Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
Keeping up Appearances
(Heavenly Mrs Bucket)
Manuscript
In the 1990s there was a TV show from Britain called “Keeping Up Appearances.” Who remembers it? The reruns are still showing if you haven’t seen it and want to. The series is about a lady called Hyacinth Bucket, who’s whole purpose in life seems to be to impress everyone else how posh she is. She is always out to impress those people from the upper echelons of society, and shuns those who she thinks are beneath her. She is a snob – attempting to convince everyone that she is from high society, but the reality is far different. She lives in a pretty ordinary house in a pretty ordinary suburb somewhere in England. Her husband does some boring job at the local council. Her sister and brother-in-law definitely are not part of high society. But Hyacinth always covers up the bad and ordinary, and tries to convey the impression that she is from the upper class. Her surname is Bucket – but she pronounces it “Bouquet,” and she answers her phone, "The Bouquet residence, the lady of the house speaking!" Her neighbours, who Hyacinth is always trying to impress, live in constant fear of being invited to one of Hyacinth’s candlelight suppers. Hyacinth Bucket – I should say, Bouquet, lives in delusion. She lives her life constantly keeping up appearances. Trying to look good to everyone else, when the reality is often far different.
Today in our passage of Scripture, Jesus has a go at those who do a similar thing in their spiritual lives. People whose real righteousness is not that great, but try to keep up spiritual appearances by doing spiritual looking things so that other people will think they are pretty good. And in our passage Jesus looks at three aspects of spirituality, which are good things in and of themsleves. They are: giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting. And each time Jesus has much the same thing to say about them, which is summed up in Mt. 6.1:
Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Hmmm this is interesting, because we’ve just finished chapter 5. There was a lot in chapter 5, so much that it took us 8 sermons to get through it! And basically in chapter 5, Jesus has been telling us how we ought to live - how we ought to practice our righteousness. For example:
Matthew 520 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
So in Mt 6.1 Jesus is not telling us not to practice our righteousness. Now what Jesus is now telling us, is who we should be practising our righteousness for, and who we shouldn’t.
Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Jesus wants to warn us against doing righteous looking things in front of other people in order to impress them. And in Jesus’ day there were lots of people who did that. Rmember in Matthew 5.20 Jesus told us that our righteousness needed to exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees. Now the Scribes and the Pharisees were the spiritual Hyacinth Buckets [pronounced: “bouquet”] of the day. They wanted everyone else to know how righteous they were. How holy, how good, how close to God they were. They did this because they wanted others to think they were pretty good. They were only concerned with how they looked to others, so they concentrated on the externals, not the internals, and in chapter 5 we’ve seen how Jesus is not just interested in the externals as He is with what goes on inside.
We looked at murder – Jesus is not just concerned with the actual act – important as that is, but with the thoughts in our heads. Even when we are angry with others or out of sorts with other Christians. Jesus is interrested not just in the act of adultery, but in the thoughts of our mind – any desire to do it. Jeus is not just concerned with only telling the truth when under oath, but telling the truth all the time. Jesus is not concerned about our reputation, our wealth, our free time, and tells us to turn the other cheek, go the extra mile and help those in need. He is interested in what we are like on the inside, not on what we might portray to other people.
And as Jesus says in Mt 6.1, if we do good things just so other people will think we are spiritual or holy or religious, then we’ve already received our reward from those people, and so we won’t get any reward from God our Father. Jesus then uses three ways that the people of His day tried to look righteous before others: giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting. And the structure of each one is very similar. In each case, which we’ll soon look at, Jesus gives an example of how we can do righteous deeds, but do them only to win the favour of other people. And if we do them for that reason, then we receive our reward from those people, and won’t be rewarded by our Father.
And in each case Jesus compares three sets of opposites. Firstly – He contrasts doing acts of righteousness publicly verses doing them privately. That is – doing them before people – rather than before God the Father. And as a result our reward will be either from people – or from the Father. And our reward will either be only for the present – or for eternity.
Let’s have a look at the first one – giving to the needy. Now in Jewish society back then, there was no Centrelink, no Family Tax Benefit, no Pension. If someone didn’t have a job or assets, they were in a pretty hard spot. And there were lots of people like that. They depended on the generosity of others to survive, and the Old Testament spoke a lot about helping the poor. And so does Jesus – and we’ll be talking about that when we get to those passages. But there were two ways you could give to the needy: publicly – or in secret. And in verses 2 Jesus says
Matthew 52 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others.
