Please turn with me to Matthew 6 - starting at verse 1.  We have been looking at Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Mount - Jesus teaching us what it means for us to live in relationship with the living God down on the level where we live life.

We’ve looked at the incredible reality that God has blessed us.  God has brought Himself and His kingdom down to us.  We don’t have to earn a relationship with God.  Couldn’t even if we tried.  But God blesses us with His presence.  Gives purpose and meaning to our lives - involves us in His work here on earth.  God teaches us - how, as those who live in relationship with the living God - how, we are to live out that relationship with others.
 

This morning we’re beginning a new section of Jesus’ teaching.  Jesus is going to focus on  living righteously before God - doing from the heart what pleases God.

Watch this and think about what it means to do the right thing.

Its hard to do the right thing if we don’t know what the right thing is.  One of the incredible ways that God has blessed us is by instructing us in righteousness - in doing the right thing - what is the right way to live life - what pleases God.

Matthew 6 - starting at verse 1:  Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

Verse 1 is Jesus introducing His theme for this section on righteousness.   Notice three things.

First:   The Warning.  Say that with me, “The warning.”  “Beware”  Pay careful attention to how you’re living.

As we go through this section Jesus is going to give us examples of what was commonly seen as righteous living.  What - as people were living in the community of that day - what was commonly understood to be living righteous - living in a way that pleased God.  Jesus is going to use those examples as a warning to us.  Pay attention to this behavior and see if this is what you’re doing.  Because its not righteous.

Second:  notice The Motivation.  Say that with me, “The motivation.” 

At the heart level - when we’re living out our relationship with God - what motivates us?  What’s going on in our hearts?  Is our desire “to be noticed by men?”  Are we living righteously so that people around us will see how we’re living and think more highly of us?  As we go through this section Jesus is going to give us examples that are going to help us to examine our hearts - the motivations - behind why we do what we do.

Then third - notice The Reward.  Say that with me, “The reward.”

There is a way to live before God that God doesn’t reward.  And, there’s a way to live before God that God does reward.  The assumption is that our desire is to be rewarded by God.  Are we together on that?  We want to be rewarded by God.  Jesus is going to give examples of the living the life that God rewards.

Verse 2 - first example -  Almsgiving - So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men.  Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.   But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Almsgiving - giving to the poor - was commanded by God in His law and through His prophets.  In Jesus’ day there was a tax that a person had to pay according to their ability.  The purpose of the tax was to provide relief for the poor.  A person was seen as really righteous if they gave above and beyond what was required.

You’ve heard the phrase “tooting your own horn”?  Probably has its origin here in verse 2.

The Pharisees - as they passed through the streets - progressing towards the Temple or to a synagogue - making their way to the offering box for the poor - had trumpeters marching in front of them.  The sound of the trumpets was like an ice cream truck moving through a park on a hot day - children coming out of no where.  The sound of trumpets would bring the poor out into the street to receive the coins that the Pharisees would toss out onto the street as they were going along.

The trumpets were blown to call people together to see how generous - how loving - how spiritual - how carefully the Pharisees fulfilled the law - to see and be humbled by the righteousness of the Pharisees.

The word “hypocrite” comes from the Greek word “hupokrites” which was the Greek word for someone who wore a mask - an actor who assumed the role of another person.  Over time it came to mean someone who was fake - someone who played a role with the world as their stage.  Jesus called these almsgivers “hypocrites.”

Imagine the Temple complex in Jerusalem.  With its elaborately dressed priests - thousands of sacrifices.  Crowds of people.  Exchanges of money.  Animals.  Pilgrims.  Tourists.  The pious.  A religious drama being lived out daily.  The Pharisees - the so called righteous - living out their little drama to the adoration of men.  It wasn’t really like the Pharisees actually cared about the poor.  What they cared about was their own reputation. 

Jesus warns that those who toot their own horns - whose motivation is to be honored by men - have their reward in full.  They have their fleeting moment in the sun.  Their moment on stage.  The adoration of the people.  And then that’s it.

