WEBVTT 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:08.140 Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity 00:00:08.140 --> 00:00:10.800 Sermons. This week we are continuing our sermon 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.279 series, Summer on the Mount, where we are diving 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:16.219 into Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, a collection 00:00:16.219 --> 00:00:19.039 of some of Jesus' most challenging teachings. 00:00:19.899 --> 00:00:22.600 And today we are looking at what Jesus has to 00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:25.859 say about some spiritual practices. Giving and 00:00:25.859 --> 00:00:28.879 praying and fasting, these are all really good 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:31.719 things. But what if we're not doing them in a 00:00:31.719 --> 00:00:34.609 good way? What if our motivation isn't quite 00:00:34.609 --> 00:00:37.490 right? This is what Jesus is going to speak to 00:00:37.490 --> 00:00:40.270 you today. And so let's listen in as our guest 00:00:40.270 --> 00:00:42.729 preacher, Justin Stratus, takes us through this 00:00:42.729 --> 00:00:52.850 passage. Today's reading is from Matthew chapter 00:00:52.850 --> 00:01:00.310 6, verses 1 to 8, and 16 to 18. Be careful not 00:01:00.310 --> 00:01:03.490 to practice your righteousness in front of others, 00:01:03.689 --> 00:01:07.670 to be seen by them. If you do, you will have 00:01:07.670 --> 00:01:12.129 no reward from your Father in heaven. So when 00:01:12.129 --> 00:01:15.170 you give to the needy, do not announce it with 00:01:15.170 --> 00:01:19.049 trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues 00:01:19.049 --> 00:01:22.689 and on the streets, to be honored by others. 00:01:22.989 --> 00:01:26.650 Truly I tell you, they have received their reward 00:01:26.650 --> 00:01:30.599 in full. But when you give to the needy, do not 00:01:30.599 --> 00:01:34.560 let your left hand know what your right hand 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:38.060 is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. 00:01:38.340 --> 00:01:42.219 Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, 00:01:42.500 --> 00:01:47.319 will reward you. And when you pray, do not be 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:50.379 like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing 00:01:50.379 --> 00:01:54.099 in the synagogues and on the street corners to 00:01:54.099 --> 00:01:58.510 be seen by others. Truly, I tell you, they have 00:01:58.510 --> 00:02:02.829 received their reward in full. But when you pray, 00:02:02.989 --> 00:02:06.370 go into your room, close the door, and pray to 00:02:06.370 --> 00:02:10.330 your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, 00:02:10.409 --> 00:02:13.830 who sees what is done in secret, will reward 00:02:13.830 --> 00:02:17.729 you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling 00:02:17.729 --> 00:02:21.590 like pagans, for they think they will be heard 00:02:21.590 --> 00:02:25.849 because of their many words. Do not be like them, 00:02:25.949 --> 00:02:29.669 for your father knows what you need before you 00:02:29.669 --> 00:02:34.509 ask him. Verse 16. When you fast, do not look 00:02:34.509 --> 00:02:38.430 somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure 00:02:38.430 --> 00:02:41.110 their faces to show others they are fasting. 00:02:41.509 --> 00:02:45.030 Truly I tell you, they have received their reward 00:02:45.030 --> 00:02:49.780 in full. But when you fast, Put oil on your head 00:02:49.780 --> 00:02:53.740 and wash your face so that it will not be obvious 00:02:53.740 --> 00:02:59.680 to others so that you're fasting, but only to 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:03.539 your Father who is unseen. And your Father who 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:06.719 sees what is done in secret will reward you. 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:11.020 The word of the Lord. Great. Good morning, everyone. 00:03:12.039 --> 00:03:14.599 My name is Justin. I'm one of the parishioners 00:03:14.599 --> 00:03:17.370 here at the church. And I'm also the preacher, 00:03:17.469 --> 00:03:19.770 as you can tell from this jacket I'm wearing 00:03:19.770 --> 00:03:24.490 in the middle of August. So it's an honor to 00:03:24.490 --> 00:03:28.009 be here. I'm also excited because I found this 00:03:28.009 --> 00:03:29.770 pulpit, which is really cool. Now I can pound 00:03:29.770 --> 00:03:35.409 it when I make a point. Let's pray. Lord, we 00:03:35.409 --> 00:03:44.780 believe. Help thou our unbelief. Amen. Now I 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:47.539 wonder if anyone ever told you to do something 00:03:47.539 --> 00:03:52.159 that was fundamentally impossible to do. I don't 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:55.020 mean something literally impossible like go pick 00:03:55.020 --> 00:03:58.460 up that Dodge Ram or jump across Niagara Falls 00:03:58.460 --> 00:04:01.120 or something like that. I mean something that 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:05.280 is logically impossible. I'm thinking here of 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:09.219 when your boss tells you that he or she wants 00:04:09.219 --> 00:04:11.620 you to take more initiative at work but to check 00:04:11.620 --> 00:04:15.360 in with them before you do anything. Or when 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:19.279 a police officer yells, freeze, put up your hands. 