Welcome, and thank you for having me tonight. This term, word on the street is that you are going through the Gospel of Matthew. This is a great book to start the year on, as it is all about Jesus.
How are we to know how we are to act towards God and others? Are we to do good in public, or are we to do good things in secret?
It sounds contradictory, but really, this problem, and pretty much most so-called contradictions of the Bible, can simply be overcome if we pay closer attention to the text.
So today we are going to zoom in on our two passages, and then we will zoom out again.
Salt and Light
So Jesus says, don’t be useless. Don’t be unsalty salt. Be salt, let your good actions for God be seen. Which is the same point about being light.
Cities at night can not be hidden because of all the light they give off. They can be seen from space. When you turn on a lamp, you don’t immediately cover it with a bowl or an umbrella. That is not the point of lighting a room. Light is meant to shine. It is to illuminate, it is to push back the darkness and be helpful. You are to do that too. But notice in verse 16, which tonight is key for us
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 NIV)
Jesus then goes on to talk about three good things to do: giving, praying and fasting; but He says don’t let others know about it. For each of these, Jesus says what not to do and then what to do.
When you give to the poor, don’t let one hand know what the other is doing, let alone others to know that you are giving to the poor. Don’t boast about how good you are at giving away money. Instead, know that God sees what is done in secret and He will reward you.
On prayer, Jesus says don’t pray long, elaborate public prayers; instead, pray inside with simple words, and He gives us a model to pray.
And lastly, Jesus talks about fasting. He said if you do give up food for religious reasons, don’t let anyone know, don’t look sad or hungry. Instea,d know that God sees what you do in secret and He will reward you.
There is much that could be said about giving, praying and fasting. What if I don’t have an income, how can I give? What about public prayers at youth or church, are they ok? If you have a medical condition, should you fast? I would like to deal with that, but for the sake of time, we are going to zoom back out a little now and see how we reconcile these two chapters.
In Chapter 6 we are not to do good deeds so others will think we are good.
Both these instructions are saying the same thing about good deeds. We don’t do them so that others think you are great; we do them so people think God is great.
We are to shine for others, so through us they can know God. And we are to seek God privately, just for Him to see, so we can be humble and dependent on Him.
So how does this actually play out? What are we to do in public and what are we to do in private? Here, some actions might look the same, but it is what is going on in our hearts that God is interested in. What are our motivations?
At school, you should want to work hard, even when no one is paying attention. You might be smart and end up getting good grades, and people might know it; but don’t let your motivation for doing well to be seen as "the smart one". Instead, work hard, as in doing your school work, you are serving God.
You might be good at sports. But in your playing, don’t try to win so that you get the attention and everyone thinks you are the hero. Instead, try your best, but be humble about the outcome and give glory to God. Remember that God has made you with the strength that you have, and the chance you have to do sports.
In work and sport, know that you are not self-made, but God-made. He gave you a certain personality, and gifts and skills and the opportunities for you to use. So thank Him for your ability to learn, or for the strength He has given you.
At school, you might want everyone to know that you are "the helpful student". You might help pack up the room after class. That is good, but do not do it for your own reputation to be seen as the good one; do it because you follow the servant king. Do the thing, and don’t get upset if no one notices.
You can pray privately for school friends, or even teachers, if they are having a bad day. You can pray for yourself for the courage to do the right thing, to not conform to the rest of the crowd, but to follow God. You could pray for ways to show God’s love to others in practical tangable ways.
Jesus’ teaching is really digging into your motivation. Why do you do the things that you do? Is it for yourself, to be noticed, or is it so people will praise God?
We need to reorder our sense of self, to not be the Sun in the middle of the solar system, but to become a planet that goes around God’s Son, Jesus. We need a change of heart to do this. To move the gravity away from self and put the weight of our goals around God.
Imagine if you radically changed your life, you stopped talking about yourself, you started doing chores around the house in secret, writing anonymous notes encouraging your friends and family to keep the faith. Imagine if you changed so much that someone said, “What has come over you?” and you could say that you are basing your life on Jesus. That you are simply following His ways, so that when people see your good deeds, others can glorify God. That you know your heavenly Father sees what you do in secret, even if no one else does. Here you are seen, but point to God.
Don’t try to be a spotlight for your own glory, but do shine and reflect your life to God. Be like a mirror for God, show the world the beauty not of yourself but of God. Do good deeds to others, not so people will praise you, but know that God will be pleased with you, and that is worth it, for He will reward you in the end.
