Two days later I also gave a cut down version of this talk at one of our old people's service. It is funny, this term I am not down to give any talks at our Youth Group, and yet I think I have given more talks this term than any other. Below is more or less what I said. You can also download the audio from our website.
Comedian Sarah Silverman said “We don’t live in a democracy we live in a hypocrisy”.
Hypocrisy is everywhere. It is the air that we breath. Just mention the word “politics” and the word “hypocrisy” will not be far behind. Our culture is so fragmented that we are as a society becoming inconsistent. We often specialise in one area and fail to think through another.
100 years ago it had already been said that
a politician, will cry out that war is a waste of life, and then, a philosopher, [will say] that all life is waste of time. A Russian pessimist will denounce a policeman for killing a peasant, and then prove by the highest philosophical principles that the peasant ought to have killed himself. … The man of this school goes first to a political meeting, where he complains that savages are treated as if they were beasts; then he takes his hat and umbrella and goes on to a scientific meeting, where he proves that they practically are beasts... In his book on politics he attacks men for trampling on morality; in his book on ethics he attacks morality for trampling on men[1].Today, it would be a massive leap in science if we found some cells on Mars. We would say we have found extra-terrestrial life. And yet, in the womb, a baby is considered a clump of cells and somehow not a life.
But on a more personal level, we are all fragmented and inconsistent. You may have heard the line where someone says “The church is full of hypocrites”, and the response is “there is always room for one more for you to come and join us”
Well Jesus says there is no room for hypocrisy. In our passage, Jesus condemns hypocrisy in three specific religious practices. These are presented in the same formula and there is an extended bit about prayer.
How to read the Sermon on the Mount
“by wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established.” (Prov 24:3).
This wisdom in Proverbs and in the Sermon on the Mount is not about knowing great complicated things. It is not about offering sage wisdom to people seeking enlightenment. It is about action. It is about putting into practice what Jesus says. It is about choosing the right path. The path that works, the path that prospers. And today, our passage has this choice, which path will you take? How are you going to build your house?
There is the hypocrite and the hidden. The one who seeks rewards from their followers or from their Father in heaven.
Jesus in The Gospel of Matthew is presented as the new Moses. Moses wasn’t just known as the lawgiver, but also as the deliverer and saviour of God’s people[3]. We saw this when we looked at Exodus last term. The teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is impossible for anyone who is enslaved to sin to do. Yet Jesus’ followers have been liberated from this slavery. The great Redeemer has cried, “Let My people go!” He has removed their shackles from sin and death, killed their old harsh taskmaster and led them to freedom. The Sermon on the Mount describes the righteousness that will be shown by those who have experienced this freedom from slavery of sin[4]. So if you are not a follower of Jesus today, you can listen in and see how Christians are to practice their religion. You get to see the quirky, upside-down family culture we have here.
Religious practice
Verse one is the summary of our passage.Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. (Matthew 6:1)This is the warning; this is the choice. How are we to go about practising our righteousness?
Jesus gives us three examples of giving, praying and fasting. These three practices were common in Judaism. In the book of Tobit, a Jewish religious text from around 200 years before Jesus says:
“Prayer with fasting is good, but better than both is almsgiving with righteousness.” (Tobit 12:8a)
Some call these three practices the “pillars of Judaism”.
Islam has its own five pillars of the faith. Three of which have to do with giving, praying and fasting.
These are common elements in many religions. These are good things for Christians to do, but we can corrupt even these good religious practices. It is good to help the poor, it is good to pray to God, it is good to fast; but the ends don’t justify the means. The way we do these things can reveal our true motivation. We can do all these things for ourselves without really caring for the poor or God or our own benefit, but for our own glory.
The main point of this passage is: if you practice your religion in front of others for the sake of been seen, you will have no reward from God.
Jesus speaks with great imagery and exaggeration to get his point across. I think this passage cannot be clearer. Don’t be a hypocrite with your religion and its practices. If you are seeking the praise of others, then lap it up, as that is all you are going to get, there is nothing else. But instead practice your religion for your Father, knowing that He sees you and will reward you.
Today we will dig into these three examples a little more and examine our motivation for when we do these things.