00:04:21.259 --> 00:04:26.199 Or my personal favorite, stand down. Like I could 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:28.879 never figure out what that meant. Well, in the 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:31.079 Sermon on the Mount, sometimes it seems like 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:34.959 Jesus is giving his disciples just this kind 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:38.899 of contradictory command. Well, what do I mean 00:04:38.899 --> 00:04:41.040 by this? Well, as Rob's been teaching us these 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:44.759 past few weeks, the Sermon on the Mount, is a 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:49.480 lot about Jesus ramping up the demands of discipleship 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:53.360 to these crazy high levels. I mean, Jesus literally 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:57.959 tells his disciples in chapter 5, verse 48, that 00:04:57.959 --> 00:05:03.180 they have to be perfect. That's the demand of 00:05:03.180 --> 00:05:05.540 Christian discipleship. You need to be perfect. 00:05:05.639 --> 00:05:09.199 How perfect? Well, as perfect as God, God's self. 00:05:10.990 --> 00:05:13.069 Now to be fair, that command was not entirely 00:05:13.069 --> 00:05:15.670 original to Jesus. If you read the book of Leviticus, 00:05:15.870 --> 00:05:18.329 you'll see that the ancient Hebrews too were 00:05:18.329 --> 00:05:23.970 commanded by God to be holy as I am holy. So 00:05:23.970 --> 00:05:28.170 it wasn't an entirely new command, but what Jesus 00:05:28.170 --> 00:05:31.290 is doing in the Sermon on the Mount is elevating 00:05:31.290 --> 00:05:34.790 the demands of perfection, the demands of holiness 00:05:34.790 --> 00:05:38.870 beyond what was laid out even in the Old Testament. 00:05:39.790 --> 00:05:42.410 So don't just avoid cheating on your spouse. 00:05:44.370 --> 00:05:47.350 Don't even look at someone with lust in your 00:05:47.350 --> 00:05:50.129 heart. Don't just refrain from murdering people. 00:05:50.250 --> 00:05:53.670 Don't even get angry. Don't just try to have 00:05:53.670 --> 00:05:56.949 the most ethically acceptable divorce. Don't 00:05:56.949 --> 00:06:00.290 get divorced at all. Don't be zealous for justice. 00:06:01.829 --> 00:06:05.269 Forgo justice in order to show your enemies a 00:06:05.269 --> 00:06:09.300 better way. And why are we going to do all these 00:06:09.300 --> 00:06:13.060 radical acts of discipleship, acts which surpass 00:06:13.060 --> 00:06:15.740 even the highest demands of the Jewish law? Well, 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:19.040 Jesus says, you're going to live this way in 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:23.600 this radical form of obedience so that people 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:27.040 will see your good deeds, see your good deeds 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:31.240 and glorify your father in heaven. Right? So 00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:33.339 the demand from Jesus seems to be something. 00:06:34.029 --> 00:06:39.629 I want you to be so perfect, so holy, so righteous 00:06:39.629 --> 00:06:43.970 that the world is going to take notice. In other 00:06:43.970 --> 00:06:50.170 words, I want you to shine. Okay, so far, so 00:06:50.170 --> 00:06:54.329 good. But then we get to today's passage in chapter 00:06:54.329 --> 00:06:59.120 6, verse 1, where Jesus says the following. Be 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:01.079 careful not to practice your righteousness in 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:03.720 front of others to be seen by them. If you do, 00:07:03.899 --> 00:07:07.160 you'll have no reward from your Father in heaven. 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:13.860 Okay, so one side of mouth, don't hide your light 00:07:13.860 --> 00:07:17.819 under a bushel. Other side of mouth, make sure 00:07:17.819 --> 00:07:22.379 no one sees your light. Or how about the world 00:07:22.379 --> 00:07:25.160 is going to see how righteous you are and praise 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:28.639 God. But just make sure no one sees your righteous 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:32.939 deeds. Freeze and put your hands in the air. 00:07:34.620 --> 00:07:37.000 All right, so Jesus, which one is it? Do I let 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:40.660 my light shine before people or do I do all my 00:07:40.660 --> 00:07:45.660 righteousness in private? Are my good deeds kind 00:07:45.660 --> 00:07:48.399 of like landing lights which are guiding my neighbors 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:52.560 to Jesus? Or are they more like blinding flashes 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:55.750 which distract others? As they're trying to figure 00:07:55.750 --> 00:08:00.569 out how to make their way to God. Okay, so I'm 00:08:00.569 --> 00:08:02.670 doing a preacher thing right now, right? I'm 00:08:02.670 --> 00:08:05.850 presenting a contradiction which you probably 00:08:05.850 --> 00:08:09.389 already figured out a way out of. And I respect 00:08:09.389 --> 00:08:12.170 you. So let's just get it out in the open, right? 00:08:12.250 --> 00:08:15.930 Jesus is not really saying, don't practice your 00:08:15.930 --> 00:08:19.029 righteousness so that no one ever sees them. 00:08:19.110 --> 00:08:22.430 They should be completely hidden. What he's saying, 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:26.800 is that our motivation for doing good shouldn't 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:29.860 be so that we're praised and seen by other people. 