Don't blow the Trumpets

What is glory?

Why is glory so tempting?

Satan used it to tempt Jesus (Matt 4:8-9)

Human Pride

Human Selfishness

What does Jesus tell us about seeking Glory for ourselves?

When we seek glory for ourselves we have recieved our gift in full (Matt 6:3,5)

As Christians our glory is from Jesus

Colossians 3:1-4

Glory, all of us want it- some want it publically, some want it privately. When you think about it, there are millions of dollars spent every year because of the human desire to give and receive glory. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and even Pastor’s Appreciation are all effective because they tap into our need to give and receive glory.

Don’t get me wrong, the need to give and receive glory is not necessarily a bad, or sinful, thing. Remember, we are beings that were made to give glory- specifically glory to God. The Bible also tells us that we will receive glory from God; so this desire is part of how God designed us. The problem is when we displace that glory and begin to people or things instead of or over and above God.

The word glory can be understood as splendor, honor, or worthiness. Appreciation is gratitude or recognition for a task or role. As a church we want to show appreciation to our people, right? We want to be thankful for those who share their gifts and talents, and those who bless us. We want to show appreciation for moms on Mothers Day, dads on Father’s Day, and all the rest. We want to do these things because they are important and meaningful. However, we never want to empower anyone to step into the glory of God.

And we know that receiving the glory of other people can be tempting. After all, receiving the glory of this world was one of the things that Satan tempted Jesus with in Matt 4. Rest assured, I am sure that these temptations were not the easiest things for Jesus to stand against, I am sure that he had to resist pretty hard to stand against the temptations of the Devil.

Remember Adam and Eve? What was the temptation- you can be like God. Sounds like they had a glory problem to me.

Notice 2 things about Jesus’ teaching in the Matthew 6 passage we began with today.

First, notice that Jesus uses the word “when” not the word “if” when he is talking about giving to others and praying. He calls these practices of righteousness, and they are expected behaviors of Jesus followers. This is a lot like when I tell my boys “WHEN you clean your room, make sure you vacuum the rug.” I am clearly stating that my expectation is that they will be cleaning the room.

James would later put it this way: Faith without works is dead.

Dave Thomas, the famed owner of Wendy’s called it “roll up your sleeves Christianity”

Whatever you choose to call it really doesn’t matter- what matters is that Jesus said it is a indicative part of a Christian life.

It has been said before that “Charity is a principle of prevailing love to God and goodwill to men, which effectually inclines one endued with it to glorify God, and to do good to other”

But that is not all Jesus said. He had something to say about the glory that we get from these kinds of actions.

Jesus is clear, we will get a reward for our efforts- the choice we must make is when will we receive the reward. How do we choose when we will get our reward? Jesus says we determine it with our METHOD and our MOTIVATION.

The options? Instant glory in the eyes of man, or eternal glory in the presence of God.

Those who “blow the trumpet” or try and get the attention of all the people that can with their acts of charity and Christlikeness, they will receive their reward in full in that moment.

When our methods are public and our motivation is self serving then we cash in our glory in that moment.

Jesus calls people who do these things hypocrites, or Christian actors. Their interest in not in the things of Jesus, but in the things of themselves. They will get what they are looking for- Earthly praise and honor, but they will miss out on the eternal rewards.

What Jesus then tells us is that when we are humble about our acts of righteousness we are choosing a reward stored up for us in heaven.

Now, I think we need to be clear about 2 conclusions that some have drawn from this passage. First, Jesus’ commands here do not suggest that we should not accept appreciation for the things we do in the name of Jesus. What it means is that the public appreciation should not be our motivation or our end goal.

In other words, if there is someone who wants to thank you, or give you some appreciation for your work, service, or kindness you do not need to reject it, but accept it with humility, and continue to point to Jesus in the midst of the appreciation.

There is no sin in being appreciated, there is sin in allowing that appreciation to fuel your ego and self-centeredness or righteousness.

Second, Jesus’ lesson here does not mean everything has to be done anonymously. Some have taken this Scripture to mean that they should not keep records of their tithes, give donations in checks, or do any kind of charity that can be traced back to them. These are really over applications of what Jesus is trying to tell us. What he is trying to tell us is do not draw attention to yourself when you give.

Remember, Jesus praised the public gift of the widow who put the last 2 of her coins into the plate- and did so publically. Jesus was not commanding us to hide our gifts, but to not make them the source of our identity or faith.

It really boils down to this- if you are too occupied with looking at who is giving you attention, you cannot fix your eyes upon Jesus.

So, what is our encouragement? What then should be the focus of the Christ follower when doing these acts of righteousness? We find the answer in Colossians 3:1-4.

Set your mind on things above- the eternal things, the reward that awaits you in Heaven.

Why? Because God has promised glory to you. Listen to 2 Thess 2:14 “ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”

Did you catch it? Paul is telli us that as we are sanctified through the Gospel of Jesus we are also working to obtain his approval, or his glory.

Let's go one step further, though. Listen to how personal this really gets. In 1 Corinthians 4:5 Paul implores us “5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.”

Personal praise from God. Not group recognition, not your name in small print on the back of the team T-shirt, nothing like that. But a promise that the king of the universe, the Savior or the world, will be offering you your reward, that is the picture we need to follow the words of Colossians 3 to focus above.

A few years ago I read an article about parenting boys. The author stated that a boy is never more fulfilled than when his father is watching him and offering his affirmation. He said that the most important phrase a son says to his father is “ hey dad, watch this” more than any trophy, any award, or anything else, little boys want their dads to watch them and be proud. I think that this should be the heart of Christians too. That our Father in heaven would look at what we are doing and be pleased.