Giving to the poor
Those who have been following closely with the Sermon on the Mount may now ask what about Matthew 5:16? What about when Jesus said:
let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.But here we are to hide our good deeds of giving to the poor. How does that work?
Jesus wants us to have the same motivation. He wants us to be consistent.
In chapter five the motivation is for others to see your good deeds and glorify the Father. In this chapter, the warning is that when are performing these good deeds we are to be careful that we are not glorifying ourselves. Martyn Lloyd Jones* said, “Our good works must be public so that our light shines; our religious devotions must be secret lest we boast about them.”[5] We sometimes elevate certain religious duties and we need to be careful about our heart as we go about them.
“Blessed are the pure in heartJesus says:
for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8)
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 others. (Matthew 6:2)This is an over the top example. It would be really strange in our family business today if someone got up and said, “I just want to announce that I am going to give $300 to Camp Overrated” and then sat down. But in some old churches, there are plaques all over with things like this chair was donated by the Johnstone, or this pulpit was donated by the Macfarlanes. Those who got their name in the church got their glory. They may have seemed good and righteousness to others but they got no reward from God.
Today we don’t blow our own trumpets, we are Australians. But I think with social media we do it all the time. I am not exempt from this.
Don’t get me wrong it is good to raise awareness of issues on social media; but do you change your profile pic to tell others how good you are - how great it is that you are jumping on this great social concern? If you do nothing else with a cause then change an image, it is called slacktivism. You are visibly doing an action while also not actually helping that cause. We do the visible for the attention. At least the hypocrite in the story after blowing a trumpet actually gives to the poor, today we can share the right post at no cost to ourselves so that others will think we are virtuous.
Charity sites now let you share that you donated to Facebook. Did you support Izzy Folau online and let others know? Did you support some other cause out of protest? Did you let everyone know? When you donate to Movember, the 40-hour famine or to Red Cross do you tick the “anonymous” box? When you are raising money for the local school on their giving page, do you list your name or type something else?
Jesus says if you declare how good you are in giving so others will see, then lap it up, for that is all you are going to get. That is your reward. People will think good of you. Enjoy.
But there is a better reward if you want. Jesus says:
when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:3-4)Again, this is a contrasting over the top example. How can you stop one hand from knowing what the other did? They don’t have independent minds, they are connected to the same brain? But you get the point already. Jesus is telling us to do more than give in secret. To not just seek the applause of others, but it is more than that, even giving in secret can puff up your pride.
Recently Hannah and I were able to give anonymously for something, and it was great. People appreciated it, 3rd parties benefited, I thought it was a win-win. And from looking at this passage it made me realise that although I didn’t tell anyone what I had done, I was proud. I was like, “I did that”. They don’t know but I do, aren’t I good and clever at keeping this thing a secret. That is letting your right hand know what your left hand is doing.
When you give, think and pray what to give, do it and then move on with your life. Don’t dwell on it. Does it go in one ear and other the other? Don’t check the bank statement, don’t secretly puff yourself up. The money was a gift from God anyway that you got to use for a period of time and now it’s gone, so move on.
Move on because your Father sees what you did and He will reward you.
Prayer
Now, this maybe a bit awkward for the person who is praying corporately in this service. Should we stop this practice in our church and only pray private prayers? No there are other examples of corporate prayers in the Bible
Both Jesus and His disciples prayed publicly, but their public prayers were an expression of their private devotion to God[6]. Besides later in the model prayer, you should notice that we are to pray corporately not individually. We pray together “us” and not “I”.
Jesus gives us instructions in how to pray.
when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:6)
In other translations, it uses the word closet. It is where we get the phrase “prayer closet” from. Jesus is saying not only are you to pray indoors away from people, but you should also go into your closet, close that door and then pray. I feel for those who do not have walk in wardrobes. But again, this is exaggerated to make a point.
