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"1 Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly." ~ Matthew 6:1-4
Today, we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 wherein God granted us a peak into His culture. His culture operates with an entirely different value system than the kingdoms of this world. Foreign to this world is the Lord Jesus' way of thinking which includes "blessed are the poor in spirit or blessed are those who mourn or blessed are the meek, or blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness." This world which is under the control of the evil one doesn't think God's way. There is not one paragraph in this sermon that doesn't demonstrate the stark difference in the value system of the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the evil one.
Through His words the Lord Jesus drove His hearers to the realization that they’re inadequate to garner God's approval. In these words He reminded them that they desperately needed a Savior, and of course, He will then offer Himself to them. That’s the same message He has for you and me. The world is full of religious people who are lost because they are a facade. They are a facade because their trust is in the facade of self.
In v.1 of today's passage we read, "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven."
For the hearers of these words that day, charitable giving was considered a sacred duty. The word the Lord Jesus used translated "charitable deeds" describes the kindness someone shows to someone who really needs a helping hand. The key word here is the word "before" which reveals the audience before whom one is giving to another. The Lord Jesus warned, "Take heed" which means "Watch carefully." We must watch carefully whenever we do something good for someone in need, so that we do not do it to be noticed by others. Giving is dangerous because the flesh loves to be worshipped which can very easily become our motivation.
The words "your charitable deeds" takes us back to Matthew 5:20 where the Lord Jesus said "your righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and pharisees." No amount of "righteousness" that we can muster has never been good enough to garner God's favor. In fact, there is nothing from fallen man that can produce this type of a response from God. This is why the Lord Jesus said, "Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven." Understanding our total inadequacy to please God and the futility of attempting to earn His favor based on our own actions is foundational to a proper understanding of God's grace. It is only when we have been instructed by God's grace that we begin to lose the motivation of self which is what keeps us from being defined and blessed by God.
In v.2 of today's passage we read, "Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward."
The danger behind giving in order to get a slap on the back leads to hypocrisy which undermines everything the Lord had taught in this sermon to this point. Hypocrisy is rooted in deception and the worst deception is self-deception. This type of thinking is so myopic that we fail to be defined by the eternal. Living for the praise of others makes us enslaved to them. In fact, we can very easily become addicted to their worship. This gets especially problematic when some praise us for doing something while others criticize us for doing the same thing. When we repeatedly do things based on what others think, we find ourselves inauthentically living in fear, not freedom.
In v.3-4 of today's passage we read, "3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly."
The Lord Jesus referred to His "Father" ten times in the first sixteen verses of this chapter. He did this to remind us that if we are not living by faith in the Father, we are living a life of futility. In context, the Lord Jesus placed His finger on the root of the problem which is the way of the evil one who isn't out to get us to follow him directly. No, he gets us to follow him indirectly by getting us to follow ourselves. The root problem of sin is self-worship and its remedy is worship of God who defines us by the truth if we let Him.
This worship emerges out of a proper understanding of the cross of Christ. His cross symbolizes death to all of rebellious man's selfish desires. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is good news because it means that perfect love triumphed over sin and death. The cross reminds us that sin and death will not have the last word. The cross teaches us of the utter uselessness of all our works for righteousness which is what frees us to live out of the freedom God's grace has delivered into our souls. Being freed from the opinions of others positions us to be defined by the love which is perfect and complete. The blessing or God's reward here is that we grow increasingly in our intimacy with the Father, so much that He defines us. As much as we are being defined by God will be the degree that we will truly be free.
