we are not forgiven. And, to solve the theological issue of works vs. grace, our forgiveness of others is not a means of our salvation. Rather, our forgiveness of others is an evidence of our salvation. Remember, “we love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). There is nothing I can find in the Bible, not even these passages about forgiveness, where we initiate any part of the salvation process which, as I see it, removes any possibility of attaining genuine salvation via works.

If God can (and He does) extend forgiveness to all who seek it from Him, then we “must” be willing to extend forgiveness as well. We must beware not to have a higher standard than God when it comes to what we are willing to forgive! We would likely never say we have a higher standard than God, but heart attitudes manifested by unforgiveness say otherwise. Think back to the parable in Matthew 18. The reason the first servant was thrown into prison (think hell) was because he was unwilling to forgive his fellow servant what amounted to a grain of sand on a beach compared to what the master forgave the first one of.

It’s very likely some of you reading this struggle greatly to forgive others for grievous and/or repeated (and unrepented) sins against you. You may have endured unspeakable wrongs, and forgiveness seems impossible. While it’s correct to say, “Well, the Bible says you must forgive if you want to be forgiven, so you’d better get over it and forgive,” the Gospel of Jesus Christ speaks a deeper truth and comfort into these hard situations.

We are all broken and sinful, and sin and brokenness affects our vertical relationship with God as well as our horizontal relationships with others. The Gospel teaches us that we are all equally in need of forgiveness, and that God extends grace and mercy through Jesus Christ to repair our relationship with Him (reconciliation). Once our relationship with God has been fixed, we can then work on our relationships with each other (again, “we love because He first loved us”). This means what’s impossible in our own strength is possible through the power of Holy Spirit and the new life we are given in Christ.

If you’re struggling with being able to forgive someone today, pray for the Lord to help you. Unforgiveness doesn’t just affect our horizontal relationships, it affects our vertical one right here and now, and, if left unresolved, for eternity.

This phrase, “and lead us not into temptation,” has been the source of much debate over the years, and for good reason. The question of whether or not God causes us to sin, or at the very least intentionally places us in circumstances where we are tempted to sin, is one with huge implications for the holiness and goodness of God. This can seem especially challenging for those of us who believe in God’s complete sovereignty over all things, including all evil and sin and sickness. If we conclude simply that God does not do the tempting himself, but allows, and even leads, his people into temptation (or trials, as the Greek word in this verse can be rendered), does that not make the sovereign God culpable in some way for our sin?

I could bring up a number of theological positions on this, or attempt to delve into the philosophy of causality; but instead, let’s look at the Scripture text at hand as well as some associated ones to see if any clear answer(s) can be found.

James 1:13-15 make it very plain that God is not the source of our temptations, but rather we are “lured and enticed by [our] own desire.” James goes so far as to state emphatically, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God.’” In other words, temptation ultimately comes from unfulfilled desires within us. Yes, if we are “in Christ” we are new creations and have been given new hearts that are inclined toward God; but, because we live in a corrupt world in these “bodies of death” (the “flesh” that Paul talks about extensively in Romans and his other Epistles), we still struggle and strive to live as people set free from sin.

Jesus even juxtaposes these concepts of spirit and flesh when he warns the Disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane to “watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” These passages seem to indicate that temptation is internal to us and arises from the weakness of our flesh. While Scripture is clear that God is not the one who tempts us, the question raised by Matthew 6:13 remains: does God “lead us” into circumstances or places where we will be tempted?

There are instances, such as in the book of Job and where Jesus tells Peter that Satan had asked and been granted permission to “sift [him] like wheat” that the devil is allowed (with limitations) to put God’s people through trials and temptations. Even more clearly, Matthew tells us in chapter four the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness “to be tempted by the devil” (emphasis mine). While Jesus’ circumstances and purpose were unique, His intentional temptation shows us two things: God was not the source of the temptations, the devil was; yet, God the Spirit explicitly led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. Therefore, God’s Word reveals to us that God does, in fact, in His sovereignty allow and even enable his people to be tempted.

