Seek First

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Giving in Secret: The Heart of Generosity

Bible Passage: Mt 6:1–8

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The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus, though arguably it is the least understood, and certainly it is the least obeyed.
It is the nearest thing to a manifesto that he ever uttered, for it is his own description of what he wanted his followers to be and to do. To
The Sermon is found in Matthew’s Gospel towards the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.
Immediately after his baptism and temptation he had begun to announce the good news that the kingdom of God, long promised in the Old Testament era, was now on the threshold. He himself had come to inaugurate it.
With him the new age had dawned, and the rule of God had broken into history. ‘Repent,’ he cried, ‘for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Indeed, ‘He went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom’ (23).
The Sermon on the Mount, then, is to be seen in this context.
It portrays the repentance (metanoia, the complete change of mind) and the righteousness which belong to the kingdom.
That is, it describes what human life and human community look like when they come under the gracious rule of God.
And what do they look like? Different! Jesus emphasized that his true followers, the citizens of God’s kingdom, were to be entirely different from others.
They were not to take their cue from the people around them, but from him, and so prove to be genuine children of their heavenly Father.
To me there are two key texts of the Sermon on the Mount to look at and that is what we are going to do for the next few weeks.
The first is Matt 6:33 - But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
The second is Matt 6:8: ‘Do not be like them.’ It is immediately reminiscent of God’s word to Israel in olden days: ‘You shall not do as they do.’ It is the same call to be different.
And right through the Sermon on the Mount this theme is elaborated.
Their character was to be completely distinct from that admired by the world (the beatitudes). They were to shine like lights in the prevailing darkness. Their righteousness was to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, both in ethical behaviour and in religious devotion, while their love was to be greater and their ambition nobler than those of their pagan neighbours.
Matthew begins this section of Jesus’ teaching with a thesis statement summarizing his point: Do your righteousness for God to see you, not others (6:1).
He then illustrates his point with the examples of
secret charity (6:2–4),
secret prayer (6:5–15), and
secret fasting (6:16–18).
The middle section, dealing with prayer, is the longest (Matthew may have inserted the Lord’s Prayer from a different context; cf. Lk 11:1–4), perhaps in part because prayer constitutes the mark of piety least separable from public religion.
Righteousness. Conformity to a certain set of expectations, which vary from role to role. Righteousness is fulfillment of the expectations in any relationship, whether with God or other people.
It is applicable at all levels of society, and is relevant in every area of life.
Therefore, righteousness denotes the fulfilled expectations in relationships between man and wife, parents and children, fellow citizens, employer and employee, merchant and customers, ruler and citizens, and God and man.
Depending on the fulfillment of one’s expectations, an individual could be called righteous and his or her acts and speech could be designated as righteous.
The opposite of righteous is “evil,” “wicked,” or “wrong” (cf. Ps 1:6; Zep 3:5).
Righteousness is the fiber which holds society, religion, and family together.
Righteousness enhances the welfare of the community. A godly (not “pious” in the modern sense) person was called “righteous” (ṣaddîq). The ṣaddîq was a person of wisdom, whose “righteousness” brought joy to his family (Prv 23:22–25), to his city (Prv 11:10), and to the people of God

First, disciples must impress God alone.