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:32.320 In other words, Jesus is teaching his disciples 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:35.799 about the importance of having right intentions 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:40.820 alongside the right actions. And that's, of course, 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:43.659 a very important lesson. And it's something that 00:08:43.659 --> 00:08:46.519 I think people of all faiths or no faiths at 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:48.279 all would be happy to endorse, right? There's 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:52.240 really not a pro -hypocrite movement in the world. 00:08:55.399 --> 00:09:00.039 But I think there's more to the story here. Now, 00:09:00.059 --> 00:09:01.919 one thing that's important to remember when you're 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:06.899 encountering Jesus' teachings is this. Jesus 00:09:06.899 --> 00:09:11.059 is not just kind of a moral sage who's going 00:09:11.059 --> 00:09:13.440 around doling out life lessons on how to be a 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:18.480 better person. Jesus is not the first century 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:24.320 version of a wellness podcaster. No, when it 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:27.000 comes to Jesus, you can't ever separate the things 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:32.600 that he says from who he is. And so his teachings 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:35.539 are always more than just moral lessons, even 00:09:35.539 --> 00:09:37.840 when it sounds straightforwardly like he's just 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:41.440 telling you this good, this bad. It's always 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:44.679 more than that. Jesus' teachings invite us to 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:50.799 live in an entirely new world, a world that's 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:54.299 centered on and determined by And presided over 00:09:54.299 --> 00:09:57.240 by Jesus Christ himself. And that's the whole 00:09:57.240 --> 00:10:00.000 point of the Beatitudes. You know, blessed are 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:03.840 the meek and all that stuff. They're not general 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:07.019 principles of life. Even though sometimes they're 00:10:07.019 --> 00:10:12.679 presented that way. Those blessings paint a picture 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:16.019 of a different kind of reality. With a different 00:10:16.019 --> 00:10:20.100 set of rules. It shows us a world where the first 00:10:20.100 --> 00:10:23.429 shall be last. and the last shall be first, where 00:10:23.429 --> 00:10:26.490 Jesus reigns to the glory of the Father with 00:10:26.490 --> 00:10:29.070 all those united to him by the Spirit. I mean, 00:10:29.110 --> 00:10:30.629 it's a picture of the kingdom of heaven. That's 00:10:30.629 --> 00:10:33.909 what the Sermon on the Mount is. It's a picture 00:10:33.909 --> 00:10:37.049 of the kingdom. So the question we should ask, 00:10:37.070 --> 00:10:42.389 even here, is this. Why should Jesus' disciples 00:10:42.389 --> 00:10:47.429 avoid hypocrisy? Why? Why does it matter what 00:10:47.429 --> 00:10:50.370 Jesus' followers' motivations are? for doing 00:10:50.370 --> 00:10:52.669 good? What is it about the kingdom of heaven? 00:10:53.409 --> 00:10:56.870 What is it about Jesus that demands this kind 00:10:56.870 --> 00:11:01.549 of life, this kind of discipleship? And so Jesus 00:11:01.549 --> 00:11:03.490 is going to explain all this to us by referring 00:11:03.490 --> 00:11:07.730 to three very common, very standard Jewish practices 00:11:07.730 --> 00:11:11.250 of religious piety. Three practices that nearly 00:11:11.250 --> 00:11:14.570 everyone at the time would have readily acknowledged 00:11:14.570 --> 00:11:18.470 as being straightforwardly good. And they are 00:11:19.350 --> 00:11:22.389 almsgiving or charitable giving, prayer, and 00:11:22.389 --> 00:11:25.830 fasting. It's like he's picking three normal, 00:11:25.909 --> 00:11:31.009 good, uncontroversial things. Now, if you were 00:11:31.009 --> 00:11:33.230 a Hellenistic Jew living in the first century, 00:11:33.289 --> 00:11:36.190 and you knew someone who was pretty faithful 00:11:36.190 --> 00:11:39.149 in doing all three of these things, you would 00:11:39.149 --> 00:11:41.529 have likely and very reasonably considered that 00:11:41.529 --> 00:11:46.690 person to be righteous. That is, someone who 00:11:46.690 --> 00:11:48.850 lived the way they were supposed to live. They 00:11:48.850 --> 00:11:51.529 weren't in rebellion to God, but were trying 00:11:51.529 --> 00:11:53.909 to live according to all of God's precepts as 00:11:53.909 --> 00:11:58.409 listed in the Old Testament. And you probably 00:11:58.409 --> 00:12:01.210 really wouldn't judge this person for doing all 00:12:01.210 --> 00:12:04.149 this stuff in public. Because the three things 00:12:04.149 --> 00:12:07.210 that Jesus mentions, they were all very public 00:12:07.210 --> 00:12:11.090 practices. So giving to charity, praying and 00:12:11.090 --> 00:12:13.639 fasting, these are all things... that people 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:17.639 regularly did in front of other people. In other 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:19.179 words, back in the first century, there wasn't 00:12:19.179 --> 00:12:21.120 really such a thing as private religion. You 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:23.019 know, we think, keep your religion in private. 00:12:23.139 --> 00:12:25.759 That wasn't the way things are back then. It's 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:27.320 probably not the way things are in most of the 00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:33.820 world. Religious stuff back then just was stuff 00:12:33.820 --> 00:12:36.360 you did out in the open, in public, for everyone 00:12:36.360 --> 00:12:39.659 to see. In fact, you'd probably assume that if 00:12:39.659 --> 00:12:43.059 you saw someone praying out in the streets, As 00:12:43.059 --> 00:12:46.200 Jesus says, they were really, really righteous. 