Be Still And Know

Psalm 6:2-3 When we think of the Psalms, we will often think of the ones that glow with praise and worship. Many of them, of course, are exactly like that. However, the majority are what we call psalms of lament, and this is one of them. Everything seemed to be going wrong and out of the depths of pain and despair David cried out to God. We don’t know what was causing him to feel this way, but he brought his raw emotions to God. He had become disorientated, and he looked to God to put him back on track. It’s vital that we follow David’s example and come to God with complete honesty. There will be many times when our hearts are overflowing with praise and worship. But there will be days when we are struggling with our emotions too. Perhaps we have moved to a new area or started a new job and we are feeling confused and unsure of ourselves. At other times tensions within relationships dominate our minds. Health issues, whether our own or of those close to us, will hold centre stage on other occasions. I

Matthew 6:22-23 I’ve worn glasses since I was a boy. From time to time people will gaze at my glasses and enquire: “Can you actually see anything out of those glasses?” When I take them off I find that, sure enough, grease and dust has accumulated and a good clean transforms their usefulness. The principle is a simple one. Jesus points out how vital it is that we ensure that our lives are full of light. We need to make sure that we are focusing our attention on those things that will help us to see life generously and clearly. The reason that this is so important is because there is much darkness in the world. With the arrival of the internet we have instant access to destructive and dangerous material as well as resources that inspire and encourage us. Every day we have a choice to make about where we focus our attention. Jesus recognised this when he went on to say that if the light that you think you have is actually darkness, how great is the darkness! We need to know how to identify the light so

Matthew 6:19-21 The Bible often confronts us with the question: “Where is your treasure?” It’s a crucial question because the answer to it will determine the way in which we live. Clearly some people store up treasure here on earth, but Jesus points out the absurdity of doing so because earthly treasure cannot last. In the ancient world clothing was an important sign of a person’s wealth to a far greater extent than it is today. Moths were therefore much feared; Jesus points out that our clothing is always at risk of being destroyed. Jesus’ reference to rust is much less clear. The word he used normally refers to eating away and probably refers to the way in which rats, mice and worms could munch their way through a person’s store of grain. At the time that Jesus lived, most house walls were made of hardened mud. Thieves therefore had a reasonably easy task to dig through a wall and carry off an owner’s valuables. The point that Jesus was making was absolutely clear. However carefully you might look a

Matthew 6:13 Life is full of temptations. There is nothing that we can do to prevent that. Temptations come knocking at the door of our lives continually, encouraging us to cut corners and make unwise decisions. Perhaps you will be tempted today to eat foods that you know are not good for you, to be economical with the truth in conversation with others or to become angry with an awkward person. Whatever it is, you and I will find ourselves being encouraged to be less than the best. There is nothing we can do to stop temptations, but there are things that we can do to stand up to them. Martin Luther wisely observed: “I cannot keep birds from flying over my head, but I can keep them from building a nest in my hair.” There are steps we can take – for example, if overeating cakes is a problem then it is helpful not to visit so many cake shops! It is often very easy to find ways of avoiding temptation, simply by ensuring that we don’t put ourselves in the way of it. The main way of resisting temptation

Matthew 6:12 The word sin is not popular. Most people will readily identify abuse, murder and bank robbing as sin but would be very reluctant to place the label on any of their own misdemeanours. I recall the time when a good friend of ours, who wasn’t a Christian, attended an evangelistic meeting. The evangelist gave an amusing and powerful message in which he made it absolutely clear that we are all sinners. Our friend is the gentlest and kindest of people, and was deeply offended by the evangelist’s language. She couldn’t bring herself to believe that she could ever be considered to be a sinner. However, Jesus was quite clear that we are, indeed, all sinners and, therefore, in need of forgiveness. The word for sin that is used here literally means debt. We have all thought, said and done things that have rung up a debt. And the problem is that we have no way of paying that debt. All we can do is to own up to our debts and find someone who would be willing to pay them on our behalf. That is precisel