Now, before we jump to any conclusions about God’s character and culpability as an active agent in our sin, consider these things:

First and foremost, read the words of Paul from 1 Corinthians 10:13 where he says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” This verse really defuses any argument we may form. The bottom line is that God, in his sovereignty, allows us to be tempted, but also in his sovereignty restrains the tempter and graciously provides “a way escape” for us so that giving in to temptation and sinning is not our only option.

However, pay attention as well to the words in the verse that immediately follows, where Paul says, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” We have a responsibility to take an active role in the avoidance of temptation and sin. We can’t just pray that God will lead us away from temptation and do nothing ourselves to combat it, and then blame God when we fall into sin. Paul admonishes Timothy to “flee youthful lusts.” He doesn’t tell him to remain in compromising circumstances and just pray for God to help him. He says, “flee!” In other words, take action!

Because God is sovereign over all things, including the Devil and sin, and because God “works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose,” we can find our answer (and hope) in that God uses temptations – and even our sin – to bring about sanctification and holiness in our lives. For the unsaved, sin leads only to the “heaping up of wrath,” judgment and death (consider also 2 Peter 2). For God’s children, His elect, sin can lead us to repentance and a greater love and appreciation for what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross – “he who has been forgiven much loves much.”

So, what do we do with “and lead us not into temptation”? Two final thoughts.

The first is that we can view this as a way by which we, in our prayers, acknowledge those things that tempt us and are the “sins which clings so closely” (Hebrews 12:1). This helps us in our “fleeing” as we identify and call out sin in our lives for what it is. The second is that we can see Jesus creating a contrast here between temptation and deliverance from evil. His statement is hyperbolic in way. Rather than being led away into a situation where sin is lurking we should seek deliverance from evil – something on the polar opposite side of the spectrum. It’s similar to when Jesus said that we should “hate” our father, mother, brothers and sisters compared to how much we love him. He’s not advocating that we actually hate our families, but rather that our love for him would be so great, even extreme, that it makes our love for our families appear to be on the same side of hate on a scale depicting levels of our love.

Thus, our prayer and desire should be to abhor and shun evil so much in order to obey and love our Father in heaven that everything else be viewed as temptation and illicit desire. We need to have a passion for holiness so intense that we are willing to give up any earthly pleasure, activity or relationship to pursue God. That’s what loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength looks like. Sound impossible? Yes, but it’s our calling – “Be holy as I am holy.” It’s only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are enabled to live in a way that’s pleasing to him; and, thanks be to God, we have forgiveness through Jesus Christ when we fall short of this calling.

Thoughts on Matthew 6:5-13

Imagine you’re sitting out in the sweltering Mediterranean sun, longing for a breeze from the sea of Galilee to stir and offer some relief. You could leave, and part of you wants to, but you don’t want to be the first person to walk away from Jesus as he preaches from the hillside. You have pressed as close as you can (or dare), along with your fellow Pharisees, and your anger has been stirred as this Nazarene carpenter has spent the past hour teaching things that threaten to expose your falseness and the futility of your religiosity. You’re hoping the people have not been listening well and that they don’t start to perceive you differently. Then Jesus said it, or so you thought. “Did he just call us hypocrites?” you ask your friend. “I think so, but I’m not sure. Let’s keep listening,” he replies sharply. Then, it happens again, and this time you’re both sure.

Jesus was not afraid to call things what they were. He never dodged the truth or sugarcoated anything so as not to offend. Obviously, he was not malicious or reckless (nothing about Jesus is reckless, not even his love), and he even told his followers that people would be offended at them on account of Jesus. This passage is certainly no exception. Jesus had just finished calling out the “hypocrites” for the way they made a big deal about their giving to the poor and seeking the approval of men. Then, Jesus warns his listeners not to “be like the hypocrites” who stood and prayed loudly in the synagogues and on the street corners.