00:12:47.059 --> 00:12:48.860 Not only because they're praying, but because 00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:52.399 they're kind of reminding everyone else to pray. 00:12:53.379 --> 00:12:56.279 Think of like a prime minister or a president 00:12:56.279 --> 00:12:59.259 who puts on a high -vis jacket and goes to help 00:12:59.259 --> 00:13:01.899 the cleanup after like a wildfire or something. 00:13:02.019 --> 00:13:03.440 They're doing it for the cameras, obviously. 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:05.980 But what are they doing? They're raising awareness, 00:13:06.259 --> 00:13:08.320 right? They're lending their support. They're 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:10.799 encouraging others to help out. So that's not 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:18.379 really so bad. But Jesus is going to push things 00:13:18.379 --> 00:13:23.039 further, as he consistently does in this sermon. 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:25.679 He pushes things to a deeper level. Look what 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:33.379 he says in verses 2 to 4. Can we get that next 00:13:33.379 --> 00:13:37.059 slide? There it is. He says, when you give to 00:13:37.059 --> 00:13:40.600 the needy, don't announce it with trumpets, as 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:42.500 the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the 00:13:42.500 --> 00:13:46.860 streets. to be honored by others. Truly, I tell 00:13:46.860 --> 00:13:48.940 you, they've received their reward in full, but 00:13:48.940 --> 00:13:51.500 when you give to the needy, don't let your left 00:13:51.500 --> 00:13:54.240 hand know what your right hand is doing so that 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:56.899 your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, 00:13:56.940 --> 00:13:59.360 who knows what's done in secret, will reward 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:04.480 you. All right, so let's unpack this a little 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:08.360 bit. First of all, hopefully it goes without 00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:11.059 saying that Jesus is still obviously pretty keen 00:14:11.059 --> 00:14:14.509 on the idea of giving to the needy, right? He 00:14:14.509 --> 00:14:19.149 says, when you give, not if you give. But Jesus 00:14:19.149 --> 00:14:21.730 is also upending something here. And you got 00:14:21.730 --> 00:14:24.389 to understand a little bit more from the culture. 00:14:25.850 --> 00:14:28.129 In the ancient world, the world that Jesus is 00:14:28.129 --> 00:14:32.730 speaking into, when someone gave a gift, it's 00:14:32.730 --> 00:14:36.210 normal to assume that the giver is going to get 00:14:36.210 --> 00:14:39.350 something back, right? That might seem counterintuitive 00:14:39.350 --> 00:14:41.309 to us because for us, a gift is always free. 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:44.220 But in the ancient world, gifts were about establishing 00:14:44.220 --> 00:14:47.000 relationships. So you give something to someone, 00:14:47.100 --> 00:14:49.820 and they're going to reciprocate in some way. 00:14:51.320 --> 00:14:54.679 So for example, if I gave you a house to live 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:57.879 in, it would be expected that maybe you'd be 00:14:57.879 --> 00:14:59.940 giving me a share of your crops, your harvest, 00:15:00.019 --> 00:15:04.019 every year. Or if I'm an emperor, and I build 00:15:04.019 --> 00:15:08.460 like a giant sports stadium in your region, then 00:15:08.460 --> 00:15:10.220 maybe the people that live in that region are 00:15:10.220 --> 00:15:12.240 going to start sending soldiers for the emperor's 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:17.700 war campaign in the future. But what do you do 00:15:17.700 --> 00:15:20.659 when the people that you're giving to have absolutely 00:15:20.659 --> 00:15:25.379 nothing to give back? Right? What happens when 00:15:25.379 --> 00:15:30.299 the recipient of your gift is just too poor to 00:15:30.299 --> 00:15:34.000 reciprocate or give anything in return? Well, 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:37.480 you might think to yourself, Even though this 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:40.480 poor person can't reciprocate my charity, at 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:42.600 the very least I can get something from someone 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:48.980 else. And that thing is honor. Public honor. 00:15:49.539 --> 00:15:51.320 And when you think about it in the context of 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:54.259 the ancient world, that doesn't seem like too 00:15:54.259 --> 00:15:56.379 much to ask. It makes you actually seem pretty 00:15:56.379 --> 00:15:58.940 good, right? I'm giving to a poor person with 00:15:58.940 --> 00:16:01.279 no expectation of them giving anything back to 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:04.940 me. All I ask is that you kind of give me a brief... 00:16:05.179 --> 00:16:07.980 Round of applause while I do it, if you see me 00:16:07.980 --> 00:16:12.340 doing it. Jesus says, look, I want you to give 00:16:12.340 --> 00:16:16.700 to the poor. But when you do it, I want you to 00:16:16.700 --> 00:16:19.519 ask yourself a very important question. And the 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:22.879 question is this. Whose honor do you care the 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:28.159 most about? Whose honor is most valuable to you? 