Matthew 6:11 The Lord’s Prayer starts by looking at God and the coming of his kingdom. It now moves to three specific requests, the first of which is food. Nothing is more basic than nourishment – whether we are thinking about physical or spiritual food. Our bodies soon become weak and sick if we ignore the need to eat properly, and exactly the same is true of our spiritual strength. It simply isn’t possible to remain strong in our relationship with God if we are not being regularly fed with spiritual nourishment. Our bodies give us very clear signs of our need to eat. If we miss a meal, we normally feel so uncomfortable that we take decisive action. Our spiritual hunger, however, is different. Although we will immediately suffer from not being spiritually fed, it is possible to get so distracted by life that we forget how desperately we need a good spiritual meal. We put it off until we have a bit more time. The fact is that we have as much need to be fed spiritually as physically, and the result of

Matthew 6:10 Jesus often spoke about the kingdom of God. He wasn’t talking about something remote but a living reality now for those who were willing to live in line with God’s will. The kingdom of God comes to our homes, churches, businesses and communities when we decide to let God take control. It’s wonderful to see the way in which the Lord’s Prayer flows. It starts with us proclaiming that God is our Father and that we need to honour and reverence his name. That immediately leads to us into the practical task of bringing into reality the kingdom of God where we live. Incredible as it may sound, we are able to see the kingdom of God come about in our lives today, in the same way as it is in heaven. This is clearly a prayer that can only truly be prayed by people who are determined to live as disciples of Jesus. In praying this prayer, we are declaring our commitment to turn this world upside down. I mentioned yesterday that one of the striking features of the Lord’s Prayer is that it is so sho

Matthew 6:9 So begins the Lord’s Prayer. I find everything about this prayer interesting. First of all, I find it surprising how short it is! When I hear people praying, they often speak for a good few minutes. I’m not criticising that, but the prayer Jesus gave to his disciples is all over in about 30 seconds. I also find it interesting that Jesus only gave his disciples one prayer. I have a number of books on prayer on my shelves and I would have thought that Jesus might have come up with a range of prayers that could be prayed at different times. But he didn’t. That tells me that this prayer is incredibly important, and we would do well to use it as a model that shapes and inspires all our prayers. The prayer begins by addressing God as Father. That was a very significant title to use because it emphasises the fact that Christian faith is all about relationship. We come in our prayers not to a remote celestial being but to someone who looks at us as his children. Human fathers vary in quality and s

Matthew 6:7-8 Having read these verses, the obvious question is: “If God knows everything why bother praying?” The reason for praying is because of the relationship that God wants to have with us. He wants us to spend time with him because that’s what friends do! Jesus made it clear that the nature of the relationship that he wanted with his disciples was one of friendship and not of a master relating to his servants. When Jesus spoke about babbling “on and on as the Gentiles do” he was talking about a form of prayer that is found in many religions. When the prophets of Baal were up against Elijah on Mount Carmel we are told that they spent half a day crying out: “O Baal, answer us!” (1 Kings 18:26). They were wasting their breath and Elijah mocked them, helpfully suggesting that their god might be daydreaming, relieving himself, away on a day trip or fast asleep. And then in Acts 19 we read how the Ephesian mob spent two hours crying out: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:34). Constant re

Matthew 6:1-2 Every Jew knew that giving to the poor was one of their key responsibilities. Jesus confirmed that this would continue to be a major duty for his followers too. However, his main concern was the way in which it was done. It needed to be done secretly because gifts were, first of all, to be given to God. Those who were trying to impress other people and win their praise had totally missed the point. There is no evidence that anyone actually commissioned trumpeters to accompany their giving, but the point that Jesus was making is clear enough. Don’t do anything to draw other people’s attention to your giving. We give our gifts because of our love for God and our desire to please him. If we do it to win the praise of other people, then the focus is completely wrong and our giving is clearly not an act of worship at all. It’s just a pathetic act of showing off. Jesus was harsh in his criticism of the religious people because their play acting was giving the Jewish religion a bad name. Th

