In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has made it very clear
that while it is important, simply meeting the standards of the law is not good
enough to get anyone into heaven. The
scribes and Pharisees were very careful about their religious activities, but
as Jesus said in Matthew 5:20, “…except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” The Pharisees made a big deal about philanthropy
and charitable giving. Jesus pointed
out that many of their efforts were not pleasing to God, in Matthew 6:1-4.
“Take heed that ye do
not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of
your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not
sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the
streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have
their reward. But when thou doest alms,
let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in
secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”
When we give to show off or get approval from other people,
it does not please God and he is not going to reward us for doing so. It is easy for people to give vast amounts
of money with no real concern for the people who receive it, and as I
Corinthians 13:3 tells us, “…though I
bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”
Without real love for the people, the giving is really
meaningless. Much of the charitable
giving is solely for the purpose of getting some free advertising or or people’s
admiration by having what they have given published. The Pharisees frequently had a trumpet sound and
a announcement made so everyone would know how much was given. It was really no different than our charity
auctions and phonethons today where the donors get special recognition and tax
breaks for their gifts. Giving that
pleases God is concerned with helping the people, rather than impressing people,
and is done privately. God will reward
that kind of philanthropy.
Another area the Pharisees focused on was prayer. Jesus addressed this subject in Matthew
6:5-8. “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for
they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets,
that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in
secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
But when ye pray, use
not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be
heard for their much speaking. Be not ye
therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of,
before ye ask him.”
The Old Testament Law provided that the land could never be
sold, and that at the year of jubilee it automatically reverted back to the
original owners. A few years before
Jesus’ birth, the Pharisees and lawyers had decided that that interfered with their
profits and declared that the land could be given to the renter if it was
determined that it would be less profitable if it was returned to the original
owners, much like the laws of eminent domain passed a few years ago in
Congress. As a result, rich businessmen, usually
Pharisees were able to seize the property of widows and orphans, depriving them
of the profits from their lands. They
would then pray long prayers for the poor to be helped to impress others how
much they cared about the poor they had ripped off, as Jesus describes in
Matthew 23:14. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows'
houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the
greater damnation.”
Another mistake was that they often had the same attitude
toward God as the heathen had, that he didn’t really care about people, only
responding if they continued to nag at him for hours, or if their prayers were
worded just right. As a result, they
used specially written prayers so they could be sure it was said just right, and
repeated the same prayers over and over in hopes of getting God’s
attention. In the parable about the
unjust judge who anwered the widow’s request to stop her nagging. Jesus makes
the point that God is not like that unjust judge, and does not need to be
nagged. Romans 8:26-27 makes it clear
that we don’t have to worry about saying things just the right way because the
Holy spirit will correct our mistakes and put it in terms god understands. “Likewise
the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray
for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered. And he that
searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh
intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Much of the popular teaching about prayer implies either
that God doesn’t care about people, or that he doesn’t understand ordinary
words. We are not to pray in such a
manner if we want God to bless us. In
Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus gave a very simple model of how we should pray. “After
this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us
this day our daily bread. And forgive us
our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
Amen.
Notice that the focus Is on who God is and what he wants,
rather than on getting what we want. It
acknowledges his as the Holy God of the universe whose will is most important. It
then asks that our daily needs be met, and recognizes our sin, asking that we
be forgiven and committing to forgive those who wrong us. Finally it asks for guidance to keep us from
falling into temptation. Recognizing God is the eternal king and judge. Matthew 6:14-15 warns against holding
grudges. “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses.” If
we are not willing to recognize our own sinful nature and forgive others, God
will not forgive us either. I
John 1:8-10m tells us, “If we say that we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him
a liar, and his word is not in us.” A
refusal to forgive others implies we are more perfect than they are. Without a proper attitude our giving and
prayers are wasted.
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