In all three examples, Jesus warns his followers not to be like the “hypocrites”
This term originally designated actors in the theater - a profession Roman law treated like prostitutes
Jesus’ warning does not, of course, preclude public acts of righteousness—even with the knowledge that such acts will draw attention—as long as the disciple seeks to be seen for God’s glory rather than his or her own (5:16).
One does righteousness “in secret” here lest one be praised, but for God’s glory “a city set on a hill cannot be concealed” (5:14, using a cognate expression).
This text warns disciples, however, how easy it is to justify one’s own desire to impress others as merely “being a light.”
This idea is captured in the word Vainglory. So what is vainglory? 1. : excessive or ostentatious pride especially in one's achievements.
FALSE NARRATIVE: MY VALUE IS DETERMINED BY YOUR ASSESSMENT
The narrative that gives rise to our need for affirmation is a story we learn early in our lives.
When we do well, we receive affirmation; when we do poorly, we receive no affirmation, and may be criticized. “You ate all of your peas—you are so good.” Or “You did not finish your peas—off to your room, and no dessert!”
Life continues this way at each phase, from school to sports to jobs. Do great things and your value increases; fail and your value decreases.
Over time we begin to hunger for others’ affirmation because it seems to establish our value. Positive appraisal can become more important than actually being good or doing well.
We all want to be loved. We all long to feel that we are valuable, worthwhile and wonderful.
In a sense we are.
Regardless of our physical appearance, talents or abilities, we are amazing beings created in the image of God.
But the world will not tell us this.
Too seldom do we hear it from our parents or our loved ones.
Even our churches contribute to this problem. We praise success and lionize certain people for their piety. Though there is nothing wrong with acknowledging a ministry success or a godly person, the narrative that value is determined by success may continue to work its way in peoples’ minds.
How does vainglory get ahold of us, and how can we combat it?
The world measures our worth on the basis of our appearance, production and performance—which seem to be the only things that count.
This narrative says our value is determined by others’ assessment. If they say we are good, then we are. Image is everything in our world.
We feel the need to be appreciated, respected, applauded and affirmed for what we do. Then we feel good about ourselves.
The need for love is temporarily lightened by admiration; it is the only substitute we can find. Unfortunately, admiration based on our looks or performance is fickle and fleeting. We are only as good as our next performance.
Vainglory appears in my life many ways. In each of the following examples you will notice something good as well as something bad:
• Whenever I accomplish something or receive accolades for something I have done, I immediately want to let others know.
• I try to keep others from knowing my weaknesses and failings. This is just as much about vainglory as broadcasting my successes. In both cases I am seeking to have others think well of me.
• In most conversations I try to appear humble, and yet I very much want the other person to know how wonderful I am. And if that does not appear to be happening I find subtle ways to interject my accomplishments. If I do it well, they will not even notice.
• I am not above dropping names. All of my close friends are well aware of all of the famous people I have met or spent time with.
• Nearly every act of service I have ever done has become known to others—and I have never hindered these from being known.
• When watching my kids perform in sports or the arts, I find myself sometimes more interested in them performing well in front of others than I am in their own enjoyment of the game or the show.
Jesus was critical of three vainglorious acts, showy giving, praying and fasting, that were common in his day. What are some modern illustrations of vainglory we see in our churches?
Let me give you the biggest and most dangerous one. It goes like this. I am not perfect but I am better than ??????
I know I have this habit, the hangup, this sin lurking in my heart but its not as bad as what his person does.
It’s the equivalent of being a C student in school. Look I am doing enough. I am better than the D students and certainly better than the ones that are completely failing. And those A and B students, they work too hard anyway.
Have you ever been tempted to let others know about your good works?
First, Jesus describes a common practice when giving alms (money given to the poor). The synagogue in the first century had a system in place to care for the poor, much like a welfare state. People gave a portion of their money to the synagogue, which was then given to the needy. When someone gave a significant gift,* it was common for that to be acknowledged in the synagogue (Sirach 31:11). There is nothing wrong with giving money to people in need; in fact, it is a good and godly thing to do. And there is nothing wrong with having others acknowledge the gift. Jesus is not criticizing the act of public acknowledgment. He is asking whether we gave that gift in order to be praised by others. If so, then we already have what we asked for.
Second, Jesus describes another scene common in his day: prayer in the synagogues and on the street corners. Devout Jews prayed three times a day, often in public. At the ninth hour people often went to their synagogue to pray, and they commonly prayed aloud while standing. So it was obvious when a person was praying. Again, there is nothing wrong with going to a religious place for prayer. But Jesus asks what we are seeking. Do we want people to see us praying so that they will think we are pious and godly? If so, we have what we seek.
Third, Jesus describes the common practice of fasting. The Pharisees fasted twice a week (see Luke 18:12), usually on Mondays and Thursdays. Some people wore sackcloth or mourning clothes. They often put dust and ashes on their faces, a symbol of penance and mourning. This practice, a sign of mourning, was intended to help a person grow closer to God.
Giving money to the poor. Praying. Fasting. All three activities are some of the most spiritual activities a person can do. So what about Jesus’ harsh words?
Actually, he is not speaking against these practices. He is attacking the way in which they are being practiced. He is not concerned about the method but the motive. As we have seen, Jesus starts with the world’s standard of rightness (not murdering, not lying under oath) and then peels off the veneer to see if the heart is good.
The same is true here. He takes three righteous and holy actions and shows how the condition of a person’s heart determines whether the discipline is a blessing or a hindrance.
So I’m going to put a couple of questions up on the screen and I’m going to ask you to look at those. 
Reflection questions: 
What are ways I ‘put on a show’ for the approval of others instead of the approval of the Father? 
We’ve all done this.  Right now, between you and God, ask that question:  In what ways have I put on a show? 
What are one or two tangible things I should do to make a shift towards having healthy motives and behaviors as I seek communion with God? 
For some of us, it’s setting our intention in the morning with a sticky note or a reminder on our phone.  For some of us, it’s picking one or two practices and taking a step.  For some of us, it’s listening to the Spirit.  It’s posturing ourselves, putting time in our schedule, or even just our posture going I’m here to receive.  Here am I, Lord.  I’m convinced that in a  room with this many people that the Spirit’s been speaking to you about your next steps and you’ve not been listening.  You don’t want to hear it anymore.  I just want to invite you to train in righteousness, that’s God’s heartbeat for you.  I just want to appeal, if that’s you and the Spirit’s speaking, to just have the courage to obey.  I know it’s scary, but it’s on the other side of that that we look back and see that God did something so unique in us that couldn’t have been done in any other way.
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