Good Works. Good Heart.

Introduction: One of the great tensions in Scripture comes down to good works.

Some have really struggled with the place of good works in the life of a Christian. On the one hand, many have made too much of good works and made them required for salvation.

On the other hand some have completely eliminated them from Christian life.

But the too tensions that we hold in tandem is good works are expected while they add nothing to our salvation.

In many ways, they are evidence of our salvation more than they are the means of our salvation.

As Christians we always comes back to Ephesians 2:8-9

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

So why do good works then?

That’s what Jesus will answer today.

But if you read chapter 5 of Matthew, something that should be apparent is that your attitude when doing anything is almost as important as what you are doing.

Transition to the Text: Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 6:1-4. We’ve come to chapter 6 and you’ll probably notice a distinct shift in tone. Chapter 5 was largely talking about a lot of things in general terms. Now Jesus is going to be more specific and specifically target some of the ways of life that had become normal among that society.

How you give to the poor.

How you pray.

How you fast.

How you view your treasures.

What true loyalty to God looks like.

How to be content and handle anxiety?

And to start we are talking about giving to the poor.

Now I’m taking a little creative license and labeled this as “good works” instead of just giving. Because the primary good work in the Torah was about the poor.

And Jesus is going to target a practice that is very relevant for us today.

But I want to give a basic big idea of what Jesus is saying.

Introduce:

Big Idea: When it comes to GOOD WORKS, check your HEART.

Read: Matthew 6:1-4

Matthew 6:1–4 ESV

1 “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. 2 “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. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Big Idea: When it comes to GOOD Works, check your HEART.

Now the reason I say check your heart even though Jesus doesn’t mention the heart is because of what the desire of people is when they do a good work or give to the poor.

What is it that we often want? We often want to feel good.

Now on the surface that’s not a bad thing. When you do the right thing it should feel good. You don’t have to be miserable.

Even the Apostle Paul tells us:

2 Corinthians 9:7 ESV

7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Not everything has to be a miserable sacrifice. But still.

1. Do good WORKS for the RIGHT reasons. (Matthew 6:1-2)

Explanation: If we go back to Matthew 5:16, we read:

Matthew 5:16 ESV

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

This seems a little contradictory with 6:1-4 does it not?

On the one hand Jesus is saying, let them see your good works and then don’t do good works to get to be seen.

I think there is a key part of 6:1 that we might miss that keys us in to what Jesus is saying.

Matthew 6:1 ESV

1 “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.

Did you catch it?

“in order to be seen by them.”

In Matthew 5:16 the idea is clear. When you do things for the right reasons God will get the glory.

In Matthew 6:1, Jesus is warning against practicing your righteousness before people in order to be seen by them so that you can get the glory.

This is a big difference and one that I know we all struggle with.

Because we want validation and acknowledgement.

But it’s a dangerous place to be in.

The religious leaders of Jesus day would make a big deal about giving to the poor. They would make a spectacle about giving. Jesus exagerates this a little by talking about “sounding trumpets.” But he’s not far off. They wanted to make sure everyone knew what they were doing.

I’m giving to the poor unfortunate soul. Look how pitiful they are are how awesome I am for giving to them out of my hard earned wealth.

And you can see how not only does that not bring glory to God, but tears down somone already probably pretty low.

Illustration: I see this a lot in missions these days. People will go on missions to a 3rd world country and take all of these pictures with children and talk about how rough they have it. Or even in doing homeless ministry and we take selfies with the people we are helping so the world can see.

And I know our intentions are often good. But think about what you are doing before you do it.

Put the camera away and talk to people.

On the one hand it gives the impression that we want people to see all that WE are doing.

On the other hand it gives the impression that these poor unfortunate souls need you come help them.

We can even humblebrag about how much of a sacrifice it was to live without air conditioning for a week when that’s how the people you are serve live every day.

In many ways that have a more joyful life than we do. And some of the strongest Christians I’ve ever met are in other countries with far less luxuries than we take for granted.

And it gives the impression we are doing it for our own glory.

This is why the Bible is so clear that we are to do all things for God’s glory.

Whatever you do, in word or deed make sure it’s done to the glory of God and not yourself.

Application: Now, there is an opposite extreme here that we have to manage as well.

