Do Pray-Part 2 (Matt. 6:5-15)

During the recent presidential campaign some argued that we should not elect someone who is elite—more highly trained and experienced than most—but should instead elect someone who is ordinary—able to relate to the average man or woman.  One author wrote this:[1] There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth—in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn’t seem too intelligent or well educated.  This author argues that we need people in the White House who are elite, who are at the top rung in terms of experience, education, and insight.  Others however, were arguing that that we need people in the White House who are not elite, people who are more like the rest of us.

 

There is a similar debate raised near the end of the Sermon on the Mount.  The Sermon proper ends in Matt. 7:12.  What follows is commentary on the Sermon—Jesus reflecting on what he’s just taught and urging us to act on it.  We read the following words in this commentary section: 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!’  (Matt. 7:21-23 TNIV).  Jesus envisions a courtroom.  All of humanity stands before Jesus the judge.  Group after group presents evidence from their lives, hoping to demonstrate the good quality of their lives.[2] 

 

It is important to note that this is not people presenting evidence that would earn them Jesus’ favor.  The Sermon on the Mount begins in Matt. 5 with the beatitudes, the “blessed are….”  Some of these beatitudes are expressions of grace.  They are Jesus saying, “Though you come to me empty-handed, I bless you.  I bestow favor on you.  Irrespective of your merit, I bless you.”  The Sermon begins with Jesus giving favor.  Thus the issue in this courtroom scene is not “How do we earn Jesus’ favor?” but “How did we respond to that favor?  What evidence might we point to which demonstrates we responded to Jesus’ favor in an appropriate way?”

 

The first group who stands before Jesus points to what we might call their “sensational lives.”  They say “Lord, Lord.”  The double use indicates they are doubly convicted about this title.  “Lord, Lord.”  And three times they state that they’ve done what they’ve done in life “in your name.”  “In your name” they prophesied.  “In your name” they drove out demons.  “In your name” they performed miracles.  These are people with insight into the name and identity of Jesus.  In other words, their doctrine is sensational. [3]  They know of and believe in Jesus as Lord.  They understand his deity.  They have insight into his identity.  Their doctrine is sensational—better than most.

 

And their ministry is sensational.  The people in this group can point to their prophesying—powerful preaching by which they spread the gospel.  They can point to their driving out demons—powerful exorcisms by which they confronted evil.  They can point to their miracles—powerful acts by which they gave sight to the blind and healed the lame. [4]   Their ministry has been sensational.

 

These aren’t your run of the mill kind of Christians.  They have extensive training and knowledge and expertise.  They’ve got the D. Min.’s and the Ph. D.’s.  They can preach in ways few others can.  They can channel the power of God like few others can.  They are the “elite.”  They are at the top rung.  They can point to their sensational lives. 

 

At times we seem to believe that sensationalism is the ultimate in the spiritual life.  We listen to people who seem to fathom immense Scriptural complexities and we long for that kind of knowledge.  There are some of us who sense that the summit of the Christian life would be to preach like Mike Cope or Bill Hybels or Shane Claiborne.  There are some of us who strive for the goal of being able to minister as powerfully as Jim Harbin, or Joe Cannon, or Jab Mesa.  Sometimes we seem to believe that the top rung on the ladder is this sensational spiritual life.

 

But notice what happens when those with sensational lives appear before the judge:   23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’  (Matt. 7:23 TNIV).  They master doctrine, preach, drive out demons, and do miracles, but Jesus rejects them.  He indicates they have no idea what relationship with him is about.  They have missed what it means to live in his kingdom.  It’s not that Jesus is against powerful preaching, powerful exorcisms, and powerful miracles.  It’s that this group has achieved those things yet failed to grasp the heart of what it means to follow Jesus.

 

But if sensational lives are not the apex of Christianity, what is?  Here’s how Jesus puts it: 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven.”  (Matt. 7:21 TNIV).  A second group appears before the judge.  They are the opposite of the first group.  They don’t come proclaiming “Lord, Lord.”  Perhaps their grasp of doctrine is not as deep.  In addition, they can’t point to powerful preaching they’ve been doing or powerful exorcisms they’ve been performing or powerful miracles they’ve been demonstrating.  Perhaps they get nervous and stutter when they try to preach.  Perhaps they don’t have personalities strong enough to even confront an unkind boss, much less a wicked demon.  Perhaps they don’t even know what to say when a lame person shows up much less know how to heal their illness miraculously.  There is nothing sensational about them.