We are going to break into smaller groups and talk about how this passage might change your motivation, but first, we will pray:
Lord, help our motivations to do things to give you glory and not ourselves. Amen
Questions:
Explain how Jesus’ teaching about doing good deeds as salt and light is not a contradiction to His instruction to do other good deeds in secret.
Tell a story from when someone did something for you with an ulterior motive? How did it feel when you realised they wanted something in return? What would God think if we did good things with an ulterior motive for others?
What might you do (or change) so that your public and private deeds please God rather than people? In what areas of life might you need to check your motivations for doing things?
Notice the reason, motivation or end goal of doing good deeds. They are not so that people think you are good, but so that people can think God is good. Our deeds that we do should point not to ourselves, but to God.
So in chapter 5, Jesus is saying do good things, so people can praise God. Hold on to that idea.
Giving, Praying and Fasting
In our next section, Jesus starts off by saying
“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 NIV)
When you give to the poor, don’t let one hand know what the other is doing, let alone others to know that you are giving to the poor. Don’t boast about how good you are at giving away money. Instead, know that God sees what is done in secret and He will reward you.
On prayer, Jesus says don’t pray long, elaborate public prayers; instead, pray inside with simple words, and He gives us a model to pray.
And lastly, Jesus talks about fasting. He said if you do give up food for religious reasons, don’t let anyone know, don’t look sad or hungry. Instea,d know that God sees what you do in secret and He will reward you.
There is much that could be said about giving, praying and fasting. What if I don’t have an income, how can I give? What about public prayers at youth or church, are they ok? If you have a medical condition, should you fast? I would like to deal with that, but for the sake of time, we are going to zoom back out a little now and see how we reconcile these two chapters.
Together
In Chapter 5 we are to do good deeds so others will see and glorify God.In Chapter 6 we are not to do good deeds so others will think we are good.
Both these instructions are saying the same thing about good deeds. We don’t do them so that others think you are great; we do them so people think God is great.
We are to shine for others, so through us they can know God. And we are to seek God privately, just for Him to see, so we can be humble and dependent on Him.
At school, you should want to work hard, even when no one is paying attention. You might be smart and end up getting good grades, and people might know it; but don’t let your motivation for doing well to be seen as "the smart one". Instead, work hard, as in doing your school work, you are serving God.
You might be good at sports. But in your playing, don’t try to win so that you get the attention and everyone thinks you are the hero. Instead, try your best, but be humble about the outcome and give glory to God. Remember that God has made you with the strength that you have, and the chance you have to do sports.
In work and sport, know that you are not self-made, but God-made. He gave you a certain personality, and gifts and skills and the opportunities for you to use. So thank Him for your ability to learn, or for the strength He has given you.
At school, you might want everyone to know that you are "the helpful student". You might help pack up the room after class. That is good, but do not do it for your own reputation to be seen as the good one; do it because you follow the servant king. Do the thing, and don’t get upset if no one notices.
You can pray privately for school friends, or even teachers, if they are having a bad day. You can pray for yourself for the courage to do the right thing, to not conform to the rest of the crowd, but to follow God. You could pray for ways to show God’s love to others in practical tangable ways.
Jesus’ teaching is really digging into your motivation. Why do you do the things that you do? Is it for yourself, to be noticed, or is it so people will praise God?
We need to reorder our sense of self, to not be the Sun in the middle of the solar system, but to become a planet that goes around God’s Son, Jesus. We need a change of heart to do this. To move the gravity away from self and put the weight of our goals around God.
Imagine if you radically changed your life, you stopped talking about yourself, you started doing chores around the house in secret, writing anonymous notes encouraging your friends and family to keep the faith. Imagine if you changed so much that someone said, “What has come over you?” and you could say that you are basing your life on Jesus. That you are simply following His ways, so that when people see your good deeds, others can glorify God. That you know your heavenly Father sees what you do in secret, even if no one else does. Here you are seen, but point to God.
We are going to break into smaller groups and talk about how this passage might change your motivation, but first, we will pray:
Lord, help our motivations to do things to give you glory and not ourselves. Amen
Questions:
Explain how Jesus’ teaching about doing good deeds as salt and light is not a contradiction to His instruction to do other good deeds in secret.
Tell a story from when someone did something for you with an ulterior motive? How did it feel when you realised they wanted something in return? What would God think if we did good things with an ulterior motive for others?
What might you do (or change) so that your public and private deeds please God rather than people? In what areas of life might you need to check your motivations for doing things?
0 comments:
Post a Comment