How to Worship

Good morning church family! So good to see you this morning. Go on and turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6.

This week, we are starting a four week finish to our study through the sermon on the mount. In this section, Jesus begins to speak a little more practically than he has to this point.

Let me read the passage in its entirety, pray, and we will come back and start moving through it, OK?

Matthew 6:1–18 CSB

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven. So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you give to the poor, don’t 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. “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. 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. 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. “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses. “Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites. For they disfigure their faces so that their fasting is obvious to people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

PRAY

For the last month, we essentially talked about how sin isn’t just something we do. It’s the way we think and feel. Sin occurs in the heart long before it finds itself out in our actions.

Jesus takes the same idea from a negative action like sin to a positive one like these three forms of worship. You know worship isn’t just singing right? It’s a word that refers to all the ways we connect with God.

In this passage Jesus brings up three that would have been very familiar with the young Jewish boys he is speaking to: giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting.

Let’s talk a little about each one of these...

Giving to the Poor - 2-4

By the first century, there was a pretty well-organized system of relief for the poor through the synagogues. It was totally dependent on contributions from the community. The Jews were very familiar with this process.

Prayer - 5-6

What exactly is Jesus talking about here?

He talks about prayers in the synagogue. Certain people would be allowed to pray publically during the synagogue gatherings. This is what we would call CORPORATE prayer.

But who’s praying on the street corner?

I read this week that in the ancient world, private Scripture reading was done out loud. They didn’t read it to themselves. In the same way, people generally prayed audibly and not to themselves. So, the praying could very well be PUBLIC as well as corporate.

Fasting - 16-18

This discipline is a little different in that Jesus nor his disciples ever speak biblically of it as a regular part of life. There is an early discipleship manual called the Didache that speaks of fasting twice per week, but we do not see that practice in the Bible.

Jesus fasts in the wilderness after his baptism. Which it is unaware if that is completely voluntary or if he just didn’t have any grub. And during Jesus’ ministry, one of the criticisms of his leadership was that his disciples didn’t fast. Jesus did envision a day when he wasn’t with them that they would fast, but he doesn’t lay out directions. Prayer and fasting is mentioned twice in the book of Acts among Jesus’ early followers, both accompanying important decisions. Paul speaks of being hungry a couple times, but it seems like he is referring to a time in which he had no food to eat not as a time he was choosing not to eat.

We do know that the Pharisees (who were a group of Jewish leaders who interpreted parts of the law in a particular way) fasted twice per week. And John the Baptist’s disciples fasted twice per week. This is the probably why that same expectation was picked up in the Didache.

We honestly know very little about how the early Christians fasted. One author I read this week pointed out that maybe that was because they obeyed Jesus so well and didn’t make a big deal of it. Maybe so.

So we have those three forms of worship: Giving to the poor, Praying, and fasting.

Now, Jesus actually says the same things about each one of these. If you will notice, there is similar language in each one. That’s why Jesus was such a good teacher! Repetition is good!

The three points on your outline will actually be from these words Jesus says about all three of them.

The first point, however, comes from something he doesn’t say...

1. Worship is ASSUMED

There is no demand given here. Jesus simply knew that each of these things would be happening in the life of his disciples. They would give, they would pray, and they would fast because they were his followers. Not because he had told them to, but because he had led them to by changing their hearts!

The same is true for us! If you are a follower of Jesus, you may not find commands for every form of worship in the Bible. But what you will find are great examples of people of faith doing these things in pursuit of a greater understanding of who God is. Because of the change that has occurred in us, these things should be desires of our NEW HEART from and for God.

Worship was not only assumed, it was also...

2. Worship can be EMPTY

This is where we see the clear tie-in to the last few weeks on sin…

Just as the heart is what leads the actions of sin, so the heart is what leads the actions of obedience!

a…when the private becomes public

Worship is no doubt a public thing often times. We gather together to worship. It is very much a corporate action. HOWEVER, there is need, also, for a private devotion. And when our only devotion is public and no private exists, we are in danger! If we don’t give without letting others know, if we aren’t praying privately on a regular basis, and if we are only fasting for the show, we aren’t really worshiping God!

b…when the applause is for us

The verb in verse 2 that gets translated “applauded by” is the same word used in 5:16 for giving glory to God...

Matthew 5:16 CSB

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Is your worship being done for the applause of others or so that God might get glory? That’s the question, right?

3. Worship is for God