Mt 6:1-14

Intro

Have someone read:

6:1-4

What’s the big idea?

6:5-6

What’s the big idea?

6:7-8

What’s the big idea?

How do these three segments relate to one another?

Matthew 6:1–8 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.

Agree or disagree with this statement: “You look like what you worship.”

If true, why is this statement potentially concerning?

In Scripture the “heart” is the seat of our emotions, affections, and will

It drives

What we do

What we say

What we think

What we feel

The problem: The heart is a idol making machine!

“The human heart is an idol factory that takes good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things. Our hearts deify them as the center of our lives, because we think they can give us significance and security, safety and fulfillment, if we attain them.” -Tim Keller

Consider the story of Jacob, Rachel, and Laban in Gen 31:19-42

>Rachel is following in the tradition of Abraham—leaving her native homeland to go to the land to which God is calling his people

>But secretly, privately, quietly, Rachel is not willing to give up her idols

>instead she treasures them, is, in fact, willing to risk personal grief to keep them

>she seems to think she can partake in the covenant blessings that belong to God’s people while keeping her idols

—>remember, God’s promise to Abraham to make him a great nation through whom will come the promised redeemer of the world will be built upon Rachel and Leah

Idols of the Heart

Potential idols

Money/wealth (ladder-climbing, vocational identity)

Intelligence (the need to feel intellectually superior)

Ease (lazy, or unwilling to be put out for others)

Sex (lust, pornography, graphic novels)

Fame (doesn’t have to be Hollywood level—prestige, renown)

Recognition/approval (words of affirmation)

Pride (ego, need to be noticed)

Respectability (you are a little more than concerned about keeping up with the Joneses)

Belly (gluttony, “belly button, oh oh”)

Body/beauty (obsessed with self-image of your physical body )

Person (a child, spouse, significant other, crush, etc)

Safety (you security is your primary concern)

Self (You are the center of your universe…no, THE universe…no, you ARE the universe. yeah, that’s better)

Pleasure (you live for the good time, you are all about all the fun all the time)

Spirituality (your social identity is wrapped around being the most righteous person you know)

Causes (you have devoted your life to being a social justice crusader)

Sports/recreation (ball is life, brother)

Helpful questions from Idols of the Heart: Learning to Long for God Alone by Elyse Fitzpatrick

What do you want, desire, or wish for?

What do you fear? What are you worrying about?

What do you think you need?

What are your strategies and intentions designed to accomplish?

What or whom are you trusting?

Whom are you trying to please? Whose opinion of you counts most?

What are you loving? What are you hating?

What brings you the greatest pleasure, happiness or delight?

What brings you the greatest pain or misery?

Here is the idea to consider from Matthew 6:1-8

Doing good things in order to receive praise from men, is an act of worship—it’s just not an act of worship to God!

Heart diagnostics of the Matthew 6:1-8 person:

What is the symptom?

The symptom is doing religious deeds or good works in front of others with an eye toward their approval

What’s the problem?

God is at least third in your consideration when that is your mindset (you are thinking 1. of your reputation 2. in the eyes of others)

In other words, this is a classic case of idolatry

What’s the idol?

Pride

Approval/Recognition

Status/Prestige

Spirituality (identity in being the best Christian)

>Bottom line—the Pharisees were performing worship, but while it may have appeared they were worshiping God, they were worshiping themselves.

Question: Do we ever do that?

People who love letting you know how many charity boards they are on

People who have their names plastered all over buildings

But do I ever do the following?

only “serve” in areas that are likely to be noticed

like to subtly let people know all the good things I am doing

consider the approval or disapproval of others before I have given a moment’s reflection to God’s approval?

Doing good things for men’s approval means there is no expectation of future reward.

Why do we do what we do? Because we want what we want.

Doing these for the approval of men reveals we desire not God’s glory, but ours.

Jesus points out the short-sighted nature of such a perspective

God desires the humble service of those who worship him in spirit and in truth

He will not reward those who make a pretence of serving him, but are all-in on their own fame.

this is the antithesis of Moses’s perspective in Hebrews 11

the lure, the pull of the idols of the heart threaten the walk of the Christian at every turn

—>But God rewards faithfulness

parallel between idolatry and adultery

Everything that God does is for his glory. Everything we do ought to be a reflection of that reality.

God created the universe…for his glory.

God created mankind…for his glory.

God entered into history to redeem mankind…for his glory.

God will recreate the world and judge the just and unjust…for his glory.

See verses 9-10

Matthew 6:9–10 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.