Overflow! (Matthew 6:5-8)

Good Morning!

What an honor and a pleasure it is to be speaking with you all!

We are going to be continuing on this morning in the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest sermon ever preached.

So before we get started I would like to pray...

(PRAY)

INTRODUCTION

The Title of today’s sermon is called “Overflow”

We are going to be focused on Matthew 6:5-8 so if you would like to follow along in your Bible I’ll give you a moment to get there...

Have you ever noticed that besides the fact the Bible is Holy, and true, and inspired…

It is also so well written?

Matthew Chapter 6 is kind of a “How to Manual” on the Christian Life.

Matthew 6 is right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount and it is where Jesus begins to really teach us how to live out this Christianity thing...

Jesus really begins to teach us how to actually do the things he expects us to do with a degree of specificity...

In some translations you’ll see that the little heading for this section of scripture is called: “How to Pray” or “Concerning Prayer.”

And the reason that I say that the gospels are so well written is because Last week we learned about Giving

And Giving summarized is a sort of horizontal relationship that we have with each other.. It is how we treat the people next to and around us…

So picture a straight line like this (motion.)

But THIS week Jesus is going to teach us about a Vertical relationship, and that relationship is how we commune with God through the Act of Praying...

So often in the Bible you will see passages, or themes, that are written and placed up against each other and they make this axis of horizontal ( or people) and Vertical (our relationship with God.)

This Axis should remind of us of the cross.

We see the cross everywhere in scripture and that is why I often reflect on how well written the Gospels really are!

Another reason I say the Gospels are so well written is because just like any good piece of writing...

Villains kind of get introduced out of know where!

There is intrigue to the Gospels!

In Matthew 6 we get introduced to a new Villain: THE HYPOCRITE.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, there is this type of person that Jesus is so opposed to!

It is clear the Hypocrite is supposed to create at least a little bit of repulsion in our stomachs when we read about them...

The word hypocrite is probably most associated with Religion and Politics!

And we all know what a hypocrite is right?

WEBSTER’S Dictionary defines the word like this:

1.) a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion

OR

2.) a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings

I always thought the Bible has a lot to say about the Hypocrites...

If you do a word search you will find virtually no mention of hypocrites in the Old Testament....

And in the New Testament , you only really hear talk of the hypocrites in the Synoptic Gospels...

Maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t just seem like that word is just synonymous with Christianity?

Like if you claim Christ, being a hypocrite is the worst thing you could possibly be?

A hypocrite. Disgusting.

When we look a little bit deeper at the “Hypocrite” it almost has a deeper meaning here.

Yes, When Jesus condemns the Hypocrites he is obviously telling us that these are people who say one thing, and they do another!

But this word hypocrite is probably better translated as the word “Play Actor” or “Actor”

And intuitively this makes sense to us because obviously a hypocrite is pretending to be someone who they are not...

A hypocrite is very good at making you think they are a person that they are actually not..

A hypocrite has put a lot of time and effort into being able to make you believe that a completely different person is standing there next to you.

So in the case of Matthew 6, these hypocrites have the:

appearance of a religious person…

They made it to the wardrobe on time

the speech of a religious person...

They have memorized their lines..

and they are always on set!

they never miss their mark on the stage… the street corners and the synagogues.

So lets dive into today’s passage with the context of hypocrite in mind...

But let’s also read the passage with a slight difference in the translation, we are going to swap out hypocrite for actor, ok?

Matthew 6:5 says: ““And when you pray, you must not be like the ACTORS (hypocrites.) For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”

Notice that Jesus says “WHEN” you pray, not “IF” you pray.

There is an automatic assumption here on the part of JESUS that his followers WILL pray

Prayer is not an option.

This is not me saying this: This is JESUS.

Prayer is essential to living a life with Christ and like Christ.

Martin Luther wrote once that “Prayer is the sweat of the soul.”

I like this quote because it implies that to grow as a Christian means we have to work at it a bit...

and when we work out, we sweat....

and when we grow in Christ and we become more like him, the inevitable outpouring we will see is more and more prayer!

Jesus spends so much of his time during his Earthly ministry praying...

JESUS PRAYED ALOT!

In Luke Chapter 6 Verse 12 it says: 12 During those days he (JESUS) went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God.

All NIGHT!

and we can go on and on with examples of Jesus praying, and how much and how long… but Praying is not an “IF” it is a “WHEN.”

SO WHEN YOU PRAY, Jesus warns us, Do not be like Actors…

The Actors love to pray on STAGE!

...and in this case the stages they perform on are the street corner and the synagogue.

JESUS tell us that this performance art of the hypocrite, this public display of prayer, is done for a reward...