Pray in private. The purpose of Jesus’ emphasis on ‘secret’ prayer is to purify our motives in praying.[7] We are to shut out and forget other people. Then we are to shut out and forget ourselves. You can enter into that closet when you are walking alone in a busy street, or going from one room to another. You enter into that closet when you are in communion with God and nobody knows what you are doing.[8]
And when you pray in private Jesus says don’t ramble, you are not trying to grab God’s attention, trying to get Him to listen to you. You may have seen this type of babble in some churches on TV. Keep your prayers to the point and clear. Jesus is repeating what Ecclesiastes says
Do not be quick with your mouth,Hypocritical prayer is for a human audience; the true prayer is for the heavenly audience[9].
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few. (Ecclesiates 5:2)
The Model Prayer
Jesus then gives us a model to pray. This is not some magic prayer; it is a skeleton to help shape our prayers. It is how we should pray not what we should pray. We pray this in our services as a model for us to learn the method.This model is not some special incantation but something to give us hooks to hang our prayers on. It is not a Hail Mary to be repeated, or a set religious prayer that you have to said a certain time of the day. It is not a mantra to score points with God. Saying the same thing over and over again does not get more of God’s attention.
Our Father
Our Heavenly Father does not exasperate His children. Our Heavenly Father loves to give good gifts to His children, He forgives His children and makes sacrifices for them. He wants to hear from His children. And in this model prayer that is how we approach God. God who is the loving Father.
We start with giving Him honour reminding ourselves who we are praying to. We are approaching or Father King who has a plan for His kingdom, and we are asking that His will be done and not ours. We then ask this great Father for our needs. For three mains things. For daily food and forgiveness and for strength in temptation. When we pray this, it is expressing our dependence on God in every area of our life[10].
It may be clear that we need food to survive, but it is also vital that we are forgiven and that we do not give into temptation.
Temptation and forgiveness
We are to ask God not to lead us into temptation. Two chapters earlier in Matthew 4:1 we read that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. Now, we are to ask God not to be brought in to that type of situation - where we will be exposed to be tempted by the Devil[11]. Jesus our perfect substitute withstood the temptations of the Devil, we are not Jesus. We need some perspective about ourselves and our strength when being tempted. When we pray, we are to be humble; conscious of our weakness and so we ask God for protection[12]. We are to pray for protection from temptation and also for protection in temptation[13].And the good news is that if we do fail in temptations, we can ask for forgiveness. Our heavenly Father will forgive His children when they disobey. We are forgiven children by a forgiving Father. Forgiveness is a part of our life. This is why from verse 14 is says
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 5:14-15)Jesus was teaching that if one is so hypocritical as to seek forgiveness from God and then refuses to express that same forgiveness to others, God will refuse to forgive him. In the same way they we love because we were first shown love, we forgive because we were first shown forgiveness from our sins. Now we are free to forgive others. Personal forgiveness is not a good work that somehow earns divine forgiveness. However, the willingness to forgive others is a hallmark of the true disciple of Jesus[14].
Fasting
We don’t seem to talk about this practice anymore, but like giving and praying, Jesus just assumes his people will. He starts this like the others “when you fast”, not if you fast, but when you do. It is assumed that Christians will give to the poor. It is assumed that Christians will pray.
So maybe here is the check you may need. What path are you on? Are you following Jesus’ wisdom? Are you building your life on His word? Are you giving? Do you give regularly and also give one-off spontaneous gifts? Are you praying? Do set a regular time each day to pray? But here is the rub I found. Are you fasting? True disciples, according to Jesus give, pray and fast. Acts (13:2–3) shows that the early church fasted and prayed when faced with important decisions[15]
I have never fasted. I haven’t even done the 40 hour famine. I have never given up social media for a time, never done lent and I haven’t given up a meal to improve my relationship with my heavenly Father. Some people say we just don’t do this practice in our tradition; or that the general point in all this is no to twist any religious practice, like even the sermon, for personal glory and praise. Maybe that is true, but Jesus does say “when you fast”, not “if you fast”.
Fasting doesn’t necessarily have to involve food. Of cause, if you have health reasons as to why you shouldn’t please don’t go out of your way to harm yourself. Fasting could be forsaking anything that is good or pleasurable for the sake of a special spiritual purpose.
