JSM | Uprightness .11 | Religious Practices

 JSM | Uprightness. 11 | Religious Practices
By Rev. Nicholas Sybrowsky

Invocation:

Most gracious & merciful Father thank you for this space to express our worship of you as a community.  We have a New & Living Way because of the precious blood of Jesus & we approach you with boldness entering into your Holy presence which Jesus has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh; and having Him our generous high priest over this house of God; allow us to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;).  Lord let us consider each other to move unto love & good works:  Not abandoning the assembling of ourselves together as a community, as is the manner of some.  Empower us Lord to gently motivate one another: and so much the more as we see the day of our Lord’s return approaching.

(Paraphrased prayer using Heb 10:19-25 KJV)

Opening Word & Reading for Worship:  Psa 70:1-5

Praying for Help against Persecutors

“ [Make haste], O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD. Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha. 

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. But I [am] poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou [art] my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying.” ~Psalm 70:1-5 (KJV)

May we all be filled with His help as we worship our God in “spirit & truth”.  May you fully comprehend the depth & width & breadth of the love of our Father & may the Lord come to know you more intimately.  Let us be fully known and fully loved as we learn to love God with all our strength, all our mind and all of our spirit.

Results of Pure Religion promote True Righteousness glorifying the Creator & benefiting mankind’s eternal life.

Intro:

Continuing to travail through this verse by verse series in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  Let me correct a misspeak from last week.  I mentioned that Jesus spoke Aramaic & Greek, but I only meant Aramaic, some Greek and I add that He likely knew enough Hebrew for religious purposes and basic communication.  What I shared was Greek translation of what Matthew penned.  Did Jesus Speak Greek? No, in short (Cite 2.)  For more on this check out the citation 2 (at the bottom 👇) in today’s manuscript. 

We now transition from the greater uprightness section about the Torah & the Prophets and enter with our seated Lord & Savior into the subject of religious practices.  The idea of practicing religion begs the questions, what is religion?  And, what are religious practices?

Let’s attempt an overview of this astonishing leading of Jesus instructing us about religious practices such as True Reward as a result of compassion & charity.  True Devotion & True Wealth.

(Cite 4; Remember to come back if you navigate away 😁)

 Main Text:  Mat 6:1-21  Religious Practices (Piety)

"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest [thine] alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. [Mat 6:1-21 KJV]"

Highlights mine for emphasis.

1. Jesus’ Sermon authored by Matthew was considered doctrine.

"[Mat 7:28-29 KJV] And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as [one] having authority, and not as the scribes."

Italics mine for emphasis.

A) What is doctrine?  

"a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a Church, political party, or other group: 

i.e. "the doctrine of predestination"

Synonyms: creed, credo, dogma, belief, conviction, teaching, tenet, maxim, canon, principle, precept, notion, idea, ideology, theory, thesis, set of beliefs, code of belief, article of faith."  (Cite 3)

Religious "deeds" or "alms" are faith with works.  Faith without works is dead faith.

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” [Jas 2:26 KJV”]

James describes well Pure Religion.  

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.” [Jas 1:27 KJV]

Paul writing to Timothy his protégé’ in 2 Tim. 3:16-17 says,

All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. [2Ti 3:16-17 KJV]

2. Religious practices such as “alms” or “deeds” Jesus speaks about the results of our actions on the basis of our faith:  True Reward, True Devotion & True Wealth.

Looking at 6:1 we see the word “alms”.  This was common practice in their culture & social climate.  It’s also a practice in many culture & social climates in our era today.  

Root(s) of “alms”.  The Literal Translation of the Gk. is “the merciful deeds”  (Cite 4).

 The “E” of our core values as a church congregation is Empathy.  Remind us Pity—Sympathy—Empathy—Compassion triggers a response to take thought and action toward others.  Jesus shares caution about our inner motives to provide others with solutions.

To provide compassion ministry to others with the intent to gain recognition for your generosity is a form of hypocrisy.  Performing or putting on an act to become popular, famous or gain earthly riches.  This is a type of vanity.

“Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all [is] vanity. ... Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil." [Ecc 12:8, 13-14 KJV]  

Life on earth is temporary and our actions prove to be here today and gone tomorrow.  Alms done for the honor and glory of God will result in eternal reward.  Only God really knows but we are instructed by Jesus to be very self-critical of our motives and the purpose of our religious practices.  He wants us to demonstrate God’s love for others, but to also be sensitive to public and private ventures.  We must be careful to avoid becoming hypocrites.

Jesus was reaching & connecting to the poor, sick & forgotten many whom were being overlooked by the Sadducee’s and Pharisee’s.  Sadducee’s focused upon cooperating with Rome as power brokers.  The Zealot’s were like freedom fighters against Roman occupation and others hid themselves in the hills awaiting God to start the new Israel.  The Scribes and Pharisees resisted Greek Hellenization & figured they needed to better execute and perfect practicing the Torah to overcome their perceived curse of their unfaithfulness and poor practice of law & instruction.

Distracted by the various methods of their religion many of them missed compassionate opportunities in their community and missed the arrival of Jesus the Messiah.

3. Doctrinal practices of various disciplines can promote great progress for mankind here on earth, yet your religion could be leading you away from Eternal Reward.

Three times Jesus says, “they have their reward” they who were announcing their charity, their prayers and their fasting.

True Rewards.  Earthly reward VS. Heavenly Eternal rewards.  True righteousness results in eternal reward.  By grace we receive God’s love and then sharing this love with others.  Not for fortune and fame here on earth.  Jesus cautions us in verse one to be careful to avoid executing “alms” aka. deeds to “be seen” by others. 

True Devotion. Jesus warns us about the dangers in public Generosity, Prayer & Fasting.  Subtleties therein. 

True Wealth.  Earthly treasure VS. Heavenly Eternal Treasure:  Knowing God and being known by the loving God of the universe who created various galaxies.  

“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. [Mat 6:20-21 KJV]”

Next Week/Message:  JSM | Uprightness.12 | True Rewards:  Earthly rewards & heavenly rewards.

Conclusion:

A close intimate relationship with the Creator promotes greater uprightness which in turn leads us to the good life on earth, but more importantly promotes rewards in eternity instead of punishment.  Religion alone will not save you nor bring you eternal reward.  Jesus was religious but the revolution that he led was announced in advance of his physical manifestation.  The religious sects of Sadducee’s and Pharisee’s were the result of Moses leadership obedience & production of the Torah; the practicing of the Torah.  Despite 117 prophecies being fulfilled by his first coming, the religion of Jewish ancestry missed their Messiah.  Jesus didn’t object to earthly compassion ministries, but he did reject hypocrisy.  

Exhortation:

Don’t miss the message from God.  We have the privilege of history in our hands and instruction to help us live and receive eternal reward instead of eternal punishment.  Some Jews are still discovering “the way, the truth & the life” brought to us by the blood and flesh of Jesus.  Yet some reject their Champion to this day despite having the same Bible available to them.  Hurry up and understand before it’s too late.  Jesus is only delayed in the Second Coming because of the Holy Father.  The Creator will determine when this is to occur.  If you wait to work out spiritual salvation until then, it will most likely be too late.

Altar Call to Action/Suggested Response:

What might be causing your reason to delay?  Do you not Accept Jesus as the true Messiah?  Do you wrestle with doubts instead of allowing God to lead you in His Holy Word to sound beliefs?  Have you simply not Confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior with applied faith?  Ps. 118(:24).

Here’s a helpful task on the church’s list of to dos.  Help us here in our sanctuary.  Build a lock box for our various services held here on campus.  I need a volunteer to help with this project.  If you’d like to help, let me know after service today.

Prayer & song:  

Selected from song service.

Benediction:

The Lord’s Prayer:  Mt. 6:9-13.

Next Week/Message:

Citations, Notes & Credits:

1. KJV Blue Letter Bible 10/28/24
2. Language of Jesus - Wikipedia
3. Oxford Dictionaries  
4. Intro Video Overview illustration 
5. The Interlinear Bible, 1 Vol. Edition; The English translation in the side column, A Literal Translation of the Bible.