 

But notice what they do point to.  Jesus puts it this way: they “do the will of my Father who is in heaven.”  That line “the will of my Father” refers to living out the Sermon on the Mount.  As I said earlier, in this section Jesus is offering commentary on his Sermon on the Mount.  And in that context, “doing the will of my Father who is in heaven,” means putting into practice the words of the Sermon.  This second group cannot point to any sensational lives.  What they point to is something simple: they’ve been trying to live out the Sermon on the Mount.  We could call this group “simple lives.”  Their focus has been on a simple life of obedience.[5]  All they strive for is living out the commands in the Sermon.[6]  Rather than casting out demons, they simply work on casting out their anger.  Rather than performing mighty miracles, they simply work on the miracle of being sexually pure.  Rather than speaking prophecy, they simply work on speaking the truth.[7]  And it’s this group, Jesus says, who embodies what the kingdom is all about. 

 

Here at the close of the Sermon, Jesus challenges our vision of the spiritual life.  The spiritual life is not about sensational things—about preaching life-changing sermons, or winning battles over giant forces of evil, or fixing broken people in miraculous ways.  The spiritual life is instead about simple living—about doing our best to live out this Sermon. 

 

The best thing we could do at this point would be to read the entire Sermon on the Mount.  That would give us a deep sense of what Jesus is pointing to here.  But, we don’t have time.  Instead, I’ve summarized the Sermon on the Mount in about 220 words.  Here, in summary fashion, is the simple life Jesus hopes we’ll learn to value:

 

I bless you who are

poor in spirit,

mourning,

meek, and

longing for righteousness.

 

I make you a blessing as you show

mercy,

purity,

peacemaking, and

a willingness to suffer for what is right.

 

Do good deeds that act as salt and light.

 

Do not harbor anger but seek reconciliation.

 

Pay any price to think and act without lust.

 

Do not divorce but be faithful.

 

Do not deceive but let your yes mean yes.

 

Do not respond to evil with violence but with love.

 

Give to the poor, pray, and fast for God’s sake alone.

 

Pray for God’s kingdom to come.

 

Do not be miserly and thus serve Money but be generous and thus serve God.

 

Do not worry but trust in the caring provision and kingdom purpose of the Father.

 

Strengthen your own weaknesses rather than pointing out the weaknesses of others.

 

Pray trusting in a Father who knows how to give good gifts.

 

Do to others what you would have them do to you.

 

Do not follow the crowded path but follow the little-traveled path.

 

Do not listen to others because of the fruit on their resumes but because of the fruit in their character.

 

Do not aspire to the claim of sensational spirituality but to the claim of simple obedience.

 

Do not merely listen to these words but do live them out.

 

This simple life is what the kingdom is all about.

 

And the question we explored last Sunday morning, and which we continue this morning is this: how do we make that simple life a reality in our lives?  Last Sunday morning I suggested that the Lord’s Prayer one of the primary means for making the Sermon a reality.  Listen to this prayer: ” ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ‘”  (Matt. 6:9-13 TNIV).

 

Last Sunday, we explored how the first half of this prayer enables us to pursue a Sermon-on-the-Mount life.  By praying the first half of this prayer regularly, we come to trust in God as a heavenly Father who gives good gifts, and so we come to trust that the simple life in this Sermon is a good gift.  By praying the first half of this prayer regularly, we renew our intention regularly to live by this Sermon. 

 

This morning we look at the second half of this prayer as the means to living this simple life.  One way to view the second half of the Lord’s Prayer is to view it as a list of the issues likely to keep us from living this simple life.[8] If the Sermon on the Mount is a pathway on which God wants us to walk, that pathway is strewn with large boulders.  In the second half of the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God to remove the boulders.  The second half prays us through obstacles from our past, our present, and our future which may interfere with living this simple life.[9]

 

First, Jesus addresses the obstacle of present possessions: Give us today our daily bread (Matt. 6:11 TNIV).  The petition asks God to provide food that is needed for the present, for today. [10]  In what ways might food, and by extension possessions, become an obstacle to living the simple life of the Sermon?  For those who are poor, lack of food can make it difficult to have the energy to pursue a Sermon-on-the-Mount life.  It’s hard to call a person to focus on loving his enemy or being faithful to his spouse when he’s engrossed in just trying to get enough food to keep alive.  Jesus indicates in Matt. 6:25-34 that the poor can get anxious about finding enough to eat.  This anxiety distracts them from seeking first God’s kingdom—God’s simple way of life.  Thus, the poor pray Give us today our daily bread so that they do not have to worry about basic provisions and can instead focus on living out this simple life. 

