A Disciple's Devotion

Vignette

Fred: (enters the stage and sits on the bench(chair)

Narrator: This morning we find Hank changing up his routine. He had grabbed his coffee and now moves to the local park to enjoy the outdoors. He figured he wouldn't be interrupted if he was alone in the park. He is in for a surprise as he notices Fred, who, is sitting on the park bench.

Hank: ( arriving with coffee cup in his hand and walks up to Fred)

Beautiful day out, do you mind if I sit down here?

Fred: By all means, Coffee? Celestial Beans, I heard it is good coffee there, is that true?

Hank: Sure is, can’t start my day without it.

Fred: hmm...I just recently retired; I'm my own boss now and I have decided the first thing on my bucket list is to try every coffee shop in town at least once. Will have to check it out. Listening to music?

Hank: Nope, I was introduced to this book at the coffee shop and I am working my way through the audio book.

Fred: You millenials and your digital this and that, I picked up a book, an actual book at the local store, like an actual store. [Fred pulls out the book from his knapsack] Ahh... [as he opens the book] just hear the crack of the spine. [fans the pages], the smell of fresh ink! I heard it was a great one. I thought now that I am retired, I would challenge myself to drink coffee AND read a book...at the same time!

Hank: Hey...that's the one I'm listening to--it IS good. Gotta warn you though, it's kinda dangerous. I mean, if you really read the book and apply what it says, there will be changes in your life.

Fred: Really, like what?

Hank: Well I am only half way through, but I have learned that in the beatitudes Jesus talks about the right attitude in living.

Fred: Really, go on.

Hank: Then Jesus goes on to say that our heart is more important than our actions. In fact, a right heart, will lead to right living.

Fred: Fascinating

Hank: I’m just getting to the section on a disciple’s devotion.

Fred: How has this changed your life?

Hank: What do you mean?

Fred: You have told me what it is about, and you warned me that it will change my life, but what has changed in yours?

Hank: Well, I'm trying to have a better response to things in my life...even little things...like having to wait for my coffee, or having to deal with people in the line up waiting for my coffee. I really don’t think I have arrived, but it has changed me moving forward. I look forward to the rest of the book. It will take some time to apply this in my life

Fred: Sounds like your on your way to living out the sermon on the mount in modern times. I’m glad I picked this book as well.

Hank: [looks at his watch/or takes out his phone] Work is calling, enjoy your retirement.

Fred: Well they say when you retire, you are busier than when you were working, I'm looking forward to finding that out!

Introduction

We have now made it through the Chapter five of the Sermon on the Mount. If you haven’t been with us these past few weeks we have been discovering what Jesus has in store for his disciples.

We are learning the definition of a disciple:

is one who is seeking God, while being transformed into the image of God, empowered by the Holy Spirit in the context of community

We have a chart to show this process. In the past few months we have been working through this chart. It will show you the various aspects of a disciple’s life.

Today as the text will guide us, we will be focus in on one aspect of this chart. That of Spiritual Disciples.

The things that we do in our relationship with God. It is in the growing in Christ section of the illustration.

Let me explain:

The sermon on the mount began with telling us who the disciple should be (Beatitudes), then how that disciple should act in relationship with the world (Salt & Light), then he moves onto how the disciple responds to the Law of God.

Jesus ends the section with vs 48 of Chapter 5

Matthew 5:48 ESV

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Perfection:

For those of you who are perfectionist, you know who you are, you just perked up.

Christ has called us to perfection. It’s now justified to be a perfectionist, right.

well sort of

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke c. Conclusion: The Demand for Perfection (5:48)

No, it pointed rather to all the perfection of God, exemplified by the authoritative interpretation of the law bound up in the preceding antitheses. This perfection Jesus’ disciples must emulate if they are truly followers of him who fulfills the Law and the Prophets

We need to be living as disciples described in chapter 5, But then comes chapter 6

And like other passages, it takes a new direction.

Living out your Devotion

The new section and the rest of chapter six will be dealing with

living our your devotion to God.

What it will look like and what it should not look like.

