Diffusers 9: Showing Christ

Opening

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 6

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven. 2 So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. 3 But when you give to the poor, don’t 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.,

One of the most profound moments of my life was when someone first questioned me about my faith in public. (Stevie and the pit at YHS).

Before I knew the Lord I was religious. I was religious because I wanted to be accepted among religious people. After Christ changed me I was devout. I wanted to live for Christ not to be noticed by others, but because I had been noticed by and deeply touched by God.

It is precisely when we decide to live our Christian lives quietly for an audience of one rather than for the approval or accolades of others that the radiance of Christ begins to show through us the most. Christ never needed to prove himself, or shout his glory from the mountain tops. He resisted that temptation even when the devil really threw it at him.

His way was powerful, and everyone saw the character of the Father in him because of it. He was at rest, full of peace and lacking envy, jealousy, or pride. He was exactly the opposite of what people expected him to be, and that was powerful.

That same lifestyle is powerful though us too because that sort of real peace and inner security only comes through being with Jesus.

Really, it is the resurrection of Christ which empowers us to live this way. I would like us to look at 5 key ways the resurrection empowers us to show Christ to the world through quietly yet boldly loving and serving others.

The resurrection empowers us to....

I. Live like we have all we need in Christ

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven." (Mt 6:1)

If our motive for doing good deeds is to be noticed by people, that exposes the reality that our truest desire isn't for God. We are motivated by accolades from people because we really love to feel justified in ourselves.

Cain offered to God not because he loved God, but because he loved himself and wanted to show how impressive his worship was. He wanted to be seen as a big whig religious person, but God saw right through his inner motives.

Jesus is checking us on this because he knows we are sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. He knows that we are tempted to do good in order to be noticed and so he calls us to do what he did. Jesus did not come shouting his divinity from the mountaintops. He came as a humble carpenter. He tried to hide his glory rather than to flex it. He wanted to be sure that it was the Father who glorified him rather than glorifying himself. Jesus... the glorious one, did not seek glory for himself.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 8

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,, 2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering,, 4 in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit. 6 Now the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God’s law. Indeed, it is unable to do so. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Think about condemnation for a minute. We are always trying to prove ourselves to others because something in us tells us we are condemned and need to be justified somehow so we can be saved. This is the mindset of the old way, the dead way.

Christ totally flips this way of thinking on its head. In Christ, all of the sudden I am not condemned. I am totally clean and fully accepted by God. I have nothing to prove so now I can live like that. Our peace comes from knowing there is nothing we need outside of Christ to be whole.

Christ is the example for us of divine humility. Those who are in Christ have all we need, and so we have no need to prove ourselves to the world. The Father's favor is enough for us. If God chooses to elevate us before others than that is fine, but we never want to seek it for ourselves lest our motivations shift from God to being noticed by others.

The idol of self is too easy for us to worship, so we must learn to be content with being noticed only by God, and knowing we are fully accepted by God through Christ.

We show Christ to the world when we live like we truly have all we need in Christ.

II. Lower ourselves for the glory of God and the good of others

"So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward." (Mt 6:2)

Note that Jesus says "when" you give, not "if." Because Jesus has been extremely generous with us in our spiritual poverty, we should be generous with others.

Our generosity extends to those who are poor in flesh, poor in Spirit, or poor in any other way. We are encouraged to remember that we received from Jesus when we had nothing to offer him. All we have is grace. When we truly understand the nature of God's grace, and how much he condescended to lift us up, then our hearts really soften towards those at lower positions than we are. Jesus, the one with the highest position, came to me in order to raise me up. Not I, practicing the presence of Christ in my life, lower myself humbly to where others are in order to bring Christ to them that they may come up to where I am.

Christianity is always about those in high places condescending to lower places, so those who are low may be brought up in Christ. There are no proud nobles in the church.

Because of our human nature, we are tempted to think we have arrived in our own strength and righteousness and that those below us are no longer worthy of us. We have to be careful not to take the posture of the unforgiving servant in Jesus' parable. Rather, it is our job to carry on the work of the master by humbly condescending to those who are lowly and making up for them what is lacking in Christ's work. We truly are running the next leg of the race with Christ. That leg takes us to any and all who need gospel power and we go by any means necessary.

Sometimes that means giving them a hand out in Jesus' name so we can show them love and earn an audience for the gospel. Sometimes it means allowing the Spirit to display signs and wonders through us to get their attention.

The point remains; we do no good work in order to be noticed but in order that Christ might be glorified through us. A mark of a true believer is that we do not need to be noticed by people in order to feel full. We know we are fully known and accepted in Christ. To be known by Christ is to be known by a dignitary who surpasses all the dignity held by every human or angel combined. There is no greater fame than to be known by God.

III. Do good for the glory of Christ alone

"But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing" (Mt 6:3).

Jesus again emphasizes the secretive nature of our good works. Our works may well be noticed by people, just like Jesus' good works were. However, it was the Father who promoted the Lord rather than his self-promotion. Even as we are noticed we must always be quick to give God the glory for our works. It is not us, but Christ working in and through us.

If Jesus didn't self-promote, then surely we should never self-promote. We must work in silence and allow the goodness of God to shine through us. We want the glory of God to be our clothing rather than the accolades of people.

IV. Be content with God’s reward

"so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Mt 6:4)

The Lord rewards us when we make our good works about him rather than about ourselves.

Jesus doesn't say the Father might reward you. He says he will. When we serve in this quiet, humble way the Father is committed to blessing us.

One thing we experience through this kind of service is more of his peace and presence.

V. Boldly proclaim his goodness

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 3

13 Who then will harm you if you are devoted to what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear them, or be intimidated,, 15 but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 16 Yet do this with gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame.

When we live the way Jesus is calling us to live here, it opens doors for the gospel.

We should always be ready to thank people for saying kind things about us, but acknowledging that we do good not from a righteousness of our own but through the power of Christ in us.

Because Jesus died on the cross I am free from sin and so I don’t need the approval of others to feel whole anymore.

Because Christ is risen I can live generously knowing this world is not all that I have. I have a better future coming, and I can invite others to this future through the bloody cross and empty tomb as well.

Closing

All of this flows from a general heart of repentance. Repentance turns our eyes off of self and onto Christ. We express this in many ways. One of those ways is by considering others to be more valuable than ourselves.

We don't look at the poor and needy as projects, or as rejects, or as people needing to try harder or do better. We see the image of God in everyone and we desire to help them fully embrace who they truly are in Christ rather than living defeated forever in Adam.

This means a generous disposition towards hurting and broken people. We can do this because Christ has been generous to us. We do it because Christ is good and glorious and we want to honor him by doing for others what he was done for us.

We really do practice the realities of the cross and the empty tomb, and we honor Jesus' work on our behalf, when we serve others in this way without seeking to be noticed but rather desiring to show the fragrance of Christ through everything we do.