SHOWBOAT RELIGION
MATTHEW 6:1-8, 16-18
A "showboat" is someone who tries to draw all the attention to himself. They want all the glory, all the praise. You see it on the football field and other places where people compete. The touchdown or big play antics are performed to draw attention. Many people in the religious arena are nothing more than showboats. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus confronts that topic.
As Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, He seemed to cover many topics. Basically, though, His sermon showed the contrast of the practice of empty religion against the true relationship with God. Religion focuses on the outside appearances and actions, but a true relationship with God is characterized by the inward change reflected by one’s motives and desires.
Here, Jesus confronts the religious hypocrisy that was so common in Jewish society at that time.
“Hypocrite”- means “an actor on a stage”. Actors wore a mask so they would look like what they were impersonating and had megaphones in the mask so they could be heard. “Wears a false face”.
* A “religious hypocrite” is someone that does the “right things” that a Christian ought to do, but with a wrong motive. (Motive is everything).
MT 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
Believers are called to live in righteousness. We are to do good deeds, treat people with grace and mercy, and serve God with all our heart.
* Jesus goes straight to the heart of it – the motive.
“To be noticed”- theaomai- theatrical term- to show off.
Jesus is saying that if your motive for your righteous behavior is so that you can show off and impress people, then you have no reward in Heaven...... if you even go to Heaven.
1. GIVING FOR YOUR OWN GLORY.
MT 6:2-4 2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
* Notice Jesus does not say “if you give” but “when you give”.
* The custom of wealthy people was to give their gifts in a very public way. A person would walk ahead of him and blow their trumpet to turn the attention to the person giving their gifts to the poor. People would give him great glory for how generous he was.
* Jesus said that there is no reward in heaven for those that give charity with the wrong motive. He said “they have already received any reward that they could ever hope to get. No other reward is coming.”
How should we give?
(1) Give in secret. If possible, don’t even let the person you are helping even know about it so they won’t feel indebted to you.
(2) Give generously- more than you let yourself realize. “Left hand /right hand”- spontaneously. Do it, don’t dwell on it, forget about it.
(3) Give in proportion to how God has blessed you. Always live in the realization of how blessed you are and be a blessing likewise.
(4) Give to glorify God instead of self.
Matthew 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
2. PRAYING FOR YOUR OWN PRAISE.
MT 6:5-8 5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8 So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
So, Jesus next address the subject of prayer. He reveals there is a right way to pray and a wrong way to pray. He contrasts the prayer of hypocrites to that of a truly spiritual prayer. Again, motive is important.
The hypocrite’s motive is about looking “hyper-holy and spiritual”.
He wants to be praised for his spiritual status.
(1) The audience of prayer.
Hypocrite- the desire is to be seen by men.
True believer- to be heard by God. To enter into fellowship with Him.
* There is nothing wrong with corporate public prayer. In our meetings we ought to pray together. Jesus is not saying that we shouldn’t pray in public, but that we should earnestly pray with the motive being fellowship with Him and not praise for our own “flowery words”.
(2) The content of prayer.
Jesus mentions 2 problems about the content of our prayers.
Meaningless repetition. What are some examples of this?
* Praying in the King James English when you normally speak “American redneck”.
* Chanting the same phrase repeatedly like it’s a magic phrase.
* Reciting a prayer repeatedly instead of praying from the heart.
Many words. Spiritual prayers need not be long, just genuine.
God is not impressed by your oratory skills. He is the God that can make donkeys talk!
He is not impressed by your vocabulary. You cannot invent a word that He hasn't already known.
His knowledge is infinite, He is not impressed by yours.
** God already knows every thought that is on your heart and mind. He does not need you to tell Him that. BUT, He desires fellowship with you and for you to express to Him what is in your heart!
3. FASTING FOR SPIRITUAL FAME.
MT 6:16-18 16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face 18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Again, notice that Jesus doesn’t say “if” but “when” you fast. It is not commanded in Scripture to do, but it seems that the assumption is that all believers will fast at times.
What is fasting? It is voluntarily giving up food, drink and/or outside stimuli in order to focus your mind, body, and soul to intensely seek a deeper spiritual fellowship with God. Fasting is not something done by itself, it is always accompanied with prayer. “Praying on steroids.”
How not to fast. Don’t be obvious about it. Don’t be hyper-spiritual about it. Don’t try to impress people because you fast.
Most of the time, people ought not to even know you are fasting.
How to fast.
1. Notice that fasting is a personal thing. It is between you and God.
2. Fasting is a private thing.
* Jesus pointed out 3 areas that hypocrites try to impress people in the world. The common thread is that they are good behaviors that are done with the wrong motive. The irony is that the hypocrite tries so hard to convince other people that they are something other than what they are, but God is never fooled.
Conclusion: “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”
Aesop’s Fables tell of a wolf that wanted to have sheep for dinner. He couldn’t get near without being noticed. One day he found a sheepskin and covered himself with it. He fooled the sheep and ate a couple of them, but the shepherd saw him and knew that even though he looked like a sheep, he was really not. The shepherd killed him.
There has always been hypocrites among God’s people. Many prosper and do well and fool all the believers and the world, but God is not fooled. God sees through every hypocrite’s mask and sees what is in their heart. And, in the end, God will judge the hypocrite and do to them what the shepherd did to the wolf in sheep’s clothing.
