The Essential Jesus (Part 9): The Sermons of JesusSample

Hungry for God

PRAY: Heavenly Father, I want to draw closer to you today despite the worries and pressures on me. Please lift them so I can sense your presence.

READ: Matthew 6:1-34

REFLECT: I remember the first time I read Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster's book about the classic spiritual disciplines. I was eating lunch alone in a McDonald's restaurant in downtown Philadelphia and was so moved that tears came to my eyes. I didn't realize it then, but I was hungry for more than a Big Mac. I wanted a deeper relationship with God, and Foster was describing a way to find it that was new for me.

I should have read the Sermon on the Mount that day, too, because that's exactly the topic Jesus addresses in this passage: spiritual disciplines. He starts by discussing three that you would expect him to cover. About giving (vv. 1-4), he says it shouldn't be done for public relations value; instead, we should keep a low profile. About prayer (vv. 5-15), he says the focus should be on spending time alone with God, and about fasting (vv. 16-18), he says we shouldn't act like holier-than-thou martyrs.

I grew up thinking that when Jesus said "babbling like pagans" (v. 7), he meant those in liturgical churches who read the same prayers weekly. I've since learned that extemporaneous prayer can be equally, if not more, like babbling if done for the wrong reason. Regardless of the spiritual discipline, according to Jesus, the key is to focus on "your Father," not what people may think. Notice how many times he uses that phrase in this chapter.

Jesus concludes this section with two unexpected topics: money (vv. 19-24) and worry (vv. 25-34). We don't usually think of these as spiritual issues, but they keep us from drawing closer to God. For me, worry is a much bigger problem than money. I worry about my children, work, health, and future. Sometimes I worry to show that I care; it seems like a "responsible" thing to do. Over the years, I've found that worry is emotionally and spiritually exhausting. That's why it helps to return again and again to the greatest spiritual discipline of all: "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness" (v. 33). That puts everything else into its proper perspective.

APPLY: Could you prove that God is the master of your life and that money isn't? How?

PRAY: Spend time talking to God about the power of money and worry in your life. Ask him to show you how to make his kingdom your priority.