Article IX: God Has No Room for Showboats Matthew 6: 1-4 Pastor Steve N. Wagers May

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1 1 Article IX: God Has No Room for Showboats Matthew 6: 1-4 Pastor Steve N. Wagers May The Duty our Lord Expects! A) Giving People B) Gracious People 2. The Disgrace our Lord Exposes! A) The Recognition they Loved B) The Reward they Lost 3. The Delight our Lord Expresses! A) Private Devotion B) Public Promotion A pastor was asked to speak for a certain charitable organization. After the meeting the program chairman handed the pastor a check. Oh, I couldn t take this, the pastor said with some embarrassment. I appreciate the honor of being asked to speak. You have better uses for this money. You apply it to one of those uses. The program chairman asked, Well, do you mind if we put it into our Special Fund? The pastor replied, Of course not. What is the special fund for? The chairman answered, It s so we can get a better speaker next year. The Sermon on the Mount exposes the state of the heart of the believer. In Matthew 5, the Beatitudes (vv. 3-12) provide us with a description of the ideal character of the true believer. Then after two convicting metaphors (vv ) we are given six illustrations of the surpassing righteousness to which we are called (vv ), a righteousness that supersedes and fulfills that of the scribes and Pharisees and indeed that of the Old Testament. This exposé of the heart brings us to an honest admission of what we really are, and it is not a pretty picture. Matthew 6 introduces us to practical theology. It s often been referred to as a sermon in shoe leather. We take the premise of Matthew 5 and live it out in practical ways in Matthew 6. He addresses 4 specific areas in the life of the true Christ-follower. GIVING (vv.1-4) PRAYING (vv. 5-15) FASTING (vv ) SAVING (vv )

2 2 Regarding this section, it s not the matter of giving Jesus is concerned with, but the motive for giving that He addresses. Jesus reminds us, throughout these next 4 sections that our spiritual service is not for the purpose of showing off to men, but of shining out for God. Richard Marius wrote of Thomas More, He was ambitious, but he did not want people to know that he was. He loved the praise of the crowd and worked hard to create a public image of himself as a man who took no care for what people thought of him. He worked hard to seem humble. But he always wanted to be somebody, and he always tried to make the public imagine that high position had been thrust upon him only because great and wise men insisted that his talents were too large to be hidden. Few people have enjoyed greater success in advertising their humility. Leonard Bernstein was asked, "What is the most difficult instrument to play?" He replied, "Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm or second French horn or second flute, now that's a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony." Jesus is looking for those who are willing and wanting to play second fiddle, because He reminds us that God has no place for showboats. The matter before us today requires our undivided attention. Jesus begins this section with words of caution... "Take heed." Jesus is not fooling around here. He is dead serious. Grammatically, these words are in the imperative mood in the Greek which means that this is a command, not a request or suggestion. God doesn't give us commands to pass the time of day or for His enjoyment. They are given for good reasons. "Take heed" is derived from the Greek word prosecho, which means "grasp or devote your thoughts." Jesus wants us to listen up and take every possible precaution to guard against this sin of giving with the wrong motives. The present Greek tense is used which means we are to be continually and constantly taking heed about our motives in giving. We are never to drop our guard in this matter. Jesus is not condemning the practice of giving by any means. In fact, from the language He employs, we get the idea that He expects such from His people.