There are dangers to following regulations of man. Jews back then had strict days they were meant to fast, and some made a show of it – to let others know how holy they were. Jesus is warning against those who made much of this practice. We are free in Christ. I am not going to lay down some rule, now that I have been convicted of not fasting, that you have to now do it every Wednesday. But I do have to think why I don’t fast. Do I like gifts of this world more than the Giver? When push comes to shove, do I have a hunger for God over the pleasures of this world? Do I think I would not be happy if I gave something up to spend more time with my Father?
In our passage, Jesus tells us how we are to go about this practice.
When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:16-18)This is the same as the other two. Do not draw attention to the fact that you are fasting. Instead, you are to dress up with the intent to show that you are not fasting.
This does mean that if people in this church do fast, you wouldn’t be able to tell[16]. If it is done right, I wouldn’t be able to tell if someone forgoes their food during their lunch at work to instead pray for their colleges around them. Jesus says to not make it obvious that you are fasting, only your Father who is unseen, who sees in secret will know and reward you.
I have asked a few people at this church if they have fasted. Most have said “yes”. One guy said it is hard at first but at the end of it, God seems closer and it is easier to pray. Another said it does help sharpen the mind to focus on God. Are they right? I don’t know, but I have been convicted with this passage that I should fast. I think when next faced with a big decision I will not only pray about it, but also fast.
Jesus did say:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
God sees everything and Rewards
So, we have seen that the main driving idea that Jesus lays out for us in our religious practice is that God sees everything and will reward us accordingly.I don’t know what you think about the idea of God seeing everything. Llyod-Jones says “This is the fundamental thing, the most serious thing of all, that we are always in the presence of God. He sees everything and knows everything, and we can never escape from His sight”[17].
Knowing who God is and that He sees everything will affect how we live our life. It will affect what path we take in life. God is not some celestial policeman ‘snooping’ in order to catch us out. He is our loving heavenly Father, who is ever looking for opportunities to reward His children[18].
Since God is watching the real question is: which audience matters to you? The earthly or heavenly, others or God? [19] Which path do you to choose?
God is watching and will reward our actions. There is coming a day when we will be judged for what do we do in the body (2 Cor 5:10). Our sins are not forgiven because of our good deeds. Our forgiveness is only found in Christ. But good works do result in greater rewards for those who follow Jesus[20].
In the next section that we will look at next week, Jesus will go into a little more detail about rewards, how we should be seeking rewards that do not perish, for rewards that never end.
So which path do you to choose? The hypocrite or the hidden? Are you after praise from your followers, your friends or your Father?
The Christian way is secret, and the only reward we want is the blessing of God, our heavenly Father who sees[21].
The reward of praise from others does not last. It is only temporary. One day, when our God returns may we be seeking only His praise and for Him to say to us “Well done, good and faithful servant”.
[1] G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
[2] I got this idea from Andrew Errington during his Preaching the Proverbs on the 1st August 2019
[3] Charles Quarles (2011) Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church
[4] Charles Quarles (2011) Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church
[5] I falsely attributed this quote to Martyn Lloyd Jones in the talk. It actually came from John Stott (1988) The Message of the Sermon the Mount (The Bible Speaks Today)
[6] Charles Quarles (2011) Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church
[7] John Stott (1988) The Message of the Sermon the Mount (The Bible Speaks Today)
[8] D. Martyn Lloyd Jones (1959-60) Studies in the Sermon on the Mount Volume Two
[9] Charles Quarles (2011) Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church
[10] Charles Quarles (2011) Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church
[11] Charles Quarles (2011) Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church
[12] Charles Quarles (2011) Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church
[13] Charles Quarles (2011) Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church
[14] Charles Quarles (2011) Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church
[15] Charles Quarles (2011) Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church
[16] Mike Raiter (2000) The Secret Believer (Matthew 6:1-18)
[17] D. Martyn Lloyd Jones (1959-60) Studies in the Sermon on the Mount Volume Two
[18] John Stott (1988) The Message of the Sermon the Mount (The Bible Speaks Today)
[19] John Stott (1988) The Message of the Sermon the Mount (The Bible Speaks Today)
[20] Charles Quarles (2011) Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church
[21] John Stott (1988) The Message of the Sermon the Mount (The Bible Speaks Today)
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