Give like God- Practice Makes Perfect (a series on practical righteousness) #1; Build your Life #20

Kid’s Minute: Do any of you like to play & have fun with your friends? What do you like to do with your friends?

Have you ever wanted to go play with your friends, but you had to do something else instead? Like homework, or practice, that kind of thing?

I want to tell you a story I read about a little boy named Kevin. Kevin was 9 years old & he loved to play outside with his friends. But Kevin takes guitar lessons and has to practice every day before he can play. So, he has a bad attitude & just goes through the motions, barely practicing. He would just rather be playing with his friends!

Until one night, an angel comes to visit Kevin, & miraculously transports him through time to a fancy arena where they watch an amazing guitarist putting on an awesome concert. Kevin was amazed by the man’s ability! He watched carefully as the guitar player’s hands moved up and down the guitar with ease. He had no idea someone could make a guitar sound like that! He just couldn’t believe it!

After the concert, the angel took Kevin home & told him- ‘the amazing guitar player you saw is YOU Kevin in a few years!” Then the angel pointed at Kevin’s guitar & said- “But you must practice!”

1 John 3:2, Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.One day, everyone who believes in Jesus will become just like Him. Until then, we have to practice! Today we’re going to learn how to give like Jesus. Pray

Intro: You’ve heard the saying “practice makes perfect.” Today we begin a new series based on the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:48, Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Perfection for the Christian is becoming mature like Christ, lacking nothing.Over the next several weeks we’re going to look at 6 practices to perfect us- living out the righteousness that we have received from Christ. The 1st one is charitable giving.

Read with me Matthew 6:1-4 (me italics, you bolded)

Matthew 6:1–4, Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

Charitable giving can help the Christian grow in righteousness when we understand what it is, why we do it, and how to do it, or the meaning, motivation, and manner of it.

1. Charitable Giving is an ACT of Righteousness. Meaning

The context begins in Matthew 5:20, For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Righteousness- adherence to a standard; in context of Jesus’ sermon, the standard was the law. To most people, the scribes & pharisees were the most moral & religious people they knew, so for Jesus to say that “your righteousness must be greater than theirs” would have been shocking. Who could do that?

The scribes & pharisees were known for keeping the letter of the law (all the externals), so Jesus taught about 6 matters of the law that are really matters of the heart- murder/anger; adultery/lust; divorce/hard heart; lying/nature; revenge/justice; hate/love. When we get to the end of the six, we realize that without Jesus there is no way that we can live up to God’s standard of perfection (i.e., maturity, completion; having no lack).

Jesus came to fulfill all righteousness, and by receiving Him, we are made right with God.When we are made right with God then we can begin living a righteous life- practicing righteousness. As we practice righteousness, we become more perfect (complete, mature) like God in heaven is perfect. Charitable giving is an act of righteousness.

1 John 2:29, If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

Almsgiving was a primary act of Jewish religious piety and was an expected religious practice.Notice that Jesus does not command His disciples to give, He assumes they will- “when you do” (vs. 2). The act is anticipated, & well-attested in the OT.

Psalm 112 is titled The Blessed State of the Righteous. Psalm 112:9, He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted with honor.It was an expectation in Jewish society that someone who kept God’s law would share with those in need. It was a way to increase one’s honor- i.e., their horn (might, ability) would be exalted. The issue is not whether the horn will be tooted, but who will do the tooting?

2. Charitable Giving earns REWARDS. Motivation

Jesus warns His disciples to be careful with the reasons for their giving. There are 3 categories for why we do charitable giving:

1st, to earn righteousnesswith God (it won’t do that, we already talked about why- we don’t give to get, we give because we have)

2nd, to earn respectwith others (it could do that, & depending on how we give it often does)

3rd, to earn rewardin heaven (nothing wrong with that, & it could do that, but only if we handle it in the right way, deal with it the last point)

Everyone gives to be seen, celebrated, & rewarded, but the big questions are: to be seen by who- people or God? celebrated by who- people or God? rewarded by who- people or God?

Jesus warns His disciples to be careful to not give to be seen by men, because there will be no reward in heaven. E.g., to not sound a trumpet (hyperbole) like hypocrites do, in the synagogues or the streets.

Hypocrite-transliterated from the Greek, translated = actor, pretender. To us,a hypocrite is someone who says one thing but does another, e.g., do as I say, not as I do, i.e., they live by a double standard. But to Jesus, A HYPOCRITE IS SOMEONE WHO DOES THE RIGHT THING BUT FOR THE WRONG REASON; in this case it’s not righteous, it’s selfish.

Jesus is not saying that giving doesn’t have a reward, it does, but what is the reward & from whom is it received?

Reward (vss. 1 & 2)- misthon, wages, pay, in the sense of getting what you have earned. Case study: we go out to the street, locate a poor person in need, bring our phones, show it live on social media, & we get a million likes, & follows, & hand claps, etc. (all the accolades), then we will have gotten what we wanted, what we hired on for- our reward.

But if we go out to that person & quietly meet their need, even if no one else sees or celebrates, God still sees it & will reward us for doing it. But when will He & how so?

Reward (vs. 4),is apodosei, to pay back, or repay. It has the same sense of recompense, except this is not what you have earned (wages); it is a return of what you have spent; ILL: reimbursement for a work trip.

E.g., Luke 14:12-14, Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repayyou; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.

Proverbs 19:17, He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, And He will pay back what he has given.

What makes the difference between the two examples of giving is the audience. Do we do what we do to be seen by the crowd? Do we do it to be seen by God (audience of 1? The tell-tale sign is HOW we give. The manner of our giving (how) reveals the motivation for our giving (why).

3. Charitable Giving INCREASES Righteousness. Manner

Notice what Jesus says- do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. This is a symbolic saying that captures the extreme measures that should be taken to avoid public acclaim for generosity.

E.g., Dancing- get footloose & really have fun, your left hand doesn’t know what your right is doing (for me- my feet).

Generosity should be done in secret, so secret in fact, it is essentially hidden from yourself. What do I mean? We don’t even take notice of ourselves, we don’t even realize we’ve done a good & righteous thing- through Christ, it’s just a part of who we are.

2 Corinthians 8:9, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

WHEN WE EMBRACE THE RICHES OF CHRIST, WE BEGIN TO ACT IN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST.

What is secret to others, even us, is no secret to God. He sees it! He sees the act; He sees the heart. He sees not only that you did it; He sees why you did it. If you give it for the right reason, God will reward you openly- at the judgment. 2 Corinthians 5:10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

There is a reward, a recompense, that will happen at the judgment, but there is an increase that will happen now. Charitable giving is not only an act of righteousness to be expected of the Christian, or even a reward to be earned at the judgment, there is something that happens for us, right now, in life, as we try to grow & mature & become more like Jesus.

2 Corinthians 9:10, (a text about charitable giving) Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,

WHEN WE ACT IN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST, WE RECEIVE AN INCREASE OF OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

If you are really a Christian, this is what you want more than anything, to become more & more like Jesus Christ. If that is what you want- PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.

Do you know for sure that you are a Christian? The first litmus test is generosity. How generous are you? Are you a giver like Jesus, or a taker like the devil (the thief comes to kill, steal, & destroy)?

To be sure, we can give for the wrong reasons. We talked about some of them today. Why do you give? Is it to earn a place in heaven, to try to get God to accept you? There is nothing you can do for God to receive you except for you to receive Jesus.

Christian, are practicing the righteousness of Christ? If you are practicing it, God is perfecting you- you are growing more and more like Jesus. Is that true for you? If not, maybe you need to do something today.