Some people have taken this passage to mean Christians should never pray in public (like for a meal at a restaurant). I think that interpretation is extreme and misses the point Jesus is making – that just like the giving and doing good deeds, it’s about our hearts. If we were to never pray outside the confines of our rooms, then we need to stop praying in church, prayer meetings and while evangelizing. That’s such an absurd view that I won’t say more to contradict it as Scripture and church history are more than sufficient to do that. However, I will say that we need to be careful when we pray in the presence of others that we’re not putting on a show for others rather than coming before the throne of God.

I’ve had plenty of experiences where preachers and other people default to what I’ll call a “prayer voice” when they prayed publicly. I get that we all have nuanced ways of speaking with various people, God included, and that’s normal. What I mean by “prayer voice” is when it’s over the top (sometimes in King James English) and is obviously not a normal way of speaking to anyone, not even God. God is our Father, and Jesus is our Brother and High Priest, among many other things, and our conversation with them should be natural and normal (assuming we’re practiced in prayer). Again, God is after our hearts – and knows what’s in them!

The second prayer-related warning Jesus gives here is not to “heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do.” It was not uncommon in those days for pagan worshippers to repeat their prayers over and over in hopes their false god would hear them. Jesus makes it clear these mantra-like repetitions are unnecessary with God because, unlike wooden or metal idols, he not only hears the first time, but knows our needs before we even voice them. He then presents a prayer after which we can model our prayers.

Because there are thousands of books, articles and posts about The Lord’s Prayer, I will limit my comments here to a basic outline of this prayer that we can use to approach God in a way that can be very helpful and prevent us from approaching God as if he were just a divine Santa Claus who exists to hear our wish lists.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” – acknowledge God’s deity and majesty, but also his condescension to us as a loving Father who has graciously adopted us into his family.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” – express our desire to be in God’s presence and to submit our will to his, and to see God’s purposes fulfilled throughout the earth.

“Give us this day our daily bread…” – Confess our dependence upon the Lord for all we have, as well as our contentment for what he provides, be it much or little.

“…and forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors” – Confess our sins to God (vertical relationship), and examine our hearts to ensure we have forgiven and been reconciled with others (horizontal relationships), and, as Jesus already addresses in Matthew 5:23-24, go and be reconciled before coming before the Lord.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” – Plead for God’s grace and strength to overcome sin, and for divine protection against the attacks of the enemy (whether in the physical or spiritual realms).

I will conclude here to keep this post from becoming too lengthy, but in subsequent posts we will dig deeper into some questions about whether or not God causes us to sin (based on verse 13) as well as the conditionality of forgiveness (verses 12 and 14-15). In the meantime, let’s commit to praying more, and praying in a way that highlights God’s holiness and our need and depravity, but also in a way that sounds and feels like a conversation with our Father who loves us more than we can even comprehend.

Mark chapter six stands out because of two very familiar stories – Jesus feeding the 5,000 and then walking on water. And, there’s another significant story in that chapter most of us never heard in Sunday School, namely, the beheading of John the Baptist. I imagine the take-home crafts and drawings for that tragic story would not make for great Sunday lunch show-and-tell. However, those are not the only narratives in chapter six.

After Jesus feeds the massive crowds and then walks to his disciples on the water, he ends up with them in Gennesaret, a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee that was located just a couple miles southwest of Capernaum – where Jesus was living at that time. The text says that when they landed and got out of the boat “the people immediately recognized” Jesus, and “ran about the whole region and began to bring the people on their beds to wherever they heard he was.” The passage goes on to discuss how people would lay out the sick in the villages, cities and countryside (in other words, everywhere) wherever Jesus was and beg that they might just touch the edge of Jesus’ garment. Because of their faith-filled actions, “as many as touched it were made well.”

