2024-06-02 Which Reward Do You Want?

Well, this week we are starting a new series called / / “Money Matters”!

Now, I want to pre-empt this series with some thoughts about what we’ll be looking at, or I guess maybe, what we won’t be looking at. First of all, as all of our series this year, we are approaching this topic from Jesus’ teaching within the Sermon on the Mount. This is important to remember because if Jesus is telling people how they are meant to live as Kingdom representatives, or as Paul calls us, “Ambassadors of Christ” within this world of a Kingdom that is not here yet, but is yet to come, then we have to know what that kingdom thinks about money, about possessions, about how to be good stewards and manage our finances well.

So, what this series won’t be:

This is not a series about giving to the church. Although God’s plan for our finances includes giving, we aren’t going to be spending the next four weeks talking about how you should be giving to the church. We will be talking about giving, in fact, the first thing Jesus says about finances within the Sermon on the Mount is on giving, but not to his ministry, not to the church, or temple. That’s not what this series is about. It will include it, but it’s not the focus.

This is not a series on getting rich. We aren’t going to be talking about what rich is, or how to get there. This isn’t God’s 10 steps to your first million.

This is not a series about what it means to be blessed, or that money equals blessing, or that if you’re rich that must mean you are blessed. Remember, this series is coming out of the Sermon on the Mount, and what is the first section of that? The Beattitudes which all start with, “Blessed are those who…” and none of them end with “…are rich!”

This is not a series on being self sufficient financial.

This is not a series on building your net worth.

This isn’t even going to be a series on budgeting or using your money correctly, although it will include many of these things to a certain degree.

This is also not going to be an exhaustive series because although we could do all sorts of things when it comes to talking about money and possessions and all of that, I want to stay very true to what I believe God has led us to for this year, and that is looking at Jesus’ invitation to follow him through a specific way of living which he describes in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7. The Bible itself has more than 2300 verses on money, giving and possessions. So we could do a very long series on this topic, but we are going to stay true to our focus this year on the Sermon on the Mount.

That’s the goal, to look specifically at what Jesus says in that section of scripture in regards to money and possessions.

So, why Money Matters?

Well, because it does. I don’t want to get into a bunch of stats this morning, although, y’all know I do love some good statistics. But one of the greatest reasons people don’t trust the church is because of money. Because the church hasn’t always done well at managing it, and on some occasions the church has been outright egregious with it’s management of money.

Also, if we are meant to be living as kingdom people, ambassadors of Christ, And the Kingdom of God is a good place, we should have a reasonably healthy life. Of course none of us our perfect, but if that’s the goal, then there should be evidence of some movement toward that, right?

Let me say this. / / The Christian life is one of stewardship. We are gifted by God with many things, not the least of which is life itself, and it is our life to respond well and manage well what He has given us. That’s it. In fact, I would say that’s not just the Christian life, it’s the / / human life.

Think about the Garden of Eden, right back to the book of Genesis. God creates the world and all that is in it, and then creates humanity, Adam and Eve, and what does he say? Genesis 1:28, / / Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

Some translations say to / / subdue the earth and have dominion over it. And that word, dominion, has gotten Christianity into a lot of trouble, to be honest. See, those words, “govern and reign” in the NLT or “subdue and take dominion” in the ESV, have been taken to mean we can do whatever WE want with whatever we want, however WE want to. The belief is that if God is going to create a new heaven and new earth, then it doesn’t matter if we burn this one to the ground, so many Christians don’t think about sustainability, environmental consciousness, the way we grow our food or raise and treat animals. But what God is really saying to Adam and Eve is, as I the Lord have created all of this, and I have created you in my own image, you are being given the stewardship of overseeing what I have created, to help it flourish and thrive. You are meant to tend the garden and help it grow. Protect it. Yes, of course, reap the harvest that it yields. Yes, enjoy the goodness that it produces. But care for it.

