Three Temptation Spheres

The physical – I have a body. It is what interacts with other people. It is where my will gets ideas from which to choose. This body is a challenge. It tells me everything it wants. I cannot give it everything it wants. If I don't give it what it wants it becomes very difficult, though. Worse, if my body doesn't get what it needs, it actually dies. My body is a challenge.

The social – I exist in the world. There is a time and a place where I am and when I am. There are other people around me. I exist in a context. My name is related to other people, as is my nationality, language/s, etc. Who I am is more than a question about which body I am, though it certainly does include that. It is also about what that body does in relation to others. The one who smiles a lot; or not. The child of ______ and ______, the friend of ______, ______ and ______. Where I fit in to the story around me is important. I want to matter. How I manage to matter can lead to all sorts of temptations. Sometimes it is more tempting to appear to be a certain way than to actually be a certain way. My social identity is a challenge.

The spiritual – I am a spirit. What is a spirit? It is a will. The greatest spirit is of course God. He says his name is YHWY = I AM that I AM. Because everything exists out of him, he does everything by sheer will. He chooses and it is so. Man is created in God's image. How? We have material bodies with spirit breathed into them. That makes us living persons instead of just lumps of dirt and such. It is what gets us valued in social circles. If I choose to do what the others value, my value can go up in their opinions. If I will, or choose, to do what is not valued, my social belonging goes down. Because my social standing can also affect my physical options, all of me cares about this. Having a will, being a spirit is a challenge.

Lord’s Prayer; Our Father; Pater Noster; Disciples’ Prayer; model prayer…

The Pater Noster sounds really spiritual in Latin. Imagine hearing it in Elvish.

Tolkien's Pater noster in Sindarin

The prayer Jesus taught is to be understood. It is not magic. It should solicit our curiosity not because it is so unusual, but because it is so sensible. Jesus knew how to live wisely in a tempting wilderness. When he gives a pointer for wilderness sojourners like us, wisdom invites us to take the time to understand and employ such a brilliant bit of advice.

Below is the beginning of an exposition of Matthew 6:5-15. If we get the truth in this passage into our lives, everything can change. For Sojos-church we will take a couple of weeks teaching on this passage as we keeping exploring the sermon on the mount. For distant friends, please sharpen the iron. There is a secret place. It matters. I need help understanding and explaining it. Please share insights cyclically; for the whole body benefits from the whole body.

Matthew 6:5-15 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Two faces one reward

Looks as if spiritual but… treasure is social.

Reward? Not spiritual, only social.

(6) But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Secret place - earthly kingdom is the realm in which we can seemingly do things more or less without God. Heavenly Kingdom is where we enter into God's realm; that secret, seemingly absent realm in which we actually live and move and have our being.

(7) "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. (8) Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Ritual or conversation? God's view of prayer is a conversation between spiritual beings: God and a person made in God's image. The reason to pray is not to inform God it is to conform our spirit made in God's image to show more likeness.

(9) Pray then like this:

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. (10) Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

(11) Give us this day our daily bread,

(12) and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

(13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Disciples' prayer:

1. Father's Kingdom is the Source
   
   1. Physical needs
      
   2. Relational needs - be forgiven based on forgiveness
      
   3. Spiritual needs - not temptation but deliverance
      

   (14) For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, (15) but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
   

IF we stand for self we stand alone

Refusing to grant a pardon is to challenge the Throne. Rebels beware.

Hungry? Thirsty? For What??

Why do religious people do the things we do? For reward? Yes. As much as we are reluctant to admit it, we want a profit. I give, I get. What do I want to get? The answer to that question will make all the difference on how I give.

Matthew 6:1-4 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (2) "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (3) But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, (4) so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The problem is not that we want reward; that is built in by God. When we are hungry we think about how to get food. When we get it, we get rewarded with… satisfaction. What is our food? What do we value? The next few examples in Matthew 6 are about seeking rewards. We are tempted to crave the attention of people. If that is what we hunger for we will do things like giving in such a way as to be seen and rewarded with compliments, status and so on. What is a better motivation for giving? The reward of seeing what is wrong made right. Those who give resources or service for no other reason than they want to see God's right replace the world's wrong, they are blessed. How? They are thinking and living like they should, for one. How else? The Father will be the source of our affirmation, "Well done my good and faithful servant. Faithful in little? Be in charge of much."

More basically we are rewarded by the innate satisfaction of doing what we were meant to do. When we serve those who suffer from conditions of a world that is not right, we mover towards righteousness. That is what we are meant for; and it feels like it.

Blessed (living the right way) are those who are craving righteousness enough to just do what helps affect the problem regardless of whether they get noticed; they will be satisfied.