Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 6:1-4.
Tonight we will conclude a series with in the series from the Sermon on the Mount where we have been dissecting this small section of 18 verses to see what Jesus had to say about our religious activity.
We talked last week about fasting with the right heart.
And before that a couple more weeks back we talked about praying with the right heart.
And tonight we are going to talk about giving to the needy. And no, we aren’t going to address giving to the church, that’s not what this text is about, but if that kind of discussion makes you uncomfortable, be aware that when Scriptures address an issue we will too. So that’s talk is coming up.
No tonight it is giving to the needy. And back to the larger scope of what we’ve been discussing. Jesus talks about three things our giving, our praying and our fasting. And in every circumstance He is driving down, beneath the surface and saying “Hey, these are all great things to do, but don’t do it for you own glory, do it as an act of worship to God.”
And we can look beyond this to whatever our particular giftings are.
If you are gifted to serve, or to be an encourager, or you are gifted to instruct children, or you are gifted to get up here and speak. Whatever it is, get lost in it! Go at it with unreserved passion, ware yourself out, got hold back, use whatever your gift is for the Glory of God, BUT NOT SO OTHER PEOPLE WILL SEE YOU, ONLY BECAUSE GOD SEES YOU FOR SURE, Amen?
Let’s get to work:
1 "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.
That’s our springboard for the last few weeks.
Don’t be a hypocrite.
And, that’s what we just talked about, Jesus is going to complete the thought, and we are not going to spend a lot of time on it tonight, because we’ve tackled it in several areas at length. If you need more clarification, get with me after the service. I’d love to talk with you some more.
Continuing on:
2 "So when you give to the needy,
I can’t say this enough. Jesus is not saying that the religious bigwigs were wrong for giving. He’s not saying don’t do this because they do it.
No, we are to give. Just like we talked about in the past about fasting and praying, these are elements of a mature walk of faith.
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.
Back in the times that Jesus taught, commentators believe that this was an actual practice.
The big time religious leaders would give their alms giving, which was – again – standard operating procedure for a first century Jew. But, before they gave, as they made their way onto the street of into the synagogue, they would have trumpets sound or they would call out in a booming voice to let everyone know they were about to give.
Now this seems absurd, and even if you aren’t a Christ follower, even if you don’t know about this whole God stuff that we’re talking about, even the pagans know that there’s something wrong with making a show of this stuff.
But we still see this today don’t we. How many people donate a bunch of money to a hospital or a college without getting a building named after them. And on a smaller scale, how many businesses donate to local charities, if they can get a picture in the paper, letting everyone know just how benevolent they are?
And, if you asked the Pharisees, they would likely make it into a holy-sounding exercise.
“Well, I had the trumpets sounded so that more people would know that I was here to help.”
Today, too, there’s a million ways to rationalize and justify our “righteous deeds” for applause, recognition or gain.
Let’s keep going…
I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
They have received their reward in full. In other words, Jesus is about to tell us that our reward for quiet, pure heart giving is present and future. He says even though our reward is not yet completely realized, the reward for the hypocrite, the reward for the big spender, for the conspicuous giver, is already history. It is fruit rotting on the vine.
And we talked about this on the first week, the giver of the great reward is a holy and wonderful God, who has an unending love for us, His children. He has desire to seek out His own glory, and He does that by heaping blessings on us, which we then lay right back at His feet, and we can never out give God, we can never out do His love, His rewards to us are unimaginably great.
But the reward given to the hypocrite comes from the people around them that see their giving and from the needy people who receive the giving.
And unlike God, that crowd is a fickle bunch. They are. They are like you and me they are sinful, little people, who will turn on a dime.
Just look around today. The same crowd that praises a wealthy citizen in the community when that person helps someone out of a financial bind, or sponsors a charitable cause or event;
That same crowd will have people in it that curse the benefactor for not giving more, or for not giving to other causes too. Or they will say wicked things out of an envy of the wealth. Wealth that they just praised!
Or look to the one who was helped. They too, at times receive in an ungrateful way, or they sometimes waste what they’ve been given. Or they latch on and keep drinking from the same trough until it is dry.
Then what, they move on in search of more. Again this is not always the case, but we’ve all seen it happen.
In fact, there have been times when I have been the ungrateful recipient or the heckler in the crowd of onlookers. Am I the only one?
We are going to talk about this a little bit more later on, because these reactions happen to the hypocrites and to the pure hearted givers.
But the point is, we give not for the reactions of the fickle onlookers and not even for the response of the recipient of our benevolence. We give as an act of worship. We give out of a desire to thank God for His gifts to us, we who were in desperate need of redemption, were given the gifts of reconciliation through Christ.
Okay, on to verse 3:
3 But when (not if) you (that means you) give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
There’s two pieces there, we get the when you part, right? So the first part to explore is one that we probably could have done earlier. That is when you GIVE TO THE NEEDY. When you give to those who are less fortunate than you.
This is a regular part of the Christ follower’s walk, and it isn’t a begrudging gift. God doesn’t honor someone who gives money with a side of complaining, Amen.
And this isn’t something that you are going out of your way to do for them. It’s actually a simple equation, person “A” sees that person “B” is in need. Person “A” has the means to provide, so he (or she) gives to person “B” without hesitancy.
Proverbs 3:27-28 says it like this
27 Do not withhold good from those who deserve it,
when it is in your power to act.