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:30.700 If you want the applause of your peers, that's 00:16:30.700 --> 00:16:34.299 fine. You can have it. But if that's what you 00:16:34.299 --> 00:16:38.240 really want, you're going to miss out on something 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:42.179 more valuable. It's the same calculus that Jesus 00:16:42.179 --> 00:16:46.720 offers us in the Beatitudes. It's the choice 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:49.179 that he's laying before all of us in this sermon. 00:16:49.500 --> 00:16:53.720 Would you like to be first now, or would you 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:59.779 like to be first later? You can be first now, 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.380 Jesus says. but it's going to cost you being 00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:09.000 last in the kingdom of heaven. Likewise, you 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:12.339 can be last now, and some people, he says, are 00:17:12.339 --> 00:17:16.660 last now not because of their own choice. Some 00:17:16.660 --> 00:17:20.440 people are just poor. You can be last now, but 00:17:20.440 --> 00:17:23.660 what you'll gain in the kingdom of heaven is 00:17:23.660 --> 00:17:28.700 a seat at the head of the table. Now, some of 00:17:28.700 --> 00:17:32.759 you know that I work in downtown, Toronto. It's 00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:34.720 this city kind of to the east of us, if you haven't 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:38.200 seen it. And because I work in downtown Toronto, 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:40.740 it means I've spent a lot of time sitting in 00:17:40.740 --> 00:17:44.619 my car on various highways in standstill traffic. 00:17:46.220 --> 00:17:48.460 And when you sit in traffic on a daily basis, 00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:50.619 you start to notice things. You start to notice 00:17:50.619 --> 00:17:54.099 interesting billboards and kind of funky stores, 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:57.380 places where you can go indoor skydiving. You 00:17:57.380 --> 00:17:59.500 start to notice colorful school buses sitting 00:17:59.500 --> 00:18:02.289 on top of buildings. You know, normal Toronto 00:18:02.289 --> 00:18:07.109 stuff. When I see the NIDA Hyundai I'm Your Guy 00:18:07.109 --> 00:18:09.250 billboard, I know that I'm about 45 minutes away 00:18:09.250 --> 00:18:15.289 from work. I love that guy. He's so happy. But 00:18:15.289 --> 00:18:16.950 there's one sign I've been seeing on my commute 00:18:16.950 --> 00:18:18.430 for the past couple of months that's always caught 00:18:18.430 --> 00:18:20.470 my attention. It happens to hang on the side 00:18:20.470 --> 00:18:22.950 of St. Joseph's Health Center, which is a teaching 00:18:22.950 --> 00:18:25.569 hospital just off the Queensway. I'm going to 00:18:25.569 --> 00:18:31.089 show you this. There it is. So that's... A bloke 00:18:31.089 --> 00:18:33.990 by the name of Peter Gilgan. I don't know if 00:18:33.990 --> 00:18:37.609 you've heard of him. I'll read it for you. If 00:18:37.609 --> 00:18:39.890 you can't see it, it says, Peter Gilgan's historic 00:18:39.890 --> 00:18:43.230 $60 million investment is helping build a new 00:18:43.230 --> 00:18:45.990 St. Joe's. Let's build on it. And that's like 00:18:45.990 --> 00:18:50.569 the length of the building, almost. So Peter 00:18:50.569 --> 00:18:52.690 Gilgan, who's that guy? He runs this kind of 00:18:52.690 --> 00:18:54.950 mom -and -pop contracting outfit called Mattamy 00:18:54.950 --> 00:19:01.420 Homes. Do I have any particular problem with 00:19:01.420 --> 00:19:04.259 Mr. Gilgan? Not really. I actually live in one 00:19:04.259 --> 00:19:09.380 of his houses, and it's nice, I guess. And am 00:19:09.380 --> 00:19:12.740 I glad that this hospital, which probably saves 00:19:12.740 --> 00:19:16.200 a lot of lives and lots of people, got a $60 00:19:16.200 --> 00:19:20.619 million cash injection? Yeah, I guess. I mean, 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:22.700 I don't know too much about the hospital, but 00:19:22.700 --> 00:19:24.140 I'd say, yeah, that's probably a really good 00:19:24.140 --> 00:19:27.460 thing. And do I think that Mr. Gilgan should 00:19:27.460 --> 00:19:30.259 be acknowledged and applauded for his generous 00:19:30.259 --> 00:19:35.579 gift? Sure. In fact, Mr. Gilgan, here's your 00:19:35.579 --> 00:19:39.200 reward, a gigantic poster of your face that I 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:41.200 and all other commuters get to look at while 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:43.180 enjoying our stay on the Gardner Expressway. 00:19:45.059 --> 00:19:50.380 So I hope you can hear our applause. Now, I'm 00:19:50.380 --> 00:19:52.480 bringing this up only by way of example. I don't 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:55.160 know... Much about this Gilgan fellow other than 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:57.400 he can build a neighborhood in like six months 00:19:57.400 --> 00:20:02.079 and obviously has an intoxicating smile. Right? 00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:03.799 So I don't want to tear him down specifically, 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:08.660 at least in the context of this sermon. But what 00:20:08.660 --> 00:20:10.779 an illustration, right, of what Jesus is talking 00:20:10.779 --> 00:20:15.819 about here. You can have your reward now. You 00:20:15.819 --> 00:20:20.099 can get your mug on a gigantic poster. If you 00:20:20.099 --> 00:20:29.259 want, you can do it. But, listen, there's going 00:20:29.259 --> 00:20:31.759 to come a time, probably by the end of the summer 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:33.700 even maybe, where this poster is going to come 00:20:33.700 --> 00:20:38.960 down. It's not going to be there forever. When 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:42.740 you do your good deeds, Jesus says, I want you 00:20:42.740 --> 00:20:47.900 to give your charity not to get a poster. I don't 00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:49.660 want you to gain the applause of the masses. 