Love is: Week Four

Not Boastful or Proud 

This week, while you meet with your Faith Formation Group you may want to reflect on our Scripture passage by reading Matthew 6:1-7, Luke 18:9-14 (printed below) and discuss the questions from the Scripture and Sermon as a way to begin a conversation. 

Matt. 6:1    “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. ² When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. ³ But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. ⁴ Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Matt. 6:5    “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 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.

Matt. 6:7    “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.

Luke 18:9    Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: ¹⁰ “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! ¹² I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

Luke 18:13    “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Questions for Consideration:

1. As you read the above passage from Matthew is the Jesus calling you not to pray and not to do good deeds?
2. We are called to do good, to bless others and to fast and pray, but we are called to do them out of the generosity of our hearts and not for public display. What are some ways in which you can live out this kind of life today?
3. Why did the tax collector get the blessing and not the Pharisee? How do you approach God?

As you meet this week, we encourage you to also take time to open yourselves up as a group and dialog on the following Wesley Challenge question:  Do I thank God that I am not like others?  (Pages 95-98 in The Wesley Challenge)