Intro
Continuing on in our series on the Sermon on the Mount, we now get to Matthew chapter 6. Here I’m going to tackle the entire chapter. And if there’s a main theme to be had, it’s that our humility before God is honored. The first three sections hammer this point home with the next one issuing a warning about greed – which is a form of pride (“I deserve to have more”) – and the last one confronting the type of worry that comes from thinking you don’t have enough. Even thought these last two sections don’t obviously praise humility, the theme is still present. I will explain that in more detail when I get there. But for now, we’re starting at the beginning.
Giving to the Needy
“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. 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 others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But 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 6:1-4 (NIV)
Jesus starts out by warning His listeners against doing good things (“practicing righteousness”) for the purpose of being seen by others. Unfortunately, many of the religious leaders did just this. They wanted everyone to see what good things they were doing and how well they obeyed the law. The religious leaders loved the attention and respect of the people and the more those people saw their good deeds, the more attention and respect they would get.
And in this first of three works that Jesus points out, He calls out giving to the needy. The religious leaders gave willingly to those in need so that others would see them, praise them, and honor them. However, as Jesus points out, this is their only reward. They receive no honor from God because these deeds were performed with the wrong heart. Conversely, Jesus tells us to give in secret. We should strive to not make a point of letting others know that we are giving – and especially not how much we give. And through giving in this way, our Father rewards us and our humility is honored by Him.
Now there are some people who will know how much you give. It’s impossible to conceal it from the person you give to. And Church treasurers will always be aware of how much people are giving so they can handle the finances appropriately and send out giving statements. Similar with giving to other non-profit organizations. However, the important thing is that you are not talking about your giving to other people who have no business knowing. Your friends don’t need to know that you give $50 dollars a month to this missionary and another $100 to that organization, etc.
Prayer
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But 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. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
“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 6:5-15 (NIV)
The second of the three that Jesus calls out is Prayer. Much like giving, religious leaders loved to pray in loud voices in public using flowery words in order to get the praise of man. Jesus rebukes such practices and says that – like with the giving – those who pray in this manner receives no reward from God. Jesus tells us that the preferred type of prayer is one that is humble and honoring to God. He also points out that God doesn’t care about flowery words, He cares about the heart. And in our prayerful humility, we are honored by Him.
This passage contains the most talked about and dissected prayer in the Bible. Known as the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus gives us a template to use when we pray. Jesus doesn’t say that we need to pray these exact words (or even that this template needs to be followed 100% of the time), He says this is “how” we should be praying. That is an important distinction. By saying “how”, Jesus is saying “Here’s the guideline for some great prayer content. Now make it your own.” God loves to hear our words. Not just someone else’s – even if those words are His Son’s. He made us unique and we all have unique styles to our prayers. So we should use them.
A Practical Breakdown
Here’s some key points in the Lord’s Prayer that would be good to remember and incorporate in our prayer life.
- Our Father in heaven. Acknowledge God is our Father. As Father, this means God is close to use. He’s not a distant, creator God who doesn’t care.
- Hallowed be your name. Praise and worship Him.
- Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. We should pray for God’s will to be accomplished on this earth – and in our own lives.
- Give us today our daily bread. Pray for our needs no matter how small. Include physical, emotional/mental, relational, and spiritual needs.
- And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Ask God to point out any unconfessed sins and ask for forgiveness. And thank Him for forgiving you of all your sins. It’s also good to ask for help in forgiving people. Forgiveness is hard. And if you’re struggling, ask God for help. And tell God you choose to forgive that person. Keep saying that every day. At first you may not feel like you’ve forgiven them, but in time God will change your heart and attitude to match that prayer.
- And lead us not into temptation. First, I wish to point out is that God never tempts us (James 1:13-14). We become our own worst enemies and Jesus is trying to teach us to pray against that. We should pray not only for strength to overcome temptations, but also a transformation so that those things that tempt us, would cease to tempt us. Also, we should pray that we don’t unintentionally tempt others.
- But deliver us from the evil one. Lastly, Jesus tells us we should pray for deliverance from the very real enemy that seeks to devour us.
Forgiveness
This section contains a statement from Jesus that confuses many people. He states that “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.” (vs 14-15). This sounds like there are times when God will withhold forgiveness from people, even when they seek His forgiveness and have faith in Jesus’ sacrifice. But this isn’t the case at all.
Unforgiveness Means Condemnation
There are two main interpretations. The easier of the two to describe is that unforgiveness is the mark of an unbeliever. Or to put it another way, if you refuse to forgive someone, that means that you yourself have not truly received God’s forgiveness and are still in your sins and on your way to Hell – despite whatever prayer you may have prayed.
Personally, I don’t agree with this view mostly because believers can experience great heartache caused by another person long after they’ve become a believer and they still find it difficult to forgive.
