Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

The grass seeds I planted need water – and sun.  In this picture at our porch both burst forth with promise.   Sun rays have a special attraction for me – here lighting up the fan of live-giving water delights and comforts.

“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven…’”

Matthew 6:9

We who believe have the same Father, greater by far than our earthly fathers, whom we admire and thank nevertheless.

Does it make any difference to me if I have a Father in heaven, a Father with innumerable children of all cultures and times, with me there among them?  Whether I truly believe it or not, that does not change the reality.  It is true, we love “Our Father in heaven” and He loves us beyond telling.

The unredeemed know nothing of this reality that binds us believers together in a new body, Christ calls it his Kingdom.

All human institutions will ultimately fade away, meaningless in a way.  The family of God that Jesus is proclaiming will last into eternity – even after physical heaven and earth pass away.

Today is Thanksgiving Day in US, November 24 this year.  What greater offering than to thank God for paying the price for our redemption so that we can be His forever, in his eternal family?

Lord, help me to grasp the wonder of this life of grace, your grace. Accept my feeble thanks for the privilege of being in the most important thing imaginable, your family, where you are our common Father, in heaven.  Praise your name forever.

“This, then, is how you should pray:

 ‘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.  And 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 if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.’”

Matthew 6:9 – 15

This is a life-altering prayer.  I am struck by its meaning.  I would like to walk carefully through the prayer, noting how astoundingly radical it is.  Who but Jesus could have prayed this sample prayer for his followers!

It assumes the prayer is the prayer of a community of faith, not that the individual is left out, but that our prayers, as taught by Jesus here, are communal.  This is a prayer of believers whose arms are linked together in unity and purpose. “Our.”  What I need, all need.  I am in the flock of God along with all those who follow him wherever he goes.

What makes us one, regardless of culture, race, language, nation, social class, etc?  It is because we all have the same Father.  He gives us birth, so to speak, a family, a home, a place to belong.  All hearts are drawn to the love of our Father.  And all who believe and who have received the new birth are brothers and sisters in our Father’s house.  Jesus makes no reference to Jew, Gentile, etc., but declares that all of us find that we love the same Father!

All prayer is an experience of family, the family of those who are followers of Jesus of Christ.

It is not wrong to pray as an individual for special personal needs.  But our overarching family prayer is prayed in the context of a loving family, all of whom are born anew by the saving work of Jesus and all are in love with our gracious Lord.  It is truly a family that is bound together by our common love for God and his love for us.

Once again, Fall evening sunsets, fleeting as they may be, are precious gifts of God to those who love and worship him. While realizing that the warm beauty is the result of refracting light, nevertheless my spirit is raised and my mind soars!  Thank you, Lord of heaven and earth, for these reminders of your love and care.

“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 others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But 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. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Matthew 6:5 – 8

Jesus’ view of things reflected in his teachings sometimes startles one.  Like this.  He urges us to pray assuming that no one but God is listening, even though it is a public prayer.

During the time of Christ evidently the Jewish believers proved their devotion to God by how they pray.  The more obvious their prayers, the better.  Those with the most flowery, loudest and longest prayers were the most honored.  And public prayers are best!

After hearing such a prayer, those who listened heaped praise on the prayer.  Thus, a good thing like prayer was used to exalt the prayer, not God. That, Jesus said, is what they get for their great praying – the praise of their listeners. Such prayers do not touch God at all.

I recall reading somewhere that some pastor, in London, prayed such a magnificent prayer that it was reported that it was the best prayer ever heard by a British audience.  This sounds a little like Jesus’ remarks that prayer is not to impress any audience, but to pour out one’s soul in heart-felt, private prayer to the Lord Jesus.

Jesus had a way of taking what seemed like good things in worship but then pricking the bubble of pride behind them.

Are we, am I, any different?  To whom do I pray?  Who do I expect might be listening?  Are my public prayers fashioned in such a way that I sincerely hope that my hearers are impressed with my holiness or of my ability to pray such wonderful prayers?  Lord, have mercy.

There is little reward in humbly praying to Jesus, because no human hears me.  That is what Jesus is stressing.  So in our life of prayer, we care nothing about how others think, but what God himself does.

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.“  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 others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 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. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Matthew 6:1 – 4

Last Friday our community set the day as a Great Give Day or something like that.  The idea was to urge people to give to some 400 local charities that help the poor.  At last report I understand they raised a total of over $7,000,000!  I should say, “We” because we joined in and gave, with the promise that our amount would be doubled!

One way to judge a community, a family or a person is to note their giving. Giving was way at the top of Jesus’ list, not giving to be admired or even noticed, but to give because that is what the Lord wants us to do.

I am not sure what motivates our community here in Lancaster to give.  For many it is a true sacrifice or offering of thanksgiving and praise to a loving and merciful Father in heaven.  For some, it may have a touch of “self” on it but it is still better to give than to grasp.  God sorts out the motive.

As to the giver, I chuckle when I see the simile that Jesus used, 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. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”  I see what He is getting at.  We should not give to be praised for our generosity.  In fact, we should not even tell our left hand what our right hand is giving!  That is some fete. But we should surely try!  Giving is not an option for the followers of Jesus who gave his all for us, it is simply what we do.  So be it.  We seek no reward, just rejoice that we have a little or much to give.

The center of worshipful giving is Jesus, not us.  Jesus in us is the “giver.”

We had the joy yesterday celebrating the 90th birthday of Miriam, Glenn’s mother.  The event took place at Jane and Glenn’s with many guests, family and friends from Philadelphia joining in the celebration.  We are privileged to be related to a family that truly honors God, family, Church and friends.  Miriam is “queen.”  That is for sure.  But she carries the title lightly!

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matthew 5:43 – 48

I find these teachings of Jesus to be at odds with the world in which I live. Is he serious?  What if we were to love our enemies?  That means rewriting history which is based on the truism that to survive and prosper we must protect our ourselves against people who are not “us.”  Is this not implicit in all our education and acculturation?  Who are the victors in history?   They are those who fight against our enemies.

I have just finished reading a huge 900-page life of Napoleon, recently published.  His France was superior to all nations and cultures.  He was convinced of that and went about proving it on the battlefield and in life in general.  That is so opposite of Jesus who spent his life loving those that Israel feared and hated.  Jesus loved Jews and Gentiles equally.  He healed a Syrophoenician woman like he healed Peter’s mother-in-law.  No difference.

How is it that the cultures in which we live are so fearful of others?  Jesus loved all people.  We were taught a little song, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.”  We sang this without realizing that the real song was, “We love our own and must make sure we stand together to defend our rights, as we understand them.”

I grew up with the notion that if we do not protect ourselves we are doomed as a culture, a people.  Jesus does not teach that!  So what do we do with our history that lifts up those, usually warriors, who protect us?  It is easy to say, “Jesus was wrong. Our heroes protect us!”  Our secular historians keep emphasizing that – keeping alive the belief that we must fight in every way to protect ourselves and our cultures.  Our heroes are those who do this best.

Jesus did not equivocate, he said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  That sounds so absurd to our ethnic ears.  We lived in East Africa where we heard one story after another about the ways the followers of Jesus turned the cheek and forgave those who persecuted them.

Once again, what appears at first to be nice but meaningless advice, turns out to be the way of God.  Oh, Lord, teach me what this all means.    But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.