The Sermon on the Mount #5
Obstacles to Kingdom Life ¡V The Respectability Trap
Matthew 6:1-18
CHCC: October 7, 2007
Skit: IN SECRET: Janet Arnold, Summie Roach
INTRODUCTION:
(Comment about skit) Most people like attention when they do good deeds, but the most amazing example of tooting your own horn I¡¦ve seen was back when I lived near Galveston TX. One day the Galveston News had a quarter page ad taken out by a guy named Cheezo Michelletti. He proceeded to give a long list of things he had done in behalf of needy people in Galveston. Things like buying frozen turkeys for folks at Thanksgiving, donating money to a wing of the John Sealy hospital, buying school supplies for grade-school kids, donating equipment for a local park, etc. At the bottom, the ad read, This ad paid for by Cheezo Michelletti. I don¡¦t know if he was planning to run for a political office, or wanted a promotion at work, or wanted to be appointed to an important board, but his ad appeared two days in a row in the paper. I was so astounded by it that I shared it with my youth group and gave a lesson from Matt. 6 about doing your good deeds in secret.
1. The Principle
When Jesus said we should not do good deeds in order to be seen of men, He didn¡¦t mean we are supposed to HIDE what we do. Earlier in this same talk, Jesus said: Let your light shine before men so they can see your good works and glorify God. The point is NOT who sees our good deeds. The point is WHY did we do the good deeds.
The issue is intents and purposes. Not are we seen, but did we do good deeds for the PURPOSE of being seen. In the Kingdom of Jesus, it¡¦s not enough to look good on the outside. Jesus gives us the power to actually BE good on the inside!
So, in a practical sense, how can we KNOW if we are doing things for the right reason? It¡¦s not that hard. Just ask yourself what you expect to get back from your action. Are you looking for something from other people? Do you want to impress them? Do you want them to thank you? Do you want them to pay you? Do you want their applause?
I remember a dear Christian lady years back who had a ministry of writing cards of encouragement. One day she told me she was through writing those cards. She said, ¡§Out of hundreds of cards I¡¦ve written, I¡¦ve only had a handful of people who bothered to tell me thank you.¡¨ Now, I can sympathize about how she felt. We all feel better if someone says ¡§thank you.¡¨ But at the same time, that kind of statement shows something about the true INTENTS and PURPOSES of the heart doesn¡¦t it?
When the main thing we want is human approval and esteem, God courteously stands aside. He gets out of the way because ¡K by our own wish ¡K it¡¦s none of His business. God won¡¦t intrude where He is not wanted. On the other hand, if we live toward God ¡K if our primary desire is to please HIM ¡K then he responds to our expectations ¡K which are directed toward HIM, and HIM alone.
This really IS a new way to live. Better yet, it¡¦s a POSSIBLE way to live ¡K because Jesus makes it possible. Christians have lived toward God through all the Centuries since Jesus brought this new Kingdom into our world. A historian named Oz Guiness said this about the American Puritans who founded our nation. He said, They lived as if they stood before an audience of ONE.¡¨ I like that, don¡¦t you? I want to learn how to live that way.
2. The Illustrations
Jesus was the kind of preacher that I like to hear because He always talks about Heavenly things in a down-to-earth way. He gave 3 illustrations of how people can do the RIGHT thing for the WRONG reason. The illustrations he used were familiar to his audience ¡K and they¡¦re familiar to us 2000 years later. He talked about the GIVING of offerings; PRAYER, and FASTING.
In each case, Jesus said, don¡¦t do it like the hypocrites do, for they only want to be honored by men. Jesus is the only one to use the term hypocrite in the New Testament --- and he used it often (17 times to be exact.) Back then, hypocrite meant the same thing as ACTOR. And it¡¦s possible that Jesus was familiar with theaters and actors. I found some interesting information about this.