Daily Washings
In the second view, Jesus is not referring to that initial reconciliation between a person and God that occurs, i.e., the moment of belief where you receive God’s forgiveness and Holy Spirit comes to indwell in you. Bur rather, Jesus refers to more that “daily washing” of our sins. This coincides nicely with Jesus’ washing of the feet where he tells Peter “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” (John 13:10). Here Jesus makes a comparison to an initial cleansing and then small follow-ups as required.
I take a shower on a daily basis, but if I get my hands dirty, I only need to wash my hands. Likewise, living in this sinful world, we are bound to mess up and need to go to God and confess such sins. This is imperative to maintain a close relationship with God. And Jesus is pointing out that if we don’t forgive others, our relationships suffer. And with that, it’s also hypocritical of us to withhold forgiveness from others and expect God to forgive us.
This sounds much more plausible to me as I feel it better fits the overall message that Jesus preached and of the New Testament in general.
So let us strive to to be honored by God in our humility by forgiving others.
Fasting
“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 (NIV)
In the last of the three works, Jesus touches on fasting. Once again He contrasts what the religious leaders do – “disfigure their faces” – to show people how much they are suffering with what Jesus wants us to do – “put oil on your head and wash your face”. Once again, the point here is that by making a show, the reward is simply man’s praise – nothing from God. On the other hand, by not displaying such things or talking about such things, we demonstrate godly humility and that is honored by God.
And we should always strive for anything that honors God. Not just because God honors (rewards) those who honor Him, but simply because He is truly worthy of that honor. The fact that He honors is in return is a bonus.
Treasures in Heaven
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Matthew 6:19-24 (NIV)
Coming on the heels of being humble and how God rewards the humble, Jesus jumps into another very famous passage. He starts out here warning against storing treasures up on earth and encourage us to store treasures in Heaven. And if you’re curious as to how to do that, reference the three preceding sections. As I mentioned, God’s reward doesn’t always come on this side of Heaven. We will have to wait until we get there before we receive our full reward. So, a few ways of storing up treasures in Heaven is by giving, praying, and fasting in a God-honoring, humble way. Anything we do in obedience to God counts as treasures in Heaven.
I’m going to jump down to serving two masters. It more clearly fits in with the treasure theme. I don’t think I have to say much about it. It’s clear that Jesus is warning about pursuing money and things of this world. His warning is pretty strong. Pursuing both God and things of this world is not possible without being devoted to one over the other. Take your pick, you can’t have both.
Going back to the middle piece, it sounds like Jesus is suddenly getting changing topics before going back to His original topic. However, that’s not the case at all. The phrase “healthy eyes” in the Greek implies a generous heart and “unhealthy eyes” implies the opposite. This fits with everything Jesus is talking about here! If we are generous people, we will be filled with light and be a light to others. If we refuse to be generous, then the opposite is true.
Clearly, generosity is a big deal to God. And generosity is a huge indicator of humility. And as I’ve been preaching this whole time, humility is honored by God.
Do Not Worry
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)
The last section in Matthew 6 handles worry and anxiousness. The first thing to clarify before moving on is that Jesus is not talking about chronic anxiety. I know that people who suffer from that don’t always find comfort in these verses. If that’s you, I encourage you to go to God in prayer, and also seek counseling.
For the rest of us, what is Jesus talking about? I see two clues about the type of worry Jesus talks about here. The first is the fact that He brings it up after comparing hypocritical vs righteous deeds. The second clue is in verse 32 where He says “pagans run after all these things”. Based on that, I believe what Jesus refers to here is the type of worry and anxiousness people get from believing that they never have enough. And they want more, they “run after” food and clothes and things of this world. They constantly ensure that their pantry’s and closets are full – or overflowing so now their complaining about not having enough space. And Jesus is saying “don’t worry about all that, just seek God and you’ll have what you need”.
To be clear, Jesus is not telling us to not go out and buy food when we need it or buy clothes when we need it. As with the rest of chapter 6, He’s focusing on the excessiveness that ensnares people. And at the end, Jesus warns about worrying about tomorrow. Ever look at this world and worry about what the future will hold for future generations? Yeah, me too. But Jesus is saying don’t do that. What’s the point of worrying about something that we can’t predict?
And here we see that our reliance on God is a form of humility that is honored by Him.
Wrapping Up
God wants us to be humble. When we display humility, it will be honored. In some way, whether in this life or when we arrive in Heaven. And that’s an important note. We may not see the Lord honor our humility while we’re still on this earth. We might not see the rewards until we arrive in Heaven (I guarantee we won’t see all the rewards until we get to Heaven, Matthew 25:31-40). And the question is: can you live with that? If not, you might struggle with false humility. Pride wrapped in humility. The enemy loves that. After all, he masquerades as an angel of light. Lies wrapped in a nugget of truth is one of his favorite weapons. So let us remember the importance of remaining humble before God. And let us allow Him to decided if our humility will be honored in this life or the next.
Outro
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