This is the picture of evangelism – going and spreading the news of Jesus to others. The first lesson here is to “come and see, go and tell” (I stole that term from our pastor’s sermon this past week). These people had apparently either been healed themselves, or had seen Jesus heal others, and their belief that Jesus would heal more people motivated them to go about “the whole region” and bring others to Jesus, even going so far as to carry them on their beds to wherever he was.

The second lesson we can learn about evangelism is that we need to be sensitive to the Lord’s leading and listening for His voice – and then obey … and then keep listening and obeying. There are two sub-points I want to touch on here. The first has to do with being able to hear and discern the Lord’s voice. Many of us fret about not knowing if we would know God’s voice if we heard it. You will know it when you hear it (Jesus said His sheep know His voice). But, let’s be honest here. Most of us don’t hear from God because we’re so distracted with other things that we’re not tuned in. I think of the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. Philip was listening, heard from God and obeyed the prompting to sit along a hot, dusty road in the middle of the desert. If that were me, I’d probably sit there thinking how cool it was that I heard and obeyed the Lord, and then I’d pull out my smartphone and start playing Scrabble since, after all, I’m now sitting in a desolate place and have nothing else to do. I hate to think that, knowing myself, I’d not have heard the second message, like Philip did, to go evangelize the person off in the distance. The second sub-point is that we have to be willing to change our plans to synch up with God’s. I don’t know about you, but I have missed out on missional opportunities not because I was deaf to the Lord’s voice, but rather because I had an agenda I didn’t want to have altered. I made excuses. I was selfish. And then, the chance was missed and the Good News of a savior in Jesus Christ was not shared that day.

Jesus had been preaching and healing in the region of Galilee for a few months, which was long enough to gain a reputation and accompanying recognition so that he had a hard time being alone. Even the thousands of people he fed the day before sought and found Jesus in a desolate place when he was trying to get away and be alone to rest (and even get a chance to eat!) with his disciples. Verses 33 and 34 say, “Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When [Jesus] went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” In other words, Jesus was willing to forego his initial plans to rest and be alone and instead served people in need.

This seeing and recognizing of Jesus, followed by going and telling others, is a theme we find throughout the Scriptures, and John 1:29-51 is no exception. John the Baptist sees Jesus and proclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” and then Andrew tells Peter, “We have found the Messiah,” and Philip finds Nathanael and informs him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” They were willing to risk their message being rejected (which it was in part by Nathanael initially), but were so sure of the truth and importance of what they were proclaiming that they spoke anyway.

Here is the third and final lesson – the fear of rejection should not prevent us from evangelizing. Why? Because the truth of the Gospel is God’s word of salvation to humankind; and if the message is rejected, it’s God’s message that’s being rejected, not us, the messengers. Therefore, it should not be difficult for us to shout from the rooftops that we have “found the Messiah” and that others should come and see him and believe as well. Their acceptance of the Gospel message is not within our ability to ensure. Only God through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit can change hearts and draw people to himself. Our job is simply to sow the seeds and water, but it’s the Lord who causes seeds to sprout and fruit to grow. These passages make one thing clear – our need to run to Jesus for salvation, and then to run from Jesus to go and tell others what we have found.

Thoughts on Matthew 6:1-4

The first word of this next section of the Sermon on the Mount is “beware,” and is a fitting theme for the remainder of the sermon. The following two chapters, as we will discover, are full of warnings prefaced by “do not” and “beware” statements. This first warning is against “practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.” I emphasize the last half of that quote because there’s a tension that must be held here with an earlier quote from this sermon that says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (5:16). The Apostle Peter also addresses the “visibility” side of this tension in 1 Peter 2:12 which says, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

Clearly there’s a right and proper way to do good works that are visible to others that bring glory to God, and there’s a way to do good works for our own vainglory and for which we will not receive any reward from God. It’s important here to see that the first verse describes “practicing righteousness” in general, whereas the subsequent verses address giving specifically. The most obvious answer, which is contained in the first verse, has to do with our motives. Jesus implies that we should and will do righteous acts, but then warns that our reason for doing so must not be to “be seen” by other people. What I take from this is that our good deeds will be seen, and, according to Matthew 5:16 and 1 Peter 2:12, should be seen. Thus, we should be about the business of doing good deeds, but with pure motives. Again, as we have seen over and over again in the previous verses in this sermon, Jesus is cutting through the surface to get at our hearts.

