What is the reward that motivates you to do what you do?

We continue at our crossroads of exploring the Sermon on the Mount, glory to God. In summary form, several of the things that we have been talking about from the beginning, have had more to do with us paying attention to the attitudes that we assume in life, the treatment that we have with other people around us. How we should behave in our relationship with God and in our relationship with the neighbor around us. The Sermon on the Mount was of course being addressed to the people who were assembled but mostly Jesus was speaking it to those who were his disciples, those who were truly following him.

Because this secret, this message communicating what He was referring to, was the principles of the Kingdom of God, principles under which those who decided to follow Jesus had to live in light of those things. So last Wednesday we were sharing about the passage from chapter 25 onwards, we talked about the dynamics of how one should get along with people of the opposite sex and how one has to respect the dynamics of marriage, and the perspective of Jesus. concerning divorce and adultery, and how one has to work on all those areas, one being careful with the things we say and not committing ourselves beyond what we should with our words, if we don't know what we have to say yes to , what has to be said yes is said yes, and what has to be said no is said no, and learn that many times we have to learn to say no so as not to be committing ourselves too much.

And that many times we have to learn as members of a Church, that sometimes we want to be in all and we cannot be in all, we must learn to live like this. Now the other point that I would like to make before transitioning from the part of the attitudes of the heart to the motivations of the heart, in chapter 6 onwards we talk about the motivations, I am missing a point in chapter 5 that is in the verses of the 38 onwards, verse 38 reads like this, the chapter of Matthew, says: "You heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." How many of us live through a stage like this in our lives, you do it to me and I do it to you? And worse, with interest, I pay you with interest. And it scares me sometimes that even when we are Christians there are times that we live with residuals of that.

We say yes revenge is from God, but God uses his instruments to carry out revenge. "You have heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I tell you, do not resist the one who is evil, rather turn the other to the one who hurts your cheek." If I keep letting myself be carried away by Jesus, the subject keeps getting more and more difficult. And I do not want to speak in a light term of these things, because if Jesus was saying it with a reason with an intention he was saying it, he says like this: "if someone hurts your right cheek, turn the other, and whoever wants to sue you and take off your tunic, leave him your cloak as well, and whoever forces you to carry a load for him for a mile, go with him two, to him who asks you, give him, and to him who wants to borrow from you do not refuse it."

Look how interesting, Jesus begins, no no, it does not begin, Jesus continues elaborating his message and this connects him with what he says in verse 43, he says: "You also heard that it was said to love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I tell you to love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, so that they may be children of your Father who is in heaven who He makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and makes it rain on the just and the unjust." What a detail, right? Can you imagine what a day would be like if God only makes the sun rise over you and what other people have is a black cloud above?

Can you imagine what it would be like if you are hot that it rains only on you and the other people are there under the hot sun? Sounds ironic, right? However, what Jesus is trying to say is a thousand thanks, my mercy is extended to everyone, and if I do it like this, I hope that my sons and daughters do it in the same way too. Jesus asks these rhetorical questions, he says: if you love those who love you, what difference does it make? Your brother alone, what difference does it make? Don't the Gentiles also do like this? Be ye perfect, just as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.

I tell them, I was reading this today and I said wow Lord, the truth is that You make it very difficult for us. Living in the light of the principles of the Kingdom of God is not an easy thing my brothers. The mere fact that I think that I have to love my enemies, and look when I talk about loving my enemies, I don't mean that we are best friends, mind you, I'm not saying that, I rather what I understand than this text what he is referring to is to give each person the respect they deserve, not in the world's terms but in God's terms, because if I let myself be carried away by the world's terms, no one deserves respect then, but in the eyes of God If I want to live in the eyes of what God asks of me, I have to give each person the respect they deserve in the eyes of God.

Take, for example, a man who abandons his wife and children and leaves, and there he stayed, how am I going to respect that person? In the world's terms I can't, but in God's terms I must. Someone who has taken something from your life, very dear to you, how can I love that person? As the words well say, someone who outraged my life in the terms that have been said, how am I going to love that person? In the terms of this world it is difficult, but in the terms of the Kingdom of God I must do it. This is a mystery my brothers.

The mere fact that Jesus is presenting us with this scenario is revealing a very important mystery to us, because when we act in this way, in this way, there is something that God is going to ask, those questions that Jesus asks, ok if you love to those you know, yes love them, but you're not making any difference, love someone you don't know, extend due respect to someone you don't know, offer a glass of water to someone you don't know, offer a sandwich to someone you don't know. someone you don't know, your co-worker or your co-worker who wants to step on your calluses for him to climb over you, do something for that person. If I want to live in light of what Jesus is saying here I have to do something for that person.

