Dear
Friend, grace and peace be unto you from God our Father, and our Lord
and Savior, Jesus, the Christ. Amen.
This sermon series on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is about learning who we are, as children of God and followers of Jesus. In knowing who we are, we are enabled by God's grace to make godly decisions and know what to do to live God's Kingdom now.
Jesus discusses in Matthew 6:1-18 the three duties of religion to a Jew. They are (1) Giving, (2) Praying, (3) Fasting. What you do matters to God. He expects you and me to be kind and to do good in the world - to live His Kingdom now. He expects us to help others through personal involvement and in giving generously and sacrificially. But there is something else that God expects that is critically important. God expects you and me to have the right motive. Why we do something is important to God. In this portion of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus warns us about right and wrong motives in our giving.
Doing good and giving
"Acts of righteousness" or alms as some translations say, means giving in order to meet the needs of the poor. Giving alms was the greatest thing a Jew could do. It was the first act of their faith. Giving alms merited and assured a Jew of righteousness and salvation. Jesus, tells you and me that we should do these good things also but warns that we are not to give our alms, or do good, for the wrong reasons.
The wrong motive
There can be many reasons for doing something. Jesus takes for granted that you will give and do good. What is important to Him is where that motive comes from. What is in your heart or mind as you give.
- If you give to get recognition then you have the wrong motive. This would be the attitude of blowing your own horn -
"Look at me and what a wonderful thing I have done." That does not please God. There are several wrong motives for giving or doing good that will sidetrack your relationship with the Lord . Here are a few.
- If you give because you want recognition and prestige - the praise of
people.
- If you give for your own self-satisfaction, to have that feel good feeling. A rather popular concept today. You get an ego boost from it.
- If you give out of obligation. It is your duty and you do it to get it over with.
- If you give to get the favor of God. Many religious people do this. They feel God is so pleased with them that they will get an upgrade in heaven, and even on earth.
A clarification needs to be made here. It is not always wrong to do good when people can see you but it is wrong to give so that they will see you. You and I need to guard against how we give and do good.
- If you give to get recognition you are a hypocrite. The word
"hypocrite" (hupokrites) means an actor who puts on a show, who plays a part on stage using a mask, giving a fake picture, appearing as someone they are not.
If we act like a hypocrite we will do this in whatever setting brings us a benefit: in a meeting, in church, about town. When a person seeks the praise of others they will dream up all kinds of ways to get it.
- If you give to get recognition you only get an earthly reward. That is the way it is, says Jesus. There are two rewards for giving with the wrong motive: the praise of people and self-satisfaction.
"They have received their reward in full" is an accounting statement and means payment has been made in full. The person receives all they will ever get. There will be no reward from God.
If you or I give out of the wrong motive we fail at several points.
- We fail to give of our self. All of our giving is calculated to bring a return. We give to get. It is purely selfish.
- We seldom put the need or a needy person first. We want our own need met first.
- We are always hurt, disappointed, unhappy and maybe even angry if we don't get recognized and praised for our giving.
- We are never satisfied with what we have done. Why? Because Jesus and the genuine giving of Himself is the only permanent satisfaction we can have. Our doing satisfies when done in His name.
- We have a recognition that lasts only briefly. The "Thank
You's" fade away and we need more to replace them creating a vicious cycle of selfishness.
If you and I chose the rewards of this world over God's reward then three things can be said: (1) We have chosen the poorest reward, (2) We have cheated ourselves, (3) We can expect no more than what we have gotten. It is terrible to have nothing more than the praise the world offers. There is no future in that beyond our history and what is on our tombstone.
The right motive
What is the right motive for doing good and giving? Jesus spells it out,
"…do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,…" So what does He mean?
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You are to give unconsciously. That doesn't mean someone has to knock you over the head. It means to do your giving out of an inner love and desire and don't let any attention you get go to your head.
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You are to give secretly. This means quietly and privately. Keep a low profile and just love to serve the Lord. If you do get recognition give God the glory.
We don't plaster all over the work we are doing. We simply rejoice that we are able to serve and give God the glory.
To be a good giver requires three things of us.
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We must be aware of the misery and suffering in the world.
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We need to love people and desire to help those in need.
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We need to act out our desire by doing good.
The reason
There are two reasons for doing good, quietly and secretly. These two reasons give us great comfort.
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1. God sees your good deeds done behind the scenes. He knows. Nothing passes His attention. He knows your heart and motive for doing what you do. And He loves you for it. The Lord said to Jeremiah,
"I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." (Jeremiah 17:10)
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2. God sees your good deeds and rewards you. Listen to these words of Jesus,
"Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Your reward and my reward is not more of the world, but more of God's presence in our lives. We are rewarded as His sons and daughters, not as servants. You and I are God's children, part of His Forever Family because of our faith and baptism in Jesus.
God has given His ultimate Good for you, Jesus. You are His child. There is no reward that can beat that. You and I live, give and do good out of gratitude for His doing good for us. He gets all the glory as He empowers us by His Spirit to live His Kingdom now.
Children of God, in the words of St. Paul, "Therefore, my dear brothers (and sisters), stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58)
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