We have already seen that good deeds, done with the right motives, bring glory to God and are an expectation for his followers. In the remaining verses of this passage, Jesus juxtaposes loud, attention-seeking giving with secret, quiets acts of charity to make his point that those who give in a flashy, self-aggrandizing way are “hypocrites” and have “received their reward” – the approbation of man, rather than the favor and reward of the “Father who sees in secret.” It cannot be ignored that Jesus says to give “in secret,” so we’re forced to figure out how to reconcile that with the other two passages I mentioned earlier. How do we give such that our left hand does not know what our right hand is doing, yet do it in such a way that others see it and glorify God? Jesus clearly says to give in secret, so how does that fit with visibility? Or does it?

There are two answers I see. One is that in the first verse Jesus mentions doing good works generally, as already discussed, and then drives down to a more specific and relevant topic that would resonate with his audience. The second is that giving to the poor, even if secretly/anonymously, often results in open and visible effects that bring glory to God. There are many stories where anonymous providential provision brought about much praise and thanksgiving to the Lord and benefit to the recipients (as well encouragement to those who heard or read about it). Those who gave “in secret” have been, or will be, rewarded, and God has received glory. Thus, the tension between giving in secret and letting our light shine is not as difficult as it may have seemed.

In summary, and as always, Jesus is after our hearts. Outward acts, no matter how good, do not matter compared to the motives of our hearts. Our call is to love God and love others, whether that means good works that cannot be hidden or secretive giving that openly blesses others. Either way, we are reminded to do all that we do for the glory of God. Soli Deo Gloria.

Thoughts on Matthew 5:48

Here is the sum of all that Jesus has said thus far in the Sermon on the Mount, and the prerequisite to enter into the Kingdom of heaven: “You therefore must be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.” It’s the highest and most impossible call for us fallen humans with an inherited sin nature. Yet, Jesus’ words are true and the standard has been set. Any hopes of entering the Kingdom of Heaven based on external actions, religiosity or good deeds have been smashed to bits (at least in the minds of those who are able to see the pervasiveness and magnitude of their sin). If Jesus were to have been taken up into heaven at the moment He concluded this first half of the Sermon on the Mount and left humanity to hopelessly strive for sinless perfection, everyone would be lost … eternally.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,..” (Ephesians 2:4-6) This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the only hope we have. When we are broken by the weight of our sin and see Jesus, the Messiah, standing with outstretched, nail-pierced hands, the cross upon which He bore the punishment for our sins looming larger and larger, it’s then, when we hear His call, “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” that freedom from slavery to sin and death are realized, our hearts of stone are removed and replaced with hearts of flesh, faith is ignited in our new hearts, and our mouths are opened and we confess Christ as Lord and rejoice in songs of thanksgiving to our Savior.

There’s so much that happens in that moment, and it’s all the grace of God working salvation in us and sealing us with His Holy Spirit. It’s what happens next that Jesus really gets after in the second half of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus focuses in on holy living as it relates to prayer, fasting, tithing, supplication, good works, judging, interpersonal relationships and other topics. As I have said before and as we will continue to see, the things to which Jesus calls us are not possible without Him as our Lord and savior, empowered and enabled by the Holy Spirit. Thus, the call is first to believe the Gospel and “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” and then to let all the other things fall into place as we walk with and in obedience to Him. May our prayer today be to abide in Him, and He in us that we may love Him, love others, and, ultimately, bring Him glory.