Now it does not mean that you put yourself like a rug so that they wipe their feet with you because one also has to give their due place, exactly, we are meek but not stupid, and remember that if you already turned your cheek a second time, I don't know You have to give it a third time, the third time it's your turn, (laughs), no no no no no, no no no, not so much, not so much, not so much, don't pay attention to him, that's Omar's version Soto, chapter 5 verse 38. Fanny, please don't make it more difficult for me, someone told me around seventy times seven, do the math, that means a lot.

Being able to live up to that my brothers requires, requires, but you know what, it is possible because if I understand that the love of God is being perfected in me, see, be perfect as your Father who is in heaven is perfect In other words, God shows unconditional love for everyone, whether they accept it or not, pay attention to it or ignore it, listen to it or not listen to it, pray to it or not, God gives his love to everyone, and in that its perfection is manifested. If we want to be perfect, which is what I understand that Jesus is saying here, if we want to be perfect in the eyes of God, then I have to live up to what He is asking. So in other words, living perfectly means living in a totally different system than the world in which we live. There then you will be able to be making a difference, do you remember when we read that we have the call to be salt and light of the world, what does that mean, make a difference, do you know how you can be salt and light of the world?, loving those whom it is not so easy for you to love. Be it from the immediate family nucleus, as at work, as here in the Church, we have to love the people that we have around us.

Someone like that kind of weird, kind of weird arrives, sits next to you in the Church as you slowly run to the other side, you're going to end up falling off your seat because you're going to have to deal with that person at some point. or another. We have to learn to love each other. There chapter 5 closes but Jesus continues his conversation then in chapter 6 and begins to talk about the motivations behind our attitudes, which for me is even more important. Our motivations behind our attitudes, look at how chapter 6 verse 1 says: "Beware of doing your justice to be seen by them, otherwise you will not have a reward from your Father who is in heaven." Look what he is saying here in plain words from us, what he is saying is be careful with vainglory, be careful of doing things for others to applaud you because that is not the idea.

If you want someone to applaud you, make sure it is God who is applauding you. And if you want God to applaud you, read what the previous chapters say. But here comes another guideline, verse 2, "when you can give alms, do not blow the trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, in the streets, to be praised by men, they will certainly have their reward. More when you give alms, let your left hand not know what your right hand is doing, so that it may be your alms in secret and your Father who sees in secret may reward you in secret." Look how interesting, a theme that I am seeing here that is being repeated, I don't know if you have noticed, is the idea of reward. What reward are we looking for in everything we do, what is the reward that motivates you to do what you do?

No, this is more for you to think about, a rhetorical question to make you think, I'm like that, I'm in the mood to make you think. What kind of reward motivates you to do what you do? Oh I want them to see how beautiful I am at the altar, and I put on my best outfit, oh I want them to see how well I know the Bible and how I preach, and all the people internationally across the internet say wow, how well Pastor Omar preaches. If those are the rewards I'm looking for, I'm not going to get very far. The most I'm going to see, do you know what it's going to be? I'm going to see the comments that people post on the internet, nothing more from then on, I say, for the record, it's not that these comments are bad, those comments They help us grow even more, for the brothers of the internet I share it.

But that shouldn't be all we're looking for. The best reward comes from God. How interesting that God's rewards come according to what He understands is best for us. How many times do we find ourselves saying, oh Lord, I am going to dare to give this tithe of 300 dollars because I know that You are going to give me 3,000 dollars from another side to be able to pay for the things that I have to pay? Because maybe if you give your tithe of 300 dollars, God will reward you in that, two or three days later, you will be able to have a good conversation with your son, your daughter who was somewhat rebellious, who did not pay attention to you, And that's where you're going to see your reward, not necessarily getting $3,000 back somewhere else. God's rewards are not measured in cash, let's be clear about that.

Look at this other part. When you pray, speaking of prayer, when you pray again, let's not be like the hypocrites because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets to be seen by men, truly I tell you that they already have their reward, if what they want is to be seen by others, then they will be seen by others, without a doubt. Now, I want to clarify, my brothers, this does not mean that when we are in a context of congregational prayer and we are passing the microphone, you are going to say no, I am not going to pray in public because the Bible says that it is better for me to shut myself up. fourth instead of praying in the Church, ah ah ah, everything has its place, everything has its moment.

