Today, I am reading and commenting on  Matthew 5-6.

In the Sermon on the Mount recounted here, Jesus touches on the theme I mentioned yesterday: those who seek to use the appearance of righteousness to further their agenda are hypocrites.  He sets that comment up by comparing His followers to salt and doing God’s will to being a lamp.  A little bit of salt changes the taste of a meal, a little bit of light allows people to see in an otherwise dark room.  In the same way, we should live our lives so as to change society around us.  I can illustrate this by something my parents both spoke of (and which I observed for myself).  Both of my parents worked in environments where their co-workers used foul language somewhat routinely.  Yet, when their co-workers were aware that they were present, they did not use such language, or did so only sparingly.  As I said, I observed this for myself, people who otherwise routinely used foul language did so less when they knew one of my parents was present.  This did not result from either of my parents expressing judgement of those who used such language (although in the appropriate circumstances they would ask people to refrain from doing so).

However, the above is qualified by something else Jesus says here: we should never do acts of righteousness in front of others.  When we give to charity, we should do so in a manner which makes it unlikely anyone else will notice.  When we pray or fast, the same should be the case.  In no case should we do things in order for others to notice that we have done good.  So, how do we reconcile these two things: living so righteously that it changes the behaviors of those around us and hiding our acts of righteousness from others?  I think what Jesus says in between those two things gives us the answer.  It is not enough not to murder anyone.  We should not even want to murder someone.  It is not enough to not commit sexual sins.  We need to not even think about doing so.  It is not enough not to break our oaths.  We should be so honest that we do not need to take an oath.  It is not enough to love our friends, we need to love those who hate us and wish us harm.  I want to be clear that I fail to meet this criteria, but I will continue to ask God’s Spirit to transform me into someone who does.

I think the final portion of this passage tells us the path which reconciles all of the above.  We should not worry: about meeting our material needs, or about what others will think of us, or about what others will do to us.  Instead, we should do God’s will and to do that which will further His kingdom.  He will take care of the rest.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.