00:20:50.140 --> 00:20:52.660 I want you to do this for an audience of one. 00:20:54.380 --> 00:20:58.079 For God. And then you'll get a reward that will 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:01.599 last forever. Because you'll receive it in a 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:04.140 kingdom that will last forever. If we were to 00:21:04.140 --> 00:21:06.559 go on in this passage, Jesus talks about storing 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:09.000 up treasures in heaven. Right? You have treasures 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:12.720 on earth. Thieves can come and take them. Moths 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:15.220 and vermin can destroy them. But if you have 00:21:15.220 --> 00:21:17.700 a treasure in heaven, it lasts forever. They 00:21:17.700 --> 00:21:22.799 won't take your poster down. Now as for prayer. 00:21:23.700 --> 00:21:26.819 Which Jesus treats in Matthew chapter 6 verses 00:21:26.819 --> 00:21:30.259 5 through 15. Well, Pastor Kyla is going to give 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:32.819 us a bit more about that in a few weeks. But 00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:34.920 very briefly, let's see. It's pretty much the 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:39.700 same pattern. Jesus says, when you pray, don't 00:21:39.700 --> 00:21:43.019 be like the hypocrites. They love to pray standing 00:21:43.019 --> 00:21:45.039 in the synagogues and on the street corners to 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:49.019 be seen by others. Truly, I tell you, they've 00:21:49.019 --> 00:21:51.700 received their reward in full. But when you pray, 00:21:51.779 --> 00:21:54.789 go to your room. Close the door. Pray to your 00:21:54.789 --> 00:21:58.269 Father who's unseen. Then your Father who sees 00:21:58.269 --> 00:22:02.990 what's done in secret will reward you. Again, 00:22:03.029 --> 00:22:05.349 just to be clear, praying in public, even praying 00:22:05.349 --> 00:22:10.829 on the street, was not an odd thing to do. Right? 00:22:10.869 --> 00:22:13.029 Back in the first century. And even standing 00:22:13.029 --> 00:22:16.529 up to pray was a pretty common practice. Right? 00:22:16.549 --> 00:22:18.329 We think of praying as sort of getting on your 00:22:18.329 --> 00:22:20.809 knees and clasping your hands. But back then, 00:22:20.869 --> 00:22:25.240 standing to pray, normal. So what Jesus is criticizing 00:22:25.240 --> 00:22:28.500 here is not public prayer or prayer with other 00:22:28.500 --> 00:22:33.200 people. What he's worried about, again, is your 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:35.460 motivation. The presumption that you can kind 00:22:35.460 --> 00:22:38.920 of wear your piety, your religion, like a badge 00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:43.160 of honor to receive the praise of others. Which 00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:46.539 is ridiculous, right? Because prayer isn't a 00:22:46.539 --> 00:22:50.559 show of piety. Prayer is not a show of exceptional 00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:54.000 religiousness. Prayer, when done right, is a 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:58.220 sign of absolute desperation. It's a sign of 00:22:58.220 --> 00:23:00.660 trust in God. It's an admission that you have 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:03.200 nothing in yourself, that you're completely relying 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:06.700 on God. Prayer should be done with the heart 00:23:06.700 --> 00:23:10.720 of King Jehoshaphat. Remember him? He was a king 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:13.380 of Judah back in the day. He was surrounded by 00:23:13.380 --> 00:23:15.960 all these Gentile armies. They're about to take 00:23:15.960 --> 00:23:19.200 down the kingdom of Judah. And he has this great 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:21.880 prayer where he prays to God and it ends, with 00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:26.140 him saying this, God, we have no power. We have 00:23:26.140 --> 00:23:28.460 no power to face this vast army that's attacking 00:23:28.460 --> 00:23:32.519 us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are 00:23:32.519 --> 00:23:37.539 on you. We don't know what to do. We don't deserve 00:23:37.539 --> 00:23:41.839 your care. We don't deserve your aid. Nevertheless, 00:23:42.359 --> 00:23:44.519 we are praying that you would give it to us. 00:23:46.759 --> 00:23:48.819 Likewise, Jesus says prayer is not something 00:23:48.819 --> 00:23:52.730 that we're going to do to impress God. You don't 00:23:52.730 --> 00:23:55.069 need to say the right words in the right combination 00:23:55.069 --> 00:23:58.509 or convince God that you really, really, really, 00:23:58.529 --> 00:24:02.829 really mean it when you ask for something. No, 00:24:02.869 --> 00:24:05.630 Jesus actually says, right, your father knows 00:24:05.630 --> 00:24:09.829 what you need before you ask him. In other words, 00:24:09.849 --> 00:24:17.029 your need is not new information to God. In fact, 00:24:17.029 --> 00:24:21.740 a simple prayer, prayed by yourself, In the darkness 00:24:21.740 --> 00:24:24.720 of your bedroom, without fancy words or even 