TBR Bible Study -- Matthew 6

Matthew 6

Giving to the Needy

1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Prayer

5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.


9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Fasting

16"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Treasures in Heaven

19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Do Not Worry

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 

vs. 33 has gotten me through many tough situations

 

Once again, Jesus is calling out the superficial practices of the religious leadership in Israel. The "shows" being put on by the priests aren't impressing God.

Not even generosity and benevolence earns any favor with God if someone makes a spectacle of it, making sure others know about it. It seems like Jesus might be telling His followers to check their motives. If they're looking for applause from mankind, that's all they'll get. But according to Jesus, those who give/serve with the purer motives of honoring God and helping others in need will receive the applause of heaven for their efforts.

He applies the same teaching toward fasting and even prayer.

 

Man, how close to home does this passage hit in 21st century America? Even churches are embracing the highest technology, elaborate productions, and ornate, artistic buildings and complexes. Even my own church, I have to admit, was probably a better church when everything we had was packed in a bobtail truck every week, and we met in a jr. high gymnasium and sat on folding chairs. Now we have this beautiful, big building with plush chairs and great A/V equipment, but we're having a serious problem with spritual immaturity and lack of discipleship. Oops.

Not that I think Jesus is saying here that all His followers have to be paupers. His teaching always centers around the heart and the spirit -- what's happening inside a person, not how he or she looks to other people on the outside. I think as long as a person has his heart focused on Christ and values the things He values, then having material wealth isn't a bad thing. In fact, it can be a very good thing. People and organizations who are wealthy can do a lot of powerful things to help other people.

 

I think in this passage Jesus is trying to teach the Israelites to replace worry with trust in the Lord. The life He wants for His disciples is one without fear, especially fear of things that are 1)temporary, and 2)beyond our ability to do anything about. And that's not a half-bad way to live, ya know?

 

I have to push a little on this.

What is the difference between material wealth and "treasures on earth?"

Granted, I'll tell you up front, I'm biased against the rich. But (if you want examples I can give plenty, easily over 2 dozen passages) scripture is biased against the rich and powerful also.

 

I've read a commentary on vs.19 and it said that in the greek language the phrase "do not store up for yourselves..." is a qualified negation, not an absolute(i.e. not "whatever you do, Don't ever store up for yourselves..."). In fact, there are scriptures that encourage us to store up money for ourselves and our children (2Cor 12:14, Dt 28:5, Pr 13:22)

I realize they're are alot of scriptures that, on their own, seem to say that having money is bad, but there are also alot of scriptures that speak of riches as blessings. To suggest that God loves the rich man any less than the poor man seems convoluted. He died for us all because of His great love for us all.

Having said that, I think it is harder for a rich man to place his trust in Jesus than it is for a poor man. The poor man doesn't have much else he can trust in, while the rich man has to be convinced that Christ is far more valuable than his riches - but that doesn't make the rich man any less worthy of the grace of God, because none of us can ever be worthy of it.

 

Granted, having money is not bad. It all depends on what you do with it. But money and possessions are very seductive things. Wealth is full of traps that inhibit following God. For example, I've got a couple in my congregation who have twice in the past six months have opened up their home to people with no other place to stay. Many people would shrink from such an action, with one of the first thoughts being "what if I can't trust them and what if they steal from me?" Well, this couple lives in a trailer with little possessions themselves, and what they do have can be replaced rather cheaply. They had little reservation in offering hospitality to people in need. For many, the fear of losing money or the many possessions they have accumulated would inhibit or prevent them from providing hospitality and experiencing the grace of Christ in doing so.

The pursuit, the holding of, and the protection of wealth and possessions though not always an obstacle, is almost always in friction with loving your neighbor, and with being a steward of all you have, not for yourself, but for God and whatever God wants to use it for.

Some examples from the gospel of Luke:

In the parable of the sower and seeds, Jesus describes the seed that falls among the thorns as "those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature" (Luke8:14).

The parable of the rich fool in Luke 12speaks for itself:

That passage is followed by the often quoted passage about the provision of God for the birds and the flowers, but people often miss the part I've highlighted:

The emphasis is to not set you heart of fulfilling appetites (of all kinds), which seems to be our primary function nowdays as consumers, but rather set your heart on serving God, and everything else, including pleasure, comfort, food and shelter should be secondary.


Luke 14:12-14:

Jesus on stewardship of money in Luke 16:10-15:

The story of the rich man and Lazarus is part of this same conversation Jesus has with the Pharisees "who love money:"

 

And of course, there's the parable of the rich young ruler in Luke 18, whom Jesus instructs to sell all he has and give the money to the poor. That's where Jesus famously says it is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of the needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.

I could go on, as there's more just from that one gospel book itself.

As an aside, there is an interesting friction in the Old Testament, where many of the prophets speak against the accumulation of wealth and profiting off of others (instead of giving to others), whereas the kings of Israel and Judah accumulate great wealth. I have some ideas and theories on that, but that's another 'can of worms.'

I believe there is a difference between the economy of man and the economy of God. In the economy of man, often the driving pulse is profit. In the economy of God, the driving pulse is love and life-giving.

I know some "rich" people who give excessively generously and are stewards for God. A number of them make my ministry with the homeless possible. Conversely, I know some poor people who, though they don't have much money, are wholly focused upon the pursuit of it and possessions and pleasure.

Rich does not always mean "non-christian." But the accumulation of wealth and possession is often a reflection of focus upon ourselves with a deficit of focusing on God and others.

Another 'can of worms' is the topic of "christian businessmen/businesswomen" and do they love their employees/clients, etc. as themselves with how much they pay/charge them.

 

Well, you told us beforehand that you were biased against the rich, but I still think we agree on alot more than we disagree on.

Let me ask you a couple of questions:

1) is the term "your heart" in luke 12:29 found in the original greek? I'm not trying to play "gotcha", I really don't know and you'd have better resourses than I do, and I don't see that wording used in other translations.

2) What are you're thoughts on Mk 10:26-31, especially vs 30.

3) With regard to the "rich "people who support you're ministry (you said it would be impossible for you to minister without them), do you consider them your co-"laborers in the harvest"? Do they have any reward? If so, what?