28 Do not say to your neighbor,
"Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow"—
when you now have it with you.
Now, a lot of churchy people like to point to the words “those who deserve it” and then look for disqualifiers to where person “B” doesn’t deserve our help.
I as the preacher and we as the church in the grass are not going to make you give anything to anyone. That’s between you and God.
But, if you’re looking for an out and think you found one there, I’d ask this question: Did you deserve to be helped by the saving work of Jesus? If anyone thinks they can answer yes, that they deserved to be saved because of anything you did, then see me after the service. And we’ll walk through Ephesians 2: 1-9 together.
So, are we tracking, if you are person “A” in this little equation, and you have the means, GIVE to person "B."
Moving on, when we introduced this series about hypocrisy and heart motives we talked about not letting your right hand know what your left hand is going.
The context of the passage is giving financially, or giving food, shelter or clothing. But it applies across the board.
If you give to a charity, if you give to a homeless person; If you give of your time to visit nursing homes or hospitals; If you give of your talent to organizations who need you –
Don’t do any of that for a pat on the back by the people around you. As much as you can, keep it to yourself. And even then, don’t keep replaying it over and over again to yourself for your own pride.
Just thank God for the opportunity to give and move on.
Now, in verse 4 we see why. Why give, why give quietly, why, why, why?
What’s at the route of all of this, if we’re not doing it to be seen by men, then why do it?
If the crowds of sinful fallen people in a sinful fallen world are not audience to our giving, and if we are not to do it to pat ourselves on the back, who’s’ going to see it? Is someone keeping track?
“do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing…”
4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
I think we’ve got the secret part right? And who sees what is done in secret? God, right? But Jesus doesn’t say God, or Yahweh, or anything like that. Jesus says then your FATHER. The word is pa-tar. The word is defined like this:
Referring to God as the father “of Christians, as those who through Christ have been exalted to a specially close and intimate relationship with God, and who no longer dread him as a stern judge of sinners, but revere him as their reconciled and loving Father”
Never forget this piece, because that is who you are, if you believe the Gospel message and have submitted your life to the Lord. You are a new creation. You are in this world, but you do not need to look to things that fade away as your source of satisfaction or approval. You can look to your father, who sees and will reward you.
Now, let’s talk about the rewards, because I think we can slide off track here if we don’t interpret scripture with scripture.
There’s two types of people, two camps of interpretation. There’s one that looks for rewards sooner than later and so gives out of a sort of bartering idea with God.
That doesn’t work.
The second camp overcorrects and ends up in the other ditch, they say, your only reward is heaven, when you see Jesus face to face, that is the only reward.
If you were likely to go into either ditch, I would point you to that one.
But, I think there is a third camp, a group that keeps a straighter bead on the road and stays out of either ditch of extremes.
It is absolutely true that Jesus IS THE REWARD. Every Christ follower has that promise, the promise of an eternal life with Jesus on in the New Heaven and the New Earth, free and unencumbered from sin and brokenness.
We see this in Luke 14: 13-14
13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
But, that doesn’t mean that you should not expect anything on this side of eternity.
We read in the Scriptures of times when blessings flow into the lives of those who bless others.
In Psalm 41:1 David sings:
Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble.
That’s in the here and now. It’s not a guarantee in every situation, But David believed it and walked in confidence that God had his back. And really, even if we are killed, it is still true; God’s got your eternal life securely in His hands. You are safe in times of ANY kinds of trouble.
Proverbs 11:24-25 says:
24 One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
25 A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
Again, I would warn against making this a magic spell where you think you have some grip over God because you did something nice. Remember heart motives matter, and if you or I try to put a leash on God, it will be destructive to say the least. Stay out of that ditch, but understand that He does honor a generous person.
One more. Proverbs 28:27
He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.
Now, we are going to close. And in some respects this is an easy message tonight. I know most of you well enough that I have seen your generous spirit. In fact I have been on the receiving end of your generosity in the past.
Before we leave, let me offer a few suggestions. Take them or leave them. These aren’t commands; it’s just some ideas. Because sometimes I get done hearing a message and I think, what can I do with that? What’s that look like in my life? Here they are:
-Begin looking for areas that may be right under your nose. If you are like me, you kind of zone out and miss a lot of what God is trying to show you.
-Start looking for areas where you have been giving with impure motives – we’ve all been there or we are there now. Just cleanse yourself of selfishness, or pride or even compulsion. Give out of a love and thankfulness to God and give in joy.
-Remember that giving is giving, and there are a lot of needs that go beyond food, shelter, and clothing. But don’t neglect the food shelter and clothing.
The point there is, many are in need of companionship, give some of your time to the shut in or to the nursing home resident.
- Maybe volunteer time with Big Brothers or Big Sisters.
- Look into being a child advocate with Pathways.
- Find a way to give what you have to the needy. Be Person “A” in the equation for person “B” this week.
- And remember no to look at the recipient of the giving with expectations or demands, just give freely. If they waste what you give, remember that what you gave away is not yours anymore and the giving is not contingent on their response. God sees it all and He will reward you in His time and in His way.
We will close tonight with a reading in Matthew 25, just a few pages to your right, you can read along or just listen:
Starting in verse 34:
34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 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 invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40 "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.'
Let’s pray…
