As I was preaching on Sunday, I quoted Ephesians 2:8-10, and found myself saying something like “I could probably use this passage in my sermon every week, it’s so important.” As I reflected on that comment, I started thinking about what passages I quote most often in my sermons, and what that must say about my theology. So, here is my unofficial top 5 list of most used Bible passages, with my brief comments on why these matter so much to me:

“The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” (Isaiah 29:13)

Two Sundays ago, I preached on John 2, where Jesus cleanses the temple by throwing out the moneychangers and those who were selling animals in the court of the Gentiles. I shared that one of the reasons Jesus was so upset was that the vendors and moneychangers were facilitating an empty, meaningless environment of worship by crowding out any opportunity for those who had come to the Temple to seek after God. One theme that repeats itself throughout the Old and New Testament is that God hates empty worship and meaningless devotion. As the above Isaiah verse puts it, God is much more interested in hearts that are engaged with Him than in “worshipers” who go through the motions, thinking that somehow that honors God.

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25: 34-40)

Worldwide, 925 million people are hungry. Every day, as many as 11,000 children under the age of 5 die due to hunger-related causes. That’s one kid every 8 seconds.

For several years, World Vision has organized worldwide 30 Hour Famine events. Their mission? To bring awareness of world hunger and to raise funds for the cause. The 30 Hour Famine is typically, but not always, done by youth groups around the country on nationwide “Famine Dates.” On these dates (February 24th-25th and April 27th-28th), many people will be fasting for 30 hours for world hunger. That is hundreds of thousands of teenagers fasting for the cause of world hunger. Incredible.

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 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 men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you… When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18)

Who are you when no one is watching? What do you do, and where does your mind go, when there is no audience? Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 are most likely directed at the Pharisees, the religious leaders who loved to show off how religious they were through their public displays of giving, praying, and fasting (Matthew 6:16-18). Jesus boldly calls them hypocrites, which in Jesus’ time was from the Greek word “hypokrites,” meaning actor, someone who is playing a part for an audience. Of course, the word hypocrite has come down through the years to mean someone who puts on a false appearance of virtue, someone who acts in a way that is contrary to what they claim to believe. Jesus tells his audience that instead of being hypocrites, they should do their acts of righteousness in private: give quietly, pray in your private room, and not tell people when you are fasting. What you do in private, Jesus says, is a much better indicator of your piety than what you do when there is an audience, and will lead to reward from the Father.