I. You’ll be receiving 40 Days with Jesus in three weeks
A. Simple devotional designed for personal or family devotions
B. 6 weeks of daily scriptures on the life of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke,
John) leading up to the Easter Holiday Weekend
C. Challenge will be to read through the life of Jesus as we approach
Easter
D. Goal of which would be to become more like him as we read
II. In the 3 weeks leading up to that, we’ll be taking a look at some of the
words of Jesus found in Matthew 6, where he speaks on several spiritual
disciplines: giving, praying, and fasting.
III. Some church groups practice “lent” which could cause a person to focus
simply on what you’re losing!
When Ole quit farming and moved, he discovered he was the only Lutheran in
his new town of all Catholics. That was okay, but the neighbors had a problem
with his barbecuing beef every Friday. They were not allowed to eat red meat on
Fridays, but the tempting aroma was getting the best of them. Beside
themselves, they got together and confronted Ole.
"Ole," they said, "since you are the only Lutheran in this whole town and there’s
not a Lutheran church for many miles, we think you should join our church and
become a Catholic." Ole thought about it for a minute and decided they were
right. Ole talked to the priest, and they arranged it.
The big day came, and the priest had Ole kneel. He put his hand on Ole’s head
and said, "Ole, you were born a Lutheran, you were raised a Lutheran, and
now," he said as he sprinkled some incense over Ole’s head, "you are a
Catholic!"
Both Ole and the neighbors were happy. But the following Friday evening, the
aroma of grilled beef still wafted from Ole’s yard. The neighbors went to talk to
him about this, and as they approached the fence they heard Ole saying
something strangely familiar to the steak: "You were born a beef, you were
raised a beef, and now" he said as he sprinkled salt over the meat, "you are a
fish!"
A. As Easter approaches, we should be meditating on what we’re gaining!
B. As we practice the disciplines of prayer, fasting, giving – we could think
about the time, food, and money we’re losing.
C. They are actually small investments when you consider them as
investments with an incredible return
D. When Jesus laid down his life and rose again, all these become
wonderful investments.
E. After all, what is prayer, fasting, and giving without a resurrection?
They would all be a waste of time and resources!
“If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I
gained? If the dead are not raised, ‘let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die’” 1
Cor 15:32.
F. When you factor in the resurrection, you’re praying to a living God, as
you fast – you’re communing with a living God, and as we give, we’re
giving to a living God who is able to do more than we could ever ask,
think, or imagine.
G. By discipline, I mean a “regular practice” (we will discuss later why we
should make these things a regular practice)
IV. The text we want to focus on, however, are the words of Jesus in Matthew 6
Matthew 6:1-4, 1"Be careful not to do your ’acts of righteousness’ before men,
to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in
heaven.
2"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 men. I
tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to
the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that
your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you.
V. The first verse is a set-up for the three disciplines that will follow.
VI. It gives us three keys to keep in mind for each discipline “Be careful not to
do your ’acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do,
you will have no reward from your Father in heaven
A. “Acts of Righteousness” are necessary!
1. “Acts of righteousness” appears in quotations in the NIV. Some
call it alms, but the NIV does a better job in this instance.
2. Could also be translated, “religious observances, religious
requirements.”
3. Observances or practices required by one’s religion
4. Remember that he’s talking first of all to his disciples
5. Each of the three are considered “requirements” to being a
disciple of Christ (note: disciple, not a Christian. The invitation is to
go deeper as a disciple and not just have a mental faith in Christ.)
a. “Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant
satisfaction is a primarily spiritual problem. The desperate
need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people,
or gifted people, but for a deep people.” Celebration of
Discipline, Richard Foster.
b. When I first left college, I started to believe that in order for a
person to be a Christian, you had to be a disciple as well
(pray, fast, give, worship, witness)
c. I limited the grace of God. I’ve come to realize now that there
are just a lot of Christians who are missing out on their
potential – and God’s potential to bless them – because they
are not making a regular practice of these “acts of
righteousness.”
6. These “acts of righteousness” are not just “obedience” issues, but
they are “lordship” issues.
