Practice of Giving

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven. So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Righteousness and Practices

Matthew 6:1 (CSB)

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven.

SotM not about Righteous vs Unrighteous

Rather Truly Righteous vs Outwardly Righteous

The Pure of heart vs the Hypocrite

Righteous living was expected

Good people gave their money to the poor

Holy people showed their devotion through prayer and fasting

Notice Jesus doesn’t say “If you… give/pray/fast” but “When you… give/pray/fast”

Giving was normal and expected:

The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary Matthew 6:2–4: First Example—Almsgiving

However, the issue addressed here is a more specific kind of giving that was far more common and accepted as essential to personal piety in ancient Judaism and Christianity—giving directly to help the poor and needy. In a time and place with great poverty and subsistence living (like first-century Palestine) and no government assistance, the needs of the needy were met by the community.

So here Jesus expects his followers to give their hard earned money to others in love

Not simply as a box to check but out of the right heart and motives

And this message means something different to the adults in the main sanctuary who work full-time and have income

As high school students you don’t have much money

But this is an important aspect of following Jesus that you should learn now to prepare for the times to come

Like our teaching on divorce

But even if we don’t have disposable incomes, we are all called to “freely give” to others

Whether it is our money, time, energy, love

Christians are called to be people who are self-giving

But here Jesus makes a distinction

We are to give, not to be seen by others but to please our Father in heaven

Your Father sees in Secret

Structure of Section (3 practices)

Giving

Prayer

Fasting

These are all practices of religious devotion

We see this even in other religions

I think the heart that Jesus is getting at is at the core of these practices

They can make us feel better about ourselves

They can make other people impressed by us

But Jesus is pointing out the fact that these practices are only expected by his followers because they point them to a genuine relationship with the Father

So we are expected to give, we are expected to sacrifice for others...

The real question is: Who am I trying to be seen by?

Jesus says:

Matthew 6:2–4 (CSB)

So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

It’s a good thing to give, the difference is a matter of the heart

If you are doing it to please people (giving/self-sacrifice)

“You have your reward”

You will be liked and adored by people

If you are doing it for the Father

Your Father who sees in secret rewards you

There is a genuine reward!

But before we talk about our reward there is one question to be asked

Do we have to do everything in complete secrecy?

I don’t think so

Earlier in SotM Jesus said:

Matthew 5:16 (CSB)

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

How do we reconcile these two ideas?

Let your giving be in secret

Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount: Christian Counter-Culture 8. Christian Religion: Not Hypocritical but Real (Matthew 6:1–6, 16–18)

A. B. Bruce sums it up well when he writes that we are to ‘show when tempted to hide’ and ‘hide when tempted to show’. Our good deeds must be public so that our light shines; our religious devotions must be secret in case we boast about them. Besides, the end of both instructions of Jesus is the same, namely the glory of God. Why are we to keep our righteousness secret? It is in order that glory may be given to God, rather than other people. Why are we to let our light shine and do good deeds in the open? It is that people may glorify our heavenly Father

It’s not to be seen, we surprise ourselves

left right hand

Fragrance/Smell - you can’t tell what other people think of you

Matthew 25:31–46 (CSB)

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

“ ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or without clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?’

“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

John Hwang’s Dad

Secret impact on others lives

The Reward of Following Jesus

So we are doing this, not for others to think better of us, but for God

But why do we do this?

Jesus is clear: There is a reward

Matthew 6:3–4 (CSB)

But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

We have the idea that doing things for a reward is bad:

Desiring a reward and recognition from God is not something to be looked down upon, rather “it is God’s built-in motivation for the difficult life that wholehearted, God-centered virtue requires”

The problem of the hypocrites in the Sermon was not that they were seeking a reward for their piety, but that they were seeking their reward in the form of recognition of others instead of seeking their reward from God himself.

Our Primary Reward: God Himself

New Living Translation (Psalm 16:5)

LORD, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.

You guard all that is mine.

Presence of God

Power of God

Love of God

Approval of God

From the one person that matters

Other Rewards:

New Living Translation (Psalm 16:5-6)

5 LORD, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.

You guard all that is mine.

6 The land you have given me is a pleasant land.

What a wonderful inheritance!

Examples:

A healed/resurrected physical body

A pure heart/mind free from sin/temptation

An eternal and everlasting home

A purpose and role that provides meaning

A community that always seeks your care and wellbeing

The forever known presence of God

But these rewards await us in heaven:

It can be hard, but the wait is worth it

any period time compared to eternity

An old missionary couple had been working in Africa for years, and they were returning to New York City to retire. They had no pension; their health was broken; they were defeated, discouraged, and afraid. They discovered they were booked on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from one of his big-game hunting expeditions.

No one paid much attention to them. They watched the fanfare that accompanied the President’s entourage, with passengers trying to catch a glimpse of the great man.

As the ship moved across the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife, “Something is wrong. Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God in Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us? Here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes much over him, but nobody gives two hoots about us.”

“Dear, you shouldn’t feel that way,” his wife said.

“I can’t help it; it doesn’t seem right.”

When the ship docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor and other dignitaries were there. The papers were full of the President’s arrival, but no one noticed this missionary couple. They slipped off the ship and found a cheap flat on the East side, hoping the next day to see what they could do to make a living in the city.

That night, the man’s spirit broke. He said to his wife, “I can’t take this; God is not treating us fairly.”

His wife replied, “Why don’t you go into the bedroom and tell that to the Lord?”

A short time later he came out from the bedroom, but now his face was completely different. His wife asked, “Dear, what happened?”

“The Lord settled it with me,” he said. “I told him how bitter I was that the President should receive this tremendous homecoming, when no one met us as we returned home. And when I finished, it seemed as though the Lord put his hand on my shoulder and simply said, ‘But you’re not home yet!’”

Practice of Secrecy

So today I want us to seriously consider why we do what we do

Do we do good to be seen by others and impressive

Do we do others in secret knowing God will reward us

I want to leave you all with a practical exhortation:

Do awesome things for Jesus this week without letting anyone know

What are things you could do?

Give to the poor

Pray for others

The fruit of doing this time and time again:

A better handle on our intentions

We are able to do things, for God, and not to be seen by others

And know there is a deep reward

Everytime you do good, even when it is in secret

Your father looks down and approves of you

And when we return we will hear

Matthew 25:23 (CSB)

"Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.”

The Great Divorce:

But I have forgotten. And only partly do I remember the unbearable beauty of her face. “Is it?...is it?” I whispered to my guide. “Not at all,” said he. “It's someone ye'll never have heard of. Her name on earth was Sarah Smith and she lived at Golders Green.” “She seems to be...well, a person of particular importance?” “Aye. She is one of the great ones. Ye have heard that fame in this country and fame on Earth are two quite different things.”

Its not about doing great things for Jesus to be seen and recognized and patted on the back

Its about a pure and undivided heart lovingly serving the father

We have faith that every good work will not be unrewarded, despite whether or not people recognize them in this life

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