“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others (Matthew 6:5) It is not uncommon during Thanksgiving for someone to offer a prayer. Usually, it is the most religious person in the family. Those who are not particularly religious brace themselves for what comes next. They pray (ironically) that the prayer won’t turn into a sermon because the sermon is directed at them. Who wants someone to preach at them? The prayer is not so much a prayer but a mini-sermon disguised as a prayer.
When we read Jesus’s words, we think of someone pretending to be something they aren’t. They are a hypocrite. But the word’s literal translation from Greek to English is “do not be like the actors.” Those standing on the street corner are doing street theater. They are an actor who believes in the script given to them by their particular religious system.
The problem is not the sincere person standing before the turkey or on a street corner. They believe what they are saying. They “feel” what they are saying. The issue is with the script they inherited from their religious tradition. The prayer/actor believes he has something the listeners don’t have. It sounds like selling. The job of the prayer actor is to help them want what they are selling.
So what is wrong with that? We saw last month that Jesus came to show us the true nature of God. This God is relational, not transactional. A ‘transactional God’ is a concept where God’s love and blessings are seen as conditional, based on our actions or ‘transactions’. I saw a meme saying God loves us unconditionally as long as we do what pleases him. If that makes sense to you, then you have a transactional God.
This is the religious script we inherited. It often implies that we need to make some transaction, such as following specific rules or rituals, and then God will be pleased. In my tradition, we used the word “saved” to prove the transaction. The transaction depends on the religious system, but most of them are based on a God who needs something from us to remove his displeasure.
The prayer/actor is trying to help people close the deal with God. If they make the transaction, they will be better off with God. In the Jewish context of Jesus’ day, what they were selling was the Jewish way of life they called the ‘Law.’ The one praying on the street corner was essentially an ‘evangelist for the Law, a person who passionately promotes and defends the Jewish way of life. They would say, ‘Look at me; I am blessed because I follow the Jewish script.’ ‘If you do the same, God will bless your life.’
But what if this script needs to be corrected? The content of the Lord’s prayer rewrites the script toward a relational God. This correction offers hope for a more authentic and meaningful connection with God. We will explore this next time.