3 3 (2) When thou doest thine alms. (3) When thou doest alms. Jesus doesn t say If we do these things (give, pray, fast, and save), but when we do these things. Such things are expected common place in the lives of His people. He expects us to be a: A) GIVING People Someone has well said, We are never more like Jesus than when we give. No truer statement could ever be spoken. When we think of God, we think of a giver. When we think of Jesus, we think of a giver. When we think of the Holy Spirit, we think of a giver. God longs to give, looks to give, lives to give, and loves to give. A Christian is one who bears the image of God through a new nature. Thus, if God s nature is to give, then a child of God will possess the nature to give. Jesus uses the word alms in an interesting way. The word alms is not used to refer to giving in the sense of tithing, or the giving of an offering. The Greek word is eleemosune, and is often translated into the word righteousness. The word alms speaks of giving charity to the poor and needed. It is helping those who are living at a disadvantage, and not able to help themselves. Religious history has placed a great premium on charitable giving. The Catholic Church, Buddhism, and many other religions place a lot of emphasis on alms giving. The false prophet Muhammad taught his followers that prayer would carry a man halfway to paradise, fasting would bring him to its gates, and almsgiving would gain him admittance. Jesus speaks of giving alms, not to condemn it, but to show that the practice as a mere religious work is useless, and gains no acceptance or approval with God in and of itself. A Christian does not give to gain acceptance with God. Rather, because we ve been given acceptance with God, through the finished work of Christ, we are a giving people. We should seek to help those in need, not only in monetary forms, but in any way possible. We should seek to love the hurting, lead the hurting, and lift the hurting. In all likelihood, there was a time in our lives when someone helped us when we couldn t help ourselves. B) GRACIOUS People

4 4 Again, the idea of alms focuses on a charitable expression to the poor and needy. It is exercised by a giving person, because the giving person is a gracious person. The Greek root word, for the word alms, is eleos, which speaks of compassion or mercy. It is motivated by God s love in us and through us. Our lives are a channel of His love. As we open up our lives to Him, He is able to work through us in giving grace to the hurting, the helpless, the hopeless, and the homeless. Again, the idea is not about an offering for the church. Giving alms is NOT part of your tithe. An alm is the giving of grace, charity, love and compassion for those in need. Let me say that while our help for those in need is to be done compassionately and graciously, it should also be done wisely and knowledgeably. Sometimes, the worst thing we could ever give a person, who is in repeated financial trouble, is money, because it may produce a level of dependence and laziness. I don t believe Jesus is advocating that the church be a spiritual welfare center to anybody and everybody. However, there are many cases where assistance is definitely merited; and if that is the case, we should jump at the chance to be like Jesus in our giving and graciousness. James A. Stewart said, A heartless Christian is a terrible grief to our Lord. General William Booth founded the Salvation Army. Near the end of his life, he was unable to attend their annual convention in London, so he was asked to send a message to be read to open the convention. The moderator opened the message and began to read the following: Someone has written: Lord, let me live from day to day In such a self-forgetful way That even when I kneel to pray, My prayer shall be for others. Dear Delegates of the Salvation Army Convention: OTHERS! Signed, General Booth.

5 5 Others, Lord, yes, others; Let this my motto be. Help me to live for others That I may live like Thee. May God help us to help others with a spirit of giving, and a spirit of grace to be like Jesus. The fact has been established that Jesus expects His people to be a giving people, as well as a gracious people. The concern is not about when we give or what we give, but about HOW we give and WHY we give. What begins as a desire and a duty can degenerate into a display and a disgrace if the motive of the heart is not carefully guarded. R. Kent Hughes comments, Once you begin to fulfill the righteousness of God, once you are flying spiritually, once you are living a life full of good deeds, it is very easy to begin "do[ing] your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them." (1) This is exactly what happened to the Pharisees. Their dutiful giving had become disgraceful giving. A) The RECOGNITION they LOVED (2) Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. We have all often heard, or even used the expression, Blowing your own horn. That s exactly the expression Jesus uses to describe the recognition the Pharisees loved when it came to their giving. The sounding of a trumpet was a common, recognizable sound regarding Temple giving. When the appropriate hour for giving had come, the temple trumpets would blow notifying the citizens that it was time to come and give. The trumpets would blare and people would be seen scurrying along the streets, toward the Temple, to give what was required.

