Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
We have moved to the next chapter in Matthew as we continue in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew Chapter 6. In this transition of the Chapter, we also find ourselves transitioning in Jesus’ sermon. We began with the Beatitudes, which serve as the backbone to being a Kingdom Citizen. Then the transition of Jesus telling the Jewish people that he did not come to abolish the law but fulfill it. That was followed by six statements, “You have heard it said… but I say to you...” These were meant to set the standard that was misunderstood by the Jewish people of the day. The Law was not something that they were to merely do, but it was something that addresses the sin that is in the heart of every man.
In short, in Chapter 5 Jesus says that your theology is inadequate. You’ve got it wrong when it comes to hate, anger, murder, divorce, swearing, telling lies, taking oaths. You’ve even got the wrong theology of love and he sets the godly standard. Now in the first 18 verses of the Chapter Jesus corrects our attitude of worship. What he says is that your worship is hypocritical. He calls them "hupokrites", which means “stage actor. And in this section he is going to go pick out three elements of their worship: giving, praying, and fasting. What he is doing is tearing down their phony piety and self-righteous religion in order for them (and us) to cease striving for our own sake and learn to depend on God for all things.
“Beware of doing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Therefore, 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 glorified 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. (Matthew 6:1–4)
Now the first area of worship that Jesus addresses is in our giving. There is no doubt that false teachers in the Church have abused the issue of giving for their own gain. And even with legitimate needs and organizations, we can be overwhelmed with requests for donations and causes. But that does not take away from the spiritual discipline of how we handle our money and how we handle our money is a reflection of our relationship with God. In that relationship, God expects us to be generous with what He provides for us.
So with that, I want us to look biblically at being generous and faithful givers in relation to our worship. Biblically speaking, there are two ways that we are to give in our worship. First is our regular worship in the church. Paul instructs the Christians to give according to their prosperity on the first day of each week the church meets. This is something that the believer is to agree with God in his heart in a structured means of giving.
The second means of giving is giving to the poor. That is something that is not structured, like when you give your tithes, but it is an offering - either through a need in the church, or a special missions offering like we do with the church in Guinea-Bissau, or giving privately to someone in need. Those are the two ways that God has directed us in the Bible to give and I don’t think that those are to be option parts of our spiritual walk.
Now we know that Psalm 24:1 “The earth is Yahweh’s, as well as its fullness, The world, and those who dwell in it.” So we know Psalm 50 tells us that the Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills and that the streets of heaven will be paved with gold. God doesn’t need our money. He’s not up in heaven mussing over the books nor is the advancement of the Kingdom of Heaven dependent on your wealth. So the question now remains why is it so important?
I think first of all, it is because that God is a giving God and we are more like Him when we share in that kind of generous heart.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (Hebrews 13:16)
He who is gracious to a poor man lends to Yahweh, And He will repay him for his bountiful deed. (Proverbs 19:17)
“Christians are a light to the world (Matthew 5:14-16). As we become more and more who God has called us to be – more like Him – through the process of sanctification, we reflect God more and more. We become more loving, more gracious, and, yes, more giving. Because God is generous, we are also called to be generous. Generosity not only points others to God, but it is also an appropriate response to what God has done for us.” (Got Questions)
The problem is the continuing bombardment of telling us we need more. Advertisers say if we buy more products, we’ll be happier, fulfilled, comfortable, popular, and cooler. Yet they never warn of excess or hint that having things won’t make us happy. 34% of Americans in 2000 ranked shopping as their favorite activity! 70% visit malls at least once a week. That’s more than going to churches or synagogues! The average American shops 6 hours a week, but only plays with their children for 40 minutes. By age 20, the average American has seen around one million commercials. (Sermon Central, Tom Conant).
Many people have no problem spending $7.00 a day on a cup of coffee, but won’t give a dime to the Lord.
Secondly, I believe giving is important because it relinquishes us from the idolatry of money. Many believers practice what is known as tithing. A tithe means ‘ten percent’ and so as part of following that biblical principle, many believers, including Andrea and I, make a practice of giving the first part of our income to God.
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says Yahweh of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and empty out for you a blessing until it is beyond enough. (Malachi 3:10)
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Matthew 6:24)
Third, I believe that giving generously puts in a place of blessing. Just as you must sow seed to gather more grain, so it is with God and money. Now, this isn’t a spiritual get-rich scheme. This is just a spiritual principle that God will allow you to reap from your generosity.
Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows with blessing will also reap with blessing. (2 Corinthians 9:6)
Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. (1 Timothy 6:17–19)
“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” (Luke 6:38)
Last, I believe that giving is important because it allows us to share in the investment of the ministry of the Church. Let’s be honest, if God wanted to just ‘snap His fingers’ he could decree all the wealth need to the Church. But He uses believers to provide for the needs and ministry of the Church. I believe this is so we have ownership in the work of the Kingdom.
Honor Yahweh from your wealth And from the first of all your produce; (Proverbs 3:9)
contributing to the needs of the saints, pursuing hospitality. (Romans 12:13)
at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality. (2 Corinthians 8:14)
I believe that your giving is between you and God, which is why Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 9:7 that each person should decide in his heart what they should give. Not under compulsion, not legalistically, not because the preacher said so, but because they got along with God and the Holy Spirit prompted them to give for the glory of God.
