Be Still And Know

Matthew 6:11 “Give us today the food we need.” Have you ever wondered why we ask God for food on a daily basis? Why not ask him to supply us for a week or even a month? God wants us to live in continual partnership with him. Every day we need to turn to him to obtain the nourishment that we need. This applies in both a physical and a spiritual sense. Just as we need to eat each day so too we need to ensure that we are receiving spiritual nourishment. However excellent last Sunday’s church service was, or however blessed we were by yesterday’s time of prayer, we need to open ourselves to the breath of God’s Spirit today. We need him to strengthen us to live for him in the particular challenges and opportunities of this unique day. I am struck by the fact that everything in this prayer is plural. The prayer begins with the words “Our Father in heaven” and here we pray for the food that we need. The moment we start praying we identify the fact that we are part of a family and when we think about get

Matthew 6:10 “May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” The Lord’s Prayer, in common with the whole of Jesus’ ministry, is focused on the kingdom of heaven. So we need to have a very clear idea what this kingdom is. In essence, the kingdom of God comes wherever God is recognised as king. When his rule is accepted, the results will be immediately recognisable because they will be marked by peace, love, joy, truth and justice. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we are saying that we have signed up to work for this amazing kingdom and we want to bring it about here and now. We want the kingdom to be established in our family, our community, our workplace and our church. In this life, the kingdom will always be under attack just as it was throughout Jesus’ ministry, but we need to keep our focus on the king as we seek to encourage every evidence of his kingdom. Some years ago, I was sent a wonderful press cutting that gave me an insight into what the kingdom c

Matthew 6:9 “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.” The Lord’s Prayer is a wonderful model prayer and has been central to Christian worship from the earliest days. In the previous verse Jesus told his disciples that they didn’t need to inform God of anything in their prayers, because he already knows everything. Here he spells out what they should pray about. In the first century there was a guide for Christian living called the Didache, which recommended that the prayer should be said three times a day. Christians will vary in their use of the prayer but, whenever we use it, it is exciting to reflect that it takes us back to the words of Jesus himself and to the heart of the kingdom. It is often helpful to pray the prayer very slowly and to use each sentence to trigger our own personal prayers. The Lord’s Prayer is all about relationship. It begins by looking to God because everything in this prayer flows out of our intimate relationship with our heavenly Father. As a

Matthew 6:7–8 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” Prayer is often described as being like talking to a friend. There is much that is right about that description, apart from the fact that God is totally unlike any friend that you or I have ever had. For a start, he knows everything. One of the key features of a conversation with our friends is that, wonderful as they might be, they don’t know everything. In a conversation we spend plenty of time sharing information with them. So the big question is this: if God knows everything, what is the point of praying? The answer is that prayer is all about relationship. As we pray, we affirm the fact that we are his children and that we are totally dependent on him. That’s why it is so important to spend time alone with God. It gives us the opportunity to be compl

Matthew 6:6 “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” Jesus was reacting against the people who made a great show of their praying. They prayed in the synagogues and at street corners because they were looking for an audience. Jesus obviously wasn’t saying that it was wrong to pray in synagogues and at street corners but that it was wrong to turn prayer into a religious act totally focused on people, and not on God. Jesus drew attention to the importance of private prayer because this reveals where the heart is. Without that personal relationship with God, prayer has no meaning. It’s just an act. Jesus’ continual concern was with what we would call religion. He could see that many of the most religious people in his society lived their lives furthest away from God. The word religion means to ‘bind back’. It ties people down to a particular set of beliefs and practices, but it is e

Matthew 6:3–4 “When you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” Is there anything worse than hypocrisy? Jesus certainly hated it and had the harshest things to say about the hypocrites of his day. He wanted everyone to have the joy of a real relationship with their heavenly Father, and he knew that putting on an act to impress other people totally missed the point. In this part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasted the hypocrite’s play acting with true devotion to God (v2). The giving of donations to the poor and needy is a responsibility that everyone has, but the way in which it is done is what matters most. Jesus pointed to the hypocrites who announced their giving with trumpets. This may simply have been dramatic language to describe the sheer vanity of some people’s giving, but we do know that trumpets were sometimes used in connection with giving in the temple

Matthew 5:14–16 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” On the face of it, it seems really surprising that Jesus should be describing his followers as the light of the world. Surely that was his role (John 8:12). But Jesus was recognising that the only way in which people would see his light would be if his followers reflected his light into their communities. It is, therefore, our responsibility to find the most prominent place to put our light so that as many people as possible can see Jesus. It is good that Christians spend time together. We need the strength and encouragement of worshipping and sharing fellowship. But, at the same time, it is vital for us to be part of our communities in order to have o

