Kingdom Mindset: Matthew 6:1-4
Notes
Transcript
CIT: The purpose of our giving to the needy is compassion for them as the Lord has shown us compassion.
CIT: The purpose of our giving to the needy is compassion for them as the Lord has shown us compassion.
Jesus expects us to give
How not to give
How to give
Why we give
Jesus expects us to give
Jesus expects us to give
Jesus says when not if
Many times we may think of giving to those in need as an option in life. But Jesus doesn’t even spend time encouraging us to engage in this, he simply expects you to do so. Who around you is needy? What are they in need of? Is it physical, if so then meet that need. Is it spiritual, if so then meet that need. Jesus expects us to do so.
Having a giving heart is evidence of true faith
The book of James is filled with inspiration from the Sermon on the Mount, and he clearly equates our giving to those in need with evidence of having true living faith.
James 2:14-17 “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
John is a disciple marked by love. Love for God and his Church flowing from the love that he has received in Christ. Therefore he tells us that we must love our brothers and sisters in the Church, and if we refuse to do so how can we even claim to have faith in God!
1 John 3:17-18 “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
Finally, Jesus, in his final sermon in Matthew that is focused on the end times and final judgement, teaches us that the evidence that he looks for to show that our faith in him was true is that we give to those in need.
“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.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
How not to give
How not to give
In order to be seen by others
Jesus telling us not to sound a trumpet comes from the offering chests at the Temple. The chests has a funnel that was shaped like a trumpet and made out of metal so that thieves couldn’t stick their hand in the chest and steal the money before it was collected. Thus, throwing money in their in a way that would “sound the trumpet” in order to show one’s generosity is seen as wrongful giving.
In order to be praised by others
Instagram/TikTok videos of people giving clothes or shoes to teachers
These people are hypocrites
In the 1st century there were actors in plays called hypocrites, which is where we get the word from. They would play one character then put on a mask to play another character.
“The hypocrites to whom Jesus referred are spiritual actors who pretend to have piety in order to win human approval.”
The Pharisees were hypocrites acting like they had religion but only to be seen and praised by humans rather than God.
The Social Media Influencers are hypocrites acting as if they are pious and generous only to receive praise form humans.
Jesus says they get there reward, they are in fact praised by people. But in truth, how sad a reward is that in the end. To give all that you have to be praised by someone who very well behind their back is ridiculing them for their false generosity, only to die with everyone slowly forgetting what they even did.
How to give
How to give
In love
Looking back to John, the one whom Jesus loved, he teaches us how we are really supposed to give. That is out of love for God and for those in need.
1 John 3:17-18 “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
In secret
Looking to Jesus, he teaches us that our giving is never to be done to be seen, but should even be done in secret so that people don’t even know that you are giving. What is the test of someones true character? What they do when no one is around. Is your giving the same when no one is around? Does your giving exist if no one is around?
Matthew 6:4 “so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
In practice
Jesus also teaches us that our giving should come naturally to us as if it is a spiritual practice.
Matthew 6:3 “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,”
How can you get to the point where your left hand doesn’t know what your right hand is doing? By practicing!
When I teach someone to squat I tell them to tell themselves the have their knees follow their toes and push their knees out because if they don’t tell themselves to do that they never will, and they’ll get hurt.
But when they have practiced their squat technique with me for long enough they don’t even notice that their knees are following their toes and that they are pushing their knees out. Why? Because it’s muscle memory. Why? Because they’ve practiced.
How can you get to the point to where giving to someone in need is not even a thought and it’s just an action? Practice!
Why we give
Why we give
Because Jesus gave everything for us
1 John 3:16-18 “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Because we expect a heavenly reward
Matthew 6:4 “so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Beatitudes have rewards attached to them
Matthew 5:3 ““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Eschatological lens of the NT
Again we look back to the reward of the hypocrite, human praise. How sad that their reward will leave within the next 15 minutes. Our rweard however is eternal. We know that one day, just as Ephesians 2 teaches us that we will be seated in the heavenly places with God and he will pour out his riches of his grace on us. Therefore, our reward in heaven is so great we don’t need to worry about keeping what we have here, let’s give to those in need!
Conclusion
Conclusion
Because Jesus gave his riches to us to the point of giving his life for us we must turn around and do the same knowing that one day our Heavenly Father will reward us in his mercy and grace as we are seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So learning this we, as James and John so faithfully did, should follow Jesus’s command that he gives so many times through the gospels, “Go, and do likewise.”
