Matthew 6:1-18
“An Oscar Winning Performance”
Every year in late-February or early March the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences holds a ceremony where the Academy Awards … commonly known as the Oscars … are presented.
Some awards go to musicians, and technicians.
But most awards go to actors. An actor is a person who is able to best pretend to be someone else.
Some of these actors go to great lengths to portray their character.
The Australian actor Chris Hemsworth
… who is best known for his role as Thor.
Chris was also in a movie called “In the Heart of the Sea”. To accurately portray a starving sailor stranded at sea Hemsworth lost 15kg of weight in four weeks.
Chris Hemsworth … a very rich, very huge man … portraying a staving stranded sailor.
It wasn’t quite an Oscar winning performance but what Chris did as an actor was very impressive.
Impressing people is what actors do. In our text today Jesus tells us about another group of people who are motivated by impressing people.
We start in Matthew 6:1 where Jesus gives a summary of the attitude of such people.
1 ‘Be careful not to practise your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
There are two important points to take note from this warning of Jesus.
Firstly
Never in the New Testament … indeed never in the whole Bible … are people rewarded with eternal life as a result of their actions.
Always in the New Testament “reward language” is language that is associated with receiving a wage. Or being given a payment for your efforts. Or God giving an extra blessing or abundance that you would not have received otherwise.
In these verses Jesus is not talking about those who think they will be rewarded with salvation because of their works. Jesus is focussing on the motivations and intentions of all those who are in God’s family. Including us here today.
That brings us to the second important aspect of Matthew 6:1. The aspect where Jesus wants us to recognise that “practising your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them” is actually a common spiritual problem.
This is a very literal translation of the first sentence in verse 1
1 I command all you disciples to keep being vigilant and on guard, today and every day, that you are not now, or will not some time in the future, have the ongoing behaviour of practising your righteousness before others to have your righteousness seen by them.
This spiritual danger requires ongoing vigilance.
That is because it is an approach to life which can occur in the most “spiritual” of circumstances.
1 ‘Be careful not to practise your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Matthew 6:1
Where can this happen?
2 ‘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 honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
…
5 ‘And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
…
16 ‘When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
Giving and Praying are key aspects of our life as disciples.
Fasting is also a great spiritual discipline.
Jesus is warning us that it is in connection with common spiritual circumstances where we can fall into the spiritual danger of having a righteousness that is being done to be seen by others.
And who are the people which do this?
Hypocrites.
The Greek word for hypocrite is the word used to describe actors in ancient Greek and Roman theatre who wore large masks to show which character they were playing. An actor put on a mask and assumed a character to present a play to an audience.
Actors were called hypocrites – because that is acting – actors are literally allowed to be hypocrites. But disciples of Jesus can’t allow themselves to become actors.
Jesus doesn’t want people to turn on their righteousness when they step into the limelight.
Jesus doesn’t want holiness to start just because the music has begun.
Jesus wants people who are genuine, authentic, honest.
And these three examples teach us
… how to avoid practising our righteousness to be seen by others.
… how to avoid being a hypocrite.
Let’s read Matthew 6:2-4
2 ‘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 honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 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. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
When Jesus describes the trumpets announcing the giving – He is describing a historical situation.
In the temple there was a collection box called a Shofar Chest.
Its design was such that, when money was poured in
… remembering in those days that all coins were metal and hard.
… the money poured into the chest would echo, so people knew when lots of money was going in.
And, when that money-sound happened trumpets would blow.
Also, to help people to give if you weren’t in Jerusalem, there would be collection boxes sent throughout Judea. And people would put money in. And the sound would echo. And trumpets would blow.
Not everyone who put money into the Shofar Chest were doing it because they wanted the praise of people.
Indeed, in that historical situation, it would be difficult to give without some fanfare.
However, there were plenty of people who were quite willing to be “that person” who everyone praised as being holy because of their giving.
In our day of electronic giving, and envelopes, and collection bags it is actually quite easy to not be seen giving. So, in our context, how can we tell if we are play-acting?
In this regard it is quite appropriate to broaden the conversation beyond the action of giving money … to the wider actions of
… giving our time.
… and using our spiritual gifts.
… and sharing our resources.