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.” I have often heard people say that they are happy for individuals to have a Christian faith so long as it’s kept as a private matter. Jesus’ words here prove that there is no way in which a Christian can keep their faith private. Those who live close to God will be shaped by their faith from the moment they wake up in the morning. Everything about their life will flow out of their Christian commitment. Like salt, their influence will have an inevitable impact on all those who come into contact with them. One of the distinguishing features of salt is that it is very different from the foods that it accompanies. It is useful and tasty precisely because it is different. So, too, as Christians we are encouraged to be different from the society in which we live. Our morality and standards are not shaped by our society bu

Matthew 5:10 “God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” The life to which Jesus calls us is one of blessing. This is life at its very best. But Jesus never tried to disguise the fact that his followers would face rejection and persecution just as he did. Jesus assures his followers in every age that it is inevitable that, if they stand up for the truth, there will be many people who have a vested interest in bringing them down. Persecution is normally subtle. For the majority of Christians in Eastern Europe during the communist era the challenge was not the likelihood of imprisonment or martyrdom. That happened from time to time for a few, but the ever-present challenge was in education and employment. I recall talking this through at the time with parents in Romania who wanted to know how to help their children at school when they had to sit through atheism classes. Christian children would find it very hard to enter university and because they w

Matthew 5:9 “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.” In this beatitude Jesus isn’t talking about being peace-lovers but peace-makers, which is very different. A peace-lover will often do anything to avoid conflict, and will even allow bad behaviour to continue because of the desire to ‘keep the peace’. Sadly, that kind of attitude does nothing to bring healing and can easily lead to a situation becoming far worse. Peace-making is the tough task of not turning away from conflict but, in the name of Christ, deliberately facing it and seeking to bring God’s miraculous gift of peace. Robert V Taylor, the President of the Desmond Tutu Foundation, wrote: “If you want peace, don’t talk to your friends, talk to your enemies.” I suspect we all dislike conflict. We hate it when voices are raised, people storm out of meetings or there are broken relationships. It’s exhausting, discouraging and sad. But it’s also very common, and always has been. That’s precisely

Matthew 5:8 “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” If you have any gold or silver you will know that it is vital that it is as pure as possible. Any impurity will hugely diminish its value. Jesus was saying that the same rule applies to our spiritual lives. We need to be single-minded, keeping our eyes fixed on his kingdom and not allowing ourselves to be distracted by any lesser objective. This reminds me of Psalm 24, where we learn that the people who were welcomed to worship God in the temple were “those whose hands and hearts are pure” (v4). This makes uncomfortable reading. We can easily understand the desirability of having pure hearts, but we know that our lives are a long way away from that. Even our best efforts can very easily be spoilt by unhelpful motives. When we give generously to help others, we will often feel personal pleasure and pride at what we have given. In fulfilling our roles in our churches, it is easy to focus far too much attention on the love

Matthew 5:7 “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Jesus told many stories that make us sit up. One of the most powerful was the story of the king who was owed an enormous amount of money by one of his servants (Matthew 18:21–35). The man couldn’t possibly pay his debt. The servant fell on his knees and begged the king to be patient. The king took pity on him and cancelled the debt. The relief must have been incredible. The servant then went out and met a friend who owed him a trivial amount - but the servant demanded that he be paid back in full and threw the friend into prison until he recovered all his money. When the king heard this, he was incensed and ordered that the servant who had been let off the most enormous debt be thrown into prison and tortured until he paid back every last penny. Ouch. Jesus concluded by saying that that was exactly how his heavenly Father would treat anyone who failed to show forgiveness to others. God wants to show us his mercy and f

Matthew 5:6 “God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.” I wonder when you last felt painfully hungry or thirsty. I suspect for most of us that, if it has ever happened, it is a distant memory. However, it is likely that Jesus’ hearers would have been very familiar with both. Harvests could be good or bad, and it was impossible to achieve a reliable supply of food. Additionally in a hot country people would often have felt desperately thirsty, and finding a good supply of clean water would never have been easy. Jesus wanted his followers to have the same craving and passion for his kingdom to be established as a hungry and thirsty person has for food and drink. Christianity suffers desperately from those who give it merely polite agreement. They live respectable and kind lives and consider that Christian faith is generally a very good thing. Jesus is looking for something completely different. He wants our lives to be dominated by the longing to see God’s wil

Matthew 5:5 “God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.” Mother Teresa taught the world a great deal about humility. She gave us a wonderful example of what it looks like to be humble through her costly service to the most rejected and unloved members of society. But she also offered us many wise words on the subject. In her famous ‘humility list’ she said: “Learn to be humble by doing all the humble work and doing it for Jesus. You cannot learn humility from books; you learn it by accepting humiliations. Humiliations are not meant to torture us; they are gifts from God. These little humiliations—if we accept them with joy—will help us to be holy, to have a meek and humble heart like Jesus.” Humility lies at the heart of the kingdom of God. Jesus once told his disciples that the only way to enter the kingdom was to become as humble as a child (Matthew 18:4). They were still looking for power and influence, but Jesus wanted to turn their thinking upside down. We only

