Only an Infinite God Can Satisfy

Continuing the theme in the Sermon on the Mount, we’re reminded everything boils down to the heart. This is not unique to the Sermon on the Mount, or the Gospel of Matthew, but is consistently spread throughout the Scriptures, and Jesus is just drawing that out by forcing another look at the law and its assumed meanings that fall short. 

In Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18, Jesus is pointing out the hypocrisy of our self-congratulating generosity. The context He’s calling out is the religiously pious giving, praying and fasting that would be common in their day, and though it looks different in our context it is still very much an issue. Outward religious showings and boastful generosity are common to human fallenness at any point in history because it’s born out of our desire for instant gratification coupled with the need to feel noticed for our good deeds. 

Think of the difference between playing correspondence chess (chess by mail) versus candy crush on a smartphone. Smartphone games are designed for instant gratification to give you the dopamine hit you crave to keep your eyes on the screen so they make more money. Chess is a game of patience, strategy, and the enjoyment of the challenge, and the element of long distance correspondence draws that out into a long term project. 

With that image in our minds, this past Sunday Nick challenged us with this question: Can we be content to know we might not see the fruit of our labor in our lifetime? This points to the issue Jesus was getting at when considering the heart of the person giving, praying or fasting. That is why Jesus says if all you want is praise and applause in this life, then that’s what you’ll get and nothing more (Matt. 6:2, Luke 6:24). 

The Bottom Line from Sunday’s sermon was: The motivations of our hearts matter. Godward motivations get God given rewards. God gives eternal rewards. 

Think of what Jesus is saying we should be doing and what the reward looks like. For example, Matthew 6:6 “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.” These rewards refer to future blessings, such as the sanctification of the Holy Spirit working in your life, or glorification when we are united with Christ in the resurrection upon His return when He makes all things new. He never points to immediate payoff, as if God is a Carebear slot machine in the sky, there to cater to our whims. 

So how do we fight this innate shortcoming? As Nick said on Sunday, human desire is infinite, and when we try to fulfill our desires with things that are inherently temporary (possessions, people, praise, etc.), we will never be satisfied. We can only find satisfaction when our desire is focused on the one thing that is infinite, God himself. 

“We can only find satisfaction when our desire is focused on the one thing that is infinite, God himself. ”