MOTIVATION: IT’S THE BOTTOM LINE!
Matthew 6:1-18
1. A father wrote a letter to apologize to a certain young man for not allowing him to marry his daughter. The letter went as follows:
Dear Marty,
I have been unable to sleep since I broke off your engagement to my daughter. Will you please
forgive and forget?
I was much too sensitive about your Mohawk haircut, tattoos and pierced nose. I now realize
motorcycles aren’t really that dangerous, and I really should not have reacted that way to the
fact that you have never held a job.
I am also very sure that some other very nice people live under the bridge in the park, too. Sure
my daughter is only 18 and wants to marry you instead of going to Harvard on full scholarship. After all, you can’t learn everything about life from books.
I sometimes forget how backward I can be. I was wrong. I was a fool. I have now come to my senses and you have my full blessing to marry my daughter.
Sincerely,
Your future father-in-law.
P.S. Congratulations on winning the Powerball lottery!
• How’s that for a powerful demonstration of sincere motives!?
2. The central theme running through our Scripture passage this morning is that of having a “God-focused” as opposed to a “self-focused” MOTIVATION.
• One of the major distinguishing characteristics of Christian disciples is that they are seeking at all times to live their lives for an audience of ONE. God’s opinion, God’s approval or disapproval is ultimately all that matters.
• The applause of heaven is the deciding factor in their life.
3. Of course, none of us lives our lives entirely devoid of a desire for the approval of others – our family, our peers, our church and social community, and so on.
• That need or drive for approval is built into each one of us from infancy.
• The few months old baby soon discovers that a smile or “goo-goo, ga-ga” sounds get our attention and approval and so is encouraged to give more and is the precursor to speech.
• The youngster yells out “Look Ma! Look Dad!” as he makes his first attempt at keeping his balance on his bicycle or as she takes her first dive into the swimming pool. In balance, this is healthy and can foster increasing independence and confidence in their abilities.
• When our teenagers perform in the school band or play on the sports team, though they don’t easily admit it, their eyes are regularly scanning the crowd to look for the approving Mom and Dad. When our kids receive healthy doses of affirmation, acceptance and approval from their parents, they don’t have to go looking for it in all the unwholesome, unsavory, and ultimately unfulfilling places our world has to offer.
• As adults many of us have refined our requests for approval from others by the rewards of friendliness or support or participation we dispense or withhold depending on the degree of attention we have been given.
4. Now all of us want to be liked and accepted and approved of. That is a basic human need. And expressing our thanks, our appreciation and approval of and for one another is one of the ways we help meet that need in each other and it should be one of the hallmarks of the Church of Jesus Christ.
• It is certainly one of the ways in which we demonstrate our love for one another
• It is clearly one of the ways we show that people are important and that they matter to us
• That we notice them and that we value their presence, their partnership and their ministry
5. However, the problem arises when my own self-esteem and self-worth needs are primarily and supremely dependent on others and not on God.
• When my sense of worth and value and importance is largely dependent on the expressions of thanks, the pats on the back, and the applause of others – believe me, that “approval bank account” gets overdrawn very rapidly. When I am relying for my approval needs on what others have to give me – rather than on God – then I am going to be in a perpetual state of hunger and thirst because the supply out there is very limited and so many others are looking for the same thing.
• And when so many of us are looking to one another to meet our needs when our own supply is low or empty, it’s no wonder that we run into arguments, frustration, resentments, jealousies, pity parties, grumbling and the like.
• Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4: “Whoever drinks from this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks from the water that I give will never thirst again.”
• Jesus’ self-esteem well never runs dry!
• If you have not yet found your true identity in Christ then looking to others to supply that need and bolster and boost your thirst for importance and significance is really an exercise in futility.
6. Jesus contrasts the practice of the religious hypocrites – and that word “hypocrite” originated from ancient Greek drama where an actor on stage played multiple roles simply by wearing different masks – pretending to be someone other than who he was – Jesus contrasts their behavior in the areas of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting with those of a Kingdom disciple.
• The hypocrites – the religious play actors – differ from His disciples in both the motivation and the manner of their spiritual activity.
• In their almsgiving they seek the applause and adulation of others for their largesse and generosity – trumpets are sounded and no doubt their coins made a loud sound in the offering bin
• In the public prayers they offer, their focus is on being seen and heard and admired by others for their eloquence and oratory
• In their fasting, their motivation is to impress others with the extent of their sacrifice and devotion by the outward signs of their strenuous endurance.
7. Back in 1 Kings 16:7 as the prophet Samuel went to anoint one of the son’s of Jesse as God’s choice for a successor to king Saul, instead of picking tall, dark, and handsome Eliab, the Lord said to him: “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature…for the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart”.
• Jesus said the same thing - that God uses a very different standard of measurement – not just on the WHAT that we do, but more especially the WHY – the motivation of our hearts.
• He tells us that the reward each of us will receive is determined by the audience we play to
• Those who play to their human audience – have received all the applause and reward they will ever get.
• Those who have set their hearts on pleasing God are largely oblivious to the expressions of approval or disapproval from the crowds because that is not where their attention is focused.
8. Which audience are you playing to as you live your life? Does your commitment and service in the life of the church depend on how much people acknowledge and recognize and thank you for the work you do?
• Do you easily feel yourself being “taken for granted”?
• Do you get offended when others don’t seem to notice, acknowledge and appreciate the sacrifices you have made?
• When your “feathers get ruffled”, your “nose bent out of shape”, or your “toes trampled on” do you “get the huffs” and show them just how important you really are by staying away from worship or other activities, or withholding your tithe or offering or service?
9. In Matthew 7 – towards the end of His Sermon on the Mount – Jesus says “Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ’I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
• Those who do the Father’s will are too busy selflessly caring for the needs of the hurting, the oppressed, the outcast, the poor – those who are dependent on the compassion of God’s people
• They are too busy talking out their hearts to the Father and listening for His voice about those needs, humbly dependent on Him for His strength and power to bless others in His name
• And they’re too busy fasting to bring their own desires and passions into alignment and harmony with God’s purposes
• …that they don’t have time or energy or interest in keeping count of all the things they are doing that would merit the applause of others.
10. The hypocrites on the other hand – those who are playing to a human audience – are able to document and point to all the religious stuff they have done – the hard work, the huge gifts of time and resources, the prayers, the prophecies, the exorcisms, and even the miracles they say they did in Jesus’ name.
• God knows the difference. He knows when He is the audience and when our performance is directed elsewhere.
11. Who’s the focus of all your activity? Who has been the focus of all you have done here this morning? We can impress and fool one another – but the Lord knows our heart and will reward us to the extent that He has been our audience.
• Truly, motivation is the bottom line.
AMEN