B. “Acts of righteousness” are done in Secret
1. “Be Careful” not to be seen by men.
2. Do not aim for the recognition of men
3. “Be Careful” defined
a. To be in a continuos state of readiness to learn of any future
danger, need, or error, and to respond appropriately
b. To pay attention, to keep on the lookout for, to be alert for, to
be on one’s guard against
c. “Make certain”
4. The idea is to have yourself at the red level alert - guarding
against the pride of your spiritual prowess
a. color-coded national alert system unveiled March 10, 2002 by
White House Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge
b. The color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System rates the
country’s threat level in one of five stages:
(1) (GREEN) Low, signifying a low risk of terrorist attacks;
(2) (BLUE) Guarded, marking a general risk;
(3) (YELLOW) Elevated, meaning a significant risk of a
terrorist strike;
(4) (ORANGE) High, signifying a high risk; and
(5) (RED) Severe, declared when the government determines
a severe risk of a terrorist attack
5. There is no grading system; we will not be giving away any stars or
smiley faces for this
Speaking of smiley faces: The designer of the famous yellow smiley face received
a mere $45 for his work. Harvey Ball, a Massachusetts commercial artist,
created the simple yellow face in 1963 as a morale-boosting campaign for two
firms that had recently merged into the State Mutual Life Assurance Companies
of America. Because Ball never copyrighted his design, he received no
proceeds when the cheery icon appeared countless times worldwide. In 1971
alone, 50 million buttons were sold. (1 penney from each button would have
given him $10,000). After Ball’s death in April 2001, his son, Charles, said in an
obituary that his father was never bitter about the small amount of money he
earned from the smiley face and never regretted foregoing a copyright. He
considered his greatest achievement not his famous logo but the bronze star he
received for his heroism during the Battle of Okinawa.
C. “Acts of righteousness” result in a Reward
1. “If you do your acts of righteousness before men, you will have no
reward from your father in heaven.” (Implication: if you give in
secret, you will have a reward.)
2. When you pray, you see answers
3. When you fast, you’ll see even more answers to prayer
4. As you give, you’ll witness the Lord giving back to you
VII. As we look at verses 2-4, Jesus begins to specifically talk about giving, and
that’s where our focus will be this morning.
2"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 men. I
tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to
the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that
your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you.
VIII. You probably noticed the three principles that we already mentioned, now
specifically geared around our giving
A. SO WHEN: When you see the “when” you should conclude two things:
1. It’s a when not an if! (There’s no “if”) Remember, “acts of
righteousness” are necessary”?
2. Since Jesus says when, we should wonder then, “when?” When
should we give?
I Corinthians 16:2, “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set
aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I
come no collections will have to be made.”
3. The answer to “when” is “regularly”!
a. If you’re paid once a month, you give once a month
b. If you’re paid weekly, you ought to give weekly.
4. Why do we make it a regular practice? You avoid guilt and
manipulation: (WE SHOULD GIVE REGULARLY TO AVOID GUILT AND
MANIPULATION)
a. Guilt
(1) we all know we should give, and when we’re not, we slip
into this guilt mentality
(2) guilt doesn’t always motivate us to change – it just makes
us feel guilty and that we can never “right” the wrong.
(3) Also, as we feel guilty, we can be susceptible to
manipulation
b. Manipulation
2 Corinthians 9:7, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to
give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
(1) if we’re not giving consistently, then we may be prone to
give to the entity with the “best story.”
(2) guilt kicks in, we give because our “heart is touched”
(3) may be why some people feel manipulated when the topic
of giving comes up – because they’re not.
(4) The only way we can honestly be manipulated to give is if
we are not giving already. (Because manipulation works
best in the context of guilt)
5. Another answer to “when” is “as you are able” not “as you wish
you had.”
a. “Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it
may be matched by your completion of it, according to your
means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable
according to what one has, not according to what he does not
have” 2 Cor 8: 11,12
b. The context of that passage says that our giving should be in
proportionate to our income.
(1) if we experience an increase, then our giving should
increase
(2) if we experience a loss of income, then our giving would
also decrease, but we may have more TIME that we could
give.