Where we are doing spiritual works to be seen by others.
Social Media is a good tool for helping us to practice our giving so that our righteousness will be seen.
Our left hand knows what our right hand is doing, and so does the whole world.
Where the people we help become props for our holiness image.
And it becomes such an inspiration that other people also give, so they can have their photos of their “holy giving” on social media to be “like” and “thumbed up” by others.
Another way we can discern if we are play-acting is if we are people who I call “humble boasters”
Humble boasting is especially prevalent in Christians who have been around for a while.
I was one of the 10 people who built the first church building on this property.
I lead a Sunday school ministry that had 200 kids.
I was an elder for 43 years.
There is nothing wrong with celebrating the works God has done through us.
It becomes a spiritual problem when “look what I have done” starts to become “My actions prove I am holy and that gives me the right to have more influence.”
Another indicator of play-acting giving is our attitude.
We believe we have done something good for God.
But when no-one says anything, we grumble and are put out because our actions haven’t been noticed or congratulated.
And then we hear people talking about what Mr What’s-His-Name has done. Now we are envious or jealous because “he” is getting credit and being noticed.
What about me?
And we know if we were in the old days people would have blown a trumpet.
But we also know we should not blow our own trumpet – cause that is quite loud.
So we blow our own Kazoo
(actually blow a Kazoo)
… …
When you see it literally happen you can see how ridiculous it is.
Giving to be seen is not really giving.
Giving to be seen is seeking to buy recognition.
To get a reward … the reward of congratulations … the reward of people telling us how impressive we are. But there is no reward from God because it is all hypocrisy.
That is the first practical example.
Let’s move to the second one in Matthew 6:5-15
5 ‘And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 ‘This, then, is how you should pray:
‘“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name,
10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Again Jesus is describing an historical situation.
In the days of Jesus praying in the street was common. Where people would stop on the street and just pray out loud. Now many of these people would pray with right motives … but some would not.
They might try to be the one in the street who prays the longest.
And there would be times when people end up in a “pray-off”
… who can pray the longest.
… who can use the most eloquent words.
It looks like they are talking to God, but really they are just talking to the people around them. And again they get the congratulations of men, “They are such Holy people” … but God’s not listening to them, because they are not talking to God anyway.
What might such a praying to practise your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them … what might such a prayer sound like?
Here’s one.
Lord we pray for Stephan Rodriguez who is not a believer and who I have been visiting every week for the past month, and I have been sharing the gospel with him every time. And when he needed help to buy groceries and I gave him money. Lord we pray for him that through all I am doing he will come to know you.
Are we praying for Stephan? Or are we standing on the street corner to be seen.
Here’s another one. It’s a bit more subtle.
You have a Christian mate, Blue, who is a fair-dinkum Aussie. He uses all the Aussie slang. He is always saying things like “Ow ya goin” and “She’ll be right” and “What a beauty”.
Hey Blue, how about you pray?
Blue says, “Let’s pray.”
Our gracious heavenly Father who has manifested His omnipotent power in us. We beseech Thee to inclinest Your ear to us as we prostrate ourselves secure in the imputed righteousness that is ours through your only begotten son.
And some people are looking around going “Blue really knows how to pray”.
And others are thinking, “Where did Blue go”.
I’m not saying that if you pray like Blue that you have the wrong motives and you are doing it to be heard and seen by others.
What we need to see is how easy it can happen.
To be in a place where we are practising our righteousness to be seen by others.
To have prayers which get the reward of people … that impress people … but really they are the prayers of an actor … a hypocrite.
In contrast, with regards to prayer, Jesus gives two directives
Go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.
When Jesus says this Jesus is not against public prayers – there are many public prayers in the Bible.
The point Jesus is making is to get us to think about what our prayer life is when it is just us and our unseen God.
Do we have a prayer life?
Do we seek God regularly?
Or is our prayer life ho-hum … or even virtually non-existent?
But when we come out into public we have words, and prayers and lots to say because people are now looking at us.
Do I pray more fervently and frequently when I am alone with God than I do in public?
Is my public prayer life an overflow of my private prayer life?
Or really, is what I pray in public just about it?
Go to your room. This is a directive to help us discern if I just pray to be seen.
