Breaking the Word

   "(But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward…

"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward…

 "When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward… (Mt 6:1-6,16-18)

Righteous deeds are performed for God and not to be seen by men. Righteous deed could also be said as pious deeds but actually the word means ‘covenant behaviour’.  In this word there is a sense of obligation which Israel had to God because of being his special people.  Israel had these three obligations to God because of their covenant relationship with God. And they are: giving money, praying, and fasting.

These actions are meant to show their relationship with God and these actions are not for men to see or to be seen by men. Israel had to learn to do the simply to and for God himself. God is the centre.

We are not asked to perform them without reward in mind. Because he himself repeats three times that ‘Your Father will reward’. Jesus is not bothered about disinterested behaviour. Jesus is more realistic. Even the most disinterested action/behaviour, will show that we are interested in pleasing our lofty ideal of disinterested action. Jesus, instead, wants us to be eager to please and to love God. That is why Jesus is asking us to do charity without keeping record, praying privately and fasting without being noticed.

 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?  So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Mt 5:43-48)

It is impossible. It is impossible to pray for those who persecute us. It is impossible to be perfect like the heavenly Father. If we are the children of God then we should be like him. He does not have favourites. He causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust; he makes the sun to rise bad and the good. What sense can we make of Israel as the chosen people of God? Are they not his favourites?

Israel is not chosen in order to be God’s special people while the rest of the world remains in outer darkness. Israel is chosen to be the light of the world and salt of the earth. Israel is chosen so that, through Israel, God can bless all people. They are chosen for a purpose, for a mission.

Jesus is the model for imitating the Father. He sowed us a new way of being human. When they mocked him, he did not respond. When the struck him, he took the pain. When the placed a cross on him, he carried it to the place of his own execution. When the nailed him to the cross, he prayed for them. So the Sermon on the Mount is not an advice for us, in stead it is the good news. It is about Jesus.