Let’s look at the beginning verse

Matthew 6:1 ESV

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

Did you catch the phrase?

Practicing your righteousness

The first thing I want you to notice is that Jesus is expecting us to practice our devotion.

I was raised calling these practices, spiritual disciplines.

Practice makes perfect.

There is many things I would like to be perfect at. In fact, its wired into my DNA as a child to try many things.

I still here my father’s voice, “ you don’t know until you try”

Unfortunately, I have tried many things that I shouldn’t have.

like Playing an instrument. I honestly play the radio well, but I think it would be great to play. But it takes practice.

Practice I am not willing to take the time to do.

There is no quick way to learn something, it takes time.

As disciples of Christ, you must see this passage in this light of what we are to practice.

Spiritual Disciplines in our devotion to God.

As a follower of Christ, Christ has set out ways in which we exhibit our devotion.

The other day I was talking with a friend about spiritual awareness. We both agree that we cannot look upon the heart of someone and know their spiritual condition, that is completely up to God, but we can observe their devotion.

Their devotion in following God’s commands laid out in the scripture.

Living out your Devotion

Before we look at these three this morning, let me remind you of a couple things.

Christ said beware

The lure of religious honors is great. I can’t speak for you, but getting a pat on the back for a job well done is very encouraging. Jesus was about to speak about the pitfalls of doing right things. Living right, Living out your devotion before God, but he reminds his disciples, those sitting in front of him and for us today. Beware.

Willard states it this way,

“Desire for religious respect or reputation will immediately drag us into the rightness of the scribes and Pharisees because that desire always focuses entirely upon the visible action, not on the source of action in the heart.”

-Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy p.188

2. Christ is talking about our purpose behind the devotion

One thing you may be surprised to know is the concept of rewards and recognition.

As a believer and follower of Christ, you will come across the concept of rewards. You will be judged and rewarded for you practice here on earth.

It is good to know that God, has wired in us the idea of being recognized. Recognition is not bad.

Many of you

haven’t been in the one room of my house. I generally don’t take you to my room. It’s a mess, but it’s where I keep my rewards or trophies.

I have the trophy for being the most improved player.

I have the trophy for being the allstar player in the tournament.

I have the trophy for first place in the science fair.

I have the trophy for being the best ballerina.

Just checking to see if your listening.

I’ll let you in on a secret. All of these trophies can be purchased at the thrift store.

I use to keep competing for man’s approval and rewards, but then I found out I could by the trophies.

Living out your devotion and not having that devotion centered upon God, but man would be acquiring trophies like:

Top giver of his money to the poor.

Most elequant speaker in public.

Most willing to pray on a moment’s notice and amaze people.

You get the picture.

Who are you seeking to gain the reward from....

God or Man?

If you are about to practice your devotion to God and you are wanting others to notice, beware.

Man’s praise and rewards are fickle

God’s praise and rewards are constant, enduring, everlasting.

You can’t buy them at the local thrift store

3. These are not to be ceased, rather they are to be practiced

Finally, these aspects of devotion are not to be ceased, but as followers and disciples of Christ we need to practice these in our life. Jesus was speaking to the disciples, the followers and the crowd that they are practices we need to have in our lives.

Practice them

but for the correct purpose

Let’s take a look at our three practices in this morning’s passage. The first one is in on the practice of giving.

Matthew 6:2-4

Matthew 6:2–4 ESV

“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Practicing your giving: Giving of your resources

Giving to the needy.

Jesus was telling his new kingdom of God members that their practice of giving is different than what has been modeled.

The current giving practice for those who appeared Godly was a special production.

The Greek word for hypocrite comes from the description of an actor.

What is a good sign of an actor. There has been many actors I have watched. My favorite are those that play different roles.

Roles that seem real, believable, convincing.

In essence, they fool me into believing what what they are saying, is not just playing a part, but living that part.

So many quality actors when receiving a part will immerse themselves into that character role. They will develop mannerisms, expressions and character portrayal that will draw the watcher into the story.

Jesus simple put, don’t be an actor when it comes to giving.