The second directive is when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans.
In that context Jesus teaches the Lord’s Prayer.
On another occasion we will do a sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer looking at each element.
Just for today let’s all take note that one of the purposes for Jesus teaching the Lord’s Prayer is so show us how to pray in a way that is “not babbling like pagans.”
‘“Our Father in heaven
Join in if you want to.
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name,
10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
Not praying like the hypocrites do because we are not babbling like pagans.
Prayer – not for hypocrites.
Let’s move to the third practical example is in Matthew 6:16-18
16 ‘When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
In the Old Testament there are no commands that say the people must fast. One verse that comes close is Leviticus 23:27 which is spoken about in the context of the day of the Atonement.
27 The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the LORD.
Deny yourself may include fasting. But it can also mean denying the general pleasures and comforts of life.
In both the Old and New Testament Fasting is a voluntary spiritual discipline.
That being the case
… if you were the sort of person who had an approach to life where you practised your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.
… if that was your goal, then fasting was an excellent spiritual discipline to achieve such an outcome.
Look at me. I’m fasting.
I don’t have to. I choose to. That’s how holy I am.
Do you see my sombre face, my unkempt hair, my unwashed clothes?
And the people around are looking and saying “Look how holy they are!”
Giving up soap.
Not washing their clothes and looking unkempt.
All sad and sorry and glum.
But the reality is there are heaps of uni students that look that and they are certainly not thinking about a spiritual discipline.
It was all for show. A voluntary action that you do where you are giving up so much. And making a “real” sacrifice.
Those who truly understand the purpose of fasting – more than likely you will never know who they are. That is because the purpose of fasting is to deny yourself so that you can hear God more clearly.
And when you hear God more clearly, you won’t be a person who practises their righteousness for others.
In contrast hypocrites – specifically in this case the hypocrites who are doing the “above and beyond” ministries … they will take every chance they can to let people know just how much they are giving up for God.
It may be fasting.
It may be another “above and beyond” ministry.
In this respect this warning from Jesus is especially relevant for pastors and people who have very “upfront” ministries.
Where, perhaps even subtly, they are sombre and disfiguring themselves.
They are constantly looking tired, “Do you see how busy I am.”
They talk about being the one who went out at 1:00am to give pastoral care.
They were with the saint who died in hospital and held their hand.
You know they are doing this because they tell the congregation in their sermons. Using their life to a sermon illustration.
In the end it is nothing but sombre fasting, and humble boasting, and trumpet giving.
Three examples.
Giving. Praying. Fasting.
Core spiritual disciplines where we can become hypocrites.
So … who are you … who am I … who are we?
Are we actors …. hypocrites … those who practise their righteousness to be seen by others.
Overtly so?
Perhaps more subtly so?
Not in every area of life, bit perhaps in pockets.
Where we are giving the spiritual equivalent to an Oscar winning performance?
If that is what we see in our life then we need to stop and ask ourselves, “Why?”
Why have I fallen into the spiritual danger of just put on an act? Why am I wanting to be seen, and congratulated, and have people look at my life and say, “Look how Holy they are”?
Why?
Why do we do this when the very foundation of our relationship with Jesus
… is that God sees exactly who we are.
… and God knows exactly what we are like.
With all the sin. And all the brokenness. And all the baggage.
And despite all that God knows God sent His Son Jesus … for us … that we can come into relationship with God for eternity.
No pretend. No pretence. No hypocrisy.
Just a recognition that we need His grace. A confession of our spiritual bankruptcy.
And when we do that the accolade we have, from God Himself, is that we are Holy.
That is who we are in Christ. In Christ, we are holy.
Nothing that anyone in this world says about you is going to top that status
In Christ … you are holy.
And even in those moments when you are not on display.
And you are living a life that you definitely don’t want anyone to see.
In Christ … we are still holy.
Jesus knows every aspect of our hearts and lives.
So let’s keep guarding against the spiritually dangerous habit of practising our righteousness to be seen by others.
Let’s stop hypocritically chasing an empty reward with the spiritual equivalent of an Oscar winning performance.
In Christ we are declared Holy.
That is the only accolade which matters … now and into eternity.
Prayer