And that is a complicated topic. I recently wrote a 15 page paper on how our Christian theology, our doctrines as the Church, are meant to interact and inform our response or interaction to the current environmental crisis. That in of itself is complicated. How do you define environmental crises? And depending on who you talk to, that will determine the answer. But I’ll give you one example, which was really the underlining thought behind my paper.

Currently we have 3 types of straws circulating around restaurants. Talking specifically about restaurants, so metal and silicone straws at home don’t count. But we have / / plastic straws, paper straws, and these newer biodegradable organic straws.

Each one of those straws represents a thought and approach to our environment. Let me explain.

/ / Plastic straws - we know they are no good. We know plastic can take hundreds of years to actually break down. We know recycling isn’t actually working out the way we were promised. Less than 10% of consumer plastic actually gets recycled in America. There’s an estimated more than 8 Billion plastic straws on our world’s beaches and that’s only 1% of the straws we actually use. So the end result. Plastic is bad. And I think the majority of people agree on that.

/ / Paper straws - no one likes them, no one wants them, they are terrible and should not be a solution because they aren’t actually a solution. We went to the movies a few weeks ago and they gave me this paper straw and before the movie even started the straw was soggy and gross. Didn’t even make it through the previews. So why use them? Because they “look” good. Because it looks like you care about the environment. But really. It’s what is called “virtue signalling” we try to look good without actually solving the real problem. Oh, and that’s not to mention that when they biodegrade they actually let off toxins because of what is used to make them.

Then we have these / / newer straws that are made from a completely biodegradable substance that actually work and feel like plastic straws. They function the way people want. They are pleasant to use. And from an environmental perspective, and let’s just define that for a second. When I say / / environmental perspective, what I mean is, how what we do impacts the environment around us - they completely biodegrade within 3-6 months.

Why hasn’t there been a mass transfer in what we use? Why is the movie theatre still giving me a straw that turns soggy in less than 10 minutes for a 2 hour movie?

Cost. Plastic is still cheaper. Plastic is more shelf stable. In fact, you can buy as many plastic straws and get the bulk pricing so low, being confident that they’ll be on your shelf in a hundred years if you don’t use them.

When I did just a bit of research, and looked at the true meaning behind “govern and rule over” in Genesis, I started to notice I was making slightly different decisions. I don’t need a straw, so if you are going to hand me a plastic straw, I’m ok, thanks.

Why say all that? Well, we aren’t fixing the world’s problems with straws, ok, that’s not the point. The point, and why I used it for my paper was because it’s a small, simple, relatable part of everyday life that translates to most areas of the same conversation in bigger terms.

Sure there are some people that drive electric vehicles because they think they are cool, or think they’ll save money not buying gas, but I would think we probably also all know at least one person that feels completely justified by driving their electric vehicle and probably doesn’t know that in the Congo there are an estimated 40,000 children mining cobalt, being paid less than $10 a day while the mining company turns what they mined into $800 - 1000, just for 1 component of that electric vehicles battery. And the mining process is so damaging to the earth that it is leaving vast wastelands of space that are polluting the regional water supply, destroying habitats and displacing bio-systems. So, yes, your vehicle is more carbon neutral than my truck, but at what cost?

And if you own or want to buy an electric vehicle, I’m not digging on you, but I will say it’s not everything they say it is, ok.

All of that to say, / / stewardship matters. And so the concept, or idea that I was presenting in my paper was ultimately this, / / “If we can do better, we must do better.”

Why bring all that up? Well, we begin to talk about money, it’s the same idea. If we can do better, we must do better. And if we don’t know what Jesus says about money, about possessions, how are we supposed to do better? So we have to be willing to hear something about what might be the most difficult topic that most people don’t want to talk about: our money, our wallets.

If you’re like me, you aren’t keen on someone coming in and telling you how you should use your money. You worked hard for it, and it’s yours to do with as you please, right?

It’s estimated that between 20-40% of divorces are centered around money.

As of the first quarter of 2024, the total household debt in the US is almost at $18 Trillion.