If we are in a moment of congregational prayer and you come here to the microphone with your forehead so they can see how much I know how to pray and how many words in tongues I can say, and you start praying like a parrot, you are going to have your reward without a doubt, but there will be no building. Now if you come humbly in the spirit that we are all seeking the face of God, that we are drawing closer to Him, that we want to hear from Him, and that we pray, intercede for one another either through the microphone or out loud , and you pray in the spirit of that atmosphere, believe me that this room where you are praying, what you are praying in secret and in private God is listening to, and he is going to reward you out there in public, wherever, in the way God wants to reward you.

When we pray my brothers, this is more direct instruction. I like it when it says verse 7: "and when praying, do not use vain repetitions like the Gentiles who think that they will be heard for their many words." Have you ever tried listening to yourself when you pray? Have you not noticed fillers when you pray? Let me explain, I'm going to do an example. "Lord heavenly Father thank you for the meal, Lord heavenly Father thank you for the family, Lord heavenly Father thank you for the car that You have given me, Lord heavenly Father thank you for my next door neighbor who gave me a piece of cheese, Lord Heavenly Father thank you for", I do not know, put the target on it, what was my filler?, Lord Heavenly Father. God doesn't need me to remind him all the time that He is the heavenly Father for him to hear me. Am I making sense to you?

The best way in which prayer can be defined is how, you who have gone through Discipleship 1, a conversation, talk!, talk to God, tell him God, says Dad, tell him chuito, tell him how you want to tell him, the important thing is that you have a moment of intimacy with God. Now I come back and say, every context has its place, you are not going to come here to the public and you are going to say oh Chuito, you are so cool, no, that is intimacy, but if you have the microphone in your hand, not everyone needs to know that you address the Lord like this, you speak that when you are with Him. Each place has its way of expressing itself and one has to learn my brothers.

Look, I didn't speak, I prayed the way I do now, I had to learn, I had to open myself up to other people pointing at me and telling me look Omar, you have to correct this, you have to be more careful when you say this, I had to expose myself to being taught, and those are moments that are a little vulnerable because, oh, how are you going to criticize my spiritual life with God? God understands, I know, that is one of the excuses we make but look, in our journey to learn how to communicate better with God, both when we are alone and when we are in a congregational context, one has to learn, that is part of being a disciple, that is part of being a follower of the Lord Jesus.

When you go to a hospital to pray for a person who is there just after leaving the ICU, look, you are not going to be there praying for the person for half an hour because that person needs rest, do a basic prayer, 5, 10 minutes maximum, look God bless you, the doctor's visit, but that doctor's visit is going to impact the life of that person.

Look how Jesus taught us to pray, the prayer that is there that we all know. When we are there we have to, first of all, recognize that God is in heaven, He is our Father in heaven and that He is holy, second, that His Kingdom come, look what we are talking about, the principles of the Kingdom of God, that that Kingdom be established in our midst, that His Will be done here on earth as it is also done in heaven, that He be the provider of each of our needs, give us our bread today, and that He may forgive our offenses In the same way that we can forgive those who have offended us, I do not have to elaborate on this because I think I have been very clear, in other sermons I have spoken about this, forgiveness is extremely important. What's more, these words of forgiveness are connected to what I said earlier in chapter 5 verse 38 onwards when he is talking about learning to love our neighbor, part of that love that we can give them is learning to forgive them too, and part of how we show the love that God gives us is by showing that forgiveness.

The healing that forgiveness brings, isn't it James who says, praying for one another, confess your offenses to one another so that you can be healed? Forgiveness brings healing, when one confesses the need to be forgiven before others that brings healing, today I was talking with a brother at lunchtime, and that person said to me, look, half of the illnesses that we have are because We have not learned to forgive, we are holding so many things there in our hearts that we cannot, and all of this is connected because we have not forgiven in one way or another. And where do so many ailments that people suffer come from? That is why we have not learned to let go of those things that we are holding in our hearts.

Jesus himself emphasizes it, verse 14: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if they do not forgive their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Again, what are the motivations behind those sentences? When Jesus talks about fasting, also about fasting, what are the motivations behind your fasting? Ah, because I want to be more holy. Fine, that's a good reason. Because I want to experience the power of God in my life, fine, that's a tremendous reason. Oh, because I need the Lord to help me get the BMW that I want. Hm, not a very good reason.

The motivations behind these spiritual practices that we do, if we do not have the correct motivations, this will also be our reward. That you can get the BMW, maybe you can get it, but when the maintenance checks come around and you have to start shelling out money, I'd rather stick with a Toyota Corolla. But when you pray, anoint your head, wash your face, so as not to show others that you are fasting, but your Father who sees you in secret, and he who sees in secret will reward you in secret. Once again, Jesus has this idea. No one has to find out, and I'm fasting for 21 days, oh, the Daniel fast, so that all those demons that are up there are broken, and God's anointing comes down. Look fine, all those reasons are good but no one has to find out, what you do with God, do it with God.

