Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Rescuer
WELCOME
Good morning family!
Hear the Word of the Lord from the lips of Mary, after learning that she would give birth to the Son of God, our Rescuer...
“[God’s] mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him.
He has done a mighty deed with His arm; He has scattered the proud because of the thoughts of their hearts;
He has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.
(Luke 1:50-53)
You might feel weak, lowly, and poor… GOOD NEWS!!!
In just a moment we’ll hear a reading from the text for today’s sermon in Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18.
Turn there now.
While you’re turning, 4 quick announcements:
1) A word about PBC.
We are Disciples.
Disciples = followers of Jesus
We follow Jesus in every arena of life, including what we do with our money
Since giving is a topic that is covered in our sermon text for today, I wanted to talk for a moment about giving at PBC
Three ways to give:
Give in person—fill out an offering envelope with your name and the amount and place your gift in one of the white bins near the exit
Give online—one time or recurring gifts at poquosonbaptist.org
By mail using the address on the screen
However you give, we hope you’ll do so cheerfully because you really believe that the Lord loves a cheerful giver
2) TableTalk at 5:30 (“One Another”)
Jake Rogier will be teaching us about Scripture’s command that Christians “be at peace with one another”
3) PBC Work Day, this Saturday from 9-12
4) Easter Egg Hunt Outreach, Saturday, April 9 from 10-12
We need plastic eggs filled with pre-wrapped candy ASAP (at the missions table or the church office).
Please deliver them on or before April 3.
Volunteers can sign up at the blue flag or scan the code on the screen
Now look in your Bibles at Matthew 6:1 as Bibi Laborte comes to read for us.
Scripture Reading (Matthew 6:1-4)
Prayer of Praise (God is great), Bibi Laborte
To God Be the Glory
Hymn of the Ages
Prayer of Confession (anxiety), Sam Garcia
Only A Holy God
PBC Catechism #11
Pastoral Prayer (Bubba Jones)
SERMON
Adam Ruins Everything.
I’m not referring to that fatal day when the father of humanity ate a piece of fruit and plunged the entire cosmos into sin and misery.
It’s the name of a television show where host Adam Conover is on a hilarious and informative quest to “reveal the hidden truths behind everything you know and love.”
[1]
He takes a topic we’re familiar with and ruins it by showing you how it isn’t really what you think.
One of the first episodes I watched was called Adam Ruins Security.
He started with a takedown of the infamous airport security checkers, the TSA.
Apparently there’s very little evidence that the TSA has ever stopped a terrorist or found a real bomb.
"When Homeland Security tested them, the TSA failed to find mock weapons and explosives 95% of the time."
[2]
He introduced me to a concept called “security theater,” a system that’s more concerned with looking safe than being safe.
The inconvenient truth is, much of what we think keeps us safe and secure is merely security theater.
For example...
Do we really think that a tiny plastic tamper-resistant seals can keep a murder off your medicine?
Do we really think that signing a credit card receipt really protects you from identity theft?
How often do you think your signature is compared to the real one on file?
Or what about the host of changes we’ve endured to protect us from the spread of Covid-19?
(I’ll be gentle I promise).
Last year the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. publicly admitted that requiring temperature checks for their guests didn’t offer any increased health benefits.
Since the temperature checks were often unreliable, they didn’t do anything to improve guest security.
Nevertheless, they announced they would continue to require the temperature checks because of their psychological benefits.
[3]
In other words, by their own admission these temperature checks became just another form of security theater.
They were more concerned with looking safe than being safe.
But you didn’t come here today to talk about the TSA, credit card receipts, or Covid-19.
Hopefully you came to hear the word of Christ.
In our passage today, Jesus is warning us about a concept we could call righteousness theater.
Righteousness theater is an approach to religious devotion that is more concerned with LOOKING righteous than BEING righteous.
And you’ll see three examples of righteousness theater in Matthew 6
Turn there now
Jesus has been teaching His disciples about living righteously as dual citizens of the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of this world.
But there’s a danger, that in pursuing righteousness we will become more concerned with looking righteous than being righteous.
Jesus wants His followers to be righteous not merely look righteous.
Three Keys to Avoiding Righteousness Theater:
1) Pay Attention to Your Own HEART
6:1a—“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them...”
“Beware” literally means to “to pay close attention to something” [4]
What are we supposed to pay attention to?
Jesus talks about “practicing your righteousness before other people”
Is Jesus against the public display of righteousness?
If so that would contradict something we studied earlier...
Matthew 5:14-16—“You are the light of the world.
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
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.”
It’s significant that Jesus here refers to our public righteousness as a light.
Except for something like the Batsignal, lights don’t exist to be seen.
They exist to help you see something else.
Are you doing good works so that the spotlight is on you?
Or so that others “give glory to your Father who is in heaven”?
Jesus wants your righteousness to be seen.
He’s against righteousness that exists in order to be seen
It’s right and good for your righteousness to be visible to the world around you.
But being seen by others shouldn’t be the motivation for your righteousness.
That’s what Jesus says in 6:1a—“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them...”
He’s warning us about the temptation to care more about looking righteous than being righteous.
That’s why the first key is to pay attention to your own heart.
The heart is the seat of your motivations.
It’s the steering wheel that directs your reasons for doing what you do.
If you’re going to avoid righteousness theater, you need to pay attention to your heart.
In a bit we’ll discuss three examples of righteousness theater that existed in Jesus’ day, but let’s examine some ways we’re prone to this today...
Do you care more about quality time reading your Bible, or the quality of your social media posts about reading your Bible?
Do you raise your hand during singing in order to be seen as spiritual?
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