THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT (part 14)
Matthew 6:1-4
Today we start chapter six. We'll notice that Jesus doesn't introduce his topics as he has up to this point. Throughout chapter five we saw the now familiar phrase, "you have heard it was said". But Jesus doesn't start out that way through the rest of the sermon on the mount. As chapter six begins, Jesus doesn't challenge contradictory teachings but he does carry on the theme of challenging contradictory practices. Today Jesus challenges us to examine why we do good deeds.
1) Giving to be noticed.
Matt. 6:1-2, “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. “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."
Jesus cautions us to not do our 'acts of righteousness' for the purpose of getting noticed for them. Notice Jesus adds the clarifier, 'to be seen by them'. Jesus isn't saying don't ever do your acts of righteousness in front of others. He isn't saying all your good deeds must be done one on one.
While that may be what's best in certain circumstances, sometimes it's appropriate to do a good deed in front of others; not for personal accolades but to inspire them to follow suit. You see organizations talk about all the good they're doing so other people will be inspired to join the cause. Some people or companies are all about being recognized for their donations and acts of service but not all of them.
And just because someone is being recognized for their service doesn't make it wrong or that the person is doing it with wrong motives. We have to be careful, as Jesus said, but not all public giving is insincere. But it's good to examine ourselves to determine if there's a desire to be recognized when we do something nice for someone.
There have been surveys where people were asked, 'if you could break the law with no chance of getting caught, would you'. Many people said that they would. But think about it the other way around? As people would be willing to do the wrong thing if they were sure no one would find out, I wonder how many people would not do the right thing if they were sure no one would find out.
It's Christmas time and some people do this thing called Secret Santa. You have a group of people who draw names and buy a gift for that person in secret. But does it stay a secret? No, at the end you find out who your secret Santa is. How many would still participate if it stayed completely anonymous? Do we do good deeds with the desire to make them known?
In vs. two, notice that Jesus starts out by saying when you give; not if you give. Jesus speaks from the presumption that one is going to give. For the Christian, giving or helping the needy isn't an option; it's a requirement. When, how much and how often are to be determined but it's expected that a follower of Jesus will be a giving person. There's a quote that goes, "It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving". Part of following the two greatest commandments is seen in the act of giving.
If you use an older translation you might see the word, alms. Giving alms is giving money or other assistance to people in need as charity. So this wasn't just about giving money, but also donations or even help. And we see that whatever it is we are giving, it should not be broadcast.
"Announce it with trumpets". Jesus wasn't being figurative here; he was being literal. It's understood that the Pharisees were known to actually do this. Jesus calls them hypocrites. He also uses this term in the next two sections when he talks about praying and fasting.
In giving, praying and fasting, Jesus highlights that the Pharisees were being hypocritical; doing these things for show and recognition rather than sincerity. They were doing good deeds but not because they really cared about the person they were helping or the good that would be done through their offering, but for selfish reasons; it was a means to their self-glorifying end.
Blowing a trumpet would get everyone's attention. When people had gathered around (including the needy, since they knew the trumpet sound meant they would receive something) the good deed was performed so all would see and be impressed. There's also an ancient practice in the East where beggars would have a horn and when someone would give a donation they would sound the horn. Perhaps the bigger the donation the louder or longer the blow of the horn would be.
Whether one used an actual trumpet or just made a loud noise to draw attention, it set the stage for giving to the needy to be an opportunity for recognition and adoration. This is probably where we get the expression, 'toot your own horn'.
Interestingly, speaking of trumpets, in the temple treasury there were these receptacles that looked something like an upside down trumpet. They were usually made of metal. So, as you can imagine, when a multitude of coins were dropped into the receptacle, they would make some noise. The more money the louder the noise. Those who gave larger amounts would make a show of it, much to the delight of the Pharisees. But Jesus highlighted something that would give people a different mindset about giving.
Mark 12:41-44, "Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
I guarantee no one blew a trumpet when she gave her offering. If she was noticed at all, I'm sure they scoffed at her meager offering. But Jesus decided to blow a trumpet for her. She wasn't looking for recognition, but Jesus gave it to her. It's debatable whether Jesus spoke loud enough for anyone outside of his disciples to hear.