 

And for those of us who are not poor, we pray this line in order to avoid the way in which our excess possessions turn us away from the simple Sermon life.  In Matt. 6:19-24 Jesus says we will be tempted to focus on “treasures on earth” rather than the treasure of a life lived according to the Sermon, and that we will be tempted to serve Money rather than God.  Jesus thus urges us rich people to develop a discipline of praying this Lord’s Prayer in which we ask God to only give us what we need for today so that we don’t have excess to distract us from living the simple life.

 

The next line raises the issue of the obstacles of our past failures: And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors (Matt. 6:12 TNIV).  No matter how good our intention to live this life is, we will stumble.  We will fall.  There will be times when we do not love our enemies, when we do serve Money.  Those mistakes could make us so discouraged that we give up altogether any attempt to live this life.  Thus, Jesus teaches us a prayer in which we ask God to deal with our past failures so that we might continue our pursuit of this simple life—forgive us our debts.

 

In particular we may face failures in dealing with difficult people.  The prayer acknowledges that we will have debtors—people who have sinned against us.  And it could be that in our response to these difficult people we begin to veer away from the simple life.  We can get so consumed with revenge or bitterness that we no longer live the simple life.  So, Jesus teaches us this prayer in which we ask God to enable us to forgive those people.

 

The final line deals with the obstacle of future evil: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (Matt. 6:13 TNIV).  The word “temptation” may be better translated “trial” or “testing.”  According to James God does not tempt, so it would be unusual to pray that God would lead us not into temptation.[11]  But God does permit “trials” or “testing.”  These are meant to strengthen our faith.  One problem, however, is that “the evil one” may attack during these trials and cause us to veer away from the simple life.  Thus, Jesus gives us a prayer in which we ask God to deliver us from trying circumstances in which the evil one strives to turn us away from the Sermon life.[12] 

 

Fred B. Craddock writes this:[13] Have you ever listened to a sermon in which the lineup of illustrations were Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa, and missionaries who had their feet frozen off in the tundra of the north?  As a young person sitting in church listening to those stories with a few Napoleon stories thrown in, I just sat there swinging my legs over the pew, as I still do, and said to myself, It’s a shame you can’t be a Christian in this little town.  Nobody is chasing or imprisoning or killing Christians.  Then I went away to a summer camp in Bethany Hills, an inspiring time, a night of consecration around the lake, and candlelight, and just everything about it was so moving.  We sang, “Are Ye Able?”  I went back to the dorm and lay on my bunk and said to God, “I’m able.”  “Are you able to give your life?”  “I’ll give my life,” and I pictured myself running in front of a train and rescuing a child, swimming out and getting someone who was drowning.  I pictured myself against a gray wall and some soldier saying, “One last chance to deny Christ and live.”  I confessed my faith, and they said, “Ready, aim, fire.”…I was sincere then, as I have been these forty-five years since.  “I give my life,” but nobody warned me that I could not write one big check.  I’ve had to write forty-five years of little checks: 87 cents, 21 cents, a dollar three cents.  Just nibbled away at this giving of life.

 

Listen to enough sermons or Christians and you can get the idea that the only real Christians are those involved in the sensational: those having their feet frozen off in the tundra, those running in front of a train to rescue a child, those standing before a firing squad and refusing to deny Christ.  You can get the idea that it’s not possible to be a real Christian in this town because there’s no opportunity to do the sensational.  There’s no chance to prophecy, to cast out demons, to do many miracles.  Instead, there’s only the chance to give your life a few cents a time.  Not harboring anger but seeking reconciliation.  Not divorcing but being faithful.  Responding to evil with love.  Giving to the poor, praying, and fasting for God’s sake alone.  Doing to others what you would have them do to you.  But it turns out that this simple life lived a few cents at a time really is the life to which Jesus has called us.  It turns out that simply doing the will of the Father as its revealed in this Sermon is the ultimate in the spiritual life.

 

And how do we move into that life?  One place to begin is by praying the Lord’s Prayer.  The more we pray it, the more God uses it to shape our thinking so that it is more and more oriented toward the simple life.  The more we pray it, the more God removes those things likely to get us off track from the simple life.  It sounds simple.  And it is.  Just praying this prayer on a regular basis will lead you deeper into the simple life laid out in the Sermon on the Mount.