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:29.220 folded hands, is all you really need. Because 00:24:29.220 --> 00:24:32.339 what makes prayer effective is not you, not your 00:24:32.339 --> 00:24:35.559 performance, certainly not your own righteousness, 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:38.640 but it's the grace of God, your Father, which 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:43.059 you already have in Christ. You already have 00:24:43.059 --> 00:24:45.940 the benevolence of God, and God already knows 00:24:45.940 --> 00:24:54.250 your need. So you can chill. When you pray. And 00:24:54.250 --> 00:24:59.009 lastly, Jesus speaks about fasting. Jesus says 00:24:59.009 --> 00:25:03.309 this. When you fast, don't look somber as the 00:25:03.309 --> 00:25:05.690 hypocrites do. For they disfigure their faces 00:25:05.690 --> 00:25:08.890 to show others they're fasting. Truly, I tell 00:25:08.890 --> 00:25:11.329 you, they've received their reward in full. But 00:25:11.329 --> 00:25:13.630 when you fast, put oil on your head, wash your 00:25:13.630 --> 00:25:16.339 face. So that it will not be obvious to others 00:25:16.339 --> 00:25:18.359 that you're fasting, but only to your Father 00:25:18.359 --> 00:25:22.579 who's unseen. And your Father who sees what's 00:25:22.579 --> 00:25:27.420 done in secret will reward you. Now the logic 00:25:27.420 --> 00:25:29.339 here is pretty much the same as prayer. What 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:32.640 is fasting? It's refraining from eating food 00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:35.099 so that your mind can be focused on something 00:25:35.099 --> 00:25:37.799 more important. So that you're not being sort 00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:42.829 of led around by your material desires. That 00:25:42.829 --> 00:25:45.470 you can desire something else, which is God. 00:25:47.029 --> 00:25:49.470 Jesus, of course, fasted for 40 days in the desert. 00:25:49.609 --> 00:25:52.009 The Bible is full of examples of God's people 00:25:52.009 --> 00:25:54.710 fasting as a sign of repentance and devotion 00:25:54.710 --> 00:26:00.029 to God. What fasting is not, though, again, is 00:26:00.029 --> 00:26:04.910 a sign of super spiritualness. And it's not something 00:26:04.910 --> 00:26:08.630 that you're going to do to impress God enough 00:26:08.630 --> 00:26:11.119 that he will hear your prayers. If you don't 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:14.819 believe me, read Isaiah chapter 58, which is 00:26:14.819 --> 00:26:17.579 the prophet's gigantic screed saying, you guys 00:26:17.579 --> 00:26:20.460 are fasting, but you're neglecting the poor. 00:26:21.700 --> 00:26:25.240 I'd rather you served the poor and stopped fasting. 00:26:26.119 --> 00:26:29.359 You're not impressing God with these things. 00:26:30.700 --> 00:26:34.420 Like prayer, fasting is an admission of need. 00:26:34.519 --> 00:26:37.930 It's an act of desperation. So to turn a sign 00:26:37.930 --> 00:26:41.130 of desperation intended for God into some kind 00:26:41.130 --> 00:26:45.490 of public sign of personal virtue is a vast misunderstanding. 00:26:45.690 --> 00:26:47.910 It's like when a celebrity goes on a talk show 00:26:47.910 --> 00:26:53.650 to demand that they get their privacy back. Right? 00:26:53.690 --> 00:26:57.990 It kind of defeats the point. Right? So now you 00:26:57.990 --> 00:26:59.849 should be getting the idea, right? You can be 00:26:59.849 --> 00:27:03.970 praised for your good deeds either by God or 00:27:03.970 --> 00:27:08.059 by people. Now, if you choose people, you're 00:27:08.059 --> 00:27:11.400 going to get a reward. But it's going to fade. 00:27:13.319 --> 00:27:17.160 If you choose God, your reward will last forever. 00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:20.680 As Jesus says in the final flourish of the Sermon 00:27:20.680 --> 00:27:24.099 on the Mount, if you're wise, you're going to 00:27:24.099 --> 00:27:26.420 build your house on something that will last. 00:27:27.420 --> 00:27:31.660 Right? The rock. You won't build your house on 00:27:31.660 --> 00:27:34.619 something that will wash away, which is sand. 00:27:38.920 --> 00:27:43.200 So I'm coming into land. I want to draw your 00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:45.299 attention to one interesting detail in something 00:27:45.299 --> 00:27:47.279 that we saw already. Something that Jesus says 00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:52.660 in chapter 6, verses 3 through 4. He says, when 00:27:52.660 --> 00:27:54.440 you give to the needy, don't let your left hand 00:27:54.440 --> 00:27:57.539 know what your right hand is doing, so that your 00:27:57.539 --> 00:28:02.559 giving may be in secret. Now I said earlier, 00:28:02.819 --> 00:28:04.599 right, that when you're dealing with Jesus' teachings, 00:28:05.919 --> 00:28:08.740 They're not just moral lessons. They're much, 00:28:08.779 --> 00:28:12.519 much more than that. They are invitations to 00:28:12.519 --> 00:28:19.119 a new world. So what is Jesus teaching us about 00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:21.960 himself as the revealer of this new world in 00:28:21.960 --> 00:28:24.799 the context of this command? Well, I think it's 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:29.920 this. When you do good deeds, giving, praying, 00:28:30.119 --> 00:28:33.680 fasting, anything really, not only are you to 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:36.710 avoid the praise of others, It's also important 00:28:36.710 --> 00:28:43.029 that you don't praise yourself. Isn't that interesting? 