In Matthew 6 the word “Father” occurs twelve times. Matthew presents God as our Father over and over again stressing it and awakening us to the relationship God wants to have with us through Jesus Christ, His son. In fact, Matthew ends with the great commission where Jesus tells the apostles to go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This triune formula for baptism is found only in Matthew. All other references to Christian baptism are in the name of Jesus Christ.
It appears that Matthew wants the Fatherhood of God to capture our attention and make us think about how we relate to God as our Father. Perhaps also, we who have the role of father ought to take note of how this supplies a model for us to relate to our children.
We discover here in Matthew 6 how we can gain or lose our Father’s reward as his children. We see that he rewards us according to certain behaviors and intentions as we perform worship and as we focus our attention heavenward, with eyes full of true light and a singular commitment to one Master. Our heavenly Father happens to be the King of the universe and he calls us to kingdom behaviors and heavenly kingdom commitments.
Listen to this chapter and imagine being Matthew’s original audience. Again in this presentation of Matthew 6, the goal is to portray Matthew telling us what he heard Jesus say in this sermon. It has been over 30 years since Jesus ascended to heaven and Matthew is writing this to the church to instruct them in Jesus’ teachings and commands.
When we get to the Lord’s prayer, I will ask everyone to join me. We will say it in the King James vernacular using the word trespasses in place of the word debts in verse 12. Ok? And also, at the end of the presentation of the chapter, we will pause and have a song together so we can reflect on Jesus’ words here. Then we’ll look at a couple of lessons from this chapter to take home with you.
(Recite Matthew 6)
(Song: Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God)
For our lesson I’d like to make an observation and then an application from this Sermon on the Mount.
First, observation: did you notice how important it is not to do acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them? Three times Jesus warns us that as we give, pray and fast we must do so in secret so that our Father, who sees what is in secret will reward us. Now that needs to be balanced by what Jesus said in chapter 5:13-16 – You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world… let your light so shine before men THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Wait a minute… doesn’t Jesus tell us here in chapter six to hide our good works so that only God sees them? How can we let men see our good works and yet do these in secret so that men do not see them? Do we have a contradiction here?
No. What Jesus is warning against is hypocrisy that wants personal attention in self centered or prideful ways and that does not have God’s glory in mind. The hypocrite wants the glory for himself, not for God. Do you do religious acts for God your Father or do you do it to get attention? Maybe this is not even a concern for you. It is for me.
As a preacher, I get lots of attention for what I do, especially on Sunday mornings. In fact, I could try to impress you with what I say for personal gain instead of seeking to please our Father in heaven. Public ministry is dangerous in that way. Perhaps that’s why James says, “Be not many of you teachers for you will incur stricter judgment.” (James 3:1). For instance, I worked hard at memorizing Matthew 6. Do any of you think I did that so you would be impressed with me personally? I hope not. It is a blessing to be able to share the Words of Jesus Christ, our Lord with you in a way that I pray will help them sink in deeper than if I simply read them to you. Forgive me if it did not help you. O, I want to impress you all right, I want to impress God’s Word on your heart and mind so that you may hear and do what Jesus says here. These are God’s words and I pray that they will sink in to all of our hearts and minds and be lived out through our lives so that others will see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. Personally, I love these words, and I want you to love them too! We are called to be examples to one another!
Listen to these verses:
1 Corinthians 11:1
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Philippians 3:17
Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.
2 Thessalonians 3:7
For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you,
1 Timothy 4:12
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
Titus 2: 7In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned,
If we are going to be examples for one another, as God’s word teaches, we are going to have to share and show at least some of what we are doing with one another. We are going to have to practice letting our light shine so that others may see our good works and glorify our Father. In so doing, Jesus teaches us that we must be careful in two ways: First, not to be a hypocrite and show off for personal attention, (Matthew 6) and second, not to judge others who are trying to let their light shine, (Matthew 7:1-2)
If any of you are tempted to accuse anyone of acting hypocritically, I would invite you to consider carefully what Jesus says in chapter seven: 1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Can you follow Jesus’ teaching through on this? First, let your light shine; show others your good works for God’s glory. Second, watch out that you don’t do good works like the hypocrites who seek men’s attention and not God’s glory. Third, watch out that you don’t judge others, because that is God’s business, not yours and mine.
That’s our observation, now here’s an application:
Where is your treasure, what are your eyes most interested in seeing, and who are you serving? If God is not the answer to all three of these, you are going to be worried about a lot of things that are not heavenly at all.
But… If the Lord is your true treasure, and your eyes are fixed on Jesus, and He is your Master, you will be just fine. There’s nothing to worry about. Surely you know that your Father, who knows what you need, takes care of everything, even the birds and grass, and He will most certainly take care of his children who are seeking His kingdom and His righteousness.
So what is our application? Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness! Seek to please Him! In Him you have eternal treasure, a glorious vision of life and hope, and an all powerful Master who loves you so much He gave His only begotten Son to die for you! Hello???
In Him you have a Father in heaven who sees and knows everything and who wants to reward you with eternal, glorious, heavenly blessings that nothing on earth can compare with.
The story is told of a rich man who had a collection of the world’s finest art. He also had an only Son who died in service to His Father. Before the rich man died, he had a painter come out and do a portrait of his Son whom he loved very much and was extremely proud of. After his death all of his art was to be auctioned off and people came from all over the world to purchase works from his collection. The day of the auction came and the first piece to be auctioned was the portrait of the rich man’s son. The crowds moaned and complained that the auctioneer should begin with an important piece because this portrait of his son was nothing they had come to purchase. But the bidding started and the only one to bid on the portrait was the rich man’s gardener, a kind man who also knew the rich man’s son and loved him and the father. The auctioneer asked for higher bids, but none came. Some in the crowd jeered, let him have it and let’s get on with the rest of the works. Finally, the auctioneer said, “Going once, going twice… sold!” Then he came down off the auction block and said the auction was over. Everyone cried, “What???” The auctioneer said, “The owner of all of these paintings made the rules, whoever takes my son gets all the rest. All the rest of the paintings now belong to the gardener, because he loved the son.”
Our Father in heaven has given us one focus, one treasure, one Master, and that is Jesus Christ, His Son. Whoever receives the Son, receives the Father, and inherits not only his care here on earth, but also eternal glory in heaven with him forever.
