Sermon OTM – Matthew 6:1-4

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord and join us today.
Some days Lord I shudder
Shaken to my depths
And I wonder how I How we
Will ever rise to the needs of this day.

How will we ever rise to truth
with both courage and grace
Even when ridiculed
Even at great cost?

How will we ever rise above our fears
Our anger
Our resentments
Our contempt?

How will we ever rise to care for the weak
The vulnerable
The needy
when hate is rewarded,
celebrated, glorified?

How will we ever rise to goodness
and gentleness
and kindness
When empathy has run dry?

How will we ever find joy
As your humble servants
Your grateful servants
when power is wielded like a hammer
Like a scythe?

Pull us near Lord
Hold us tight
Keep us close
Help us show up
Help us rise up
And do
Your work
Your way
In your love.
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven Matthew 6:1

Intro: Peter and Andrew were knee-deep in Lake Galilee. A school of fish swam near shore, so they threw a net into water, dragging out whatever it collected. Jesus, walking the shore that morning, stopped and called to them. When they turned and looked at him, he said, “Follow me.” It was as if they were waiting for that moment, because they dropped everything to go with him. As Matthew tells the story, it was not long after they got the call that they were sitting on a nearby mountainside, listening to Jesus teaching lessons on True Righteousness and how to walk that spiritual path. They heard, first the Beatitudes, then the impossible requirement (5:20), after that Jesus ran through several examples of what the True Righteous looks like.
Now Jesus takes them to a new gate, where written on a sign hanging from it was the word “Beware.”

Verse 1 is an “introduction” to Jesus’ next lesson (that will continue to verse 18)

The message he delivers here is a warning
– back in the day we had “Driver’s Ed,” we learned about “blind spots”
• in everyday life, all of us have blind spots
◦ things we haven’t seen– and we don’t know we haven’t seen them
• after my worst mistakes, there has always come a realization:
◦ “If only I knew then what I know now”
– imagine that you and I have begun to live the Sermon as Jesus taught it
• we have a keener insight into God’s will, we’re growing in humility and integrity
◦ that’s all good – very good, in fact, but now Jesus tells us, “You have blind spots, so beware”

Having explained to us what true righteousness looks like,
– Jesus warns us about a wrong way of practicing our righteousness
• what we are doing may be good,
◦ but something in our heart or mind could sabotage it
• what Jesus addresses is a hidden motive:
“in order to be seen by others”
– this particular problem is not unique to Christians,
• but it is a temptation that’s especially easy for Christians to fall into
◦ am I a good person, or do I just want others to think I’m a good person?
◦ some believers show off how many verses they’ve memorized,
◦ or make sure that we discover how many hours they spend in prayer
• this is the key role that public relation firms play
◦ they arrange events and photo opportunities to “create an image”
◦ but an image is not an identity

The value of having a practice of righteousness is:
– first of all, there is the good it achieves in the world (blessing others)
• secondly, the progress we make in becoming good people through steady disciplines
• third, the rewards we receive from God
◦ not trophies or blue ribbons,
◦ but we are given greater opportunities, responsibilities, and resources
– no one, this side of heaven, knows the wonder of those ultimate rewards
• it might help if we realize that our entire physiological and psychological existence is shaped by internal reward systems
• if we avoid an open flame, we’re rewarded with not getting burned
◦ such lessons are encoded in the human nervous system
◦ the Bible is all about positive reinforcement

Jesus points out three activities that we’re to keep “secret”

Keeping in mind that righteousness is relational:
The first is horizontal righteousness and applies to our relationships with others
The second is a vertical righteousness and applies to our relationship with God
The third is an inner righteousness and applies to what we do out of a spiritual need
• not one of these activities is meant to call attention to itself
• the only audience is our heavenly Father
◦ in fact, Jesus stresses this specific aspect of our relationship with God
◦ he refers to God as our “heavenly Father” or “Father” ten times in these eighteen verses

The first example is charitable giving (“give to the needy”)
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 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. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you Matthew 6:2-4

Preachers will typically point out, “Jesus says when not if ”
– I would avoid saying that, except for what happened last week
• the world has been plunged into crisis, creating emergencies all over the planet
• in defunding government agencies meeting world needs,
◦ millions of people will soon be dying from starvation and disease
◦ and the majority of them will be children
– in the past, the rationale for meeting world needs has been, “America is a Christian nation”
◦ no other reason or justification was necessary
• it was not as painful to pay taxes when we knew that some of our money was feeding the hungry and providing shelter and protection for refugees
– now each one of us must ask, “What can I do?”
• there are needs that are within our means and ability to meet
• regardless of how small a gift or an action seems to be, we can find our conduit to assist others

I assume that Jesus placed this concern first for a reason
– here in Reflexion, we emphasize the “spiritual disciplines”
• ways to practice prayer and listen to God in scripture that lead to a greater awareness of his presence the here and now
• but that is not the sum total of our Christian experience
◦ in fact, spiritual disciplines serve to enhance and empower our mission in the world
◦ to reveal God’s love to others through caring for them
– let’s remind ourselves of what Jesus said about us:
“You are the salt of the earth . . . You are the light of the world . . . let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 5:13-16)
• he could have added, “The light is not on you, but in you”
• Paul reiterated and reinforced this when he wrote:
“For by brace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ep. 2:8-10)
◦ this is where the practice of righteousness leads

Jesus tells us how NOT to give to the needy

He tells us not to make a show of it
– again Jesus is using hyperbole to emphasize a point:
“sound no trumpet before you”
• we use a similar figure of speech: “Don’t toot your own horn”
• who does this? Jesus says this is what “the hypocrites” do
– they act like they’re doing something noble, charitable, big-hearted
• but in fact, they are drawing attention to themselves
◦ Jesus says they’re looking for praise from others
◦ we must admit, this is a powerful motive
in fact, it kept some people from following Jesus
“. . . many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (Jn. 12:42-43)
• can we be okay with only God knowing our good deeds?

We encounter more hyperbole when Jesus says,
“do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”
– again, I can imagine Jesus saying this with a smirk
• your gift is definitely secret if not even your left hand knows what your right hand is up to!
• don’t let this anonymity bother you – your gift has not gone unnoticed
“And your Father who sees in secret will reward you”
Amy-Jill Levine, “Jesus raises several questions worth considering: Do we want our names on the buildings, and if so, why? To honor ourselves? . . . We do not need, and should not even desire, public recognition; nothing could be greater, of more value, than God responding, ‘Well done.’”

Conclusion: When we have to put new tires on our cars,

Dealers often let us know they will also rotate and align them
(out of alignment: cars can pull to one side, be harder to handle, and use more fuel)

Jesus is putting our spiritual practice into alignment,
matching our inner motives to our outward actions
We’re old enough to know, that sometimes
there are wrong reasons for doing the right thing
A couple days ago, it occurred to me grace is God’s generosity;
they’re practically synonyms!
God’s way is always the right way,
and the right way is always the way of grace