THE PASTOR’S POINTS
sermon ministry of
CEDAR LODGE BAPTIST CHURCH
Thomasville, NC
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March 28, 2004
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1“Be careful not to do your good works in public in order to attract attention. If you do, your Father in heaven will not reward you. So when you give to the poor, don’t announce it with trumpet fanfare. This is what hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets in order to be praised by people. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward. When you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your contributions privately. your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.
Matthew 6:1-4 (GWT)
Jesus said a lot about motives. And when it comes to our motives in giving, this text gives us great insight into human nature. Jesus knew people, and the condition of the human heart. He knew (and knows) how much we are more likely NOT to give; especially when we can get out of it!
We are most naturally bent in the direction of keeping, and then trying to defend why we keep rather than give. Rationalization can be fun, actually. Ask a question, "Why are fire trucks red?" Answer:
1. Fire trucks have four wheels and eight men;
2. Four plus eight is twelve;
3. Twelve inches in a foot;
4. A foot is the size of a ruler, and Queen Elizabeth is a ruler;
5. The Queen Elizabeth is the largest ship on the seas;
6. Seas have fish, and fish have fins;
7. The Finns fought the Russians, and the Russians are Reds;
8. Since fire trucks are always rushin’ -- fire trucks are always red!
WOW! We can explain anything that way! It doesn’t necessarily have to be true; it just has to get us off the hook! One Pastor probably came the closest to "nailing-down" that whole rationalization proclivity when he announced from the pulpit one Sunday, "Brethren, let us all give now according to what we reported on this year’s Federal Income Tax return."
If you are a believer, you have heard many times how it is a Christian’s responsibility and joy to give. The famous psychiatrist, Karl Menninger has stated that one sign of mental health is the ability to release money -- give it away. Think -- How many generous people do you know who exhibit mental instability? It is often the stingy, controlling person who is neurotic. God created us to be healthy. One way to contribute to your mental health is to practice generosity. Jesus did, and we are supposed to be growing into His likeness.
If you are of the human species, being told you should give and you should like it probably brings rebellion of one sort or another. You might have even had the thought cross your mind, "Who does that preacher think he is, telling me I should put MY money in HIS plate?" Mark these three responses:
a. It’s not my plate;
b. It’s not your money;
c. The preacher is supposed to tell the congregation to put the Lord’s tithe in the Lord’s plate on the Lord’s Day, and in the Lord’s way (cheerfully!!).
Our giving is also part of our act of worship of God. What is it that decides the difference between an act of ritual and an act of worship? I believe Jesus was attempting to teach the disciples that true worship only happens when the motive is pure. The finest act of Christian activity, without Christian motivation (love), does not, and cannot, please God.
Let’s look at the motives for giving that Jesus compels us to see:
GIVING MOTIVATED BY PRESTIGE
1“Be careful not to do your good works in public in order to attract attention. If you do, your Father in heaven will not reward you. So when you give to the poor, don’t announce it with trumpet fanfare. This is what hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets in order to be praised by people. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward. Matthew 6:1,2 (GWT)
Giving is neither good nor bad by itself...it is simply a transfer of goods, services or promises from one entity to another. The hidden trap Satan lays-out for the Christian congregation is in how we FEEL about the giving we do. If giving becomes a competition for the attention of others, the motive is prestige. When we give in order to be elevated in the minds of others we cancel any reward our giving may bring. The reason for this is that the attention becomes directed at the giver rather than God.
You’ve heard of the guy who was ugly. He met a beautiful woman, but he was so ugly she refused to date him. So the man had plastic surgery on his face, lost 50 pounds, bought a new suit of clothes and got a toupee’. At long last she agreed to go out with this transformed hunk. As they were walking out to the car for their first date, the man was struck by lightning. In his dying breath, he looked heavenward and asked, "God why did you do this to me now that my dreams are coming true?" And God said, "Sorry, Sam, I didn’t recognize you."
Our giving, like our worship, must direct the attention towards God if it is to be valid. Jesus mentioned the "giving of alms". He was talking about the benevolent, freewill offerings. The "tithe" (giving of one-tenth of income) was a practice in Jesus’ time. But he was specifically pointing to the gift above that tenth.
The Pharisees, who Jesus called the hypocrites in this passage, had a ritual of "blowing their own horn" – literally! As they gave in the temple they had hired musicians playing trumpets to call attention to their generosity. Now, I’ve never seen that in any church. But we certainly have our own subtle ways of making sure others know.
The reason Jesus hated the practice of "blowing of horns" is that it put people on different levels. When the rich man gave his large contribution, the trumpets announced to the poor man that he had no esteem in the Lord’s house. This is why the Lord’s chosen way of stewardship is tithing. No matter how much or little you earn, 10% is still 10%. God’s way is equal sacrifice, not equal amounts.
Chuck Swindol told about an offering box he heard about in a church. It’s the opposite of the kind of "pride-stroking" Jesus warned against. This hi-tech collection box has a laser that reads the contribution immediately. When you drop in a $5 bill or more nothing happens. Any coins that total fifty cents or more sounds a little bell. A quarter will get you a gong; and a dime sets off a siren. If you walk past without giving, a camera pops-up and takes your picture, faxes it to the treasurer and puts a flag on your membership letter. Some churches would run out of film!
We are to give cheerfully, but without drawing attention. When we give either grudgingly or with attempt to get credit for our giving we do two bad things:
a. We sin against our poor brother, telling him church is no place for a poor man.
b. We lose any real reward -- approval of God.
GIVING MOTIVATED BY LOVE
3When you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4Give your contributions privately. your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you. Matthew 6:3,4 (GWT)
This passage is set in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, which is Jesus’ teaching about love. The word "alms" is translated literally as "acts of mercy". The one motivating factor in our giving is to be our love. I find the greatest sermon of all in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world He gave..." And I find the greatest explanation of that sermon in 2 Corinthians 8:9, "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich."
In 1930 in Connecticut, a 19 year old boy was sent to prison for second-degree murder. While in prison he found the love of Jesus Christ. He was paroled in 1955. This ex-con settled in Williston, Fl, only a few miles from where I was serving as a pastor. He worked as a baker.
In 1986 he gave his life savings (nearly $100,000) to the Florida Sheriff’s Boys Ranch at Live Oak. Why? He wanted to help steer boys away from the kind of trouble he fell into. His statement to the press, "I felt it was the most Christian thing I could do."
He’ll never see the faces of most of those boys, or know their names, but he acted with love towards them. People’s lives are touched by love.
True giving, that of which God approves, is a response of love; a response to a God who gave. Before you give anything at all to Christ in any offering plate, there ought to be YOU in the offering plate.
Today we celebrate a different kind of giving and deliverance. Christ gave more than His life savings. He went to a place called Golgotha to give us His best; and there He cancelled for once and all time the debt of sin. And to all who will come to Him, calling on Christ for forgiveness and fellowship, He bids, "Come". So, before you give…go; go to Jesus!
