Category: Bible
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Kingdom Come, Part 1: A Brief History of the Kingdom of God
“Your kingdom come.” (Matthew 6:10) As a writer and speaker I frequently hear from Christians who express frustration with Christianity as they know it. We are grateful for forgiveness and the promise of “heaven” (what most of us understand as the “gospel”), yet we sense there’s something more. There is. Something much more. If you…
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Honoring the Other: What Holiness Means
“Your name be honored as holy.” (Matthew 6:9) “Holy” is a slippery word, hard to grasp but possessing an unmistakable power. In Jesus’s prayer we turn it into a request: Let your Name, God, be honored as holy—let it be “hallowed,” as older English has it, in the world and in our lives. What does…
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How to Find Yourself in the Words “Our Father”
“Our Father in heaven . . .” (Matthew 6:9) In our culture we’re a bit flippant about names. We tend to use first names for almost everyone, without a lot of regard to relationship or age or role. But even we haven’t managed to erase the importance of names. What you call someone is deeply…
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“Pray Like This”: How to Pray the Pattern in the Lord’s Prayer
Therefore, you should pray like this . . . (Matthew 6:9) In last week’s post we talked about “vain repetition” or empty babbling: praying like the prophets of Baal, in a desperate show of works meant to get the attention of an indifferent God. Jesus is clearly against that kind of praying. What sometimes gets…
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“Your Father Knows”: Why It Matters Who You Pray To
When you pray, don’t babble like the idolators, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him. (Matthew 6:8) I grew up on the KJV, so I knew “babble” as “vain repetition”: empty parroting, just saying words to…
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Religion and Relationship: The Call of Jesus to Authentic Faith
Characteristic of Jesus’s teaching on spiritual disciplines is his constant calling out of a crowd he calls “the hypocrites.” So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do … Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites … Whenever you fast, don’t be sad-faced like…
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The Spiritual Discipline of Giving to the Poor
Jesus doesn’t start his discussion of spiritual disciplines by trying to convince people to do them. He treats them as a given: these are things his listeners are already doing. We can see this clearly in the first discipline: So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites…
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Keeping Secrets and Finding Right Rewards: Jesus on Spiritual Disciplines
I remember years ago realizing that disciple and discipline share the same root. This sheds light on just what it MEANS to be a disciple. A disciple is a learner in a specific arena, a “discipline.” And a disciple is one who practices certain behaviors and habits, “disciplines,” in order to achieve a set result.…
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How to Be Perfect: Loving Our Enemies and Becoming Like God
Jesus gives up the game with this one. “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on…
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Justice According to Jesus, Part 2
You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. As for the one who wants to sue you and take away…