The average American adult has nearly $67,000 in debt, and 77% of households have some sort of debt.

Let’s just be honest, we aren’t managing our money well. Not individually, not as couples or families, not corporately, and unfortunately, that hasn’t avoided the church either. One of the reasons, as I said, that people have a hard time trusting the church is because they think we preach you have to give to the church, which, some churches do. They think we are only after their money, which, some churches seem they are. And they see corruption that they don’t like. Which is 100% understandable.

Here’s a single statistic that might just blow your mind. $809 Billion dollars comes into religious organizations every year. That’s more than the US military budget. Now here’s the scary part. Of that $809 Billion, $53 Billion is stolen… 6.5%. That’s not spent poorly, or in a bad way, that’s gone missing. One podcast I was listening to said that $53 Billion is enough to solve the top 30 global social issues.

What we do with / / money matters.

How we manage our money matters.

How we think about money matters.

How we approach money matters.

How we give our money matters.

Do you see where I’m going with this. Money matters.

Over the next 4 weeks we’re going to look at four passages of scripture from Matthew chapter 6 where Jesus talks about money and possessions. Again, this isn’t going to be an exhaustive series because we are in this year long journey through the Sermon on the Mount. So we won’t be digging deep into a whole biblical approach to finances, we will be focusing on the topics that Jesus brings up within the Sermon on the Mount specifically:

Today we’re going to look at Matthew 6:1-4.

/ / “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do - blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything will reward you.”

Ok, so in this first little section here, not long, just four verses, Jesus is talking about giving. I know, I said this series wasn’t about giving…well, it’s not about giving directly to the church, in that Jesus doesn’t say, “Make sure you’re tithing to the church now, ok?” But, / / generosity is a major theme in the Bible, and the reason for that is because of both the nature of God, and His created order.

Let me explain.

/ / The nature of God is to give. Everything God does toward humanity is giving. Our very existence is a gift from God. I have been overcome as I study the doctrine of the Trinity, the belief that God is one God, but represented in three distinct persons, Father, Son & Holy Spirit. It’s a very difficult concept to wrap our heads around because there really is no perfect example to explain it. There’s nothing you can compare it to. Yet, the bible says that God is One, and yet, throughout scripture it is very evident that He is God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

Now, what has absolutely transformed my view of God is the thought that God is wholly sufficient within himself.

We know that Scripture says that God is love, well God doesn’t need anything but God to express that love because God, within himself, is three persons. So God did not create humanity because he needed someone to love.

God is also relationally fulfilled within himself. So he did not create humanity because he needed friends.

God is Father and Son, so he didn’t need family.

My point is, God is fully, 100%, wholly sufficient within himself without ever creating anything and yet he CHOOSES to create. Why? I don’t know. There’s no need. Except maybe this - a willingness and desire to express both creativity and generosity toward what he creates.

God is creative, the source of creation, and therefore he creates. He doesn’t have to, but he chooses to. And in the same way, he gives of himself to that creation. We see it in the garden. Man and Woman made IN HIS image to bear his likeness to look after what He has created. Of all creation God says something and it happens, but with humanity he forms Adam out of the ground he’s made and then breaths his own life into Adam to bring this lump of clay to life.

/ / Generosity is baked into the creation story.

Now, if you follow the biblical narrative, what do we see when it comes to the law of Moses in the Old Testament? / / Generosity is central to the law. The law required that three tithes were utilized by the people of Israel. Did you know that? Three. Not 1, but 3! And I say utilized instead of given for a specific reason that I’ll get to in a moment.

Through these three tithes, / / God is teaching generosity. Generosity toward Him, Generosity toward yourself, Generosity toward others.

/ / 1. Generosity toward God

The first tithe, which, tithe simply means one tenth - you brought a tithe, one tenth, or 10% of the produce of field and the animals that ate of it to the temple, it was called the Levitical, or sometimes the sacred tithe, and the purpose was to ensure the Levites and the priests, who were tasked with both looking after the temple and performing the duties of the temple, including worship, sacrifice etc… was able to function - this was all centered around the worship of God at the temple. This would be where some churches carry over their belief that a tithe should be given to the church, because the church is the modern day representation of the temple, meaning, the place where people come to worship God which employs those who both look after that place of worship and the spiritual needs and teaching / function toward people and worship toward God.

