Be Genuine

Matthew 6:1-4

A Turn in the Sermon on the Mount

As we go through the sermon, it is important to remember that chapters 5-7 are one cohesive message - Describing the righteousness of God’s Kingdom, and calling those who would be in that kingdom to live out that righteousness.

Chapter 5 - exposition on the law and the call to the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven.

Chapter 6 - a practical application of God’s word

Chapter 7 - exhortations to kingdom living

Application of Righteousness (6:1-18) - When you do this - these are the basics of righteous spiritual works

When you give to the needy (1-4); our relationship with man

When you pray (5-15); our relationship with God

When you fast (16-18); our relationship with our self

Read the Text - Matthew 6:1-4

Be careful how you practice righteousness

Jesus starts with a warning - beware, take care, be mindful… of how you practice this righteousness

The expected and promised perfection:

Mat 5:20 Your righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and pharisees.

Mat 5:48 You will be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect

Lest that go to your head, be careful that you do not fall into the same trap of the pharisees and scribes and allow your practice of righteousness to become a righteous performance: “In order to be seen by others.”

When Not If

The question isn’t whether Christians will give, will pray, will fast… it is expected. Just on giving, the scriptures teach us:

“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.” (Prov. 19:17)

“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” (2 Cor 9:6)

“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” (Luke 6:35)

Working in the Light

The question isn’t about being seen. Notice Jesus does not say, “do not practice your righteousness before men…”

“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. (Matt 5:14–16)

The heart of Jesus’ sermon is the motive of our righteous works. Why do you do what you do? Is it to be seen by others, to make yourself feel good, to gain the praise of men? Or do you give, pray, and fast because you are a new creation and you want to bring glory and honor to God as you live in His grace?

When you give to the needy

Not as the hypocrites -

“Hypocrite” is a theatrical term

Two Greek words that literally translate as “an interpreter from underneath.” It makes more sense when you know that the actors in ancient Greek theater wore large masks to mark which character they were playing, and so they interpreted the story to the audience from underneath their masks. They spoke to the people, to get them caught up.

Theatrical righteousness is a righteousness concerned to do dramatically noticeable good for a selected audience. 

The audience

For Man - The Pharisees posed as being most devout worshippers of God and lovers of their fellow men, when in reality they were self-righteous and sought only the applause of men: behind the outward appearance of piety and generosity they were the slaves of worldly and selfish passions.

For Self - Luther often insisted that our righteousness is more dangerous than our sin. For “righteousness” can serve the most self-centered of all human desires: self-glorification. “Just look at how good I am…”

Sounding the trumpets

Sounding a trumpet – perhaps to announce that they were ready to hand out funds, so that the poor could come and receive them. 

The trumpet shaped coffers that would make a loud clanging sound when you dropped your money in…

The widows mite - would have made no sound.

Having your name on the building, the right posture on social media - So that others will know that I care…

They have their reward.

Their real motive was to be honored by their peers. They wanted people to see how generous they were. They wanted people to be impressed with their spirituality or their devotion to God or their kind heart.

People praise and say, ‘How wonderful, how marvelous, how generous…”

They get their reward, they get their praise. They get their name in the paper; articles are written about them; there is a great deal of talk about them; people write their obituary notices; they get it all. 

But that is all they get, for Jesus said they have their reward, but have no reward in heaven.

Give for God’s reward

Giving in secret - for your Father sees in secret

Not letting the right hand know what the left is doing -

J.C. Ryle - We are to give quietly, and make as little noise as possible about our charities.

Don’t keep a spiritual ledger, don’t keep profit and loss accounts in your life; don’t write a diary in this sense; just forget about it.  Do things as you are moved by God and led by the Holy Spirit, and forget all about them.  We should have such a love for God that we have no time to think about ourselves.

Jesus liberates us from having to impress anyone, including ourselves in our giving to the poor.

Giving to God by giving to others

2 Cor 8:3ff - They gave according to their means (they were in poverty), and beyond their means, begging for the favor of taking part in the relief offering… they gave themselves first to the Lord, and then by the will of God to us.

Col 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men…

God will reward.

God keeps the account. He sees everything, and He records it all, and He will reward you openly.

Rom 2:6 “He will render to each one according to his works

Rev 22:12 Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.

Checking the Heart’s Motive

How do we make sure we don’t fall into the trap of merely performing our righteous deeds for the approval of others? The answer, as always, brings us back to Christ.

A Christ-centered humility

The gospel reminds us of our brokenness, our need, our desperate condition, and of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.

We are saved by God’s grace, where when we were dead in our trespasses, covered in unrighteousness, awaiting the judgment of God’s wrath, He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, who took our guilt upon Himself, died in the place of sinners, so that He would take our sinful robes for himself, and cover us in His perfect righteousness.

The truth of the gospel is that if I were to stand before God on my own, my reward for this life would be death and punishment for all eternity. But by grace I am, you are, counted righteous in Christ, and receive the reward for His goodness.

We press on, striving to grow in righteousness, always aware that we are not there yet. We are called perfect, we are being made perfect, but we are still and always sinners redeemed by grace.

This keeps us humble, especially as we call the world to repent and believe. “The Church is full of hypocrites,” It should be. Honest hypocrisy – where we live with the reality of our situation, living in the now and the not yet.  “I am a saint, overcoming sin by the blood of the lamb.”

A Christ-like generosity -

As recipients of mercy, we are to show mercy and kindness to others, that they may know the love and mercy of God

The grace given in Christ is to be given to others

A Christ-crowned reward

The reward of the Father

Don’t overlook the fact that Jesus here, twice, call us to look for the reward our our Father in Heaven

We have been adopted, called to be sons and daughters

Not a spirit of slavery, but of adoption, crying our Abba, Father

The reward of Christ

2 Tim 4:8 - there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness…

“And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” (1 Peter 5:4)

The praise of our Lord

To hear the voice of our Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matt 25:21)