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Foundations For Our Future #80 - #89

Foundations for Our Future (80)

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Two Choices

It is one of the most characteristic parts of our Lord’s teaching that he sets before his hearers two ways, and only two ways to sum up a situation. People are prepared or unprepared. Some walk in the light and others in darkness. We will serve God or Mammon. Again and again Jesus gives us an either or.

Apart from the grace of God we do not like what Jesus says. We don’t want an either or, we want gradations. “I am not as bad as that man,” or “I tried to do my best,” or “I am sure God will be lenient with me.” Such phrases come easily to our lips. But not to Jesus. He says to live I must die. To know God’s will fully I must sacrifice all else.

It turns out this is the same teaching when it comes to rewards. A man who wants earthly rewards will get them, but he will forfeit eternal reward. He must choose.

The first example Christ gives us is the giving of alms. (Matthew 6:2) It was as common in the first century as it is today, that people are often charitable because they want others to think well of them, rather than because they care about the needy. And Jesus tells us plainly that those who give with that motive “have received their reward.”

Do you see what is again going on in our Lord’s teaching? He is exposing the heart. Are we demonstrating our goodness for men, or do we have the heart of God?

 

Foundations for Our Future (81)

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Left Hand/Right Hand

I am often amused at how some people read the words of Jesus and find them confusing, especially those who are inclined to be very literal. Of course it happens to us all sometimes. I remember as a child wondering why Jesus sat on God’s right hand? Didn’t it hurt him? And another time, when a little older, I wondered how Jesus could see all the kingdoms of the world from the top of a small mountain?

When our Lord tells his disciples that they are to give for those in need with one hand not knowing what the other is doing, what does he really mean? (Matthew 6:3)

I have known people who think that Jesus means they should never tell anyone what they do with their money, especially never tell the church. Others who literally give in anonymous envelopes. Still others who think this allows us to practice “public giving” but that we must also practice “private giving.” Perhaps there is some truth in all three ideas?

The figurative speech of the Lord Jesus here seems to mean, as I see it, that there is a base motive for giving and a godly one. That we who have more than we need are expected, in love, to share with those who have less. The spirit of the Pharisee, or the hypocrite, is to be praised by men. The spirit of the follower of the Lord is the desire to do God’s will, and be praised by him. Left hand is one. Right hand is the other.

 

 

Foundations for Our Future (82)

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Seeing in Secret

It is a strange but consistent behavior of the disobedient to imagine that nobody knows what we have done but us. The pattern started in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve thought they could hide from God. (Genesis 3:8)

The teaching we are entering into in the sixth chapter of Matthew is a sustained reminder that there is no hiding from God. Our heavenly Father “sees in secret.” (Matthew 6:4)

We have come to this section of Holy Scripture just as we are about to enter the season of Lent. Keeping this season of penitence is a custom that goes back millennia, because the people of God need to be drawn back to their “first love.” We all go astray. We all deceive ourselves about the seriousness of our sins, and the severity of sin’s punishment. We actually, largely unconsciously, imagine we can hide from God.

Lent is a gift. It calls us to face honestly the error of our ways, and the consequences of our lapses. It is meant to bring us face to face with the truth. It beckons us to come into the light. There is a reward for the righteous, and our Father in heaven wants it to be ours.

 

 

Foundations for Our Future (83)

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

When Not If

As we are about to enter the season of Lent, we have come (not by my planning) to the very section of Mathew’s Gospel that will be read on Ash Wednesday. It seems a special gift of grace this year, so let us ponder it carefully.

Remember, the Lord is setting out foundational teaching for his disciples, and he now instructs us about our personal devotional life. What in previous generations would have been called our personal piety, before that word developed negative connotations to many people. The Lord Jesus gives guidance for the times when we give for the needs of others, when we pray, and when we fast. (Matthew 6:2-18)

What we need to notice first of all is this - the Lord says “when” we do these things, not “if” we do them. He presumes that if we are his followers we will be praying people, fasting people, and generously giving people. These are part of the life of one of his disciples.

Jesus begins with the giving of alms “to the needy.” (Matthew 6:2-4) The whole of God’s guidance to Israel includes a continuing emphasis that those who have much are to help those who have little. It is part of the character of God to show pity to the needy, and to shower sinners with mercy. Grace is unmerited. God has freely given to us, and we are to care for those in need.

 

 

Foundations for Our Future (84)

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Hypocrites

It is a harsh word in our ears, is it not? To be accused of being a hypocrite is deeply disturbing to almost all people. We do not want to even contemplate that the word could apply to us. How is Jesus wanting us to understand this teaching? (Matthew 6:2)

Here the Lord seems to be exposing that most common reality, that we all want to be recognized for the good things we do. In a community that values giving to the needy, we give to the needy, as we believe we should. But it is possible to give, not because we truly care for the needy, but because we want to be seen to care. The reason for our giving is to gain the praise of men. Jesus is showing us that this is not a right motive for the deed. It is actually, he suggests, giving to look good ourselves. It is not a gift to the poor, but a gift to our own self esteem and appearance in the eyes of others.

Our heavenly Father wants us to learn to see others as he sees them. We are to learn to care for them as he cares for them.

As we begin the season of Lent, let our decisions to renew or deepen our personal walk of faith be seen only by God. Let us pray for him to change our hearts to be aligned with his.