Have you ever been in churches where just about everything’s got a name tag giving the name of who donated what?  Who donated what rooms or buildings?  The pews?  The Mr. Coffee?

One church we used to meet in had a classroom where most of the space was taken up by this huge dark wooden table that had a large brass plaque in the middle of it giving the name of who donated it.  I remember the plaque because when we’d meet around that table stuff kept getting stuck on the plaque as things were being moved around.  Cups got tipped over.  Food spilled.

Some churches regularly print the names of their donors in their newsletter.  Every donation - no matter how small - is publicized.  Reasoning goes - if we didn’t recognize these people they wouldn’t give.

Those who give for recognition have their reward - a letter - a handshake in some ceremony - a picture in a paper - a brass plaque.  But that’s it.

According to Jesus the kind of giving that God rewards has nothing to do with the recognition we gain from others and everything to do with what goes on in our hearts.

Let’s see if our AWANA T&T’ers are awake this morning.  Who was the shortest man in the Bible?  Peter, because he slept on his watch.  Next to the shortest?  Bildad the shoe height (Shuhite).  Third shortest?  Nehemiah (knee high miah).  Fourth shortest?  Zacheus.

Zaccheus was a wee little man
A wee little man was he.
He climbed up in a - what?  Sycamore tree
The Lord he wanted to see.

Zaccheus was a tax collector - a legal thief working for the occupying government.  He’d gotten filthy rich ripping off his own people.  Jesus goes and stays in Zaccheus’ house.  All the righteous people are indignant.

But Zaccheus does what?  He receives Jesus into his house and then tells Jesus, “Half of my possession I will give to the poor.  And, if I’ve defrauded anyone of anything - which was a foregone conclusion - I will give back four times as much.”

Jesus makes this incredible pronouncement:  “Today salvation has come to this house… For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost.”  (Luke 19:1-10)

Zaccheus wasn’t interested in any hypocritical pretense of righteousness.  He’d already been judged by the crowd.  What he was interested in was responding to God’s love - God’s forgiveness - God’s presence in his life.  A sinner humbly responding to God, Zaccheus gave generously.

Giving to the poor - almsgiving - as an example for us - is not about giving some change to a con artist with a “God Bless You” cardboard sign - so that somehow we’ll feel less guilty or so others will think more highly of us - some kind of peer pressure thing.  Giving to the poor - at its basic level - should come from our hearts.  Knowing how much God loves us - with all our needs - the greatest of which is salvation - we give to others.  That’s how people who know they’ve been loved by God - that’s how they share His love with others.

Not letting our left hand know what our right hand is doing means that we don’t allow our minds to dwell on what awesome people we are.  How we’ve denied ourselves.  How we given more than others.  The incredible sensitivity we’ve shown to the moving of the Holy Spirit.

God isn’t impressed with the little things we do to impress others or to delude ourselves.  He sees the secret places of our hearts.  What’s inside - behind the mask.   Its those secret - deep down - motivations - that God is looking to reward.

So we need to be honest with ourselves.   What really is our motivation in giving?  There’s a fine line between giving motivated by self - and giving motivated by God. 

The next example we want to look at comes in verse 16.  We’re going to skip verses 5 to 15 for now.  We’ll come back to them next Sunday.  For now, skip with me down to verse 16.   Second example of the living the life that God rewards that we want to look at this morning is fasting.  

Verse 16:  Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting.  Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Fasting is kind of an unusual subject for us.  I was thinking - as I was preparing for this morning - that I can’t remember the last time I heard a sermon on fasting.  So, I’d like to share a little background on fasting - fasting in a nutshell.  Just to make sure were all on the same page together.

Fasting is first of all associated with food.  But, fasting can also include denying ourselves other things besides food.  The point is the purposeful voluntary choice of abstaining from something.  When we fast the idea is that we’re setting aside the distractions of our lives - and prayerfully and purposefully placing ourselves fully in God’s presence to hear from Him.

God’s law - Old Testament - required only one fast - which was to take place once a year on the day of Atonement.  As time went by God’s people added a number of other fasts to the list.  Where they would abstain from eating foods for a specified period of time - usually sunrise to sunset.