/ / 2. Generosity toward Yourself

The second tithe is why I used the word utilized, because this tithe wasn’t given to anyone at all, it was used so that you yourself could fulfill a portion of the law toward God. In the law, all of Israel was required to go to Jerusalem for certain occasions, festivals. So, God having the foresight to see that we might not be the best at planning for future events, put into the law specifically to plan for these events. It was like saying, Listen, you’re all going to go on a spiritual vacation and meet with all the rest of Israel in Jerusalem and have a huge festival, a party, in honor of God, so set aside 10% of all you harvest so that when you go, you don’t have to worry about money. Almost like a cool vacation fund, except we aren’t going to Disney, we’re going to worship God together, like a big family reunion. And this was kind of a cool tithe. The law said that if you were traveling really far, and the tithe, all your food and wine essentially, was too much to carry, you could sell it for money, and take that money to the festival, and when you get there, Deuteronomy 14:26 says, / / …spend the money for whatever you desire - oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves.

We are about to party, make sure you prepare for it well!

/ / 3. Generosity toward Others

And then the third tithe was really a 3.3% tithe because it was only taken every 3 years. Each third year you would take 10% of that years produce and bring it to your town and store it all together. And the purpose of this was for the poor or those in need. Deuteronomy 14:29 says, / / …the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

Sojourner there can mean two things. It can simply mean someone passing through, but predominately was used to describe non-native born residents. Immigrants, basically. Someone who isn’t Jewish, but has come to live and has stayed, and doesn’t have the benefit of a native born citizen. So, every third year you gave a tenth of that years produce to look after those in need.

So, / / Generosity is baked into the creation story.

Generosity is central to the law of Moses.

And Generosity is the focus of the gospel message. John 3:16, (ESV) / / “For God so loved the world, that he GAVE his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” This is the very center of the gospel message. God gives a way for us to be with Him, and that giving is based on love, and what does Jesus say to his disciples? That the world will know us by our love. What is love? It is generous. It is self-giving. It is other focused.

So the whole story of the bible is generosity.

So, The reason all this matters, first, God is generous.

Second, / / God still owns everything!

God created all the known and unknown universe and is still in charge of it. It’s still all His.

Psalm 24:1-2, / / The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him. For he laid the earth’s foundation on the seas and built it on the ocean depths.

God is the creator. God created it all. God owns what he creates.

So, David says “the world and all its people belong to him.” And then Paul comes in and says in Romans 12:1, maybe as a reminder to what David said, / / I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice…

And he really brings it home when he writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, / / Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

You do not belong to yourself!

And this is still the case. God created all and still owns all, regardless of what we truly believe, we are simply stewards of God’s good creation.

But as we’ve seen so far, when it comes to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is often times correcting how things have gone astray. And I would say that the world needs that today just as much as it needed it back then, and specifically, as Jesus is talking to Jewish believers of God in this sermon, I would say that the ones who need to hear it most today is the Church. If the world is not representing God’s character and heart when it comes to stewardship, well, that kind of makes sense. But when the church doesn’t, that means we’re missing something, right?

So, Jesus hits four points in this short little message he gives in Matthew chapter 6:

/ / 1. Avoid Public Admiration

2. Don’t Make Your Giving the Focus

3. Give in Private

4. There is a Reward

So, let’s get into it:

/ / 1. Avoid Public Admiration

/ / “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.”

Alright, the first thing you have to notice here is that Jesus isn’t saying, / / “Don’t do good deeds publicly… He doesn’t stop there. He adds, / / …to be admired by others.”