Matthew 5:21-22 Far from scrapping the Jewish law, Jesus had come to intensify it, and here’s the first example. Everybody knows that it is wrong to murder, but Jesus dug much, much deeper by stating that it is wrong merely to be angry. What he was saying was that if you could solve the problem of anger there would never be another murder. We need to address the roots of the problem, and that’s precisely why Jesus came into the world. In the rest of the chapter Jesus talked about five other areas of the law – lust, divorce, making vows, taking revenge and our relationship with our enemies. In each case he stated the law of Moses and then went on to intensify the command. For example, everyone knew that it was wrong to commit adultery, but Jesus pointed out that what was really wrong was what was going on in people’s minds long before they took any action (v28). This radical teaching challenges every part of our lives because Jesus is saying that our thinking needs to be totally renewed. It isn’t e

Matthew 5:17 Throughout his ministry, Jesus seemed to be in constant conflict with the teachers of the Jewish law. So it isn’t surprising that there were those who assumed that his intention was to scrap it. Look at the way in which he failed to observe the regulations about handwashing, or the fact that
he healed people on the Sabbath even though the law clearly forbade any kind of work on that day. Jesus didn’t object to the law but rather the way in which it was being applied. Take the law of the Sabbath for example. Jesus completely upheld Moses’ command to keep the Sabbath holy, but he objected to the ridiculous layers of complicated regulations that the Jews had added to that vital law. The Jewish lawyers delighted in giving everything a precise definition, so a word like work had to be very precisely defined. All kinds of things were defined as work, such as carrying a burden. This meant that the word burden had to be defined. The lawyers argued endlessly on such issues as to whether a person c

Matthew 5:15-16 There are two words for good in Greek. One is agathos, which simply defines a thing as good in quality. The other is kalos – that refers to things that are not merely good but also beautiful and attractive. The word used here to describe the good deeds that we must do is kalos. This is a really important point. God doesn’t simply want us to do correct things but things that are beautiful and which are attractive to those around us. I often see Christians doing beautiful things and I have no doubt that it brings God enormous pleasure. I think of people who care for the dying. One of the most wonderful developments over the past 50 years has been the growth of hospices. Dame Cicely Saunders was at the heart of this development. She was a strong Christian and this was her conviction: “You matter because you are you, and you matter to the end of your life. We will do all we can not only to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die.” Thank God for those who have poured out the

Matthew 5:14 One of the most famous of Jesus’ I am sayings was: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). Those words don’t come as any surprise to us. He was the Son of God and was without sin. He was clearly able to claim that his perfect life radiated light for all to see. But in today’s verse we are told that we are the light of the world, despite being far from perfect. Jesus’ challenging words have some very practical implications. First of all, to be of any use, light must be put in a prominent position. Just as you cannot hide a city on a hilltop so too Christians need to shine their light for all to see. These days you will often hear people say that religious faith is a private matter, as if it is something that you can do quietly at home without affecting anyone else. That is precisely not the case with Christian faith. It must be shared. Most of the time the influence we will have will not be with our words but with our actions. As people see the sacrificial love of Christians for one ano

Matthew 5:13 I love it when I hear people being described as the salt of the earth. I wonder who you think about when that expression is used. Let me tell you about three people who spring to my mind. Some years ago I went to stay with an elderly couple who lived in a small community and on my first morning with them they invited me to go for a walk with them. They lived in the middle of the town and within moments the wife popped into the butcher’s shop to hand in a birthday card for one of the staff. And then every few yards they stopped to catch up on the news of different people, asking about how job interviews and hospital visits had gone. They kept apologising to me for bumping in to so many people, but I was being given a stunning picture of the salty influence that they had on their community. I also think of an aunt of mine who had a senior role in social services. She then retired but her caring continued. She was forever trying to spot the vulnerable and needy people in her community. It wa