To be so secretive in our giving or righteousness that not only does no one validate us, but they don’t give glory to God either.

The Christian life is a daily tension between Letting your light shine that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven…

And

Not practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.

This is quite the predicament.

Let’s keep going and see if Jesus gives us any insight.

Matthew 6:3–4 ESV

3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And what see is that it’s a heart issue. So…

2. Protect your HEART when you do good WORKS. (Matthew 6:3-4)

Explanation: We live in a culture that craves valdation and acknowledment when we do good things. Social media has made this infiniately worse.

The people of Jesus day would make a spectacle in the streets and marketplaces. But only those who were there to see it would see it.

Now we post everything we do online for the world to see and our validation and acknowledge come in the form of likes, reacts and comments of affirmation.

And we crave every single interaction.

And when we get no reactions, we are tempted to delete the post.

And in many ways we now see our words as good works when voice our support for or against something.

And there is always some new thing for us to join in on. There is something called virtue signalling.

Virtue signaling is the public expression of moral values, opinions, or beliefs, often on social media, aimed at enhancing one's reputation, self-image, or social standing rather than acting from genuine, deep-seated conviction. It is frequently viewed as a performative, superficial gesture—such as posting a hashtag or a symbolic gesture—that lacks tangible, substantive action.

And our entire personality can be the things we support or our against. And then when we miss speaking out, people look at our silence as telling.

The younger generation calls this “aura farming” in which we want the world to know how socially conscious we are.

The problem is even Christians can get caught up in this running around online and in person cosplaying as revolutionaries.

While never once mentioning Jesus.

And that’s a pretty good indication of where your heart is if you never mention Jesus.

Or you mention a watered down, pacifist Jesus that the world will accept. Because, if you post about the Jesus of the Bible, who calls sin sin and calls people to repentance and faith in God.

Who said, I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.

Who came not to rescue you from your oppressive overlords, but for the oppression of your own sinful nature.

Talk about the real Jesus and you’re going to lose followers.

Illustration: Our hearts desire our own glory and not God’s glory.

This is why Proverbs says Prov 4:23

Proverbs 4:23 ESV

23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Application: Don’t let your heart make you believer you are worthy of God’s glory. Makes sure that everything you do is for God’s glory.

And don’t think that after you do something to be seen by others and someone says “You’re so aweseome” that responding with “To God be the glory’ is going to make it all right.

Follow the words of Jesus.

When in doubt, do good works in secret. Especially when you give.

That way, you won’t be able to be repaid.

It’s ok to feel good when you do something. Don’t misunderstand. But whenever possible remove yourself from the equation. That way when someone receives but does not know who gave to them, they will give glory to God.

If you need recognition, chances are your heart is not in the right place.l

Response: How’s your HEART when you do GOOD WORKS?

Summation:

Big Idea: When it comes to GOOD Works, check your HEART.

1. Do good WORKS for the RIGHT reasons. (Matthew 6:1-2)

2. Protect your HEART when you do good WORKS. (Matthew 6:3-4)

Closing Illustration: This is a hard teaching of Jesus becuase it requires us to always think about the good works we are doing. The danger of course is that we find ourselves overthinking everything we do.

But a little self-reflection isn’t a bad thing.

Every time we endeavor to do a good work or post something online, we need to ask, “Why am I doing this?” And if only God cared or saw, would I still do it?

But I’ll say this, the world needs to see Christians doing good works…for the right reasons.

And throughout history we have.

Christians established the first orphanages, hospitals, public schools, and food banks.

Christians historically have been the most generous people who have given free to all…because that’s what Jesus commanded us to do.

And even today, the world needs to see Christians that are doing good works.

Peter talks about this with regard to the world. The world in spite of all of the good that Christians have done to make the world a better place think we are bad people because we stand for the truth of God’s word and call sin sin.

1 Peter 2:12 ESV

12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

And a good place to start is to allow the credit for your good works to go to your church as a whole.

Because over time the temptation emerges and we like it when people acknowledge us individually. We like it when people give us glory that is reserved for God.

Matthew 25:31–40 ESV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

the true righteous don’t even know they are doing good works.

The evil are keeping score.

Let’s pray.