This is so common today, it’s amazing. And there’s kind of something feel goody about them, but also, they kind of make me cringe. The first one that really made me think about it, and I think it was my brother who pointed it out when I had sent it to him, was a couple years ago after the Super Bowl someone posted a video where they had this roof top party at this cool restaurant / bar, and they went out and grabbed a bunch of homeless people, gave them jersey’s, fed them a tonne of great party food and just had a great time enjoying the superbowl together.

That in of itself isn’t bad. In fact, maybe it’s kind of cool. You’re inviting someone into a fun experience that they would have otherwise not been able to have. But, what was pointed out to me was how well the video was produced. Perfect camera angles everywhere. Almost scripted words being used. multiple camera shots. Oh wait, this wasn’t just a good deed, this was produced, and it was produced for likes, subscribes and shares!

Let’s face it, that’s one of the biggest currencies in todays marketplace, comment, like, subscribe and share. People are making big money from social media algorithms.

But here’s the point Jesus is making, even without all of that 2000 years ago, people still gave with the motive to be recognized.

N.T. Wright, in his commentary on this passage of scripture points out the connection between the law and giving. Remember what I said earlier, generosity is baked into the human story by God. The law of Moses required generosity. It required giving to the poor. It required looking after those who were less fortunate. And the law determined whether you were right before God. So if you wanted to be right before God you needed to be generous. This was part of the covenant they agreed to with God. It wasn’t just a good thing, but a religious duty.

This is why Jesus doesn’t have to say anything about actually giving to the poor. He doesn’t have to mention that they should be generous, they already are, it’s part of their way of life following the law.

Now, that doesn’t mean everyone was doing it. And so Jesus in many ways is also reminding people of the law of Moses.

In just those few words, “Don’t do your good deeds publicly…” He’s saying, “We’re about to talk about when you do your good deeds, because you’re all doing your good deeds, right? Remember what the law says about generosity…”

He doesn’t have to convince them about something they already do. When people come into the church for the first time it can seem weird that we talk about giving money every week. People can think, “Wait, why are they asking for money again, they just did that last week? Is this like a club I have to pay to be a member of every time I come in? Is this like those games I get on my phone, they look fun from the advertisements and then when I download it it’s all just a bunch of ads to make me pay to play?” No wonder people feel awkward. They don’t get it’s baked into the human gift of life by design from God.

So that can seem kind of weird. But for the people in Matthew 6 that Jesus is talking to, this is a way of life. 10% to the temple to keep worship functioning before the Lord, 10% set aside each year so we can go on vacation to Jerusalem and worship and celebrate and have a feast and party with the rest of our relatives, and 10% every third year to help look after those who need help.

If you were following the law of Moses you were doing these things.

So Jesus is essentially reminding the people of two different things.

/ / 1. Don’t forget to be generous as God has called you to be generous.

/ / 2. When you are generous, don’t do it for the admiration of the people around you, do it out of YOUR admiration for God.

/ / 2. Don’t Make Your Giving the Focus

/ / “When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do - blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get.”

Alright, maybe you’ve noticed that is now two times that Jesus has mentioned a reward. But we’ll get there in a bit.

So, don’t do as the hypocrites do, blowing trumpets on their way to give someone a helping hand. Again, think of all of those social media videos that draw attention to the acts of kindness. Yes, in some way it encourages others maybe to do the same, and there’s probably some sort of dopamine rush we get from watching a feel good story, but also, that was their reward. They are receiving their reward through the means in which they exploited their good deed.

Now, this can be complicated, and again comes back to motive. Remember what Jesus said in the first part. Don’t do your good deeds publicly TO BE ADMIRED by others.

If you are going to walk up to a homeless person and give them food you are going to be visible to those around you.

If you are going to offer someone a helping hand when they’ve fallen, you’re going to be seen doing that.

/ / Being seen is not the point. It’s what you hope to gain by being seen that is.

Internally, don’t do something to be seen. But don’t let being seen stop you from doing something.

