Matthew – Page 21 – Be Still…

Matthew 6:5-15 – How to Pray

Who better to learn prayer from than the Master himself. Jesus is giving us a model to follow. Did you recognize the prayer? In the tradition I grew up in, we prayed that every Sunday. The Lord’s Prayer was something we memorized as a young child. In Confirmation classes, we unpacked the meaning for a deeper understanding of what we had been saying over and over.

It’s easy to get lazy when we say something over and over. It’s almost like being on autopilot. We need to be careful to not just go through the motions but truly be present in the moment saying the words as if we were saying them for the first time. Jesus also cautioned us not to be like hypocrites, drawing attention to ourselves when we pray.

Matthew 6:1-4 – How to Give

Read Matthew 6:1-4

We have arrived in another section of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. We have been focusing on how we should relate to other people, and this section will focus more our on our relationship with God. We know that when asked Jesus said the most important commandment is to love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind. Second to that is to love our neighbor. We must never forget what’s most important – to love God.

Jesus starts with a discussion on giving. This assumes that the hearers are already giving. It’s not a recipe for how much to give here, but the way we give. Jesus warns us to be careful and not be like the hypocrites. Apparently, when they give, they do so to be seen and get recognition for what they are giving. Their satisfaction must come not in the act of giving, but in the act of being seen as generous.

Matthew 5:43-48 – Love Your Enemies

Read Matthew 5:43-48

It’s easy to love our friends, most of the time. Even friends can get on our last nerve at times. Now imagine being nice to an enemy or someone who has done you wrong? That’s a little harder to picture, much less do. But in a spirit of loving everyone as God does, Jesus is encouraging us to do the same.

As the Old Testament taught us to “love our neighbor,” Jesus came to specify a little who our neighbor was. (More on this in Luke 10, read it HERE.) It had been thought that it was our friends. Folks on the fringes of society or ones who were mean to us would not be our neighbor, so therefore we didn’t need to love them. Jesus wanted to clear that up. God doesn’t show favorites. His blessings are available to everyone.

Matthew 5:38-42 – An Eye for an Eye

Read Matthew 5:38-48

Revenge is a scary thing. Jesus is helping us to be better in our relationships, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the other person will do likewise. We are often hurt by what others say and do or how they treat us. What do we do with those crushed feelings? How do we reconcile with someone who doesn’t even know they hurt us.

We hear in today’s reading that taking the “high road” is the way to go. We need to be the “bigger” person and do the right thing. The example we see here is when someone slaps us on the right cheek, we’re supposed to offer the left, too. As if the first pain wasn’t enough, we need to welcome more. Jesus told us this to support his charge to us to not resist an evil person.

Matthew 5:33-37 – Yes, I Will!

Read Matthew 5:33-37

How good is your word? When you say you are going to do something, do you get it done? Living in Mexico has really stretched us in this regard. The use of “mañana” means “tomorrow” or “sometime in the future.” David and I have always prided ourselves on being full of integrity. We want our word to mean something. If we are going to deviate from that spoken promise, we make every attempt to communicate the change. It is not necessarily the case here in the Mexican culture. Mañana is for sure sometime in the future, it’s just not a particular time you can rely on.