Now someone may say, I’ll give something when I have enough money when I pay off my bills, or my ship comes in and I win the lottery. It’ll never happen friends. Our giving should be a gift of sacrifice, not a gift of convenience. David said, I will not offer burnt offerings to Yahweh my God which cost me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:24)
“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much, and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. (Luke 16:10)
In an article called, ‘The Energy Of Money,’ Maria Nemeth writes;
Money is an uncomfortable subject for most of us. Many people would rather talk about their sex lives than about their bank balance. We love money, and we hate it. We can’t live with it, and we can’t live without it. Money can be a source of great joy and creativity, or it can bring frustration and misery, depending on our relationship with it. And we bring all these doubts and fears, hopes and expectations with us every time we deal with money--not just when we visit a financial planner or a loan officer, but in every area of our lives.
Money touches almost every aspect of living: work, leisure time, creative activities, home, family, and spiritual pursuits. Everything we do and dream of is affected by our relationship with this powerful form of energy. Whether your dream is to travel around the world, pay for a house, establish a food bank, buy a Corvette, get out from under a mountain of debt, or take a year off to write a novel, that vision is intertwined with the possibilities and pitfalls bound up in the energy of money. (Sermon Central, Steve Malone)
My point is that many are reluctant to give because of false teachers who abuse these passages for their gain, but in doing so, many good and honest believers put up a wall between them and God that doesn’t have to be there. If you trust God with your eternity, why would you not trust God with your wealth and security? If God says that when you are faithful and generous in your giving He will open doors of blessings, can you trust him with that truth?
With that, Jesus tells the Jewish people that they have their act of giving all wrong. Verse 1 he says, Matthew 6:1-2 “1 “Beware of doing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Therefore, 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 glorified by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”
What Jesus is talking about is the peril of religion. There are people who give because they want to be seen as pious, but Jesus tells them that they are nothing but hypocrites in their giving. In other words, they aren’t giving because of the love in their hearts, they are giving because they think they are impressing God.
And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:3)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. (Matthew 23:23)
I think Jesus is saying that if you cannot give with the right heart, you would be better off not giving at all until you go to God and get right with Him. The image Jesus uses is someone walking through the street sounding a trumpet that he is giving something to the poor. I don’t know if this is a literal picture or if Jesus is using hyperbole, but the point is clear. If you are giving and that purpose is to draw attention to yourself, then you’ve received your reward.
Some people say they actually did have a little silver trumpet and they would blow a little silver trumpet. And it was kind of like all you poor, come one come all, your great benefactor has arrived. Our Lord pictures a pompous, self-righteous Pharisee on his way to put money into the hands of the poor. In front of him march the trumpeters blowing the fanfare to draw a crowd as he says come and get it, and passes out everything. And he does it all for appearance's sake. (MacArthur)
Jesus said, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. In other words, let what you do for the glory of God be so subtle and so second nature that the other side of your body doesn’t even take notice. Now, some people take this to the other extreme and they put so much effort into concealing it, they draw more attention to the fact that they are being secretive than if they just give and help someone out. The point is that the Christian gives and helps the poor without a second thought. It is just who we are.
Throughout history, Christians have been the most generous of people. It is the natural overflow of the Father’s love for us. We desire to see the ministry of God that we are a part of thrive and so we pour the blessings from God back into the storehouse. In doing so, God always provides for the needs of the ministry and also the needs of the saints.
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says Yahweh of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and empty out for you a blessing until it is beyond enough. (Malachi 3:10)
"The Bible warns that money cannot buy happiness. Money cannot buy true pleasure. Money cannot buy peace of heart. And money cannot buy entrance into the Kingdom of God. If God has given you more than your neighbors around about you, dedicate your possessions to Christ, and realize that you are only a steward of what God has given you--and someday you will have to give an account of every penny you have spent. The Internal Revenue Service wants to know how you spend your money, but that is nothing compared to the books God is keeping!" -Billy Graham. (Sermon Central)
As I said before all of this is first rooted in the Heavenly Father’s generosity toward us. Christianity is not religious piety. It’s not a system of formulas. It’s not a series of do's and don’t rules, rituals, or regulations. It’s not trying to ease, please, or appease the Almighty. Christianity, simply put, is about a relationship, a personal, individual, and privileged relationship with God that he initiated and instigated for us. And this is what makes Christianity inherently different from all other world religions. God reaches out to us and when God sought to provide for our need of salvation, He gave to us lavishly. Not so that we could enjoy a religion but so that we could live in the gift of His love.
There’s a big difference between the gospel and religion.
Religion is man-made, and the gospel is God-given.
Religion is what man does for God, The gospel is what God does for man.
Religion is a man trying to climb the ladder of his own self-righteousness, with the hope of meeting God on the topmost rung. The gospel is God coming down the ladder of the incarnation of Jesus Christ and meeting us as sinners at the lowest rung.
Religion is good views, the gospel is good news.
Religion is good advice, the gospel is a glorious announcement.
Religion takes a man and leaves him as he is; the gospel takes a man as he is and makes him what he ought to be.
Religion ends in an outer reformation.
Religion whitewashes, and the gospel washes white.
Religion often becomes a farce; the gospel is always a force, the power of God unto salvation, to everyone who believes.
There are many religions, but only one Gospel. (Dallas Linaman)
The gospel stands alone. It need nothing more added to it. Will you come to him today?