Herod the Great built a lot of impressive Theaters in Jericho, Samaria, and Jerusalem. One of these theaters was built within a few miles of Nazareth where Jesus grew up. It was built during the years when Jesus was a young man --- working for his dad as a Carpenter¡¦s apprentice.
It is quite possible that Joseph and his son Jesus may have worked on this major construction project together. Certainly Jesus and his audience were familiar with the ¡§Hypocrites¡¨ who acted on stage. This is the term Jesus used to describe those who made their religious acts into a ¡§theater production.¡¨
„X Giving, When it came to GIVING, Jesus said, don¡¦t blow a trumpet like the hypocrites. People don¡¦t literally blow a trumpet to gather an audience like they did back then. But you have to admit that people today find a way to blow their own horns...
Think how many times we see Celebrities literally putting on a SHOW for a good cause. The works are often good, but you have to admit, there¡¦s a lot of trumpet- blowing. When I hear about their impressive donations, I often wonder what percentage of their income that represents.
Contrast that with people who give a tenth of their income every month, and often give even more than that in offerings. No one ever knows they are doing it. No one except God, that is. We have a lot of families like that here at CHCC. They are the ones who make the work of this church possible. And their Reward comes from God Himself ¡K because that is the ONLY reward that matters to them!
Jesus added something really interesting here. He said, don¡¦t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Now think about that! If you set out to do it, you couldn¡¦t. What would you do? Say, ¡§Okay now left hand, ignore what the right hand is doing?¡¨ The more you try to ignore it, the more you are going to THINK about it!
So what did Jesus mean? What kind of person was He describing ¡K whose left hand wouldn¡¦t know what the right hand was doing? This is the kind of person where good deeds flow so naturally that they themselves don¡¦t even notice what they have done.
You know how it is when you¡¦re driving home from work. It¡¦s a route you do so often that you can drive on automatic pilot. You get home safe and sound ¡K you took all the right turns ¡K you stopped at all the red lights ¡K but you don¡¦t really remember the trip at all. That¡¦s the way it is in the Kingdom of Heaven. With Jesus¡¦ help, we become people who do our good deeds on automatic pilot. Our instinct is for good. When we see a need, we reach out to help before we even think about it.
I think about all the people who worked hard to make last Sunday¡¦s picnic a success. They planned and invited people and set up and tore down and grilled burgers and played with the kids and visited with new folks and prayed with people who needed it ¡K and when they were leaving, several stopped to help people who had been in a wreck. What I¡¦m saying is, most of those folk didn¡¦t get any thanks. Unless you remind them, they don¡¦t even remember what they did ¡K because it comes naturally to them. Something needs to be done, so they do it. It¡¦s as simple as that. THAT is the way life in the Kingdom of Jesus works.
We all know people like that. These kinds of people are known for ¡§getting a lot done.¡¨ But they don¡¦t see it as any ¡§big deal.¡¨ With God¡¦s help, we can all be that kind of person. When we live for an audience of ONE, God will motivate, empower, AND reward our good deeds!
„X Praying Jesus went on to talk about people who use PRAYER as a way to impress people. Now, this isn¡¦t a LAW against praying in public. The issue is not whether anyone knows we are praying. The issue is WHY we are praying.
I heard a story about a man who accidentally cussed in front of his Pastor. After an embarrassing silence, he looked over at the pastor and said, ¡§Oh, it¡¦s all right, pastor. I cuss a little and you pray a little, but neither one of us means anything by it.¡¨ (The Divine Conspiracy p. 199)
When we pray we need to ¡§mean something by it.¡¨ Prayer to the living and personal God of the universe is ¡§intelligent conversation about matters of mutual concern.¡¨ (p.194) It should never be used to impress others with our ability to say all the right words in the right tone of voice at the most appropriate events.
