Sermon on the Mount

Matthew chapter 6. Jesus says, be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others 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 others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their award in full.

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. Great. Thank you, Tom. And good evening to those of you here in the building and those watching or listening online.

That's mine is Paul. I'm 1 of the members here at Cornerstone, and here we are after a few weeks off continuing this series in the Sermon on the Mount. So do keep Matthew chapter 6 versus 1 to 4 open. Let me pray. Father we thank you again for your word and we ask for your help now.

Please, would you open our hearts and our minds? Help us please to hear what you are saying to us. Help us to listen and to respond in a way that glorifies you in Jesus' name, amen. So here's a question for you. Are you addicted to applause?

Are you addicted to applause? Now I don't just mean a literal round of applause or a standing ovation. I'm not sure which you're more accustomed to. Perhaps a slow clap. But I'm using applause as an umbrella term for any of the following.

Are you ready for this? We have a lot of words for it. A claim, acknowledgement, admiration, adoration, adulation, affirmation, approval, That's just the a words, commendation, esteem, glory, honor, praise, prestige, recognition, and wonder from other people. Are you addicted to those things? However, they manifest themselves whether it is a group of people gazing adoringly at you and clapping loudly or 24 96, 143 likes on Facebook or Instagram.

Are you addicted to applause in its various forms. Because like a drug, it can make us feel good, can't it? Praise or honor from others gives us a rush of affirmation, confidence, self esteem, It's well documented that a a like or a positive comment on social media stimulates our brains to release a small amount of dopamine. Which is a chemical ingredient in our feelings of pleasure and reward. But the feel good high doesn't last, does it?

The applause dies away as quickly as it began. And like the drug the drug addict, It's never long before we we need another fix. But beyond the cravings, the greater reason that addiction to applause is dangerous, says Jesus, is that it seriously compromises our spiritual health. This sermon on the Mount, which we're in the middle of here in Matthew, is all about life in God's kingdom. Jesus is painting a portrait of 1 who has entered the kingdom of heaven.

Here is what their life should look like. But unlike the paintings that hang in the National Portrait gallery, which only show the the outward appearance. This is a painting where you can peel back the layers and see the heart. Children love those books, don't they wear? You can lift up a flap on the picture and see what's inside.

Well, this teaching of Jesus is a bit like that. He shows us this this highly detailed picture of the Christian and their life, but he lifts the flap and he shows us the heart inside. We've seen a pattern haven't we in in Matthew chapter 5 as we've gone through it. In his teaching about murder and adultery and divorce and swearing oaths and taking revenge, Jesus begins by saying, you have heard that it was said. And in each case, he then quotes God's law.

Which the Pharacies, the religious elite of the day, had applied exclusively to their outward behavior. But I tell you, says Jesus, and then he goes on to show us, in each case, that it starts in the heart. God isn't only interested in our outward behavior, He cares deeply about our hearts. Chapter 5 verse 20. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharaces and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus is teaching about total righteousness. It's been described as a a a righteousness that goes beyond our actions and our words, to our heart, mind, and motives, even the secret places. And it's a beautiful portrait which Jesus is painting here. On the outside, we see someone whose good deeds glorify their father in heaven. And you can lift the flap to reveal a heart which which loves God and his commands.

So now we're at the beginning of Matthew chapter 6, and we're entering a new section in this Cerman on the mount. Jesus is going to cover 3 areas, 3 activities the Christian is going to be engaged in. And the wrong and the right ways of going about them. But before that we have a health warning. Okay?

Remember, this this teaching penetrates right to our hearts, so there's a health warning. Are you ready for this? We've heard lots of health warnings this past year, haven't we? But here's 1 I really want you to listen to. Don't switch off.

Don't get complacent. Yeah. I need to wash my hands. Yes. I need to wear a face mask.

This is far more important than that. Chapter 6 verse 1. Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven. This is our first point.

A righteousness health warning, don't put on a performance. A righteousness health warning, don't put on a performance. Beware. Watch out. Says Jesus.