00:28:44.130 --> 00:28:47.430 He's imagining you as an audience for your own 00:28:47.430 --> 00:28:52.769 good deeds. You applauding yourself. You can 00:28:52.769 --> 00:28:56.250 perform good deeds sometimes, not only to impress 00:28:56.250 --> 00:29:00.410 others, but to impress yourself. And we do this 00:29:00.410 --> 00:29:02.569 for a variety of reasons. Oftentimes it's just 00:29:02.569 --> 00:29:06.930 to make us... Feel good, right? We feel nervous 00:29:06.930 --> 00:29:08.809 about our place in the world. Am I good enough? 00:29:08.849 --> 00:29:11.109 Am I strong enough? Do I have enough faith? Am 00:29:11.109 --> 00:29:13.569 I righteous enough? Well, look at all these things 00:29:13.569 --> 00:29:15.670 I'm doing. Surely I'm a good person. This is 00:29:15.670 --> 00:29:17.529 all the money I gave. This is how much I pray. 00:29:18.369 --> 00:29:24.650 This is how much I fast. I'm a good person. Well, 00:29:24.710 --> 00:29:26.009 I want to let you in on something. I think this 00:29:26.009 --> 00:29:28.730 is really the point of the whole sermon on the 00:29:28.730 --> 00:29:33.200 mount. A lot of the sermon is about Jesus trying 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:36.799 to say, what makes his disciples different from 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:40.839 other kinds of religious people? What are my 00:29:40.839 --> 00:29:44.019 disciples like that makes them pick -outable? 00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:49.059 The answer to the question, what makes Jesus' 00:29:49.200 --> 00:29:51.259 disciples different from other people, is not 00:29:51.259 --> 00:29:57.640 Jesus' disciples do more good deeds. Jesus' disciples 00:29:57.640 --> 00:30:00.960 are more holy. They're more righteous than other 00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:07.859 people. That is clearly not true. Right? It's 00:30:07.859 --> 00:30:10.579 clearly not true. I mean, there's lots of people 00:30:10.579 --> 00:30:14.319 in this world that do good things. And lots of 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:19.460 them are not followers of Jesus. Right? That's 00:30:19.460 --> 00:30:22.440 not the thing that makes us different. What makes 00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:25.579 Jesus' disciples different is that they are relying 00:30:25.579 --> 00:30:30.400 on Jesus. As the engine which drives these good 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:34.059 deeds. We rely on Jesus to make us righteous. 00:30:34.599 --> 00:30:37.960 Knowing that it's only in following Jesus, by 00:30:37.960 --> 00:30:41.059 sticking with him, that we're going to gain entry 00:30:41.059 --> 00:30:43.140 into this new world that Jesus is describing. 00:30:43.480 --> 00:30:47.519 This new world whose shape and culture is described 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:50.500 all throughout Jesus' teachings. In fact, true 00:30:50.500 --> 00:30:52.640 righteousness, according to the New Testament, 00:30:52.859 --> 00:30:56.579 is not the building up of yourself. It's not 00:30:56.579 --> 00:31:00.819 becoming a better person. True righteousness, 00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:05.220 the scriptures teach us, is death to yourself. 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:12.180 And new life, which is given freely in Christ. 00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:17.359 It's not the purification of oneself. It's not 00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:21.319 the enhancement of oneself. It's not even the 00:31:21.319 --> 00:31:25.789 humbling of oneself. It's the death. of oneself. 00:31:26.789 --> 00:31:29.750 It's throwing in your lot with Jesus Christ. 00:31:30.609 --> 00:31:34.650 Not with this world, not with yourself, not with 00:31:34.650 --> 00:31:37.750 any community or any ideal, with Jesus himself. 00:31:38.789 --> 00:31:42.089 Because it's only a person who's died and been 00:31:42.089 --> 00:31:45.269 raised with Christ who can do good deeds with 00:31:45.269 --> 00:31:48.490 the kind of purity of heart that Jesus is demanding 00:31:48.490 --> 00:31:51.690 here in the Sermon on the Mount. It's only that 00:31:51.690 --> 00:31:54.869 kind of person who can give to the poor In such 00:31:54.869 --> 00:31:57.750 a way that even one's own self, let alone the 00:31:57.750 --> 00:32:01.309 watching world, will praise God for that and 00:32:01.309 --> 00:32:07.309 not oneself for doing such a thing. Only a person 00:32:07.309 --> 00:32:09.329 who's died and has been raised to life with Christ 00:32:09.329 --> 00:32:13.109 can pray, not with the confidence of the righteous 00:32:13.109 --> 00:32:16.430 person. The confidence of the person who says, 00:32:16.509 --> 00:32:20.150 I live so virtuously that God will pay attention 00:32:20.150 --> 00:32:23.589 to my prayers. No, a person who's died to self 00:32:23.589 --> 00:32:26.470 and has been risen with Christ prays with the 00:32:26.470 --> 00:32:29.190 desperate heart of a tax collector who beats 00:32:29.190 --> 00:32:31.990 his breast and says what? God have mercy on me. 00:32:32.990 --> 00:32:38.349 I'm a sinner. So at the risk of undermining everything 00:32:38.349 --> 00:32:42.390 I've said, I want to pray in front of you all. 00:32:44.190 --> 00:32:49.190 And it's very simple. Lord Jesus, we can't be 00:32:49.190 --> 00:32:52.950 these kind of disciples. We can't rise to this 00:32:52.950 --> 00:32:55.109 standard that you give us in this sermon. We 00:32:55.109 --> 00:33:00.109 can't pray. We can't fast. We can't be generous 00:33:00.109 --> 00:33:06.029 with the kind of pure hearts that you have. But 00:33:06.029 --> 00:33:08.730 we want to do this through your spirit, individually 00:33:08.730 --> 00:33:10.970 and especially as a church community at Trinity. 00:33:11.349 --> 00:33:13.410 We want to do it through the mercies of God, 00:33:13.450 --> 00:33:17.230 the mercies of God which we need. And all of 00:33:17.230 --> 00:33:23.259 this, all of this that we do, Is for you. Amen.