Over the past few months we have been exploring the Sermon on the Mount. So far Jesus has been confronting us on the level of our words and actions. Over and over he hits us squarely at the point of our interaction with others, be they our friends or our enemies. That brings us to Matthew 6:1-15. Jesus now begins the delicate operation of digging down past our actions to the level of motives. He begins to deal with the intentions behind our words and actions. Why do we do the things we do? And maybe more importantly, who do we have in mind when we do them?

Jesus chooses two of the most fundamental aspects of a devout life to raise the issue of motive or intention: Giving and prayer. It is possible, according to Jesus, to do all the right things for all the wrong reasons. He starts the confrontation of our motives this way:

“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” (NLT)

We’ve all heard the saying that “perception is everything”. The question Jesus is forcing us to answer is, “Who’s perception?” Who’s perception is truly meaningful to a genuine Christ follower? These words compel us to take the time to recognize who we are trying to impress. “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others”. “To be admired by others” is the motive. The intention is to gain respect and standing in the community by doing “good” things. Notice that Jesus doesn’t simply say “Don’t do your good deeds in public” and leave it at that. Obviously there are some times when it is imperative that we do good things in full view of others. The question is “why do we do the good things?”

Jesus essentially confronts this kind of giving in order to get down below the surface to the root of the issue. He is the only person in the scripture to use the word hypocrite. It was actually a word that referred to actors in a play. There were a number of fine theaters in Israel during the Jesus lifetime. He was essentially accusing these men of being actors. Being fakers. Blowing trumpets and calling attention to their acts of charity as if to say look at how good I am all the while their intention was to receive standing and increased reputation by the people of their community.

If we want to know that our motives are pure, Jesus says, give secretly or in a way that few people will know what you’ve done. Don’t even so much as let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Guard your heart and check your self-centered motives at the door.

Now Jesus moves even deeper to confront us at the very basis of our relationship with God: Prayer.

5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. (NLT)

In the light of such words we find that it is possible on an elemental level to be a fake even in relationship with God. It is possible for us to become like actors (hypocrites) in our relationship even with our Heavenly Father. How many of us come to worship each week and put on a spiritual mask so that everything seems fine, all the while our home life is a wreck. Maybe we even attend worship because people know that we “go to church” and we have a reputation to uphold. Meanwhile our actual relationship with God is cold or nonexistent.

If we engage in “spiritual” activities in front of people to uphold an image, Jesus warns us that our reward will be that people “think” we’re spiritual. That’s it. That’s all it will ever be. Our reward will be that others have a perception of us that is based on false information about our character. Again Jesus brings us back to this idea of secrecy as a way to check our motives. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. In other words, if you want to be real, if you want to actually be spiritual you need to have a measure of living out your relationship with God in a way that only God will know.

Obviously motives are powerful. They are the reason we do the things we do and say the things we say. Most of us don’t live in an “all or nothing” world. Sometimes (maybe most of the time) we are going to have mixed motives. If we’re honest with ourselves we’ll recognize that it is probably difficult for any of us to have completely pure motives in our relationships, “good deeds”, or our spiritual life. Jesus, as he so often does, sees this situation for what it is. He recognizes our need for consistent reminders and dependable disciplines that help us to check and focus our motives.

Prayer is the medium that Jesus chooses as a focusing agent to guide our intentions. He gives us what has so often been referred to as “The Lords Prayer”:

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. Amen.

It would probably be more appropriate to refer to this beautiful prayer as “The disciple’s prayer”. Jesus is offering it to his followers as a gift of the highest order. Contained within it’s few short phrases are all of the proper motives which drive the words, actions, and lifestyle of a Christ follower. How then should we pray?

Our Father in heaven:

This phrase is better translated: Our Father in the heavens. When Jesus used the phrase “in the heavens”, his disciples would have understood that to mean not only “outer space” (or up there in the universe with the sun, moon, and stars) but also the earth’s atmosphere, including the very air that we breathe. In one small phrase Jesus is teaching his disciples that this God we pray to is both far beyond our comprehension and at the very same time as near to us as the air we breathe. This God, our Father, is both the sovereign creator of all the universe and our loving Father who longs to know us on a deeply intimate level.

Now Jesus begins a series of imperative statements, command statements if you will. I’ve had a number of people over the years express that they would be uncomfortable making demands of God. I agree. Jesus, however, makes it clear that there are certain things that God expects us to demand of Him.

Hallowed be your name:

Hollowed be your name literally means “make your name holy”. In this first of our demands, Jesus implores us to pound our fists on the table and compel God to make His name holy. The idea here is that we are incapable of being holy or living out holy lives unless God’s presence is with us. We are imploring God to be our God, to be with us in such a real way that His holy presence is unmistakable. “Father, make your name holy”. Be with us God because we recognize that we desperately need to be surrounded by your presence.

Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

These two demands are much the same. In essence, two ways of saying the same thing: “God, it is impossible for us in our own strength, our own will, to love our enemies, to turn away from anger, lust, lies, addiction to “things” or our reputation. If we are to be people of your Kingdom, you must bring it to pass in the middle of our every day lives.” There is an intensity to these phrases that calls us as we pray the words to run to the door and fling it wide open in expectation of what God will do. “On earth as it is in heaven” is a wonderfully hopeful expression. God we aren’t so jaded by this fallen world to think that you can’t bring your kingdom, your reign, your will to bare in such a way as to redeem and transform it.

Give us today our daily bread.

Lord, we recognize you as our provider. We work hard for what we have and yet we realize that we depend on you to keep the world spinning on its axis. There would be no bread (bread that has sustained life on this planet as one of our most elemental sources of nourishment) if you didn’t send rain and provide the sun to make the grain grow.

Forgive us our debts, 
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Forgiveness is one of the most fundamental aspects of any human relationship. Jesus makes it clear on a number of occasions that forgiving others is one of the primary conditions of receiving forgiveness. It is impossible to live in God’s kingdom without engaging in the discipline of giving and receiving forgiveness.

And lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from the evil one.

The last words of the prayer reflect its overall purpose: We are so easily lead astray and our motives can be compromised and mixed up if we don’t continually go back over and over to begin this prayer again. We do have an enemy who desires for us to indulge in our own kingdom and cater to our own will. We pray, dear Father, that when we are being tempted you will direct us once again to check the intention of our hearts and pray as you taught us:

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.”