The Fine Line in Giving

Matthew 6:1-18

Here's today's trivia question: What was the largest single charitable contribution ever made? The answer: 6 billion dollars - by none other than the world's richest man, Bill Gates, and his wife Melinda. They donated the money to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in August of 1999.\r
\r
Bill, worth according to the Bill Gates Personal Wealth Clock some 75 billion, could have many reasons for this donation - and we won't speculate - but let's just say that Bill's reputation at the helm of Microsoft hasn't been that sterling - and the need to be seen as a nice guy is sometimes a good business decision, especially when a federal judge is threatening to break your company apart.\r
\r
There are many rewards to doing deeds of kindness to others - goodwill, prestige, love, acceptance, fame, laud and honor - sometimes even financial rewards - anyone remember the "gift club?" The Gift Club, which began in Utah - claims to be a private club. You join and give a multi-thousand dollar gift to the "captains" of your club. The promise is that as you get others to join the group, you too will become a "captain" and receive gifts to yourself far in excess of what you gave.\r
\r
Of course, the gift club is a scam - nothing more than a classic pyramid scheme. But it always amazes me when deeds of kindness are actually deeds of greed - focused on self gratification - and it doesn't stop with money. \r
\r
You can actually appear to be the most spiritual person on the face of the planet - and be totally focused on yourself. Sometimes we give because it makes us feel better - that too is focus on self.\r
\r
That's the focal point of today's study as we continue our journey through the life of Jesus as recorded in Matthew's gospel. We are right in the middle of the most well known words Jesus' spoke - the Sermon on the Mount.\r
\r
We've seen the true way to happiness is through mourning our sin, and turning our lives over to Jesus and His mercy. We've seen not only who Jesus is creating, but what characteristics people in His kingdom have. \r
\r
We've touched on love, anger, lust, marriage, divorce, all focusing on our relationships with others\r
\r
Now we turn to another type of relationship - our relationship to God and whether what we do is really for Him or for ourselves.\r
\r
Let's begin in Matthew 6, verse 1.\r
\r
6:1 "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. \r
\r
We've talked a lot in the past few weeks about how a Christian should act - by the power of the Spirit - but Jesus here says "watch out how you unleash this light - this salt - this difference in character."\r
\r
In chapter 5 He told us to do it in such a way that the Father gets the credit. Now He's telling us that acting out our relationship with the Lord should also be so that we don't get the credit.\r
\r
The word "to be seen" actually means "to look at closely." We should make sure that when we do good things, when people see what the Lord is doing in us, that they don't start focusing on us - that we take great pains to make it known that we are nothing without Him.\r
\r
Even as Jesus said in John 15:5 "Apart from Me you can do nothing." But then in Philippians 4:13 Paul says: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." \r
\r
Otherwise, Jesus says - the reward - the laud, praise, and focus - is all the reward you will get. But if you can put the focus on God - then those right things that you do will reap a reward in heaven.\r
\r
What is the exact nature of those rewards? We don't know. The New Testament writers tell us about various crowns - but whatever they are they are worth infinitely more than anything you could get here. So put funds in your heavenly bank account - I hear the interest rate is phenomenal.\r
\r
So how do we do this? Let's read on.\r
\r
Jesus breaks it up into three sections: Giving to others, Giving to God, and giving up of self. \r
\r
Another way to look at it is: \r
\r
Righteousness focused outwards\r
Righteousness focused upwards, and\r
Righteousness focused inwards.\r
\r
Let's start with outward.\r
\r
2 "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. 3 But when you give to the needy, 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. \r
\r
Jesus tells us two things - how not to give - and how to give.\r
\r
1. First let me point out that giving is a when, not an if, proposition.\r
\r
In a nutshell, Jesus says: "Don't blow your own horn." Think about the reasons why you want to do something good for someone - is it out of compassion and the Lord's love, or is it so you'll be seen as a good person and gain the praise of those around you?\r
\r
I don't mean to offend - but getting your name on a golden plaque for all the money you gave to a project probably falls in the "trumpets in the synagogues" area.\r
\r
2. Secondly, how to give is interesting.\r
\r
Jesus doesn't mean literally that your left hand should reach into your wallet while the right hand isn't looking.\r
\r
The idea expressed is I think that you should take pains to keep your giving from being communicated too broadly. Remember - the purpose is to bless the receiver, not the giver.\r
\r
Next we move to upward expression - prayers. \r
\r
By the way - this set of three: giving, praying, fasting - was a list of common Jewish requirements for piety as told them by the Rabbis. Jesus is once again turning tradition on its head to show the true intention.\r
