Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him.
And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face so that you may not be seen fasting by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
- Matthew 6:1-8,16-18
In our culture we grow up watching those in the public eye receive applause and adulation.
We come to admire the people who command the public eye. We call them "stars".
They are the people with money, fame, position, power and recognition. They are held up by
the media as larger than life, people to be envied.
The fact that a television show like Lives of the Rich and Famous is so
successful should be a testimony to all of us of how we have become so very fascinated by
those who receive the applause of others. And, of course, the reason we are fascinated by
this is that we would very much like that applause too. For some reason we feel that it
would be great if we were like these rich and powerful people.
There is a little characteristic that we all inherited because of the disobedience of
our forefather, Adam. It is called pride. In our pride we are seduced into thinking that
the applause of others makes us special and valuable people. We believe that our
self-worth is enhanced when people adore us. We think that we would feel better about
ourselves if only we were there.
Could we handle it? Would it really be good for us, or would it destroy us? Would we be
more useful for God if we were famous? Does God only use the powerful, beautiful poeple?
The question we need to ask ourselves is: "Do I want the approval of God or the
applause of others?" You see, seldom can you have both. Those who stand for Jesus
Christ will face opposition in this world.
On the passage before us from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus deals with this tendency
in all of us to want the applause of others. In doing so, He reveals it to be a
destructive force indeed. It is destructive to our spiritual life and to our future
reward.
He touches on three disciplines for every Christian life - helping others, touching
God, and dealing with self. As He exposes the possible motivation for each of these
spiritual activities, perhaps we can find ourselves in His words.
Helping Others
Jesus deals first with the subject of giving alms. This is a specific kind
of giving. Alms referred to giving to the poor and needy. This was a practice that
was expected of every person seeking to do the will of God. That is why Jesus spoke of when
not if you give alms. Everyone was expected to give alms. Everyone
was expected to reach out beyond themselves and help those who needed their help.
And Jesus affirmed the principle of giving alms. What He warned them of was how they
were to give alms. He said do not sound a trumpet before you as you give to the
poor. This is what the hypocrites do when they engage in giving. He went on
to say that the reason why they called attention to their giving was that they may be
honored by men. And He indicated that this honor or applause of men was going to be their
reward in full.
In other words, we can either have the approval of God or the applause of others. If we
choose the applause of others, then that applause becomes our reward. We have forfeited
any future and eternal reward by accepting a reward here and now.
Jesus goes on to say that when we give we should do it in secret. He indicates
that your left hand should not know what your right hand is doing. In other
words, we should never give in order to be seen by others. If we give with our right
hand, then people as close as our left hand should not know what we are doing.
Then your Father who sees in secret will repay you. Our reward will come from God.
When helping others, we should always seek to move from a motivation of doing God's
will. We should never help people from the motivation of what we can do for them and get
out of it now. We should never call attention to ourselves in doing good so that others
can praise our acts of kindness.
Touching God
The next area that Jesus explores is our life as it reaches out to God. It is the
area of prayer. Again, He talks about when you pray, not if
you pray. Obviously, prayer is something to be engaged in by every believer. And, like
giving, prayer can be offered with a pure motive and also can be offered with a mixed
motive.
Jesus again speaks of the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in the
synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. The motivation again
is public recognition, public applause. These people pick a prominent spot so that many
people can hear them pray flowery prayers using skillful oratory. People probably stand
amazed at their skillful use of words. "Did you hear that wonderful prayer,"
they may say. "Wow, I certainly wish I could pray like that!" The praise of men
is what they are after in praying. And the praise of men is what they get. The only
problem, Jesus indicates, is that this praise is their reward in full.
Our prayers, however, are to be done in secret. You should you into your
inter-room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your father. After all, we
really should be praying to God, not people. And God sees in secret what we pray.
He will repay you.
Jesus goes on to warn us not to use meaningless repetition when we pray. In
other words, we are not to use flowery words for the sake of making our prayers beautiful.
This was the motivation of those who sought to be heard for their many words. You
have probably heard many such prayers offered. These are prayers which are filled with
phrases that sound good on the surface but mean nothing to the one praying. Jesus tells us
to cut to the chase. He says that your father knows what you need, before you ask Him.
If that is true, and it is, then you can use plain language to speak to God. As a matter
of fact, Peter prayed a very effective prayer from the heart as he was sinking in the sea
after walking on the water toward Jesus. He said as quickly as he could, "HELP!"
A very effective prayer indeed.
Dealing With Self
Finally, Jesus deals with the discipline of dealing with self. The issue is
fasting. Fasting was something that dealt with denying self in order to be more
surrendered to God. Again, Jesus assumed that this would be a discipline practiced by
everyone. Of course, it can be applied to any self-discipline in the believer's life.
The problem, as in the other cases, was the motive of the heart. Those who wanted to be
seen fasting by men would put on a gloomy face. They wanted everyone to know
that they were denying self. This was, after all, a very good thing to do. It was
spiritual. It marked them as spiritual people. Other people saw that they were spiritual.
Again, Jesus says that they have their reward in full.
His counsel to us is that we should not look so down when we are denying self. He
counseled those listening to anoint your head, and wash your face so that you may not
be seen fasting by men. In other words, they were to do everything to look normal.
Their fasting was to be seen by God. Their reward was to be from God.
Even the spiritual discipline of self-denial can be turned into a self-gratifying
experience when we do it for the sake of being noticed by others. The choice is again
between the approval of God and the applause of others.
Jesus wanted us to understand the real issue involved in spiritual activity. Whether
that activity is directed to others, to God, or to ourselves, it must be done for the sake
of our Lord. Even a spiritual thing can become a prideful trap for us if we do it to
receive the applause of people.
Why do we do what we do? Why do we serve in the church? Why do we teach Sunday School?
Why do we lead a cell group? Why do we preach? Why do we help others? Why do we pray? Why
do we deny self? We can do all those things from an impure motive. They can all be born of
pride and carnal self-interest. We can make sure we leave the evidence of our good works
lying around for people to find. But if we do, we have our reward paid in full here and
now.
I hope you feel the same way I do. I do not want the limited reward that people can
give. I want what God can do for me. You see, when we depend on people, we get what people
can do - which is something. But when we depend upon God, we get what God can do - which
is everything.
The choice is ours. Do we want the applause of others or the approval of God?
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