The point is not the SETTING of prayer or the STYLE of the prayer. Jesus is getting to the HEART of prayer. Even if hundreds of others are hearing us, we should always pray for an ¡§audience of ONE.¡¨
It is appropriate that Jesus gives a model prayer at this point in the sermon. It is usually called ¡§The Lord¡¦s Prayer.¡¨ It is actually the Disciple¡¦s Prayer. It is a Model for how WE can pray. Today I want to use this prayer as a Model as we take time to pray for the City of San Antonio. Today we join about 150 other churches in town to focus on the needs of our city, and to pray God¡¦s blessing and guidance on our city.
I want to start out by asking those of you willing to do so to gather in groups of 2 or more to pray together for San Antonio, and to pray that Christian people all over the city will behave like the body of Christ, which we are, and to intercede for the unique needs of our city. Let us pray for our city leaders, our police and fire departments, and for the lost and suffering people within our city boundaries. After you have prayed together, I will close our prayer session with a prayer for San Antonio modeled after the Lord¡¦s prayer.
PRAYER for San Antonio:
Our Father in Heaven, we offer you our worship and highest respect this morning. Today we want to ask for your kingdom to come. We want your will to be done here in San Antonio ¡K just as it is done in heaven.
We ask you to provide the basic needs of the people in our city. Show us what part we can play to meet these needs. We pray especially for the children who need food, shelter, and clothing. Lord, give them mercy. Show us what we as a church can do to meet these needs and to help these families come to know YOU.
Father, we ask You to forgive us for the ways we have failed you. So many people in our city have been trapped by sin and have given up hope. Show us how to reach out to them with your forgiveness.
We ask for your protection on our city leaders and on all the churches here in San Antonio. Deliver us from the temptations and evils that can overwhelm a city. Let good win over evil here in San Antonio, and let us be a part of your plan here in our city.
We pray this in the name and through the power of Jesus Christ. AMEN.
„X Fasting After giving us this beautiful Model prayer, Jesus mentioned one more example of doing the RIGHT thing the WRONG way. FASTING was more familiar in Jesus day than it is today.
The definition of Fasting is to deprive yourself to some degree of normal food and drink. The Religious Leaders of that time had developed special ways of disfiguring their faces with special markings to be sure people knew they were fasting.
Jesus points out that they have already received their full reward. They wanted to be noticed as being devout, and they were noticed. They got exactly what they were looking for. Here you see again the practical nature of Jesus¡¦ teaching.
Dallas Willard paraphrases Jesus instructions this way: ¡§When you fast, take a shower and fix yourself up. Brush your teeth. Put on lotion and cologne and nice clothes so that others won¡¦t even know you are fasting. Your Father who is in secret will see your hidden heart and enrich your life. (p.196)
3. The Secret
Notice the words, Your Father who is in secret. God sees what is in secret because the secret is the place where God dwells. God is SPIRIT. And a part of every person is Spirit. In many ways, the Spirit realm is a Secret place. It is the place where we meet God, one on one.
This Spirit world is INVISIBLE. But it forms the foundation for everything VISIBLE. Sometimes this invisible Kingdom of God changes things in the visible world. This happens when God gives tangible blessings. And it happens when God heals someone of a physical illness. But many things that happen in God¡¦s Kingdom remain hidden. Many of His greatest blessings ¡K and greatest Miracles ¡K come to us in the Secret place.
Even though the Kingdom of Heaven is secret, it is REAL ¡K more REAL than the world we can see. And the Rewards that God gives to us in Secret are also REAL ¡K more real than anything we can get in the visible world around us.
CONCLUSION:
In The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes one point over and over again. In the Kingdom of Heaven, we live for an audience of ONE. This sets us free from The Respectability Trap. It sets us free from control by the opinions of others. It sets us free to live our lives toward God and to receive His Rewards.
So what can we DO in order to live for an audience of ONE? We can actually practice this skill.
„X This week, do some good deeds that no one but God will ever know about.
„X Pray when only God will hear your prayers.
„X Perhaps you might skip lunch one day and spend the time in prayer ¡K without letting anyone but God know about it.
The more we learn to live in The Secret Presence of God, the more we will experience the kind of Rewards that only God can give.