Unless someone comes to offer you food, as happened to me with Pastor Greg, who is fasting and I offer him a pizza, if you want to be like Pastor Greg, I eat it in front of Pastor Greg so that his fasting count more. I make him suffer a little.

Ok I have time, wow I haven't run out of time, how cool. Look at this, verse 19, these verses, verses 19 to 21, look how it says: "Do not lay up treasures on earth where moths and rust corrupt, and where thieves break in and steal, if you do not lay up treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupt, nor thieves break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." For me those three verses are like a parenthesis in what Jesus is saying. Do you want to keep treasures in heaven? Those treasures in heaven are achieved when we live in the light of what Jesus teaches us, when I learn to love my neighbor, when I learn to respect those people that maybe what I want to do is grab them by the bows and squeeze them a little, but I give that person the due respect they deserve, because I know I'm going to be honoring God with that instead of honoring myself, then I'm already earning a treasure in heaven.

But even gaining treasures in heaven should not be my main motivation. Even winning points, even winning precious stones in the crown that they are going to give me, whatever that crown is, does not have to be my main motivation. My main motivation should be that when God looks at me he says, I am pleased with you, you are doing very well, you are bringing glory to my Name, knowing that He is satisfied with that brings a reward to the heart.

Verses 22 to 23 I would say it's like, it's like repeating what Jesus was saying in chapter 5 verses 27 to 32, when Jesus is talking about dealing with other people of the opposite gender. He says "the lamp of the body is the eye, so if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be in darkness, so if the light that is in you is darkness How many will not be the same darkness?

I'm going to end here, I'm going to summarize here, I don't want to go on too long, but one of the biggest challenges we have is how we get carried away by the greed of our eyes, and I'm not necessarily speaking in sexual or sensual terms. I'm not necessarily speaking in those terms, I'm speaking in all terms. I see, oh I liked Francis's shoes, oh I want those shoes, how cute those shoes would look on my feet, how comfortable those shoes would be on my feet, and I start to justify, wow those shoes look good, I know they are expensive, but I start to calculate, I know that I could make a sacrifice for a month and spend on those shoes so that my feet are comfortable, and I can continue justifying myself, I deserve it, look, you are sitting there and I I'm standing here, who is going to come home with more foot pain, you or me? So I can get the shoes, right Francis?

Go, they are already telling me buy them. It all started with a greed that entered my eyes, and I begin to justify all this that comes after. I'm talking about something as simple as the shoes Francis had. But what happens when that is transmitted to other things of greater importance, where one's morale is compromised? When we start to yearn, to want things that others have because I am not satisfied with what I have, or because it is not enough to satisfy me, then I start to get carried away by what the other person has. Wow what a beautiful family that person has, I want a family like that, or wow how that person expresses himself, I want to talk like that. I say that is a good desire if one wants to learn to express oneself better, but if one has a greedy sense of wanting to have what the other person has, one has to be careful with that, and one will learn to be satisfied with what one has. God has given us.

What's more, having said this, let me continue, look where Jesus' line comes from: "No one can serve two masters because he will hate the one and love the other, or he will esteem one and despise the other, you cannot serve God and the riches." The greed that comes from the eye is almost always determined by how much I will have to invest to have what the other person has, how much money I will have to invest to have the happiness that the other person has, I do not feel happy, I need to put money, get money to be able to have the happiness that person has. Ush, what a danger, then money becomes our focus. For a reason Jesus was saying look for yourself to make treasures in heaven not here, the root of all evil is the love of money.

And look how Jesus says, he makes your bed very nice. If you are saying that money is your God and your greed for money is dominating every aspect of your life, see how Jesus says in verse 25: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what are you going to eat? or drink, or for your body, how you will dress. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air that neither sow nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them, aren't you worth much more than them? And who of you, no matter how hard he works, can add two or three inches more to his height? If you are still growing up, which is between the ages of 13 and 21, your bones are still stretching, if you want to strive to add a little more height to your body, look, play basketball, play volleyball, jump a lot , hook yourself to a ceiling, something like that, and let gravity stretch your body.

But if you don't fall into that age group, don't do it, it's too late for you. They already gave you the height they gave you, Manuel, you are already the tallest you can be, and I am not going to point out anyone who is too short. I like it when we interact like this. But look at the point that Jesus wants to get to. Jesus says do not worry about what we will eat, what we will wear, be careful with your eye because if your eye is looking at the other's sandwich that looks better than the tuna sandwich that you are eating, if the other's triplet looks better, or if through your eyes the suit that the other person has looks better than the suit that you have had for ten years ago that already has a little tear in here, don't worry about it, other people, the Gentiles seek to worry of those things but already God knows what you need.