Thoughts on Matthew 5:43-47

The final “you have heard it said” of the Sermon on the Mount does not have as clear a parallel between it and an Old Testament passage as the previous topics did. There are plenty of verses about how God’s people were to relate to fellow Israelites, and there are many imprecatory Psalms and other passages about hating enemies, evil people and those who sought to harm God’s people. However, this seeming mashup of verses and ideas, this juxtaposition, that Jesus quotes here in Matthew is not something that can be found articulated as a command anywhere in the Bible. In fact, Jesus forcefully repudiates the idea that there are any circumstances under which His disciples are justified in hating other people.

Jesus sets out to quickly destroy any prideful notions the Jews (as the immediate and most direct audience with their national elitism), as well as His disciples and, eventually, Christians (likely His primary audiences), could have that they possess any positional or moral superiority above “persecutors,” “evil,” “unjust,” “tax collectors” and “Gentiles.” He calls those of us who would follow Him to a proactive loving of those who hate and persecute us. He says to pray for those who do us harm, which requires us to think of them and what they need, and then to take time to intercede on their behalf before the Father – even while they might be actively hurting us. As crazy as it sounds, the reward is beyond worth – to be called children of God. Hence, there are no pains to be endured, no rights sacrificed, no shame deep enough to compare with what’s promised to those who adopted into the family of God.

Jesus does acquiesce a distinction between morally divergent – evil and good, just and unjust – as well as culturally and ethnically divergent people – Jews and tax collectors, Jews (brothers) and Gentiles – yet in so doing He makes the point that all people share two things in common that were just as true then as they are now: 1. God’s common grace is bestowed upon and enjoyed by all people, even if they fail to acknowledge it or understand it; 2. The need to be loved by God and other people, even if they deny that need from one or both. The bottom line is that we are all of one race – the human race – and share the same intrinsic needs as well as defects.

These concepts of love and hate, enemy and friend (or “brother”) raise a huge theological question – is Jesus calling us to do something He, as God, does not seem to do Himself, namely, loving His enemies? What do I mean? I mean that there exists a very difficult, seemingly conflicting reality that the Bible says of God, “…You hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies…” (Psalm 5:5b-6a) and yet, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) “What’s the problem then?” you might ask. Do not these verses clearly show the truth of John 3:16 that “…God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in His should not perish but have eternal life” and of Romans 5:10 that says that we who were once enemies of God were “reconciled to God by the death of his Son”? Yes, they do. However, the Bible is also clear there remain “enemies” of God that He will destroy and cast into eternal fire at the end of the age. Are these condemned souls loved by God? Were they ever loved by God since God is omniscient and has known since eternity past who would be saved (the Elect), or have they always been hated as evildoers? If so, then why and how can Jesus call us to love all people, even our enemies, if He sends people to hell, which seems to be the paramount antithesis to what we conceive as love? Should not God save all people if he is to follow His own command to love everyone? Now do you see the theological issue?

Full disclosure here. I am a Christian with Calvinistic tendencies, which means I believe God’s sovereign will supersedes the “freewill” of man, particularly in relation to salvation. It means I believe the Bible explicitly teaches God has predestined a people from before the foundations of the world to be adopted into His family and thus be saved (Ephesians 1). Of course, the flip side of that is that there are those who are not elect and are therefore not saved. It’s a very hard doctrine to accept because of the implications for both us and God. It puts us in a helpless position whereby our ability to be saved from eternal hell is predicated solely upon God’s choice and leaves no hope for those who are not predetermined to be saved. It puts God in a position where His love and character are called into question because He essentially predestines people for hell (some call this “double predestination”). And, of course, no discussion about election and damnation would be complete without the age-old question, “how could a loving God send good people to hell?”