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven. In other words, don't go for applause. Don't do your good deeds publicly to be admired by others. Don't do the right things in the wrong way for the wrong reason.

We've seen that Jesus is is going for the heart here. And he puts in his health warning because he knows what our hearts are like. He knows that our tendency as it was with the pharisees is to focus on our outward behavior, isn't it? And keeping up appearances and that we care deeply about what other people think of us and about gaining their approval. Don't we?

Aren't you like that at least sometimes? I know I am. We so easily get addicted to applause. God cares about total righteousness, righteousness from the inside out. The verse before this passage at the end of chapter 5 says be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.

That's that's a command, isn't it? But don't put on a performance, says Jesus. Don't do it for applause from other people. Shakespeare coined the phrase all the world's a stage in his play as you like it. And we quite often talk about doing things on a world stage, don't we?

We wonder how something or someone will fare on the world stage. Well, I quite like the way that the the paraphrase version of the Bible, the message introduces Matthew chapter 6. Instead of the heading giving to the needy which we have here in our bibles, the message gives it the title, the world is not a stage. The world is not a stage. And I think that's what Jesus is saying here in verse 1.

Be careful not to treat the world as your stage. Don't take my teaching and think you can turn it into a a performance for your own glory. If you do, it's gracious enough to to tell us why. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven. He won't be applauding.

Generally, actors don't read critics' reviews of their performances. But Jesus gives us God's review of this kind of living right here. And it's critical, there will be no reward from him. It's a gracious warning from Jesus, isn't it? He knows our hearts.

He knows we're weak in this area. He knows our hearts so easily inclined. After the praise and the glory of men. The father won't reward, righteousness done for applause. Be warned.

So let's apply this warning to the first area of Christian Life practice that Jesus deals with. The others are gonna follow in the coming weeks. Tonight, we're looking at giving to the needy. So we've had our first point, our righteousness health warning, Don't put on a performance. This is our second point.

Don't give publicly for the praise of others. Don't give publicly for the praise of others. Let's read from verse 1 again. Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others 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 others. Truly I tell you they have received their award in full. So Jesus takes the righteousness health warning and he applies it firstly directly to the act of giving to the needy. Notice he says when you give to the needy, not if you give to the needy. Jesus is saying that Giving to the needy is something we should be doing as Christians.

Back in the old testament, God's people were commanded to give to the needy is deuteronomy chapter 15. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be open handed towards your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land. Fast forward to the new testament. And in the book of acts, we see it was 1 of the hallmarks of the early church.

And we read some of these verses back in our acts of kindness week, didn't we? As well as being devoted to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer, the believers sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. No 1 claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. God's grace was so powerfully at work in them, all that there was no needy person among them. For from time to time, those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet.

And it was distributed to anyone who had need. It's a beautiful picture, isn't it? A beautiful account of God's people reflecting his character in their love for him and for 1 another. His grace. His kindness, his mercy, lived out in their giving to the needy.

But here in the sermon on the Mount, Jesus is warning us that we can take something beautiful and godly like giving to the needy, and turn it ugly and sour. We can take something intended for the blessing and the good of others and make it a performance to an audience for our own glory. When you give to the needy, there's the godly good and righteous action. Do not announce it with Trump it as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honored by others. The act of giving may be a beautiful thing.

It is a beautiful thing. But it shouldn't be announced with a trumpet fanfare. Or shouted from the rooftops. It's a powerful image, isn't it? Now whether or not Jesus is referring to a literal Trump trumpet blast that may have been used in Jerusalem at the time to summon people to the temple so they could give to a particular need, or whether it's purely an illustration.

We get the picture. When it comes to giving, we're not to blow our own trumpet. I had a quick look to see if that phrase comes from this verse and I couldn't find anything linking it back this far, but I I feel like it must come from here. Giving to the needy is supposed to be an act of selflessness, isn't it? Where the emphasis is on somebody else's needs, and what can be given to help them.