 

 

Foundations for Our Future (85)

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Prayer in Secret

Most of us are familiar with the public prayers of the church, and it may be the only place we actually pray that is seen by others. There is no condemnation ever spoken by the Lord that would criticize sincere and honest prayer in the community of the faithful. But there is prayer in public that he does not condone. Such prayer is designed to bring attention to ourselves. It is meant to make us look good in the eyes of others. It is prayer that comes from an unsubmitted heart. Jesus says it is hypocrisy. (Matthew 6:5-6)

What does God want from us in prayer? He wants a deep and intimate relationship between us and him. Prayer is to involve time alone with him. Prayer is to be a two way conversation between us and him. It is a divine communion between a believer and his Lord. Sometimes it is characterized by silence. Simply sitting in one another’s presence. Sometime it involves a flow of emotions and words. But always, when it is is real, it involves a desire to draw near to the heart of God. The rest of life passes away. The world recedes for a few precious moments.

Learning to pray this way is not simple. It involves baby steps, and repeated effort from all who recognize its centrality in the Christian life. Lent comes to beckon us to a way of prayer that is to become normal for us. It is a dance of grace, truth, and love that we are to learn, in secret.

 

 

Foundations for Our Future (86)

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

The Place of Prayer

Years ago, the King James Version of the bible would describe the place of our private prayer as “our closet.” The newer version we use today, the English Standard Version (ESV), says it is a room you go into where you can “shut the door.” (Matthew 6:5) The point is you go there to be alone with God. It is a place to meet with the Lord.

Those who have a rich prayer life will tell you that a fixed place for their daily time with the Lord is essential to their prayer discipline. They have a space in the house set apart for their prayers. It may be a special part of a room, a particular chair, or even a dedicated small space used for no other purpose, even a closet! Most of these disciples have experienced that the actual space helps them center their mind and heart to seek the Lord.

Do you have such a space?

One of the great gifts of Lent, as I have said before, is that it gives us a framework within which we can re-balance our life with the Lord. We can begin, again, to “put off” some things that need to be let go forever, and also to “put on” some things that are meant for our soul’s health. Things that we want to carry on beyond Lent.

Of all the things we are called to in this season, deepening our prayer life may be one of the most important. A place of prayer is, for most, a real foundation for that to happen.

 

 

Foundations for Our Future (87)

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Teach Us Lord

Matthew records next for us (Matthew 6:7) the guidance the Lord Jesus gave his disciples about prayer. It was not supposed to be a piling up of words, a “heaping up of empty phrases.” Do you understand what he is teaching us?

Some people, when they pray, actually start giving a sermon to those who are hearing them. Have you ever experiences such prayer? That is heaping up “empty phrases.” Jesus tells us that prayer is to be to our Father in heaven alone. It is not for the edification of others.

Sometimes people pray with long introductory explanations, as though God needs a great deal of clarification from us before they get to the point they really want to make. Have you ever done that? I have, but Jesus seems to me to be saying it is more “empty phrases.”

One of the finest of men, the late Bp. Alf Stanway, taught those he was responsible for to make short, clear, simple statements in prayer, and be done with it. “Help me stop gossiping,” or Teach me to be still,” or “Show me how to be a true servant,” or “Make me to love your commands.” Those prayers, Bp Alf taught, should end with an “Amen.”

There are times when we engage in long prayer dialogue with God, to be sure, but the key to understand our Lord Jesus today is this: Be clear, be honest, be direct with God. Make your true desire to hear from him, not him to hear from you.

 

 

Foundations for Our Future (88)

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Many Words

As we dig deeper into the Lord’s teaching on prayer, we again come to him telling us that the number of words is not important. Now, however, he gives us another trap to avoid. We are not to imagine that “many words” will make it more likely that he will hear us. (Matthew 6:7) Not only does God hear us when we call out to him, instantly, but he actually knows what is on our hearts before we pray. Isn’t that astonishing?

odern life, with all its deceptions, has left many immature Christians with a very imperfect understanding of the nature and character of God. He is all powerful, all wise, and all knowing, and he loves his children. He desires that each of us come into alignment with his creative purpose in giving us life. We are made for him, and we will be restless until we rest in him, as St. Augustine of Hippo said in the fourth century.

Nevertheless, Jesus gives his first disciples, and us, a model prayer. We all call it the Lord’s Prayer, since he gave it, but it is meant to be our prayer. This is why the church, through two thousand years, has taught it to all her children. This is why whenever and wherever a service is held by the church, this prayer is to be prayed. This prayer is to be so melded into our hearts that it shapes our lives.

Are we praying “many words,” or the words that Jesus has given us?

 

 

Foundations for Our Future (89)

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Our Father

After a lifetime praying the Lord’s Prayer, it still astounds me that the prayer begins with “Our Father.” (Matthew 6:9) The Lord Jesus is telling us to address the creator of all the universe as a beloved father. It may well be that what we learn from Paul is even closer to what Jesus himself actually prayed when he says “we cry abba.” (Romans 8:15) To get the distinction think of the difference between hearing your mother say, “Your father wants to speak with you,” to the sound of a daughter saying: “Daddy can I climb into your lap?” The prayer the Lord gives us is a prayer of love and intimacy.

But it continues with a profound addition. He is our Father “in heaven.” He dwells beyond space and time. He is the high and holy one. All truth, all beauty, all goodness, all that gives life, comes from him. Nothing we can ever need will not be provided by him for his children. Nothing that is good for us will be withheld. We are to learn to trust him in all things, at all times, and in all places. He is our loving Father in Heaven.

Do you notice something else? We address him as part of a family that includes all who love him. We are not told to pray “My Father” but “Our Father.” This is very significant for those who are called in Christ Jesus. We belong to a community of faithful ones, we are part of the church of the Lord Jesus, we are members one of another.