That reward is the approval of the audience!

The reward for hypocritical public prayer is the approval of men.

Nothing makes an actors heart more glad then applause!

The play is over...

The actors take their bow…!

The Crowd stands up and applause erupts!

That is the reward!

But if the approval of men is the end result of a prayer, we must ask, does that Prayer honor God?

Did I receive the correct reward?

Matthew 6 verse 6 says: 6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Ok! SO what you are trying to tell us Jesus is that praying in in public is bad!

So all the introverts say AMEN!

Jesus seems to be telling us that when we pray, we should go somewhere private, shut the door, and just go on with it!

This is where a lot of people get the idea of a “prayer closet”

Have you ever heard of this concept?

They actually made a movie about this several years ago…called “War Room.”

The idea is this: that we should have a place in our homes or lives that is a place that we can go to be able to practice what we read here in Matthew 6.

We need a place that is private so that we can pray to God:

Honestly

Privately

Consistently

Prayer is a conversation with God!

In every conversation there is more than one person, right?

Often times we mistake Prayer to be something it is not:

It is not a telegram you send to God

It is not a voice mail you leave for God

We almost make out prayer to be something like a Christmas list that we give to Santa in the hopes that we will get what we want, as long as we’re Good!

But prayer doesn’t work like that, because it is a conversation.

And conversations require our attention...

Have you ever been in one of those conversations?

Where your doing all the talking and the other person is just so distracted?

or they are on their phone?

Or they are watching TV?

Just totally distracted?

That is no way to have a conversation!!!

And so it is with prayer.

And that is the purpose of praying in secret, in the private room…

To have a conversation with God that is private, undisturbed, and distraction free.

We need privacy in our prayer lives because it is not God who is going to be the one playing on his phone while the conversation is happening..

Its going to be me, its going to be you.

In Verse 6 we read about the reward of private prayer, it says “And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.’

The Actors on the street corners got their reward.

The Actors get to have fellowship with people, they get to receive the approval of people

The Actors get a material reward.

But you, when YOU pray, your reward is so much greater.

When you have your private time in prayer, you receive fellowship with GOD of this universe!

Your reward is spiritual and eternal

So Private prayer is a good thing for us!

Jesus is very direct when he tells us WHERE to pray...

But now he is going to give us a little bit of the HOW to pray....

Matthew 6 verse 7-8 say: When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.

So wether we are in our prayer rooms, or at church, we get a stern warning from JESUS...

Jesus says “Don’t be like them!”

Jesus says don’t be like the gentiles!

Don’t be like what exactly?

What exactly are the Gentiles doing wrong?

Well they babble on the text says!

If you’ve been in church long enough you’ve probably heard a person, or a pastor, kind of pray in a way that just goes on and on and on…

and your like: ok we get it!

OR maybe you’ve heard the same prayer request over and over...

and your like: God knows this request and it is up to him now!

I don’t really think this is what Jesus is getting at here...

Yes, it is true that Prayer is not about the amount of words, the eloquence of your grammar, or the power of your voice....

Yes it is true that God knows what you need before you ask.

What Jesus is really warning us about in verses 7 and 8 are about the Pagan practices of prayer!

Here is how the pagans think prayer works.

Pagan prayer is used as a tool

Pagan prayer is a mechanism that is used to bend the Will of God to the will of man.

It is a complete inversion of what Jesus tell us prayer is all about.

Jesus tell us that the purpose of prayer is to align yourself with the will of God.

…not the other way around.

The gentile and pagan practice of prayer used repetition as a substitute for relationship.

They babbled on, instead of believing.

Let’s look at this gentile pagan prayer:

This is from 1 Kings Chapter 18 when Elijah confronts the prophets of Ba’al

25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. 27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

This is what babbling on looks like!

These guys were chanting “Baal, answers us!” for like 4-6 hours!

They danced and marched… and chanted...

They even cut at their arms in this blood letting ritual!

Now this seems extreme to us today!

But this pagan style of worship hasn’t really gone away...

We see this repetitive prayer style being used to today in the form of...

“positive affirmations”

Mantra’s

Name it claim!

Even the prosperity gospel that is preached in many so called christian churches....

This is the kind of prayer that Jesus warns us about.

This is what Jesus means… these pagan people were doing everything they could do to get the attention of this so called “god” named baal.

But this wasn’t loving, intimate relationship!

This was a transactional relationship...

The prophets of baal were using words and blood to get God to do what they wanted...

This was form of praying was a quid pro quo.

Let’s look at how Elijah responds with prayer: Verse 36 says ““O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

Elijahs prayer is relational...

it is submissive...

it is based around God’s will and not his own...