6 6 The common, humble giver would not seek to make a big show. When the trumpet sounded, he would quietly proceed to fulfill his duty at the Temple. However, it would seem that the Pharisees had got the extra mile when it came to their giving. I can t help but wonder if Jesus isn t somehow implying that the Pharisees may have had their own, personal trumpeters who they would follow all the way to the Temple, with somber, pious looks on their faces so as to let everyone know that the big givers were on their way. Jesus refers to them as hypocrites. The Greek word is used to speak of one who wears a mask. He was an actor and a stage player. His giving was not motivated by his longing to please God, but by his love to impress men. A certain Irish priest, newly arrived in New York City, decided to visit the section known as the Bowery, haven of homeless alcoholics and other derelicts. As he walked along one of the Bowery blocks at night he suddenly felt a gun against his ribs. Then he heard a raspy voice: All right mister, gimme all your money! Quickly, he reached for his wallet and, as he did, the holdup man noticed his clerical garb. The thief was overcome with shame. He said, Forgive me, Father. I didn t know you were a priest. To which the victim replied, That s all right, Son. Just repent of your sin. Here, have a cigar. The thief replied, Oh, no, thank you, Father, I don t smoke during Passover. J. B. Phillips translates verse 2, "When you do good to other people, don't hire a trumpeter to go in front of you like those play-actors in the synagogues and streets who make sure that men admire them." The more I come to know about these Pharisees, the more amazed I am at how much the approval, applause and acceptance of men meant to them. It seems that everything they were involved in was motivated by their need to be thought impressive to other people. Yet, as you ve often heard me say, All the Pharisees didn t die in the 1 st century. Their descendants are still around today in Baptist churches, who want others to be impressed by all they do, say, think, and give. If I didn t know better, I would think by listening to some that they re convinced that God, or His church, would not be able to survive and would cease to function were it not for everything they do and contribute. They ll be the first to sound their own trumpet and impress you with the statistics of their own spiritual life.

7 7 And while to others they may think it is impressing; to God it is DEPRESSING! He has no room for showboats, and He ll get along just fine without them. (Colossians 3: 22-23) 22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: 23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. I remind you today that God knows who you are, what you are, what you do and why you do it. B) The REWARD they LOST It would seem that all these Pharisees cared about was their own, self-deceiving and self-destructive, image. They were driven by the esteem of their peers, and particular the lower, lesser class of common people. How they gave and why they gave was entirely motivated by the recognition they loved. However, the return on their investment was as short-lived as the gift itself. (2) Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. The word translated "they have" here is apechō, which was used by the Greeks to refer to a formal receipt. Once a transaction was completed, a formal receipt, an apecho, was issued to the giver. The receipt indicated that the transaction was complete and final. So Jesus was saying that those who trumpet and parade their good works receive their reward the moment someone applauds them. As soon as they hear the applause they re listening for, a receipt is issue to indicate that the transaction is complete. They get what they have been looking for; there is nothing more to come. The truth of the matter is that, because of their motive, they were not giving anything, they were buying something. The amount of their gift was simply payment for the approval and applause of men. Once they received the applause, they got what they paid for. Nothing more, nothing less. Today many people give to charities simply to secure a tax advantage. There is nothing wrong in claiming all one's legitimate deductions at tax time, but if a person's motive for giving is to secure a tax-deductible receipt, that is what he gets; and ALL he gets. Alexander Maclaren said, "What a poor thing it is which they seek the praise of men, a breath, as unsubstantial and short-lived as the blast of trumpet itself.

8 8 A crumbling old church building needed remodeling, so, during his sermon, the preacher made an impassioned appeal looking directly at the richest man in town. At the end of the sermon, the rich man knew that every eye was on him, so knowing he had to do something; he stood up and announced, "Pastor, I will contribute $1,000." Just then, plaster fell from the ceiling and struck the rich man on the shoulder. He promptly stood back up and shouted, "Pastor, I will increase my donation to $5,000." Before he could sit back down, plaster fell on him again, and again he virtually screamed, "Pastor, I will double my last pledge." He sat down, and a larger chunk of plaster fell on his head. He stood up once more and hollered, "Pastor, I will give $20,000!" This prompted a deacon to shout, "Hit him again, Lord! Hit him again!" As Christians, we have a Pay-Day coming one day. We long for that day, we look for that day, and we live for that day. The temporal applause and approval of man, down here, is not what should motivate us to give, pray, fast or save. The eternal applause and approval of God is what we seek. We get the idea, from the text, that we can t have both. If we desire earthly approval, that s what we ll get, and nothing more. But, if we desire Heavenly applause, that s what we ll get, even though our deeds may seem to go unnoticed down here. I guess the question to answer is, am I more interested in a short-term yield, or a long-term dividend? I have always loved the devotional writing of Oswald Chambers. The other day he made a statement that sunk deep in my heart, "Take heed lest you play the hypocrite by spending all your time trying to get others right before you worship God yourself." Warren Wiersbe says that, Humility is not thinking meanly of yourself or degrading yourself; it is not thinking of yourself at all. The humble servant knows himself, accepts himself, yields himself, and seeks to better himself that he may be of more use to God. Jesus has told us how NOT to give; now, He instructs us about the proper manner, method, and motive for our giving that causes Him to express delight. A) PRIVATE DEVOTION (3-4a) But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret.