Here’s how I reconcile these legitimate concerns. First and foremost, we don’t get to define God’s character or the meaning of love. What we know of God’s nature and character are limited to and constrained by what He reveals in the Bible, the person of Jesus Christ, and, to a lesser extent, creation. Furthermore, the word “love” is probably the most misused and abused word in the dictionary, at least as it compares to its meaning in relation to God. Our skewed understanding love makes is nearly, if not completely, impossible to argue whether or not God is or is not loving in His judging of sin and allowing evil things to happen in this world. As with God’s character, true love is defined by God in the Bible, not by culture, a dictionary or our own conceptions. Secondly, the Bible teaches in Romans 3:10 that “There is none righteous; no, not one.” This means we cannot correctly argue that there are any “good” people by God’s definition of good. We are all born dead in sin and at enmity with God (hence and again, “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.”) We are all “by nature Children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) and justly deserve eternal punishment in hell for our rebellion against the eternal and holy God. The fact God lets the sun rise and rain fall on the just and the unjust reveals the common grace and love God has for all of His creation. Thus, it is true to say God loves all people. However, God’s specific, saving grace is reserved for a defined and determined people upon whom his special love and favor rest – the Elect. The fact He chooses to save anyone is far beyond what any of us deserve and proves the magnitude and mystery of God’s love.

There remains the question of how and why in Matthew 5 Jesus calls His disciples to love everyone, even when He himself will someday destroy His enemies and punish them forever. Here’s the key difference that I believe answers this tough question: “The Lord knows those who are his” (2 Timothy 2:19), and we do not. We do not know who are numbered among the elect, and therefore, if we are to fulfill the Great Commission we must preach the Gospel to all people, including our enemies and those who persecute us. Since we simply do not know if someone is elect or not, our default – our command – is to love everyone with the aim of reaching them with the saving message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God chooses who will be saved, not us. Our call is to love everyone so as to cast the net of the Kingdom of Heaven over all people and let God sort out those whom He loves in a specific, saving way (Matthew 13:47-50). If we show love to everyone, even those who hate and hurt (and maybe eventually even kill) us, we “do more” than those who don’t follow Jesus and so carry the message of true love and hope to a dying world.

I know this has been a very long post, but bear with me for one minute longer and please read this very timely and applicable quote from A. F. C. Vilmar that I read recently in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s chapter about Matthew 5: 43-47 in his book, The Cost of Discipleship:

This commandment, that we should love our enemies and forgo revenge will grow even more urgent in the holy struggle which lies before us and in which we partly have already been engaged for years. In it love and hate engage in mortal combat. It is the urgent duty of every Christian soul to prepare itself for it.

The time is coming when the confession of the living God will incur not only the hatred and the fury of the world, for on the whole it has come to that already, but complete ostracism from ‘human society,’ as they call it. The Christians will be hounded from place to place, subjected to physical assault, maltreatment and death of every kind. We are approaching an age of widespread persecution.

Therein lies the true significance of all the movements and conflicts of our age. Our adversaries seek to root out the Christian Church and the Christian faith because they cannot live side by side with us, because they see in every word we utter and every deed we do, even when they are not specifically directed against them, a condemnation of their own words and deeds. They are not far wrong. They suspect too that we are indifferent to their condemnation. Indeed they must admit that it is utterly futile to condemn us. We do not reciprocate their hatred and contention, although they would like it better if we did, and so sink to their own level.

And how is the battle to be fought? Soon the time will come when we shall pray, not as isolated individuals, but as a corporate body, a congregation, a Church: we shall pray in multitudes (albeit in relatively small multitudes) and among the thousands and thousands of apostates we shall loudly praise and confess the Lord who was crucified and is risen and shall come again.

And what prayer, what confession, what hymn of praise will it be? It will be the prayer of earnest love for these very sons of perdition who stand around and gaze at us with eyes aflame with hatred, and who have perhaps already raised their hands to kill us. It will be a prayer for the peace of these erring, devastated and bewildered souls, a prayer for the same love and peace which we ourselves enjoy, a prayer which will penetrate to the depths of their souls and rend their hearts more grievously than anything they can do to us.

