This continues on a thought that was begun yesterday concerning humility. As always, Pastor Lucas taught the class. The subject is the Letter from James, the brother of Jesus and early church leader.
Pastor Lucas pointed out how much the author, James, draws from “The Sermon on the Mount” found in Matthew 5 through 7. Jesus spoke to the multitude traditionally from a site on the Sea of Galilee known as the Horns of Hattin.” The text is also found in Luke where it is commonly known as” The Sermon on the Plain.” Likewise, the teaching is divided up into the various sayings in the Book of Mark.
As I walked today, I was impressed with the word hypocrite as I listened over and over again to” The Sermon on the Mount” concerning hypocrites. Jesus said the following on vv. 5-8.
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. 6 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. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
The Lord brought to my mind two specific instances in my life concerning hypocrisy and prayer. These were instances wherein I gave “eloquent” yet completely hypocritical performances in prayer in the public setting.
In one such occasion at a former church, I was asked to deliver the offertory prayer. Perhaps, I had forgotten what an honor it is to be asked to deliver this public prayer. Thinking it to be about me and not about God, I took it upon myself to prepare by writing down what I would say.
That, in and of itself, is not a bad thing – in moderation. I wrote entirely too much, about 4x too long. As I was finished my preparation, I was aware that it was entirely too long. At that point, I should have significantly edited the prayer down. However, I did not.
The next Sunday I stood in the Pulpit at the time of prayer and read a 17-minute prayer. I know that it was 17 minutes long because a friend of mine time, knowing my “propensity for verbosity,” timed it and kidded me about the length.
Since that time, I, myself have joked about it; It is not a joking matter. That was a sacred time, and I had been given a sacred responsibility to lead the congregation before the Lord. Rather, I chose to give a performance “arrayed” in all my self assumed eloquence and pomposity.
In Jesus’ teaching about hypocritical prayer, he says that when we make ourselves hypocrites and seek the praise of men, and we have our reward. In my case, the reward was not the praise of men but, likely, it was the ridicule of men. No one other than the friend, mentioned supra, said anything to me about it, but surely others must bemusedly have thought ill of it. And they should have.
A second time I remember is not really one specific time but the many times that I have been engaged in small group prayer. I have made it a practice to lead the group back into praise and recognition of the greatness of God disdaining their immediate attention to the needs that they felt at in their hearts such as illnesses.
While beginning prayer time with a recognition of Who God is and, therefore, who we are, is a very good thing, perhaps the best thing, the motive must be pure. In that “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus, in his model prayer, begins by saying, “Our Father Who Art in Heaven.” In that phrase, He recognizes who God is, our Heavenly Father. His recognition of God as Father was fresh and surely heretical for some of His original hearers. For us it is standard operating procedure.
My error there was not in beginning my prayer by praising God, but by disdaining, even if only in my own head, the prayer of other people who began their prayer with their recitation of their needs.
When I think this way, and act this way, I become a hypocrite and I think myself better than others. This is sin. When I play the hypocrite, I disobey God, in this case to His very Face. In Philippians 2:3,the Apostle Paul says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves…”
Likewise, I dishonor God, dishonor our fellow man, and ultimately dishonor myself. The “reward” that I received for this sinful act may not even rise to the level of “the praise of men.” Likely, in the case of my hypocrisy, the “reward” was the silent, unspoken, ridicule of men.
O God, forgive me for my hypocrisy and alert me to the times that I would again practice hypocrisy, dishonoring You, my fellow men, and myself, and as James would say, “bridle my tongue.” (paraphrased.)
So let it be written oh, so let it be done.
johnthebaptist15 