It’s interesting here. Jesus is actually referring to some people in His day who would make a big deal publicly about giving. If they gave something, they’d make sure everyone else knew about it. The beggars, the poor would often be lying in the streets, perhaps waiting outside synagogues, and these people would make sure that when they gave lots of people were there, and that lots of people could see them giving. Why? So that people would think they were pretty good. And what does Jesus say about them:
Matthew 5:2bTruly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Why have they received their reward? Well, the adulation of other people, that other people think they are pretty good, pretty holy - that’s their reward. So it means that they cannot expect God the Father to reward them later. And then Jesus tells us what we should do instead. He doesn’t tell us not to give. Yes, we must give – we don’t have the same social needs as people may have had in Jesus’ day. We have Centrelink, free public hospitals and so on. But we still have people who are in need in our own community. But not just that - the world isn’t just Australia. And there’s lots of parts of the world which were like Israel in Jesus’ day. Just now we are hearing on our news about a famine developing in East Africa. Thousands of people made in God’s image at threat of starvation. We as Christians have an obligation to help those worse off than ourselves. But the way we do it is what counts. Jesus tells us how to give.
Matthew 63 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.
Now obviously it’s a play on words to say that our left hand shouldn’t know what our right hand is doing. It’s an expression to portray that we keep our giving to ourselves. We don’t make a big thing about it in front of others. We keep it secret. Well what does that mean for us as we give? Well – we should do it secretly, in private. Now these days sometimes you have to give your name when you give. You support a missionary – you need to fill in a form with your name. You send some money off to Barnabas Fund – they’ll ask you your name and send you a receipt if you want one. But even though you may need to supply your name in those cases, you should leave it there. Not make a big deal of it. Not even drop it in conversation. Oh how tempting it is to say, “Oh I support so and so.” :I give to so and so.” Are we saying things like that to encourage others to give, or are we doing it so others think we are pretty good? If you don’t need to tell others that you are giving – then don’t! And that’s one reason why the offering here is anonymous, and if you wish you can use the yellow envelopes that are supplied. They are kept out the back if you want some, so that your gift is anonymous. Secret. Why? Well the rest of verse 4 tells us
Matthew 6:4b And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Yes, if we give in secret, no other person will see it. Therefore no-one else will think we are a nice generous person, except our heavenly Father. And I guess this is where the rubber hits the road. Because as I read this I’m challenged. Because when I give, I have to be honest, I wouldn’t mind if you all knew about it. I wouldn’t mind if word slipped out ……. and got around… Why? Because you’d think I was a pretty good bloke. A generous, holy, spiritual bloke. Well it would be good for my reputation. And I’d get a reward - now. I wouldn’t have to wait for it.
And the other thing this does, is it challenges my faith. You see, giving is costly. I have to give up something in order to give to someone else. And I’d like to get some acknowledgement for it. Now Jesus tells us, if you give in secret, you will be rewarded - but not by other people, but by God. But how much do we really believe that? How much do we really believe that it is more important to be rewarded by God than by other people? How much do we really believe that there is an eternity? How much do we really believe that God really does see what we do in private? Because if we did believe it, it wouldn’t be so hard to forgo the temporary, fleeting reward of adulation from other people, in order to receive the eternal reward of our Father in Heaven! What a challenge!
Let’s go onto the next thing – prayer. Jesus again talks about hypocrites who want everyone else to see them pray
Matthew 65 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.
It was quite probably a mark of distinction to be invited to pray publicly from the front of the synagogue. Good for the prestige, reputation. Or you could make sure others heard your loud and flowery prayers and make sure you prayed somewhere where others could hear you pray. The questions is – who were they praying to? Were they really praying to God? You don’t need to pray in front of others for God to hear you! God can hear you anywhere! They weren’t praying to God, and so Jesus tells us
Matthew 6:5b Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Which is why Jesus then tells us where we ought to pray:
Matthew 66 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Now when we read this we probably think of some special prayer closet or study, but we need to remember that very few people had the luxury of their own room in those days. The word for “your room” here normally referred to a storeroom, and because it was a storeroom no-one else would normally be there, especially if you shut and locked the door. So should we all go and find some storeroom somewhere to pray? No , not necessarily, but if that would help, do so! But go somewhere private. If you find that in a walk by yourself in the early hours of the morning, or in the kitchen late at night after the rest of the family has gone to bed, or in the garage – where I often pray, where it can be just you and God. No-one else will see you. No-one else will hear you. Just God. And that’s who matters.
Now does this mean we shouldn’t pray in public? We’ve just had church prayers where I prayed in public! Will I lose my reward? Well, throughout the New Testament we see people praying in public, but it mustn’t be to attract attention to ourselves, so that others think we are holy. And it mustn’t be the basis for our relationship with God. The basis of our prayer life must be our own, personal, private prayer. And as Jesus says, for that we will receive our reward from our Father.
So we’ve seen the same pattern in both giving and in prayer. A contrast between doing thing in public – so we look good in front of other people and get our reward now
or in private – where only God sees – and we may have to wait for our reward. But what a reward – an eternal reward!