So it's quite possible that the poor widow had no clue Jesus was commending her. But I'm sure God let her know that her offering was no small thing and took care of her even though she gave all she had. Like Paul said in 2 Cor. 8:12, "For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have."
I guarantee if she had more she would've given more; that was her heart. Have you ever thought, 'I would give if I had it to give'? A pastor was visiting a farmer friend of his. He asked, 'If you had 100 horses, would you give me 50 of them?" "Sure," said the farmer. "If you had 100 cows would you give me 50 of them?" "Absolutely," came the reply. Then the pastor asked, "If you had two pigs would you give me one of them?" "Hey, now, cut that out, pastor, you know I have two pigs."
It's easy to be generous with what we don't have but what about when it comes to what we do have? There's a quote that goes, "If one is not generous with what he has, he deceives himself if he thinks he would be if he had more". Generosity comes from the spirit, not the abundance of things to be generous with.
If I have a spirit of generosity I will do so with a little or a lot. I may have to be more creative when I don't have very much. I may have to make things instead of buy them, but that probably registers more with people anyway. It shows you are more invested when you give more of yourself. It's easier and quicker to hand someone money than it is to volunteer. Not that giving money is a bad act of generosity but not having money doesn't equate to not having the means to be generous.
Jesus isn't teaching that the more you give the more spiritual you are. But there is a connection between your willingness to give and serve and your spiritual depth. In many ways the two go hand in hand. But, we have to include motive with that too; that's what Jesus' focus has been. John Raleigh Mott said, "The world asks, 'how much did he give'; Jesus asks, 'why did he give'".
Do I give what I give so others will be impressed? Do I help and serve so I will get recognized for it? Am I okay with no one but the person I helped see what I've just done? If they want to say something about it that's their business. Obviously that's not wrong since Jesus makes it known what the widow did.
But even in that, we have to be careful that the person we help who decides to tell others knows that we aren't to be looked at like we're someone great. We can be thanked and appreciated for our giving but we shouldn't allow ourselves to be glorified for it. Don't toot your own horn.
2) Don't let your left hand know what the right one is doing.
Matt. 6:3-4, "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
There are sayings in our vernacular that don't make any sense but we know what they mean. Like, "It's raining cats and dogs". We know that means it's pouring out but we don't know why this phrase is associated with it. If you said this to someone who wasn't from around here they would look at you funny. This is one of those sayings.
At face value it doesn't make sense. How could we do something with our right hand without the left one knowing about it? But, we have come to understand that this means don't go telling everyone about the good deeds you do; keep it to yourself. This is not to be confused with the English phrase, "the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing". That implies that there are things going on in an organization that certain people are oblivious to.
Aside from the clear implication of the phrase that we shouldn't boast about our acts of righteousness, there are other suggestions as to the meaning implied by this phrase. One is that as close as the right hand is to the left, we should keep from telling even those closest to us. That is at least worth taking notice of. We might realize it's wrong to shout it from the rooftops but think it's perfectly fine to tell my family and close friends. While it might not be wrong to tell those closest to us, we still need to check our motives. Do we do that because we're excited to share how we helped someone or is it so they will think better of us for doing so?
Consider Charles Spurgeon and his wife. They had chickens and sold the eggs. They would not give the eggs away, even to their close relatives. As a result, some people labeled them as greedy. Only after Mrs. Spurgeon passed away did the full story emerge. All the profits had been going to the support of two elderly widows. Because the Spurgeons were unwilling to let their left hand know what the right hand was doing they endured the criticism they received.
Another interpretation of this phrase is that since the right hand and the left hand are part of the same body, we shouldn't allow ourselves to praise ourselves. We might not do our acts to be seen and praised by men but we have to be careful that what is done in secret isn't even praised by ourselves. My lips may be sealed but my mind's lips can be blowing a trumpet, causing me to think of myself more highly than I ought.
The bottom line is Jesus wants us to be doing our service with humility and for an audience of one-God. Not that others can't know what we're doing but what is the motive; what is the agenda for what we do? It feels good to be recognized for our efforts, but we have to be careful. We can feel good about what we do but let's make sure those good feelings aren't generated by the praise we receive from others.
If what we do is for God's glory and not our own then we're okay; even if our deeds are done publicly or spoken highly of. We might get recognized, or applauded; we may even get compensated or rewarded but let's make sure we don't seek or expect these things when we do our acts of righteousness.
