A Study of Matthew: What are You Lookin' At?

Matthew 6 ESV

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

We are continuing our study of Matthew’s gospel. We know that the apostle Matthew wrote this book to help Jews recognize that the Messiah who was prophesied about and who they had been waiting for over the last thousand years had come, and that Jesus is that Messiah.

The problem is that the Jews had developed this idea of what the Messiah would be like. They expected him to be this great military leader or political figure who would overthrow the Roman empire and reestablish Israel as a powerful nation.

But Jesus came to establish a very different kind of kingdom. And the sermon that he started preaching in chapter 5 was all about describing this new kingdom and its values.

Jesus started with the beatitudes, teaching that God values the people who recognize that they don’t have it all together, who put their trust in God’s goodness and mercy, and who demonstrate that goodness and mercy to others.

He also tells them that, as kingdom citizens, they have a purpose, which is to bring others into the kingdom. They do this by telling others and living out the kingdom values so others will see the truth of the kingdom. If they are not living out the kingdom values and sharing truth, then they are useless and not true citizens.

Jesus teaches that what is in their heart is just as important to God as their actions. Hate is the same as murder. Having a dirty mind is the same as cheating on your spouse. Even doing things that are technically within the law for the wrong reasons is sin.

Today, Jesus elaborates further on this. You can be the best behaved person in the world. You don’t let yourself think dirty thoughts. You give to the poor. You volunteer at a homeless shelter. You are in church every time the doors are open. BUT—you can be doing those things for all the wrong reasons. The religious leaders were the masters at acting holy. They kept every law, in their own minds, but they were still wrong. WHY?

Those religious leaders loved the attention they got. They loved how everyone thought of them as being morally and spiritually superior. They made sure that EVERYBODY saw them doing acts of charity. They made sure EVERYBODY heard them pray very religious and impressive sounding prayers.

But they were hypocrites. They claimed to be pointing people toward God, but they really just wanted everybody to worship them.

What does Jesus say about helping others?

Matthew 6:3–4 ESV

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Make your giving about meeting the need, not getting attention for yourself.

When you pray, don’t try to impress others with eloquent words. If that is what your prayer is really about, impressing the audience, then that is the only thing you will get out of the prayer, because you weren’t really asking God for anything.

Jesus also spoke to those who try to force God to answer a prayer in the way they want the prayer answered. Even today, there are people who interpret the Bible in a way that that gives them the formula for the perfect prayer that will give them the answer they want every time.

For example, who remembers the big hype about praying the prayer of Jabez?

1 Chronicles 4:10 ESV

Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.

It was supposed to be about trusting God to protect and give the resources needed to fulfill God’s purpose. Jabez lived during a time when Israel was under attack. He wasn’t praying to expand his holdings and increase his fortune. He was praying that God would defend Israel’s borders from their enemies. But prosperity preachers twisted it into something else. They declared, “Jabez prayed that prayer, and God blessed him. If you pray that prayer, just like Jabez did, God HAS to answer and bless you too!” They tried to turn a prayer into a formula for success.

Jesus tells his disciples that, if they are going to imitate any prayer, it should be the one we call the Lord’s prayer.

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

It’s a prayer that reflects the kingdom values. It acknowledges God’s greatness and holiness. It’s a prayer of submission—your will be done. It doesn’t demand special favors, but simply asks God to provide what we need. It acknowledges our shortcomings and weakness. Forgive us our debts. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. It acknowledges our responsibility as kingdom citizens—as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Jesus reinforces that responsibility when he says that, if we don’t forgive others, God won’t forgive us either.

Jesus talks about fasting like he did about prayer. Pray to talk to God. Fast to get closer to God and discipline yourself. Do it privately, because it’s supposed to be about God.

Finally, Jesus talks about the disciples’ relationship with the world. Namely, don’t be too preoccupied with it. Don’t put too much value in earthly possessions. They are temporary. Reputation and popularity can be fickle. Care more about the quality of your soul. If your focus is on worldly systems and values, you cannot be focused on God and his values.

I once worked in the office of a millionaire. He went to church, and he constantly told people he was a devout Christian. But he was miserable. Ultimately, his marriage ended. Why? Because he put on a good show of Christianity, but he didn’t really live it. He made his money telling people whatever they wanted to hear in order to get their business. He was sure that God understood that he was just doing “good” business. He attributed his success to God blessing him, when in reality, it was through deception. When trouble came his way, he didn’t have a good foundation to stand on. He was religious, when it suited him, but he didn’t really know God, or he would have understood God’s values.

When you are focused on what the world values, it only leads to stress. What does Jesus say?

Matthew 6:25 ESV

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

He tells them that animals are always able to find what they need. Flowers grow in beauty. The same God who cares for the animals and vegetation of this earth cares even more about us.

In other words, we should not be focusing on how we are going to get by day to day. Instead, we should be focusing on our Heavenly Father who loves us and will provide for us.

And that pretty much sums up all that Jesus is talking about in this part of his sermon. What are you really looking at? Is your attention on how to make yourself look good to others? Is it on trying to impress God with how “holy” you are? Is it on doing whatever it takes to get ahead in life?

Or are you fixing your eyes on God? Are you working to understand his heart? Are you disciplining your heart to align with God’s heart?

Mark 8:36 ESV

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

If your eyes are not focused on Jesus, you are looking at the wrong things. Because eyes that are focused on Jesus will see hurting people and respond.

Eyes focused on Jesus will see injustice and act in a way that honors God.

Eyes focused on Jesus will see the problems of this world through Jesus’ eyes and will not be afraid or stressed.

What are you looking at? Let’s pray.