(3) We shouldn’t let our feelings of guilt force us to maintain a
certain level of giving.
c. The best way to “give out of our ability” is to simply practice a
tithe (God’s idea, not mine)
(1) Malachi 3:10, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse,
that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says
the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the
floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that
you will not have room enough for it.”
(2) This is easy and sensible
(a) I make a dollar, I give 10 cents; I make $100, I give
$10
(b) if an amount was set, it would be a burden to some,
and very simple for others
(c) anyone can tithe. (It may even be harder for those
with more . . .)
(3) some would say that the tithe is not mentioned in the NT,
but it is!
Matthew 23:23, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected
the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You
should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
(a) What have we done so often?
(b) we practice the latter (justice, mercy, faithfulness) but
neglect the former (tithe)
B. TO THE NEEDY: Answers the question, “who should I give to?
1. “When you give to the needy,” is really, “when you give your alms”
which means, “when you give to those in need as an act of mercy.”
2. Who is in need?
a. Those around you who may or may not go to your church
(1) your gift to people you know can be a real meaningful
witness to them
b. Those who minister in your church
(1) you don’t give just so the Pastor and staff can get paid
(2) we give to the ministry of our church so all who minister
here can have adequate resources to get the job done!
(Electricity, water, materials, curriculum)
(3) The church depends on the tithes of its people
c. Those who minister to you
(1) radio
(2) TV (perhaps a dollar for every hour)
d. Those who we send out from our church
(1) missionaries
(2) evangelists
(3) they depend on our pledges we make
C. DO NOT ANNOUNCE IT WITH TRUMPETS!
do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and
on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received
their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand
know what your right hand is doing
1. Picture it foolishly with the horn trumpet Patty’s dad gave us.
2. Can also imply that they would have others blow the trumpet for
them (written in a causative sense)
3. Reinforces “Acts of righteousness” are done in Secret
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Commander Joe Rochefort broke Japanese
communication codes. Stationed at an intelligence base in Oahu, he predicted
the Japanese would attack Midway on June 3, 1942, which they did. Because of
Rochefort’s expertise, the United States surprised the Japanese Navy with its
first defeat in 350 years. Japan lost four carriers, one cruiser, 2500 men, 322
aircraft, and their best pilots. Due to this crippling defeat, Japan eventually lost
the war.
Surprisingly, Rochefort never received recognition for his efforts. Instead, some
intelligence men in Washington, D.C., falsified reports and claimed credit, even
though they had predicted a June 10 date of attack. Washington sealed the
records for 40 years, and Rochefort was never properly rewarded. In fact, he
was actually removed from intelligence and assigned to a floating dry dock in
San Francisco.
In their book Deceit at Pearl Harbor, Lt. Cmdr. Ken Landis (ret.), Staff Sgt. Rex
Gunn, (ret.), and Msgt. Robert Andrade (ret.) tell about a note Rochefort kept
on his desk: "WE CAN ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING PROVIDING NO ONE CARES WHO
GETS THE CREDIT." The authors write, "That was the attitude that won the battle
of Midway."
4. The verse also says, besides not announcing with trumpets, that
“our left hand shouldn’t know what our right hand is doing
a. Merely an idiomatic expression, “not letting others know about
the good which one does
b. Today’s English Version, “do it in such a way that even your
closest friend will not know about it.”
5. Personally, I have my tithe come out automatically from my
checking. (It’s secret and regular)
D. YOUR FATHER WILL REWARD YOU!
1. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Malachi 3:10-12, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be
food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not
throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you
will not have room enough for it. 11I will prevent pests from devouring your
crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD
Almighty. 12"Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a
delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.”
2. Your reward can come in your time or God’s time. (You’ll want it in
God’s time)
a. If you let your secret be known – you will receive your reward
at that moment
(1) you’ll not be punished
(2) just know that you have received your reward
(3) That’s it – there’s nothing more coming (either a
punishment or a reward)
b. If you give regularly to those in need – in secret – be sure
that the FATHER will reward you.
