Matthew 6

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people…”

As I sit here tonight I have just completed my first day of a January term class for seminary. It’s been a long day… in fact I haven’t slept since Saturday night. Last night I spent the night translating the Hebrew of Amos into the official BJV. I translated and wrote until it was time to walk out the door to get to school this morning. I didn’t finish all I was supposed to, and I was pretty stressed getting done all that I did. But now the damage has been done and I hope to get some sleep before I go back for more abuse tomorrow.

However, I will say this. I love learning. I enjoyed sitting in that class and discussing the Hebrew language and its relevance in today’s church and sermon prep. But I will confess very quickly that I have an ego that I long to keep safe. I haven’t been in a Hebrew language class in over three years and as you can imagine I have grown rather woeful in my Hebrew skills. With my deficiencies glaringly obvious to me, as well as my incomplete attempt on my first assignment, I knew that I was entering class with two strikes against me.

So what did I do? I did some scouting. At the first break I sought out to see how outmatched I was by the other nine students in the room. Why did I do it? I had to find out if I would have to offer a litany of excuses and seek empathy, or if my plight was similar to others around me sharing the same nervous anxieties as the class was getting under way.

I realized quickly that I am one of the most experienced students in the room, though I may be a little rusty. It calmed my nerves and allowed me to relax and settle in for the class. But what if my fears had been realized… what if I really was the poorest student in the room?!

Well, the fact is, this incident just reminds me how far I still have to go in my faith journey with Christ. As I read over Matthew 6, it was amazing how radically different Jesus’ presentation of true “religion” looked like. Don’t do things in public for praise. Keep devotion simple. Keep it honest. Keep it humble and it focused on God as your provider. Jesus’ concepts and teachings about Christianity fly in the face of our self-centered, self-seeking, self-affirming society in which we live.

Why can He challenge us not to worry about others opinions and worldly concerns? The answer, like His gospel, is simple. By His sacrifice He would demonstrate our worth. Why should we worry about others thoughts and try to protect an image? By His resurrection He would display His Spirit’s power to provide as the source of our sufficiency. If He can handle death He can take care of me.

The gospel turns the world upside down. But unlike any other worldly promise, it can provide a peace and comfort unknown to anyone outside Christ. Let’s keep believing these things and allow the gospel to revolutionize our lives for His glory and our satisfaction.