But picture the scene. Imagine someone doing that giving but heralding it with trumpets, instruments that are used to cut through the background noise, to call attention, to make everyone stop, and look. So the emphasis is now on the giver and their righteousness is admired and applauded. Jesus calls the people who do this Hippocrits. The word Hippocrit comes from the Greek word originally used for actors.

People putting on a performance. These are people putting on a performance, performing to an audience. They're wearing a costume and it's it's a disguise. They're out to deceive. They want you to see them as righteous, being kind and generous giving to the needy.

That's the the outward appearance. But if we lift the flap to reveal the heart, we discover it's it's all a theatrical display. They're really doing it to gain honor for themselves. It's like biting into an apple. Which on the outside looks juicy and delicious only to find it rotten and infested with maggots on the inside.

The original act of giving of being other centered is completely undermined. It was all just a PR stunt. For honor and praise, the practicing of righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Now Jesus is undoubtedly going for the pharisees here. This was the way they behaved.

In John chapter 5, Jesus says they're not able to believe in him because they accept glory from 1 another, but do not do not seek the glory that comes from the only God. And in John chapter 12, they value their positions in the synagogue and society more than faith in Jesus, for they loved human praise more than praise from God. It would be easy to leave this with the pharisees, wouldn't it? But how are we guilty of doing the same things? How do we blow our own trumpet when we're giving?

How do we go for applause? Well, the modern version is probably the photo in the paper, isn't it? Of the senior figures from a large corporation presenting an oversized check to members of a charity. Although maybe that's not quite so modern. I'm not not sure how many people write checks.

Anymore. But it could have been a quiet donation, couldn't it? But it's a photo opportunity. A chance to impress people, great for PR. But how do we do the same thing?

As individuals. Interesting me. When you make a donation on the just giving website, to to someone or a fund. There's a box you can tick labelled hide donation amount from public view. Hide donation amount from public view.

And on the next page where you get to put in your name, it actually says it's optional. You don't have to do that. So it's possible to make a donation without anyone knowing who you are or how much you've given. It's possible. But are we content to do that?

Now I'm not saying it's never appropriate to put your name or the amount you've given. There may be valid reason to do that sometimes. But what's going on in our hearts and our minds as we go through that process? Are we just giving? Are we content just to give?

Remaining anonymous? Or is there part of us that craves the honor, the applause. That swells with pride as we see our name in lights on among the donors and the supporters. Are we addicted to applause? What about social media?

How easy is it to go public on social media and reach a worldwide audience in seconds? Look at what I've done. See what I've given. Listen to this excerpt from the book 12 ways your phone is changing you. Imagine setting aside a few weeks of your summer vacation to travel on dirt roads and bump around in loud jeeps, winding deep into remote jungle villages in Central America.

You risk fevers, diseases, and heat stroke, all in order to help build an orphanage for 20 destitute kids. It's great. At the end of the month, you step back, take a selfie with your handy work in the background, and post it with pride on Facebook. Bang. The reward is gone.

Think about it. In 1 humble brag selfie, the trade is made. Eaternal reward from God is sold for the porridge of maybe 80 likes and 12 comments of praise. Has that been you? Spurgeon is quoted as saying to stand with a penny in 1 hand and a trumpet in the other is the posture of hypocrisy.

Perhaps our modern equivalent is standing with a penny in 1 hand and taking a selfie. With the other. Or what about the WhatsApp group? There's another public arena we can exploit being the first to respond to a plea for help the rush of pride when the opportunity arises for us to be seen by others being generous. Giving up our time for someone perhaps lending a hand, donating our resources.

Now WhatsApp group is a great thing, isn't it? And by its very nature, it's a group conversation. But what's in our hearts? What's our motive for giving publicly? Is it the praise of others?