They fasted to provide for the poor.  Fasted for healing from fears and other mental problems.  Fasted for solutions to problems.  Fasted for protection from Satan.  In the New Testament there are examples of fasts.  Fasting for being able to give one’s testimony.  Fasting for freedom from addiction.  Fasting for insight and decision making.  There are a number of different reasons why people fast.

Bottom line:  Scripture associates fasting with humiliation, sorrow over our sins, brokenheartedness, repentance, consecration, seeking God’s will to be done in our lives.   It is a deeply personal act of opening our hearts up to God - desiring to hear from Him - to have Him work in us and through us - in the circumstances of our lives.

The Pharisees boasted that they fasted twice a week - every Monday and Thursday.  They made sure that everyone knew they were fasting.  They paraded around in public with these long sorrowful faces.  Went without washing and shaving - without paying attention to basic hygiene.  They’d sprinkle ashes on their heads to show everyone how humbled before God they were - how deeply sorrowful for their sins. 

All of which Jesus labeled as hypocrisy.  Because their real heart motivation was to exalt themselves rather than to draw closer to God.  Whatever reward they got was from the oou’s and ahw’s of the crowd.  Not God.

Jesus told a parable about two men who had gone to the Temple to pray.  One was a Pharisee.  The other was a tax collector.  A contrast in the eyes of Jesus’ hearers - the super righteous verses the not even close to righteous.

The Pharisee stands up in the Temple and prays to himself:  “God, I thank you that I’m not like other people; swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.”

The tax collector is standing off a ways away from the Pharisee - in a less noticeable spot.  He’s not praying to be noticed - not even daring to assume that he can move close to the presence of God.  He can’t even look up when he prays.  That would be too arrogant.  He’s beating his chest.  He’s broken.  He’s in mourning over his sin.  He’s praying, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner.”

Jesus’ summary of the parable:  “I tell you, this man - the outwardly not even close to righteous tax collector - this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the who humbles himself will be - what? exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

There are times when I struggle with this - exalting myself.  I’ll go over to someone’s house and help out with something.  Or, we’ll be doing some kind of demolition or construction around here.  Stuff that isn’t exactly in the job description for the pastor.  Or I’ll put in some extra hours working on something.  And I’ll think to myself, I wonder if people notice how greatly I’m sacrificing for the team.  Maybe if I show up all sweaty and dirty people will get the idea.

“The pastor stinks.  He must be really righteous.”

When we’re doing stuff for God.  The hours we put in - like with AWANA or Sunday School or with the youth - going down to Mexico - bringing food for the fellowship time - filling shoeboxes - playing instruments - singing - working with tech stuff - on and on - any area of ministry or just where we’re living our lives at home or school or in the community - if we start focusing on ourselves - all the ways we’re sacrificing for God - we get tempted to think of ourselves as being righteous and wanting others to recognize that.  Are we together?

If we’re fasting and wanting other people to know about it we’ve missed the whole purpose of fasting - denying ourselves because we want to draw closer to God - to more deeply love Him and know His presence in our lives.  When we seek to exalt ourselves - even if its in our own minds - doing things in such a way that we get credit for - our acts of service - our self-denial - offered up to God - we are in serious trouble.

Jesus says, “When you fast don’t be obvious about it.  God knows.  God will reward you based on what’s coming out of your heart.  That’s what really counts.”

Giving and fasting are life characteristics of those who live in relationship with the living God.  “When you give” and “Whenever you fast.”  Not “If you give” or “If you fast.”  What Jesus is teaching us is how to give and fast in a way that really is righteous - that really does please God - that He does reward.

The bottom line:   We need to honestly examine our actions to see the motivation of our hearts.  In the depths of our hearts - what motivates us - what God is looking at - are we focused on ourselves or are we focused on God?

In thinking this through for us today - application - there is an additional truth here that we need to latch on to.  That truth is this:   God desires to reward us.  Say that with me, “God desires to reward us.”

