Matthew 6:5-6

Matthew 6:5-6

And whenever you all should pray, you will not be as the pretenders because they love to pray having stood in the synagogue or in the corners of the street so that they should be clearly revealed to mankind.  Amen, I say to you all: they have received their full reward.  But whenever you should pray, go into a room of yours with no windows and after shutting your door pray to your Father who is of that which is not publically known.  And your Father who sees into that which is not publically known will reward you.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Again we hit another passage that I think the Christian world in general simply doesn’t understand.  In my life I have been in a position of praying publically whether I have sought it out or not.  I am flabbergasted at how many people come up to me after a prayer and say, “That was beautiful.”  Now, I don’t mean to belittle them.  I am sure that they are simply responding and really just saying “thank you” but also while trying to say it a bit more creatively.  But the truth is that I do not seek earthly reward or earthly praise when I pray publically.  None of us should!  Yes, when we are learning how to pray it is good for a mentor to be able to give critique or suggestion.  But in truth if we are just offering up a prayer we as a community should be able to let the Father reward the person!  Truth be told, the heavenly reward should mean more to us than the earthly praise!  A simple acknowledgement such as “thank you” or “nicely done” should suffice.  We as human beings should not feel the need to flatter one another over prayers.  When we do that we turn the prayer from a time of genuine communication to our Father into a time for seeking an earthly increase to our reputation.  That is not what prayer is supposed to be about.  In fact, Jesus goes so far as to call those who long for the earthly praise “pretenders.”  The Greek word is “hupokrites” (ὑποκριτής), which is the word from which we derive our English word hypocrite.  The Greek word literally was a word from theater.  The word means “actor.”  In other words, it is one who is putting on a persona that is not truly who they are.  People who do spiritual things for worldly praise are actors – putting on a spiritual persona that is not truly who they are underneath.

Do you find it difficult to give a simple word of thanks and let God handle the reward?  Why do we as human beings like to flatter one another?  When we flatter one another, what is the subliminal communal teaching that we are actually making with respect to earthly reward versus heavenly reward?

Second Thought:

I love the tense of the simple verb of being in verse 5 of this passage.  Jesus tells those who are listening to Him that they “will not be” like the pretenders who pray looking for the praise of others.  Jesus does not say, “you should not be like.”  Jesus clearly uses the future and says “you will not be.”  In other words, the future is a foregone conclusion in this respect.  If we follow Christ, we will not be a spiritual actor.  If we follow Christ, we will die to ourselves and Christ will live in us.  We will not be a spiritual pretender; we will be a spiritual truth.  That’s comforting.  If we simply obey and allow Christ to increase while I decrease, you and I will be spiritual truth on display.

Did you ever think the tense of a verb of being could speak such spiritual truth?  When you look at your life, do you see a person who “will be” spiritual truth or a person who “should be” spiritual truth?  Do you see a person who “will not be” like the pretenders or do you see a person who “should not be” like the pretenders?

Third Thought:

Again we hear Jesus using the phrase “en to krupto.” (ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ)  I never realized this, but the word krypton (or for those of you more familiar with Superman, even kryptonite) is derived from this Greek word.  The periodic element Krypton is a noble gas that is often used for making florescent lamps.  It was called Krypton because the only way known to detect it at the time of Sir William Ramsey, its discoverer, is by turning air into a liquid and then partially distilling that liquid.  Because it was hard to discover, it was “hidden” or “not publically known.”  It is this same sense of the word that Jesus uses krupto in this passage.  He calls the Father the Father of that which is not publically known.  He is not calling God hidden in that we cannot see or find God.  Rather, what Jesus is trying to get at here is that it takes effort and a desire to look for the Father in order to find Him.  Like the element Krypton, God is all around us.  But unless we want to look for Him and unless we want to find Him, we can completely go through life missing Him entirely.  He is not publically known because the general public either does not have the desire or does not take the time to look for Him (or both).  We must not think, though, that Jesus is saying that the Father is hidden and unable to be found.  The Father is able to be found by those who have the time and the desire to look for Him.

Do you know the Father of the things that are not publically known?  How does understanding the meaning of the word krupto actually help you understand the tenuous relationship between God and humanity?  Are you surprised to hear Jesus call God a God of the things that are not publically known?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 6:7-8