One-Handed Giving - Matthew 6:3-4 Series

Matthew 6:1-18 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Introduction: Be Careful

We have been studying verse-by-verse through the Sermon on the Mount and have come to this section that begins in verse 1 of chapter 6, and we have spent two weeks on these opening verses already, and today I want to devote a third sermon to them for three reasons. First, because the principles in this section are so important in the Christian life. Second, because the principles about the role of reward in the Christian life are so often misunderstood. There is a great deal of confusion over how we ought to think about reward and what role it should play in our motivations. And the third reason I feel we need to give careful attention to this section is because of the very first word in the chapter: Beware.

That is not a throw-away word. It is a word that refers to constant vigilance. Jesus is warning us about hypocrisy in this chapter and He begins by saying, “Watch out! Be constantly vigilant and on the lookout for this in your life!” The opposite of living for divine reward is hypocrisy, and that is something we need to constantly be on the lookout for. That is important because most of us do not think of this as being much of a danger. The hypocrites are always those people – the people on TV, the people in other churches…certainly not me! We all love to hate the hypocrites. But most of us, when we read about the hypocrites, the last thing on our mind is ourselves. But Jesus is warning us here that the temptation to have an outward display for the sake of men (especially with things like prayer and giving) is a constant threat. It is one of those sins that sneaks up on you.

I do not know about you, but when I think of external religion I tend to think of the most extreme kind of hypocrites – the ones in the liberal churches whose religion is one hundred percent external. Those churches where becoming a Christian is just a matter of signing up – adding your name to the role, and the Christian life is all external procedures without any transformation of the heart or love relationship with God. And they are really big on community service and social issues and recycling, etc., but oblivious to things like repentance, brokenness before God, preferring Christ above the world, etc. That is what I always think of as hypocrisy. But that is not something I have to be vigilant and watchful lest I fall into it. If that is all hypocrisy is, then Jesus would not have to tell people like us to constantly watch out, because we are not even attracted to that sort of thing. But there are more subtle forms that can sneak up on even the strongest, most devoted followers of Christ. Keep in mind - Jesus is not warning the hypocrites here. He is not talking to the hypocrites. He is talking to His Disciples and warning them not to be like the hypocrites. Those of us who are true, committed followers of Christ, unless we are really on our guard against it, will probably fall right into this sin of external religion in some subtle form.