Matthew 5:10-12 This is the last of Jesus’ Beatitudes. They are all amazing statements, and they give us the best possible introduction to Jesus’ teaching. He was introducing his disciples to an upside-down kingdom. When you see things from Jesus’ point of view, everything looks different; this final Beatitude makes that clearest of all. In these few words Jesus sums up what all of us would try very carefully to avoid. Being mocked, persecuted, lied about and having all sorts of evil things said about you is surely as bad as life gets. But Jesus affirms that the person who experiences these things should be incredibly happy. This sounds so completely contrary to normal thinking that we need to handle Jesus’ words very carefully. Jesus was clearly saying that living in tune with God’s will is the best that life can be, however fierce the opposition. To be part of God’s eternal kingdom of love, joy and peace is better in every way than anything that this world can offer. What Jesus was doing was equippi

Matthew 5:9 There is apparently an unofficial United Nations motto that says: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will take flak from both sides.” Any suggestion that the making of peace is easy will only come from those who haven’t started making any. Making peace involves getting alongside people who are angry and hurt. It involves bringing people together who hate and mistrust one another. It calls us to step courageously into the middle of disputes with the hope that we can bring peace. It’s not surprising that Jesus said that peacemakers are called the children of God, because God is the supreme peacemaker. That is precisely why he sent his son Jesus into the world. The apostle Paul wrote: “Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us” (Ephesians 2:14). The hatred that existed between Jews and Gentiles was so intense that any thought of peace seemed impossible. But Je

Matthew 5:8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. One of the greatest privileges of my life in recent years has been to spend a good deal of time with people who are blind or partially sighted. I am constantly blessed by them and am conscious that they are often far more aware of what is going on than those of us with sight. We get distracted by the visual clues and don’t listen nearly as hard as they do. This Beatitude naturally causes me to think of my blind friends and forces me to ask what Jesus meant when he talked about seeing God. In his Gospel, John makes it clear that no one has seen God. So what did Jesus mean? I believe that Jesus is saying that the person whose heart is purely focused on him has uninterrupted closeness to God. There is nothing in the way. It is describing life at its best, when we have a complete awareness of God. Having a pure heart is an important theme in the psalms. In Psalm 24, David asks the question: “Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Wh

Matthew 5:7 God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. The simple fact is that we rely totally on the truth that God is merciful. We have sinned against him and those around us and if he were to insist on being just then we wouldn’t stand a chance. However, God is ‘rich in mercy’, to use Paul’s wonderful expression in Ephesians 2:4. God has chosen to set us free from our sin because of his love for us. That all sounds wonderful, but we need to realise that God doesn’t merely ask us to show mercy but demands that we do. Receiving his mercy and hugging it to ourselves is not an option. Since we have received mercy, we are required to be merciful to others. Showing mercy sounds easy and straightforward right up to the moment when we need to put it into practice. When people have been rude to us or gone out of their way to hurt us, we all instinctively want to hit back. We want justice because we shouldn’t be treated like this. It isn’t right. Jesus isn’t denying the reality of our suffe

God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. For us, hunger and thirst will normally be very brief experiences, easily satiated by going to the fridge or turning on a tap. But many Jesus was speaking to originally would have had a very different experience because they were poor and therefore extremely vulnerable. If they had a bad harvest they would most likely go hungry. And because water would often be drawn from a well or a river they might have had a long journey to get more of it. Hungering and thirsting would have been common experiences. Let’s remind ourselves too that our New Testament is a translation from Greek. In our verse today the translators have chosen to use the word ‘justice’ as being the thing for which people hunger and thirst. Justice is certainly part of it, but the Greek word has a much broader meaning than that. It is basically everything good and right that characterises the kingdom of God. The word is often translated by the word ‘righteousness’