In fact, he puts it this way, You can be an actor of the heart.

You can practice your devotion of giving by acting as if you are giving from the heart.

You can make a loud pronouncement in the marketplace, to show others of your generosity, but what it will get you is man’s approval.

Jesus is speaking to the disciples, the followers, and the crowd and now to us to tell them, Kingdom of God dwellers, your giving should be different than those who are acting.

Giving should come from the heart, inspired by God.

Giving should done to seek God’s praise, and not our own.

Giving should be done to receive God’s reward.

This series as we have been looking at the sermon on the mount for modern times, what does that look like for us today?

How are we to practice giving in order to seek God’s praise and reward.

Jesus stated that we should not let our right hand know what the left hand is doing.

Once again Jesus uses an illustration to draw out a deeper point.

In my early years, I served at a Christian summer camp. One of the activities that was held each week was a acting time.

I remember, often prompted by the counselors, there would be two people with one large shirt.

The first would sit at a table with the shirt on backwards, with his/her hands behind their back without putting them in the sleeves.

Then the second person would come behind covered in a blanket an place their arms through the sleeves.

What would result is the head and body of one person with the arms from someone else.

Now tasks were giving for the team to do. Eat soup, brush hair, etc.

You get the picture.

The hands didn’t have the benefit of the eyes. It is quite comical to watch.

Jesus’s illustration is somewhat of the same.

You cannot achieve giving without having one hand knowing what the other is doing, but rather it should become as second nature working together to bring about the action of giving.

Anything else, like my illustration, would give an appearance of a comedy acting routine.

Jesus is telling the people that it should be common to give without seeking the praise from others.

So as we begin to practice our giving, along the lines of the sermon on the mount for modern times, what should our giving look like.

Unlike Jesus times, there are no clear bells ringing inviting those to come and give alms.

Unlike Jesus time, we are not tempted to close up our shop and run with haste to prove to others about our giving.

May I suggest our giving today in modern times should be motivated from the heart. The heart of God in our lives.

There are three ways in which we can give as Jesus describes. A practice in which our giving is seeking only God’s approval.

The first would be charitable causes.

There are many causes out in the world today asking for money. To be honest, some of them are, in my opinion, not fiscally responsible. If you feel called to give, give as God directs. Give to missionaries that are seeking to spread the news of salvation, both here, nationally, and internationally.

As a church we practice giving to missions as an act of giving. It’s a way our church as a community supports those in ministry.

2. Notable Causes

This is something different than a charitable cause. This doesn’t have a tax receipt attached to the giving.

It’s those moments of need that arise among us. Your neigbhor, your friends, that person who needs a little bit of God’s grace in their lives.

Give from the heart with God’s prompting, not out of guilt, but joy being able to provide a comfort of God’s grace with another in their time of need.

3. The final way is Local Congregation

You will notice that we do collect an offering as a part of our worship service. It’s a spiritual disciple to give back to God of our first fruits. A tithe. A portion of what has blessed each one of us according to the measure God has given.

This is not to guilt you into giving, rather, a challenge to give as God has directed.

Jesus move onto another practice.

Matthew 6:5–8 ESV

“And when you pray, you must not be like the 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. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Practicing your praying: Giving of your will

Once again, Jesus is bringing out and pointing out those who are once again acting in a way to bring praises from men.

If you are praying for the people to hear you wonderful words, you are speaking to the wrong person.

This request from Jesus can be easily misinterpreted.

Some see this as the only effective way to pray is to pray in private. To be in a place of solitude as we bring our requests to the almighty.

They don’t want to pray in public in case their prayer brings attention to themselves.

If you believe that Jesus was banning public prayer, take a look at the New Testament and the early church. Public prayer meetings were happening all the time.

To be honest, your public prayer life should be that of an out flowing of your private prayer life.

When I was in college, another student was the shyest person I have ever met. She was always polite, but uttered few words.

One day, the teacher called upon her to pray for the class.

Most of us, to be honest, shuttered. We were shocked that the teacher would call upon this girl to pray.

Boy were we amazed.

