Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast, I’m Nick and it is fantastic to be here with you today. I hope that you have enjoyed our slower pace to the Sermon on the Mount this week. I know for me that it has been life giving and healing to my soul. Today we find ourselves in Matthew 6:1-18, so let’s dive in…

Listen and follow along with the scripture.

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Matthew Chapter 6:1-18

The World Is Not a Stage

“Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.

2-4 “When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure—‘playactors’ I call them—treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get. When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.

Pray with Simplicity

5 “And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for fifteen minutes of fame! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

6 “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

7-13 “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

Our Father in heaven,

Reveal who you are.

Set the world right;

Do what’s best—

as above, so below.

Keep us alive with three square meals.

Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.

Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.

You’re in charge!

You can do anything you want!

You’re ablaze in beauty!

Yes. Yes. Yes.

14-15 “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.

16-18 “When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don’t make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won’t make you a saint. If you ‘go into training’ inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn’t require attention-getting devices. He won’t overlook what you are doing; he’ll reward you well.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson

We all want to live these well curated lives that make people look at you and say wow, they have it all together. However, that’s not what God wants from us. God wants us to live fully for him and to worship him with our lives. What we do is for him and not for others to applaud us or stroke our ego. We get to live in partnership with God and by doing our part, we get to see God in action and he gets to enjoy us in action. Sometimes I forget that part, I don’t need the applause of people because God’s appreciation is more than enough to satisfy my soul.

A good sermon steps on your toes and makes you uncomfortable with the tensionbetween the reality of your soul and what God wants from you. This sermon from Jesus sure delivers the punch and I hope that you are wrestling with these words of Jesus. What is the tension that you are feeling as you wrestle with Jesus’ words?

Let’s pray…

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