Do you know what the antidote is to combat the greed that enters through the eyes? It's in verse 33. Set your eyes on the things of the Kingdom of God, and everything else will be added to you. Everything else is going to be added to you. The apostle Paul said that I have learned to be content in everything, I have known how to live in abundance and I have known how to live in scarcity. If we let ourselves be carried away by the time of the world in which we live, nobody wants to live in scarcity. Everyone is trying to get out of scarcity, but if we are trying to get out of scarcity we understand what it is to live in scarcity, and God opens the doors so that you can live in abundance, do not let that abundance become your God, however, gives, shares what God gives you.

If someone asks for your jacket, give them the shoes too to match, thank you. Even the stockings I can give them to you because they match too, after washing them. Did you see how Jesus is connecting all these ideas? Jesus does not lose one, one can think that Jesus lost the subject and threw it elsewhere but in the end He comes fuap, and grabs everything, and leads to the central point, He knows, God knows what we need. All the people that were crowded around Jesus there on that mountain when He was speaking, everyone had a need in some way or another, oh, they could all pull out their lists of needs, but Jesus gave them a generic recipe that worked for them. any need, and it is the same recipe that continues to have an effect on each of us today.

Do you want to have the answer to your need? Set your sights on things in heaven, not on things on earth. Seek to live in the light of the teachings of Jesus, knowing how difficult it is to live in the light of this, again I cannot cover the sun with one hand, I know it is difficult to live in the light of these principles, but if Every day we make an effort to trust that if I live in light of this, the Lord will then take care of putting me at the level that He wants me to be, that should be reason enough for me to live in peace. That should be reason enough for me to be able to look at Him and say thank you, Lord, because everything I am, everything I have, I owe to you. With all the difficulties and with all the victories that I have managed to experience and live, I owe everything to you. Only a person who has truly experienced putting these things into practice can say a statement like that.

Look my brothers, I have known a large part of your life, and right now there are people here that I know that the words that I am saying are finding it very difficult to accept them, but with everything and that I have to preach them because it is the Word of God. How are things going to turn out for your life? I don't know, you are the one who is going to make the decision about how your life is going to go on. Jesus asks us, victory we will have in that, God's reward we will have in that. So my brothers, now I'm going to leave it. So let's not worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will bring its own worry. With these words, my brothers, let us trust in Him, let us trust in the Lord. He knows what we need. And when I say need I don't necessarily mean material needs.

He knows the need of your heart, He knows your need for company by your side, He knows your need for love, He knows your need to feel recognized, recognized by the people around you. He does know your need to be able to dress well, to have a roof to live in and to have a chop that you can eat tomorrow or tonight when you get home, He knows that you need all these things, but let's put our look at Him, that He be the center, the focus of our existence.

God, I thank you for these words that we have been able to share, thank you for my brothers and sisters, who have come here tonight. And Lord I know, because I live it myself day after day, living in the light of these words is not easy at all. I myself have complained to you about how difficult it is to live in the light of this Word, but with all my complaints I can only get to the point of saying Lord, You know everything, and I am going to trust you, I am going to trusting in the fact that living in the light of Your Word, will bring a reward, a victory to my life You will bring, a reward to the lives of my brothers, sisters You will bring. A victory You are going to bring into their lives.

So Lord, in the way that these victories and rewards can be manifested in the lives of all of us, You know what is best, You know how best to see those rewards in our lives. For many of us the best reward is to be able to have a united family, full of love, for many of us that reward can be seen in the strength and courage to be able to forgive someone, for many of us that reward can be see in the fact that we can accept the consequences of decisions we have made and be able to move forward living confidently in you believing that you will provide every day. For some of us that reward will be seen as a financial need being met.

For some of us that reward will be seen in the healing of some physical ailment. You are the one who knows best how to reward your sons and daughters, so Lord we put our trust in you, and even though it is difficult many times we put our trust in you, in full certainty of faith, because we know Lord that what you have for us it will be much better than what we can achieve with our own strength and energy. Bless my brothers and sisters tonight, Lord, as we leave here, take us safely to our homes, and may these words that we have heard, Lord, bring peace to our hearts, and encourage us to go forward trusting, trusting in you. Thank you Lord, for your Son Jesus we pray, amen and amen. God bless you my brothers and sisters. Say hello to each other, we'll see you on Sunday once again, blessings.