Matthew 5:4 “God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” The word that is used for mourn here is also used in the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, to describe Jacob’s grief when he was led to believe that Joseph, his treasured son, was dead (Genesis 37:34). He was grief stricken. God’s promise is that those who are overwhelmed with sorrow now will find his comfort and strength. So who are the people that are mourning so profoundly today? Jesus probably had in mind, among others, those who knew the agony of losing a loved one. Most of us know the pain of friends and family members dying, and some of us have had the awful experience of people dying suddenly or even violently. None of us would want to make light of these terrible experiences, but Jesus reminds us that death doesn’t have the last word. Even in the midst of our loss, God is there with us offering his peace, strength and love. When someone has died, most people feel numb at first and it can be hard to h

Matthew 5:3 “God blesses those who are poor and realise their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” Robert Powell acted the part of Jesus in Franco Zeffirelli’s film Jesus of Nazareth. He claims that his life was changed by the experience and recalls the day when he was filming the Sermon on the Mount. Powell had no time for Christianity but, as he preached the sermon as an actor, he said that he was so affected by its beauty that he began to cry. The tears were not in the script, but Zeffirelli wisely kept them in the movie. It is easy to see why he was so affected by these words because they take us to the heart of what it means to be alive. They stand before us as a challenge and encouragement as we seek to understand what it means to live the Christian life. Today’s verse is the first of the so-called Beatitudes. Before we start looking at them we need to be clear what Jesus meant by the ‘kingdom of heaven’, which was an expression he often used. The kingdom of heaven comes wher

Psalm 34:9–10 Fear the LORD, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the LORD will lack no good thing. As a teenager I chose a profession that is famous for paying well. I was a Christian and I wanted to serve God but was keen to ensure that I had a good income. When God called me at the age of 19 to become a minister I felt nervous about my financial future. This wasn’t helped by the fact that I went to visit my bank manager who gently but clearly informed me that he considered that I was making an unwise financial move. It was at that time that I first met these verses. God was clearly telling me that I wouldn’t miss out, and I haven’t. Undoubtedly, I would have made more money if I had continued with my original career plan. But God has been absolutely faithful and I have missed out on no good thing. It’s hard to imagine a lion growing weak and hungry. They are famous for their predatory skills.

Psalm 34:1-4 I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises…I prayed to the LORD and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. This is one of 14 psalms that has a title which identifies when David wrote it. The background to this particular psalm is found in 1 Samuel 21 and 22. To summarise, David had run away from King Saul who was trying to kill him. He escaped to the King of Gath for safety. However, David felt far from safe and so he decided that it would be best for him to pretend to be mad. This worked well and he successfully escaped from the King of Gath to his next hiding place in the cave of Adullum. So the context of this psalm is one of threat and insecurity. And yet David is full of praise and worship. Indeed, he encourages us to praise the Lord at all times and says that praise will always be on his lips. The truth is that it is easy to praise the Lord when everything is going well. But David, in common with the apostle Paul, was convinced that praisin

Acts 28:30–31 For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him. Paul’s journey to Rome was an amazing adventure. It was a long and difficult journey during which he and his companions survived a shipwreck. We would love to know far more details but now, in these final verses of the Acts of the Apostles, we find Paul settled into a house in Rome. We are informed that he was guarded by a soldier and so he was being kept under what we would normally call house arrest (v16). However, he was clearly given considerable freedom and, wonderfully, he was able to continue with his ministry. There was no keeping Paul down! The book of Acts began with a small, frightened and confused group of Jesus followers waiting in Jerusalem. Jesus gave them instructions to take the good news to the ends of the earth but that seemed impossible at the time. The 28 chap

Acts 24:24–25 Sending for Paul, [Felix and his wife Drusilla] listened as he told them about faith in Christ Jesus. As he reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment, Felix became frightened. “Go away for now,” he replied. “When it is more convenient, I’ll call for you again.” Paul was now on the Mediterranean coast in Caesarea, the regional centre of Roman authority. The city had only recently been built and it became the largest settlement in Judaea. It was here that Pilate had been based. Governor Felix was in charge by this stage and Paul was brought before him. What I love about our verses today is that they are such a beautiful illustration of the fact that, whatever circumstances Paul was in, he just kept witnessing. At one moment he was happy to share his testimony with a crowd who, he knew, were hating every word he said and the next we find him sitting down with the most powerful man in the land and his wife, telling them the good news. Felix