Give from your heart

Matthew 6:1-4

a. Give from the heart (6:1-2)

b. Give to glorify God (6:3-4)

1. INTRODUCTION

a. Jesus continues His discussion of outward perfection. In our previous section, Jesus spoke about the righteous and the unrighteous. Then in verse 46, He spoke about if you only love those who love you, what good is that? That’s no better than the unrighteous, but as for those who are righteous in Christ, our job is to excel in our righteousness than those of the scribes and Pharisees (6:20).

b. If we are truly to be salt and light in the world, we must be different. We can’t look and smell and act like everyone else and say we are different. No, our outward behavior must be different because an inward spirit has changed. We can’t forget in chapter 4 where Jesus went around and chose His disciples and said to them “Follow Me.” Put aside the things of the world and follow me.

c. This began the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus addresses the heart condition of true believers in Christ. This is the purpose of the Sermon on the Mount. It is to showcase our bankruptcy and our inability to live righteously apart from the power of God within our lives.

d. It is not that we can’t do anything right, but more accurately that we can’t be righteous inwardly although it may seem like outward righteousness. The teachings of Christ has never focused on the external, but His goal and aim was always internal. Christ dealt with our inner heart because it is the fruit of our outward heart. This is why all our behavior has no merit or worth if inwardly, we don’t have a desire to actually glorify God and serve others.

e. So what we see today is intention. We should always have the right intent in our service. I think believers know this and the logical way to think through this is, well then I won’t serve until I have the right heart. The reason why that train of thought doesn’t hold is because if we do this, we will never serve. What we have to do rather is, we have to straight our hearts and then serve. That doesn’t mean I stop serving, but I repent of my ways, and fight to serve correctly.

f. If we think in terms of marriage, we fix problems not by avoiding the problem and waiting for the problems to straighten out. No, we straighten out the problem by repenting and working through the problem. But how is this done? Our intention to glorify God and love others. Our job is to never give up. The Christian should never give up. Why? Because every instance is an opportunity for us to glorify God. Every trial we have is an opportunity to love someone or to love God.

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2. BODY

a. Give from the heart (6:1-2)

i. Jesus starts Chapter 6 by telling His disciples and listeners how they are to give. Jesus is continuing to explain this idea of righteousness and how righteousness must flow from the inside before it is portrayed externally. Thus, He explains it in the realm of giving. The next three sections help us to understand the essential behaviors of righteousness in the lives of God’s people. The three examples of giving, prayer and fasting therefore categorize these activities which God requires of His people.

i. The general principle expressed in the plural in v. 1 is now more specifically applied to the practice of the individual disciple. Giving to the poor was an important part of Jewish social life, one which Jesus has already spoken about and continues throughout His teaching ministry. We see this outlined in Deuteronomy 15:7-11, Psalm 112:9 and specific relief for the poor in Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 14:28-29. So Jesus’s quarrel here is not with the doing of giving, because He is already assuming that the disciple will give, but with the manner and the motive.

ii. When we take into speaking of any action, Jesus argues that it is infront of other people. Therefore, Jesus is arguing here for intention. The key here is intention. Every good deed brings no reward if it springs from the desire of self-aggrandizement. If everything we do is ultimately for our good, then it is fruitless. This in essence is the pillar of pride and selfishness.

iii. The pride of show is a malignant growth on religion which leads to counterfeit goodness. One must always remember that ‘the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart’ (1 Sam 16:7). This goes back to 5:16, that our righteousness should glorify your Father who is in Heaven. Our works must be in such a way that they don’t see us or our goodness, but God’s goodness.

iv. Notice the contrast here in 6:1. Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them. This goes in complete contrast to what Jesus said in 5:16. In 5:15, the emphasis was our actions were so distinct and different that they would have to believe or assume that it is from God. It is so radical and different that it was not for show or their own righteousness, but simply, they were incurring so much loss that they could not have done it for themselves, but it must have been to glorify God who was in Heaven.

v. We must take into consideration that in this society, they knew what righteousness was. It’s different than our society because they lived in a society where religion was strictly tied to their lives. But because religion was strictly tied to society, it was easier for people to be pretentious and think how godly or righteous they were over what they were actually.

vi. It would later be a display of wealth and recognition where it is no different in today’s church where people measure righteousness by wealth. This is not to say that sharing their wealth was looked upon sinful. Again, the measure of righteousness was not measured by what was given or the recognition that was received but giving from the heart.

vii. This was the separation and Jesus here was teaching about the difference. Was our giving due to some desired human applause or was it a shining reflection of God’s goodness into the heart and man, and because of that, the result is a giving that reflects their thankfulness unto God?

viii. This is why Jesus goes on to verse 2 by bringing up a scenario. When you do give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you. Don’t make a loud noise and tell others and give notice so that others will recognize what you give and how much you give. We can see from Jesus’s statement that this is what the hypocrites and Pharisees did so they would receive recognition rather than God receiving the glory. They themselves would receive the glory.

ix. I think we all understand the principle so what is Jesus actually saying? What does it mean that Jesus says don’t sound a trumpet? Well, even during Jesus’s time, if a large donation was given, it is most likely that publicly announced in the synagogues. We know this today as well when large donations are made, we thank the person who gave the donation. The question here is not that we thank the person who donated, but rather, the giving because we want to be noticed.

x. In the passage, there is no necessary allegation of deceit where they wanted people to give and they didn’t give the money. The reality was, they gave the alms. The problem was they wanted everyone to know it. They didn’t give primarily to help others, but rather, to receive recognition of their giving.

xi. The church throughout its history had great men and women who have given to the building of the church. There’s nothing wrong in giving and helping to build the kingdom. Money is needed to help build the kingdom. But we should never give because we want to be noticed. That’s what Jesus is teaching in this passage. Jesus is teaching that giving is what we should be doing, but when we do it to receive praise and glory, then it is giving that does not bear fruit.

b. Give to glorify God (6:3-4)

i. So Jesus begins verse 3 by explaining the process of how to give correctly. Up to now, Jesus spoke in negatives to tell us what not to do. But now, in verse 3, Jesus explains how we are to give. Jesus explains in verse 3 the idea of giving in secrecy. In verse 2, Jesus explained how the hypocrites, give for public notice. But unlike those hypocrites, the people of God should give in secrecy.

ii. John Stott a great Christian pastor writes, “Christian giving is to be marked by self-sacrifice and self-forgetfulness, not by self-congratulation.”

iii. What is meant by the left hand being unaware of what the right hand is doing? It is striking an expression of complete secrecy. It gives no room to gloat over how good a person is by their giving. It leaves no room for self-adoration or self-praise. This goes hand in hand with Paul’s teaching in 2 Corinthians 10:17, but He who boasts, let Him boast in the Lord (Ps 34:2).

iv. Jesus starts verse 4 with the purpose. Give with a purpose. What is that purpose? That your giving will be in secret and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. The beauty in this verse shows us that the unseen Father sees and gives reward to those who care not about receiving reward from men.

v. This helps us to understand that the focus in secret is more unseen, let your giving be unseen, unnoticed. And the Father who is unseen, who we cannot see will see this and will reward you. What is encouraging here is that God, the God who sees all things, will give us what we need. This helps us to understand the context of Matthew 6:25-34.

vi. This helps us to understand that in our anxiety, God sees all things and will reward those who trust in Him. This is the same principle.

vii. When we consider this idea, giving for the glory of God must always be in our purview. We almost always think in terms of how will God be glorified by my actions? I pray that we would all give with this in mind. I pray that our giving is not for the praise of men, but for the glory of God. May God receive the glory through our giving.

3. CONCLUSION