This girl opened her mouth and had a wonderful conversation with the almighty.

We were all amazed, not like experiencing an actor, but one who’s prayer life flowed out from her private life.

You see, practicing your prayer is a matter of giving up of your will.

Giving up of your will to please anyone other than God.

Giving up of your will and bringing your request to him.

How many times have you been in a group and the leader ask for prayer requests.

If you want to create silence in a room, ask for prayer requests.

Folks, as believers, who are daily giving up our will, for the father, even the smallest prayers should be offered.

Our public prayer life is our willingness to draw others to the throne of God’s grace and not to ourselves.

If you struggle with praying in public, may I encourage you to practice.

As Jesus stated, he is not looking for puffy words, wonderful phases, but a conversation from the heart.

If you struggle with public prayer, start small.

Join a group of three, and pray together.

Beginning March 4, in a month, we will once again be having our 40 days of Prayer.

The church will be open at lunch and supper for 40 days leading up to Easter.

It’s a time to come to the church and pray for one another. We have the room set up for the month with various tables and requests. Those who came out, were truly blessed by being able to pray for one another. Some came in groups and prayed together. Some came alone and used the time for their prayer closet.

May I encourage you to join us this year once again as we pray.

We are also looking for people who would be willing to be a room host. The host or team of people are there to open the room for the people.

There is a signup sheet in the foyer on the table. May I encourage you to sign up for a spot.

This year we are also walking together on a devotional book that has been a collaboration of many folks in our context.

More will be said about this on a different time.

Before we mention God’s design for our prayers, lets look at the last practice for today.

Matthew 6:16–18 ESV

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Practicing your fasting: Giving up your dependency

Once again, we Jesus not declaring that there is no need for fasting, rather where are we seeing our approval when we fast.

This is the one true practice that requires us to not broadcast our fasting. It’s a practice of giving up of our dependency upon food to seek a spiritual dependency, on God’s grace.

Most churches, have taken a shy approach to fasting lest it becomes a legalistic or ritualistic practice of one’s faith.

Jesus calls us to fast. To set apart that time of physical nourishment to focus on the spiritual.

Fasting is not a rule or requirement by Jesus and those who do not fast are less spiritual. He would keep that thinking similar to the outward expression.

May I remind you of this church’s fasting. When you as a body of believers were seeking God as to the direction of the calling of a new pastor, you were asked to fast. To dedicate your time away from food and to seek God’s face.

It was a known, it wasn’t private, its purpose was to bring about clarity as to the God’s calling.

We eat to be filled and to be satisfied. Why many of us were satisfied with the fine chili last Sunday.

Fasting is giving up of food to be spiritually satisfied. Fasting to be filled by God and not the praises of you fellow man.

Maybe during this 40 Days of prayer coming up, may I challenge you to skip a lunch or supper and come to the church and pray for one another. Let’s your prayers satisfy you heart.

Living our your prayer life

A Model for Prayer

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

It would be surprise to me if not everyone in this room has heard of what has been called the Lord’s prayer.

Jesus gave this model of prayer for his disciples for us to follow. I once took two Sundays to go through this but let me summarize.

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount 2. The Christian Way of Prayer

The first three petitions in the Lord’s Prayer express our concern for God’s glory in relation to his name, rule and will.

God is in Heaven

God is Holy, righteous and pure

God’s will is to establish his kingdom here in earth as it is currently in heaven

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount 2. The Christian Way of Prayer

In the second half of the Lord’s Prayer the possessive adjective changes from ‘your’ to ‘our’, as we turn from God’s affairs to our own. Having expressed our burning concern for his glory, we now express our humble dependence on his grace.

Daily bread

Actions of forgiveness

Resistance to temptation

Conclusion

In conclusion, as disciples of Christ, transforming into the image of Christ, we need to begin to practice out our devotion of love to the God who has redeemed us.

We also need to do it in a way that will show our heart and love for God and seeking his praises not man’s

As the worship team comes forward, I think it would be fitting for us to close this section of our worship service, and before we respond to the word that we would take the time torecite the lord’s prayer together