Do you remember the parable that Jesus told about the master who went on a journey?  Before left he called his slaves in and gave them talents.  Five talents to one slave.  Two talents to another slave.  The last slave got one talent.  Remember this?

The talents are the master’s to give.  There’s no transfer of title or ownership.  The slaves have no expectation that they should be given anything.  The talents are not owed to them.  They’re simply given to them because they’re the slaves.  They have this master-slave relationship thing going.

What the talents were we really don’t know.  Were they a unit of weight?  Coinage?  There are various estimates of what these talents might be worth - somewhere between $5,000 each and $500,000.  They might represent up to 20 years of work to earn.  Point being that they’re valuable.  But, that really limits Jesus’ point to simple finances.

The talent - as Jesus is using it as an illustration - the talent is much more than just money.  It represents applied ability - time - gifting - resources - and even money.  Jesus is focusing us on what we do with what God gives us. 

The master goes on a long journey - comes back - and asks each slave what he did with the talents.  The five talent slave did what?  Traded with the five and earned five more.  The two talent slave did what?  Traded with it and earned two more.  The one talent slave did what?  Buried it and earned nothing.

The master tells Slave One and Slave Two.  It’s a Dr. Seuss moment.  The master tells slave one and slave two:  “Well done good and faithful what? slave.  Because you did well with a few things I’m going to put you in charge of many things.  Enter into the joy of your master.”  (Matthew 25:14-30)

There are “well done” high fives all around.  The slaves are faithful.  The number of talents is doubled.  The master has a profit.  The slaves are rewarded.    Responsibility is added.  There’s joy which comes from the master and the slaves get to experience that joy.  They get the key to the executive washroom.  Use of the Ferrari chariot with the genuine goat hide hand rail.

In Jesus’ parable this is a good thing.  Something we should strive for.  Being rewarded by the master - God. 

But, stay with me.  Given everything that Jesus said about giving and fasting - and what motivates us - doesn’t it seem a bit self-focused in our thinking - to serve God for the sake of being rewarded?  Shouldn’t it be enough just to do what is right because it’s the right thing to do and not have in the back of our minds the thought of being rewarded?

We need to be clear on exactly what this reward of God is.

When Jesus says that our Master - our Father in heaven - will reward us  He’s focusing on God - who created us - gives us our abilities - talents -  gives us everything we need to be successful in serving Him in the first place - and is just waiting to bless us.  To reward us.  To give us more.  To fill us with His joy - the joy of the Master.

That reward isn’t about outward stuff - accolades and things - and happy times - what we tend to focus on.  God’s reward is much more valuable that all that.  Much more needed in our lives. 

C.S. Lewis in his sermon “The Weight of Glory” - C.S. Lewis says this:  “We must not be troubled by unbelievers when they say that this promise of reward makes the Christian life a mercenary affair.  There are different kinds of reward.  There is the reward which has no natural connection with the things you do to earn it, and is quite foreign to the desires that ought to accompany those things.  Money is not the natural reward of love; that is why we call a man mercenary if he marries a woman for the sake of her money.  But marriage is the proper reward for a real lover, and he is not mercenary for desiring it.” (1)

In other words, when we’re living sold out to God - from our hearts devoted to pleasing Him with all He’s blessed us with - what we will experience is the reward that comes from satisfying the heart of God.  Not a temporal - here today and I forgot it tomorrow - kind of joy.  But eternal joy that comes from eternally being in the presence and pleasure of God - even today.

Can you imagine the almighty sovereign God of the universe saying to you personally, “Well done, good and faithful slave.”  That’s reward.  That touches the deepest needs of our lives.  Acceptance.  Approval. 

Our Heavenly Father desires to reward us.  To lavish His love on us.  To abundantly bless those who make choices for His sake.  Who live righteously from the heart.

There is a challenge here and reward.  For us to live our lives not for the acceptance and approval of those around us but to live our lives as an offering for our Father in heaven who sees our hearts - what’s done in secret - and will reward us.

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1. C.S. Lewis, sermon “The Weight of Glory” 06.08.1942