I admire those who have been this way toward me. There have been times when I or my family have received anonymous blessings and they kept it to themselves even when I have openly acknowledged thanks for it. That's what it's about. They understood they didn't need to make it known because God knew and whatever reward comes from it will be bestowed by him; and they are glad and content with that; because it's the best reward to have-knowing you have blessed someone and pleased God in the process by doing it with sincere motives and a purely generous spirit.
3) Rewards.
Jesus talked about rewards in vs. 1,2 and 4. If we give to be recognized we will have our reward in full but miss out on God's reward. A reward is something good we get in return for doing something. The reward I get if I do my good deeds to be seen by men will be the thanks I get from them and that's it. That will fall way short of the reward I would've received from God.
People are fickle. I might get a standing ovation today but receive a few clapping hands the next time. The 'reward' of man will lose its luster; it will get old quick. Plus, if I don't keep 'performing' people will turn on me. I'm Mr. Popular only so long as I can keep my image up or only as long as I can entertain. As soon as my ability to produce wanes so does my adoration. I will quickly lose my star status and they'll move on to the next shining star.
But with God, I don't have to meet a quota of good deeds to stay in his good graces. His love for me is not performance based. However, he does reward our acts of righteousness when we do them for the right reasons. But it's not like God is bribing us to do good deeds. He shouldn't need to coax us into doing good deeds by promising a nice reward if we do.
So, our good works are not done so we will be rewarded for them, but rather because we love God and others. Although we don't do good deeds to be rewarded by God, it's nice to know that he recognizes and rewards our efforts. Prov. 19:17, "He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done." Those who do their good deeds to be seen will get worldly rewards that last only a short while. However, the sincere ones will be rewarded both in this life and in the one to come.
2nd Cor. 9:6, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." When we are miserly we will get the same in return. But if we're generous with our resources, we'll be blessed by God.
So, this means the one who has a lot of money and possessions must be the most rewarded by God. Not necessarily. God might allow me to have an abundance of material possessions but that doesn't mean it's because I've been generous. The parable of the rich young ruler who went away sad when Jesus told him to sell his possessions and give to the poor shows that.
If you go ahead a few verses you see the real reason for the Lord bringing the increase to those who are generous. 2nd Cor. 9:11, "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." When we are generous with what we have we will be given more to be generous with.
With that said, as being rich isn't an automatic indicator that we're generous, the opposite is equally true that if we don't have a lot it doesn't mean we are stingy. However, oftentimes this can be the case. Prov. 11:24-25, "One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."
If I'm in a position of poverty and I can't seem to get ahead I might want to look at my level of giving. It's ironic that that when I'm generous for the right reasons, I don't lose; I gain. This is what God does. It doesn't make sense; it seems logical that if I keep what I have I will have more and if I give it away I will have less.
But God has a way of causing my cherished possessions to be removed involuntarily; the story of the man who had so much grain he chose to build bigger barns to hold it instead of honoring God is a good example of that. In contrast, God has a way of blessing those who give in amazing ways.
Years ago, W. L. Douglas was a shoe manufacturer who became nationally known but it didn't start out that way. At one time he was unemployed and down to his last dollar. Even so, when the offering plate came around he felt compelled to give half of it. Later, he heard of a neighboring town offering work. He went to the train station and found that the ticket price was $1.00. The voice in head said, 'had you not put 50 cents in the plate you would've had enough to get to that town to get that job'.
He asked how far he could get for 50 cents. He bought his ticket and when he got to his location he exited the train and began to walk around town. He hadn't gone one block before he heard that the factory in town was hiring. Within a half hour he had landed a job that paid him $5.00 more a week than he would have received if he had went to the original town he was going to go to.
When we do what God compels us to do, he will reward us in ways we never thought possible. God's storehouse is never empty. We need to consider how much he has blessed us and also the times he's been generous with us and we didn't acknowledge him for it. His wonderful example should compel us to have that same love and desire towards others.
Anonymous poem: "Go break to the needy charity's bread; for giving is living", the angel said. "And must I be giving again and again?" My peevish and pitiless answer ran. "Oh, no", said the angel, piercing me through, "Just give 'til the Master stops giving to you."
Generosity for the right reasons glorifies God, results in thanksgiving towards God, and it brings satisfaction, blessing and fulfillment to us.