And regarding prayer, we’ll look at that more next week when we look at the Lord’s Prayer. So for now we’ll slip over those verses with the Lord’s Prayer to the next thing Jesus talks about in verse 16-18 – fasting, which if you don’t know, means giving up food for a period of time, such as a whole day. And we see the same pattern as with giving and praying:
Matthew 616 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others.
Back then people trying to look holy would fast twice a week, and when they fasted they’d make sure everyone else knew. They’d go about all gloomy and grumpy. They’d even go about dishevelled, unwashed, unkempt, so that people would know they were fasting. And as result they could acquire the reputation of a saint. What does Jesus say about them? Well, you can guess:
Matthew 6:16b Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Others think they are holy – well fine, then that’s their reward, but Jesus says
Matthew 617 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
What was Jesus saying? Well like us today, people back then normally kept themselves clean. They’d wash their face, anoint – or put oil on their head, a bit like we’d slap on a bit of deodorant. So Jesus is saying, when you fast, act normally so that no-one else knows you are fasting. Only your Father in heaven will know you are fasting, and He will reward you.
But I guess some of you may have a question now: does this mean Christians are supposed to fast? Well, in the New Testament there are very clear instructions that Christians ought to give to the needy. And there’s also very clear teaching that we should pray. But what about fasting? Well, when Jesus mentions fasting, He mentions it as something that people do, but He never actually tells us directly that it is a requirement. So if you find fasting is something that helps you in praying or worshipping God, then do it. But if it doesn’t help, well there’s nowhere in the New Testament that tells us directly and unambiguously that we must fast. But if you do fast. don’t make a show of it. Keep it between you and God, and He will reward you.
And so we see the same pattern with fasting as with giving and praying: choose to go public – in front of everyone else, in front of people, and get your reward from people now, in the present. Or keep it secret, fast for God only, and your reward will be eternal, from God. Can you wait? Do you trust that God really will see you in private? Do you trust that God really is there and that eternal things do matter, and are in fact more important than the things of today? And I guess, that’s what this passage is all about.
So let’s now talk about how this passage applies to us today. Now in many ways, we don’t live in the same sort of society that Jesus lived in back then. Jewish society was very religious, and if you were seen to be religious then people thought you were pretty good. So people tried to look religious, doing all the right things on the outside, keeping up spiritual appearances, so that they would have a good reputation. But in our society, most people don’t try and make a big show of being religious. If I went down to Mary Street and stood on the street corner and prayed loudly, most people wouldn’t think I was a saint, they’d think I was a nutcase.
We live in a different culture to Jesus’ culture. But we can still apply the passage today. And we can, within the church, fall for some of these things. Who hasn’t been to a church or charitable organisation and there is plaque for all to see with a list of donors - that if you give so your name can be seen on a list of donors. You’ve already received your reward. And of course, we can apply this principle to other things too. When you serve God, what is your motive? Natalie has recently been doing up the rosters. There are basically two rosters we have. The out the front roster - worship leading, communion devotions, prayers, singers. We usually don’t have any problems filling those rosters. Then there’s the other roster, the behind the scenes roster, church cleaning, mowing, morning teas, and so on. It’s much harder to fill that one. Now I’m not saying to everyone who’s on the up front roster that you’re all doing things so everyone will see you. And that’s mostly the roster I’m on – so I’m pointing the finger back at myself. But it could be - we all need to ask ourselves why we do things. And are we doing them for the Lord, or so others will see us? And for those who do the behind the scenes stuff in the church, first I’d like to thank you on behalf of the church for doing them, but also to encourage you not to be disheartened or despondent if you rarely get acknowledgement or thanks - because your Father sees you, and His reward, His word of thanks, is much more important than anything I or anyone else can give you!
And I guess at this stage we might also ask a question: what about Matthew 5:16 where it talks about us being salt and light and Jesus says:
Matthew 516 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.
Aren’t we supposed to let our light shine before others? Well – yes, if the purpose and result is to give glory to our Father in heaven. But if the purpose or even result is to give glory to ourselves - then no. And it will depend a lot on what it is. Jesus has picked three things here – giving, prayer and fasting, things that don’t need to be displayed publicly to be effective, things that are best done in private. But of course that doesn’t mean our general conduct, our Christian behaviour shouldn’t be on display to others - not to bring glory to us, but so our Father in heaven is glorified.
When we do righteous acts, if it’s so others will think we are saintly or holy or good, then we’ve already received our reward. But if we do them in secret, or not caring what people think, but just doing these things for our Father because we love Him and are eternally grateful for Him, because He sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins. If we are motivated by that and that alone, and don’t care about the aclaim of people, then as Jesus says, your Father who is in Heaven and who sees in secret will reward you.