We could reply privately to that person in the WhatsApp group, couldn't we? There's there's the option to do that. Now it struck me as I was thinking about this earlier today, that these examples are very social media and online oriented, and I wonder if that's a result of the year that we've that we've had where we haven't really seen each other face to face as much, but these things apply just as much to face to face meetings and conversations. How how often do we drop into conversation? Are giving in order to provoke a responsive praise or honor from others perhaps.

There's a great phrase in that quote from the 12 ways your phone is changing you book at the humble brag. And that's exactly what Jesus is dealing with here. The way in which we attempted to boast about our humility and our sacrifice. The way in which we take a humble act of kindness towards others and boast it into honor for ourselves. Selfless giving is really selfish glory gathering.

Perhaps we're tempted to flaunt the sacrifices we make by giving or the ways our lifestyle might be affected. When Jesus goes on later in Matthew chapter 6 to deal with the area of fasting, he talks about taking steps so that it it won't be obvious to others that we're fasting. So what about our giving? Are we making our giving obvious in the way that we talk about ourselves? Wanting others to know, our lives are more difficult perhaps in some way because we're giving so that we gain some kind of praise for making those sacrifices.

Why is this such a difficult area for us? Well, for at least 2 reasons, I think. Firstly, the lure of instant honor is so strong. Resisting the opportunity to Instagram ourselves some applause is so hard. It makes us feel good as I was saying at the beginning.

Secondly, because the disguise can be so effective. 1 writer talks about the subtlety of the hypocrisy going on here. We talk ourselves into believing that we're only acting in the best interests of the needy person. They won't complain. They'll be grateful and help us feel like we're doing the right thing.

Anyone watching will probably congratulate us. And rejoice in the goodness of the gift. We're unlikely to be called out by anyone else. But God sees our hearts. And the result of this kind of behavior should bring us crashing back to earth.

Verse 2, truly I tell you, they have received their award in full. No reward from your father in heaven. That phrase, they have received their reward in full relates to receiving a sum in full and giving a receipt for it. The transaction is complete in other words. Nothing more is owed.

The reward for attention seeking giving is praise from others, but that's A successful PR stunt, maybe, but no more. No reward from your father in heaven. So we've had our righteousness health warning. Don't put on a performance. Secondly, don't give publicly for the praise of others.

Thirdly, give privately for your father's eyes only. Give privately for your father's eyes only. Look at verses 3 and 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. Here's the radical counter cultural teaching of Jesus. Give your gifts in private. Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Now what on Earth does that mean?

Well, it's another of the the the sort of bodily illustrations that we've seen as we've gone through the sermon on the mount, isn't it? We've had If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out, and throw it away. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And now when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

Now they're not intended to be taken literally these commands because by the time you get to to chapter 6 where you're not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, You've only got a left hand because you chopped the right 1 off back in chapter 5. But they are deliberately extreme, aren't they? To help us see just how radical and counter cultural our lives should be as God's people. Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Our giving should be so secret, not done in front of others, to be seen by them, not announced with trumpets, to be honored by others.

It should be so secret that not even our own left hand knows what our right hand is doing. It should be so quiet and private that not only is it secret from others, but it's almost secret from ourselves. It shouldn't be possible For anyone else to put their hands together and applaud you because not even your left hand should know that your right hand is doing giving. Now this is not saying that we should give blindly or recklessly without any consideration at all. That would be unwise.

Although we are to be generous. So what is Jesus saying here? Well, we've been seeing haven't we? He knows our hearts. This teaching is aimed at our hearts.

And even though giving privately means we won't get any honor from others, we could still honor ourselves. We can end up congratulating ourselves. Aren't I good? I've given so much time to that person. I've given so much money over the years to that cause.

No 1 knows about it. It's all very well giving in secret but we can still be gloating inwardly while we're doing it. We can become self righteous We can practice our righteousness in front of ourselves. If my left hand knows what my right hand is doing, it might take a selfie. So don't dwell on it, Jesus is saying.

Once you've given, forget about it. Move on. Don't replay the highlights video in your mind. When it comes to giving, there should be less self consciousness and self righteousness, and more self sacrifice and self forgetfulness. Less self consciousness, less self righteousness, more self sacrifice and self forgetfulness.