Yes, the Church which is really waiting for its Lord, and which discerns the signs of the times of decision, must fling itself with its utmost power and with the panoply of its holy life into this prayer of love.

If the author of Ecclesiastes could say nearly 2,500 years ago there’s “nothing new under the sun,” how much more can that proven true today? I could go any number of directions with that leading sentence from war to crime to sin, but I’m going somewhere else with this – music. More specifically, the music written and sung by those most generally identified as Christians.

I recently got on iTunes to check out a new album by an artist who has a number of songs I enjoy. In his early years, he did a number of “covers” of modern worship songs and even some hymns. As he matured he wrote some pretty good music that was both lyrically compelling and instrumentally, uncommonly good (compared to most other contemporary Christian music, or CCM). However, it seems his popularity and quality of music have been inversely proportional, and, worse, most of the lyrics I heard on this new album are nothing more than microwaved Christian clichés.

I’m planning to do more here than just write a negative critique for an unnamed album, so bear with me. The thought that really struck me as I sampled this artist’s new album was how it seems many modern songwriters have strayed farther and farther from the original source of inspiration for historically and theologically sound songs – the Scriptures – and have rather learned to draw from other songs, pithy quotes and clichés. Can I just say here that if I hear another CCM/worship song about oceans and deep waters, I might just defenestrate my iPod!

Hymn writers in the days of yore certainly employed creative license and wrote from their hearts, but, in my opinion, didn’t stray far from the very book wherein Christians are admonished to sing “Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” to the Lord. If we want to know how creative and emotive we can and should be as we try to describe our relationship with God and the nature of His character, the Psalms are an amazing resource. There have been lyrics in the past I questioned because of how odd they sounded (like being under the shadow of God’s wings or God singing over me), but have found them to actually be based in the Scriptures. However, and it’s a big “however,” there are far too many songs, especially modern ones, that have come untethered from historical, orthodox and even Biblical themes. Or, as in the case of the album I was reviewing, songs have become the fulfillment of the Ecclesiastical quote from the opening sentence and offer nothing but worn out thoughts about God and His love.

SIDEBAR WARNING! Don’t even get me started on the overemphasis on God’s love and all the borderline heretical songs that elevate me and my supposed worth as the motivation for it. Moreover, so many CCM songs about God’s love could easily have the name “God” removed and replaced with “guy” or “girl” or some other pronoun and be a pop or country hit. The definition and expression of love in many CCM songs has devolved into the same kind of fleeting, “I love you because you make me happy” type of emotion found in secular music rather than the deep love of Christ “that surpasses knowledge” that Paul the Apostle tried to convey in his letter to the Ephesians. End Sidebar.

What’s the point of all this? To encourage the Saints to listen and worship critically, and songwriters to look to the Scriptures more than other sources for inspiration. While it’s true there are many great hymns and even some sound praise choruses and songs, they should not be where we turn when we verify the theology of what we sing and listen to (I’m implying here that’s something we should be doing). A lyric is not valid just because Isaac Watts, John Newton or Chris Tomlin wrote it once in a popular song.

Whether we want to admit it or not, I believe our theology is influenced more by the music we listen to and the songs we sing than anything else. Because of that, I contend that there are so many songs out there that cover the whole spectrum of genres that there’s no good reason I can find to settle for listening to (or writing) songs that are Scripturally or theologically unsound, confusing or ambiguous, and that includes reheated jumbles of Biblically nuanced lyrics served up on the platter of the latest CCM hit. Since we are told to sing a “new song” and since we love and serve an infinite God, we have just cause to continue producing and singing songs that are relevant to our culture and time in redemptive history. However, that does not give us license to allow culture (past or present) to shape our hymns and spiritual songs more than the Scriptures, nor should we tolerate the mashing up a few churchy sounding lyrics into songs that prove there’s nothing new under the sun.