9 9 The right hand is the one we normally use in giving, because the majority of the population was in that day, and is in our day, right-handed. Thus, Jesus gets radically extreme by saying that, when we give, our left hand shouldn t have any idea what our right hand is doing. The idea is of secrecy and privacy. Not only are we not to tell others, blow trumpets, or advertise what we re doing; but, we re not to even make a big deal of it to ourselves. Kent Hughes writes, We are so subtly sinful that we will refrain from an outward show in giving and then pat ourselves on the back for our profound humility. (2) If God impresses your heart to give to someone in need, or do anything in His name for that matter, don t keep a diary in which you log date, place, time and deed. Don t give yourself merit marks. Don t be proud of your piety, and honored by your humility. Just do it, and forget it. B) PUBLIC PROMOTION (1) Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. If I understand the gravity of what Jesus is saying, it is possible for a believer to take a leper's ulcerated limb in his hands and caress it and gently speak words of comfort and have no reward from God. It is possible to pray for your enemies and have no reward. It is possible to preach like an angel and have no reward. Why? Because it is possible to do all these things for the recognition of men and not of God. I find this terrifying, for it means that my life, which is ostensibly given to God, can in the end count for nothing. The outwardly most self-effacing saint in our congregation may have all his "good deeds" rejected. What s the answer? (4) Thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. The hypocrite wants everyone to see, hear, know and understand his good deeds of kindness and alms giving. Thus, when he hears the applause and approval of his fellow man, a receipt is given as his full and final reward. He got what he paid for, and there will be no future reward.

10 10 However, for the true Christ follower, his service to God, his alms, and his deeds are to be done in private devotion. Those done in private devotion will earn public promotion. What man doesn t see; God sees. If man receives it, God rejects it. If man rejects it; God receives it. Robert Baker said, "As I grow older, I care less what people think about me and more what God thinks of me. I expect to be with Him much longer than with you." C. S. Lewis explained it perfectly, We must not be troubled by unbelievers when they say that this promise of reward makes the Christian life a mercenary affair. There are different kinds of reward. There is the reward which has no natural connection with the things you do to earn it, and is quite foreign to the desires that ought to accompany those things. Money is not the natural reward of love; that is why we call a man a mercenary if he marries a woman for the sake of her money. But marriage is the proper reward for a real lover, and he is not mercenary for desiring it... The proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consummation. The reward for the child of God is doing what is pleasing to His heavenly employer. The act of obedience is the reward in itself. Anything in the future is but icing on the preverbal cake. I love the story of the missionary Henry C. Morrison, and his wife, who returned home, to the United States, after 40 years of service on the mission field. Aboard the ship they sailed home on was President Theodore Roosevelt who was returning from a hunting expedition. As they sailed into New York Harbor the President was greeted with huge fanfare. For the Morrison's, there was not a single person to greet them and welcome them home. He was dejected; after all he had spent 4 decades in the Lord's service on the mission field. He said to his wife, "The president returns home from a hunting trip and great crowds greet him with great fanfare, but we return home after giving our lives to a far greater cause, and there is no one to welcome me home." His wife simply replied, "Henry, it's all right, because we're not home yet!" I remind you, child of God, we re not home yet. The accolades of this world are not our motivation. Our motivation is not a reward that we look to see, but a remark that we long to hear, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. As the people of God, we re taking a trip on the good-ole gospel ship, and God has no room for showboats.

11 Endnotes 1) Preaching the Word: Matthew, R. Kent Hughes. Word Search ) IBID. 11