Kelley and I would go back and forth about this one. I don’t really like posting things we do here on social media, I think it’s a bit odd. Especially when we’re doing a food drive. I can be a bit weird that way. Not that I feel like I’m being religious or feel like if we post it that’s our reward. To be honest, we aren’t doing food drives for the reward. Except, and let me just be transparent about a thought on that. I do have to be careful about motives when it comes to things like that. We have become known in this town as a church that helps. We’ve become known as the church that gives out free water at events. And those “known” things can quickly become a trap to be recognized for that.

“Oh, You’re that church that really helped my friend!” …. yeeaaahhhh…..

But, what if we stop? Will people think of us differently?

What if we can’t help people in that way for a season? Will the town view us negatively? Will we lose influence if that’s helped us gain any with the hearts and minds of people in our area?

Is that the reward I’m seeking?

And I also recognize that in todays world, if you want to help people, the distance is greater, the city is more spread out, people don’t walk 10 minutes across town for help, they drive 20 minutes for help. And social media enables us to spread the word that there is help to be had. So there’s an element of practicality there as well. Again, it all comes down to the motive behind the act.

It is healthy to ask ourselves, “Why are we doing what we’re doing?” Is it purposeful? Is it because this is what God would have us doing right now? Is it within our capacity to do right now? These are all things to keep in mind as we consider doing good deeds.

N.T. Wright says, / / “If these religious duties are done with an eye on the audience, they become rotten at the core.”

Should we be doing good deeds? No doubt about it. But how, why, and for what reason actually matter in the eyes of God.

/ / 3. Give in Private

/ / “But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

Bring it back to the Sermon on the Mount for a second. What is this whole thing about? It’s about living in this Kingdom way before God. In the end it’s all about God. We are generous to people because of our heart toward God. We are learning what it means to be God focused, Kingdom minded, ambassadors that relate the heart of a loving God to the people of this earth.

Now, I want to give two thoughts on this particular verse, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Jesus is saying two things here.

First, / / to the best of your ability, give without notice, without fanfare, without recognition. Just quietly help those in need. Nobody needs to know about it except the person receiving the help. Or if it’s in giving to the church, no one needs to know how much or what you are giving. That’s not the point. Just do your best to be discrete. I think this does two things. It keeps your motives in check, and it also retains the dignity of the person in need. Being in need isn’t fun for people. We don’t love asking for help, do we? We don’t like realizing we can’t do it on our own. And when you are in need, do we really want everyone to know about it? Privately helping people means they decide if they want people to know they’ve been helped.

The second thing this does is in relation to the right and left hand. Basically Jesus is saying, / / Don’t worry about being without. Let yourself release the gift without ever thinking about it, or worrying where your provision will come from again.

The left hand can give without the right hand getting involved saying, “Wait, will we have enough for us?” For some that might even involve how they engage with giving toward the church. I have met people that think in this way even in regards to filing their taxes. They give to their local church, but they don’t file that donation receipt at the end of the year because they want to avoid any earthly, governmental benefit to corrupt why they give in the first place. Now, hear me on this, that is a very personal decision for every believer. I file my taxes every year and I include my donation receipt and the government gives me a benefit for my gift to charity. I’m ok with that and don’t believe it’s robbing me from God’s blessing. I truly don’t. Now, the difference would be if I felt God was telling me personally NOT to file with that, THEN that becomes a question of motive and obedience, which God takes, and I should take, very seriously.

But, I think Jesus is making a simple point here. / / Do your best to give discretely, for their sake and yours.

/ / 4. There is a Reward

“Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

Notice it. That’s the third time. The third time Jesus makes mention of reward for generosity. Remember what the law was intended to do. It was intended to lead the people of Israel to a better way of life. Not obedience or servitude to God because he demands it, but obedience to His way of living because it actually produces life. So, in terms of generosity, there is reward. Of course there is. The law was designed to lead to life.

Now, this is a big point. Notice that Jesus does not define what ‘reward’ means. And we already know from the sermon on the Beatitudes that we’re not talking about the world’s idea of “blessed”, meaning, “money, money, money, money…….money!”