\r
5 "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. \r
\r
Notice again - praying in public so that the words impress others. Jesus isn't saying we shouldn't pray in public - but the reason for the prayer is "to be seen by men" instead of be heard by God.\r
\r
Again the reward is that folks think they are impressive orators - but God is unmoved.\r
\r
6 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. \r
\r
The idea here is that prayer is not some way you show your piety to God - it is a way to communicate to Him.\r
\r
Something else about prayer:\r
\r
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. \r
\r
Babbling here comes from the Greek word that means to saying something over and over again - to stammer.\r
\r
Sometimes I think people think God is either hard of hearing - or suffers from short-term memory loss.\r
\r
If you are a Christian - God hears your prayer before you speak, and knows your needs before you ask.\r
\r
So, you may ask - why did Jesus later on tell the story in Luke 18 of the woman who kept asking and pestering a judge to help her - and used that as a picture of prayer to God?\r
\r
Why did Paul say "Pray without ceasing."\r
\r
Some of us look at prayer like a slot machine - if I put in enough quarters I'll get the jackpot.\r
\r
But prayer is not like that - \r
\r
I want to draw two pictures for you.\r
\r
1. James 5:16 The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. \r
\r
The King James renders this: Effectual fervent prayer - and it comes from a word where we get "energy."\r
\r
I believe there is an energy that builds as we pray fervently. It's an energy that shapes our prayers and our person.\r
\r
2. Psalm 37:4 says: Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.\r
\r
Delight means to be soft and pliable - as we are pliable in the Lord's hands He can mold us so that the desires of our heart become the desires of His heart. \r
\r
So - pressing into God is not the same as "babbling" - but make sure you do it so God hears you - not so the audience is your fellow Christians.\r
\r
Next Jesus gives a model prayer - know, of course as The Lord's Prayer.\r
\r
9 "This, then, is how you should pray: \r
\r
"'Our Father in heaven, \r
hallowed be your name, \r
10 your kingdom come, \r
your will be done \r
on earth as it is in heaven. \r
11 Give us today our daily bread. \r
12 Forgive us our debts, \r
as we also have forgiven our debtors. \r
13 And lead us not into temptation, \r
but deliver us from the evil one.'" \r
\r
1. This is a pattern for prayer, not a recipe or incantation.\r
\r
2. It involves 4 basic elements:\r
\r
1) Worship (9)\r
2) Intercession for God's will and acknowledgement of His sovereignty (10)\r
3) Request for help in needs (11)\r
4) Request for help in struggles (12-13)\r
\r
We won't go in-depth into this prayer - we could spend hours talking about it - but I want to make a few simple points:\r
\r
o If God knows our need, why pray?\r
Because God isn't a reluctant store owner that we must barter with, but a Father that we must relate with. \r
\r
o Prayer like this is not - "Lord give me what I want," but "Lord I trust you to provide what I need."\r
\r
o Our forgiveness of sins is not dependent on whether we forgive others - the idea here is to show that true repentance is what matters.\r
\r
o Why pray for God not to "tempt" us. It really means: "test". Jesus Himself prayed that He might avoid the test of the cross, and encouraged the disciples to pray to not fall into temptation - so its all right to pray before during and after tests for God's rescue and prevention - but always "Thy will be done." \r
\r
14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. \r
\r
This again doesn't mean we need to somehow earn our salvation - but it shows that we are in a relationship with God - a relationship that can be harmed if we hold unforgiveness in our hearts toward others, yet receive such unmerited forgiveness from God for ourselves.\r
\r
Now we turn to fasting - fasting, like giving and prayer, is a spiritual discipline.\r
\r
16 "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. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 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. \r
\r
Fasting, as the Jews would have understood it, mainly occurred from sun up to sun down. The 24 hour fast was not as common. So someone would have a good breakfast before sunup, then not eat again until the sun went down. The idea was to dedicate the hours of light to the Lord - not to lose weight by not eating.\r
\r
But the point here is that we often want our physical appearance to mirror something going on in our hearts - so with fasting we look as pitiful as we can so people will see on the outside what is going on in the inside.\r
\r
Big mistake.\r
\r
We can do this in other ways too - I don't want to minimize the struggles we go through - but I want us to keep in mind that it is a fine line between being real in order to get prayer, and being overly real in order to get pity or impress others with how much suffering we bear.\r
\r
Let God do His work in us without showing off our halos to others.\r
\r
Conclusion\r
\r
To conclude simply - whether its outward, upward, or inward, we need to let God get the credit, and have the reigns - shine as a spotlight on God, not a floodlight on ourselves.\r