Be selfless. Think about yourself less. If we allow our hands to start congratulating each other and applauding our giving, we're in trouble. Now you may be thinking, how on a minute, Jesus? Didn't you say back in chapter 5?

Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven. How are other people going to see my good deeds and glorify God if I'm giving in secret? Well, it may sound like a contradiction, but it's all to do with where the glory goes, isn't it? The glory should go to our father in heaven. People should look at your life and glorify God.

At the point where you're tempted to seek glory for yourself, go private with your giving. Ensure you glorify God with your giving. If we seek the praise of men for ourselves, We're stealing glory from God. You're giving maybe done in secret, but there is 1 who sees. Just look at the second half of verse 4.

Your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. There's no need to go for applause. There's no need to be honored by others or to reward yourself. Your father rewards you. We can't keep our giving secret from him.

He sees what he's done in private. He knows what we've given. His Proverbs chapter 19 verse 17, Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the lord, and he will reward them for what they have done. Paul writes in colossians chapter 3, whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters, Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the lord as a reward. It is the lord Christ you are serving.

And I think we can apply that to giving. Whatever you can give, give it with all your heart as giving for the Lord, not for human honor. Your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Our ultimate example is Jesus, isn't it? The ultimate gift ever given was god giving us his own son.

Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. There were no fanfares, no selfies, just humble obedience and great sacrifice to the glory of God the Father. We're the needy ones. We're the needy ones, and he gave up his life so our selfish hearts could be washed clean. And therefore god exalted him to the highest place.

So let's give because of that gift. And for the glory of that giver, knowing that our heavenly father sees and will reward us in ways that far outshine. The praise and honor of others. It's an inheritance, a treasure that won't perish, spoil, or fade. John Stott writes this about the reward of of giving, just a simple act of giving.

It is neither public nor necessarily future the reward. It is probably the only reward which genuine love wants when making a gift to the needy, namely to see the need relieved. When through his gifts, the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick healed, the oppressed freed, and the lost saved, the love which prompted the gift is satisfied. Such love, which is God's own love expressed through man, brings with it its own secret joys and desires no other reward. That may be all the reward we get in this life.

No applause, no trophy, no cash prize. But isn't that wonderful? To know the love of God at work in us and reflect his character, his grace, his kindness, to others. To bless them and give to their needs for the glory of our father in heaven. So what are you giving for?

What's your motivation? Is it applause? Or is it the outrageous grace? Of our kind and generous merciful heavenly father. What's in your heart when you give?

Is it love for God and for others or is it love for yourself? You might like to try giving something completely anonymously this week. Why not try that? Perhaps next time our acts of kindness month should be completely anonymous, and we shouldn't know who's been nominated to be kind to us. Also, ask God, how you can give.

Prey and ask him to show you opportunities because if it's left up to me and I take it if it's left up to you, The chances are we'll only choose ways in which others will see and applaud us perhaps. Don't put on a performance. Don't give publicly for the praise of others. Give privately. For your father's eyes only and for his glory.

Let's pray. Heavenly father, even just these 4 verses say so much to us and show us so much about ourselves and our hearts and about you. Please would you forgive us for the ways in which we give selfishly, for the ways in which we go after the praise of men, honor from other people. Please help us to be those who aren't interested in that. You see the emptiness of that, and who instead want to please you.

Father we thank you that you are you are the God who speaks and cuts right to our hearts. But you are also the god who cleanses our hearts and offers us salvation. Help us please. This week to begin giving in a way that honors you and you alone in Jesus' name, amen. If you're a parent of young children, which I don't know how many of those that'd be here at this evening service, but if you if you're a parent of young children and you want to meditate on these verses, with them this week with your children.

You can't do much better than slugs and bugs, sing the bible, volume 3 as a song on there when you give to the needy which is lifted right from these verses. So, yeah, use that. I know lots of you have the CDs. So