So, he mentions reward three times, the first two times it’s a noun, it is talking about the substance of a reward, if you’re giving in this particular way for this motive that is the reward you receive, the praise you got, the attention you got, and you forfeit the reward that God wanted to give you. And the third time is a verb, the action of giving a reward. God will see you give with right motives, and then will reward you with a reward.

So, what does Jesus mean by reward, or let’s say, how he treats this process.

Reward here isn’t like you won a prize, but it means to pay back, like you were paying back a loan, or repaying someone for what they’ve done for you.

Listen to what Jesus says about good deeds in Matthew 25. He’s talking about a time when he will return, ok, this is Second Coming stuff. And he says the whole world will be gathered in front of him, and they’ll be split into two groups and the split is based on this:

Matthew 25:34-36, / / “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.”

And all of the people he’s talking to say, “We don’t remember doing any of that stuff for you.”

And Jesus response is, / / “…when you did it to the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” (vs 40)

And then to the other group he says the opposite of all those things, I was hungry and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, you didn’t give me a drink. etc… And they turn and say, “Come on, when did we ever see you and not give you what you needed?” And again he says, “when you REFUSED to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.”

What’s Jesus saying? If we put what we’re reading in Matthew 6 and what we read in Matthew 25 we see that Jesus considers the good deeds we do to people like we’re doing them to Him personally! But who is handing out the reward? In both Matthew 6 and Matthew 25 it is the Father.

I understand this completely. When I was in the hospital some of you looked after my wife and daughter, right? You called, you brought food, you took Kaylee in for afternoons while Kelley was at work. And what did I do, as the Father of my house, you got MY thanks. Now, I didn’t send you extravagant gifts - I apologize for that, but I gave you my heartfelt gratitude, because when you took care of them, you were taking care of me. And I’m going to repay you in that way.

Jesus sees it the same way, When you help those in need, it’s like you are helping him, and My Father sees that and wants to repay that kindness.

Again, Jesus doesn’t define what that reward is. And that’s on purpose, and I’m ok with that, because I need more than just financial blessing based on my ability to give financially to people.

This means we can’t expect dollar for dollar like this is some sort of investment fund. Psalm 126:5 says Those who sow with tears will reap in joy. That’s a pretty decent return on investment, isn’t it?

This is kind of the point that Jesus is making through the whole Sermon on the Mount. We are living for a different way, and when we live to follow Him, we’re following Him to life. When we live out this part of our created humanity, which is generosity, we reap a harvest of the Father’s care for our lives. So whether that is money, food, someone painting your house while you’re in the hospital, the point is, it’s a good deed that Jesus receives as done to himself and the the Father sees and wants to repay that generosity.

We’ll be looking at this in our next series as we talk about Prayer, but I’m glad the reward isn’t just in kind to what I’ve given, in Matthew 6:8 Jesus says, / / “…your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!”

It is not ours to figure out the reward, it is ours to follow the way of Jesus which is a self-giving, other focused, love compelled generosity, and leave the rewarding up to our Heavenly Father.

So, as we begin this journey about money and possessions, these are the things we need to remember.

/ / The Kingdom of God is built on generosity and so, as ambassadors of that kingdom we are meant to be generous people.

/ / The Kingdom of God is built on humility, so as ambassadors of that kingdom we don’t need to force or even seek recognition for our generosity.

/ / The King still owns it all! The Kingdom of God is the true authority in this earth, it is all God’s, which means we don’t need to worry about being generous and wondering how we will look after ourselves. God, our heavenly Father knows what we need before we even ask and will look after us.

/ / God the Father repays self-giving, others-focused, love-compelled generosity as if it were given directly to His Son, Jesus Christ. When we do those things. Live generously out of a heart to serve God and the people around us, without a need or motive for recognition and prestige, all to the glory of God, trusting that he will provide what we need for ourselves, then our good heavenly Father will reward us for our good deeds toward humanity.

Let’s pray!