01.23.2010 Sermon on the Mount 4 - MOTIVATION!

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Lord, death couldn’t hold You down. Help us to live in a way that is pleasing to You – as citizens of this kingdom. For your glory we pray – Amen.
The Sermon on the Mount is progressive. It starts with the Beatitudes, focusing on the heart and the inner life. Then it moves to our deeds. Our activity – our deeds of righteousness. Early on, it focuses on what a person who follows Jesus should look like on the inside – and now, what he should look like on the outside.
Matt. 6:1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
He starts with a caution – how NOT to do the activities of the Christian life. He makes it simple – this is what you DON’T do! Living the Christian life is not to win the approval and praise of others.
This comes on the heels of Matt. 5: 44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you 45 in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven;
When we love our enemies – our love needs to be deeper than ever imagined – this was brand new – a new teaching – and He is telling them how deep their love must go – how your life must change if you are to be a follower of Christ.
The greater the demand for holiness – the greater the opportunity for hypocrisy.
The temptation to seek the praise of people is much greater than we think.
It can devastate a life and can control WHY we do our Christianity. He is warning, right at the beginning, to not do that. This is especially great for anyone who is in leadership in a church. Whatever the situation – Sunday school teacher, pastor, worship leader – there is a temptation to want to be recognized – and Jesus is saying that this is destructive.
As a pastor, it is easy to want to be recognized. You spend your whole life in front of people – and it is something to deal with.
The Chapel has a group of interns who attend Trinity Divinity School – and they bring in different people – to talk to the interns about what ministry is about. They bring me in to talk about – what is it like to be a pastor at a small church. It is really – what you have is good – a giant megachurch - but this is what it is really like for most! And my job is to come in and to cut them down to size. Going into ministry – there is a temptation to be seen. When I go and talk to them, I talk to them about serving – that is what a pastor does – whatever is needed – whatever is necessary – that is what you do. It is not about being seen. Christian fruitfulness/usefulness is not about being seen. Leading a Bible study/smallgroup – it is about serving those whom God has placed in the church.
He goes on – looking at this on a practical level – Matt. 6: 6:1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
Matt. 5: 16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
This is not really a contradiction – it is about motivation – in 5:16 He is talking about persecution – the motivation to keep your deeds secret in 5:16 is fear – and Jesus says – in light of that – let your light shine so that they can see your good deeds. Don’t be afraid to let the world know who you are and what you believe. He is the reason you do the things you do.
The motivation to go public in 5:16 is to honor God.
In 6:1 – the motivation to go public is that you might seek personal praise and approval – it is really PRIDE. If you want others to look at you or recognize you – it is an issue of pride.
The motivation to be secret in 6:1 is to honor God. It all comes down to motivation – HONOR GOD! He deserves the glory for our lives – He is worthy of it.
In Chapter 6, Jesus gives 3 ways of practicing deeds of righteousness where you might be tempted to be seen. When you pray, when you give, when you fast. He is emphasizing this. A lot of the writings from Jesus’ day believe these were the chief acts of Jewish piety. The things that would be held up as the acts of righteousness to be done by a good Jewish person. It is easy to get noticed. To get people to look at you and think highly of you.
Think of giving – rock stars/millionaires/etc., give millions of dollars and you know about it! They may be doing it out of genuine, kind motives – and for others, it is a publicity stunt! There is a lot of recognition when celebrities give. And Jesus is saying these are religious activities that can be noticed.
6:2 "When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 "But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing 4 that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
The Synagogue served the function as a distribution point to the poor – and Jesus is saying – when you do this – don’t do it like the hypocrites – don’t announce it – don’t let everyone know what you are doing.
They have received their reward in full.
There is nothing else waiting for you in this life.
3 "But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing 4 that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
God wants to reward us – and the things we do to be noticed by others will not be rewarded by God. If our desire to be honored by people – Jesus uses the word HYPOCRITE – the word means – an actor on a Greek stage – what is an actor’s job? To perform in front of people. Jesus is saying – that is not the way to live your Christian life – you have an audience of one – and that is God. A lot of times we find ourselves performing for people. So – here is the question – why do we do it? Why do you do it? From a practical side – I think of a couple of things. We were created in the image of God – and we have a need for personal significance – we want our lives to count – and we gain our worth/value/significance in others’ approval. It is tied to what others think about us – so when we get recognized, we are lifted up and think we are significant. How we think others view us has to do with our feelings of worth and significance. McGee – Search for Significance – we are addicted to approval – in need of constant approval and we tend to use our religious activity to get that approval.
I was watching golf for a little bit yesterday – Ken Venturi was on – a great golfer in the 50s and 60s and he was telling about when he was a kid – he could never please his dad. He would do well in a tournament and the dad would only tell him what he could have done differently. This was 6 decades ago or more! He was a great pro and then started to have some problems with his hands – and the doctor warned him that he may lose his fingers and never play golf again. As he left the doctor’s – I told my dad – I might lose my fingers – and his dad said – it doesn’t matter – you were the best golfer that ever was – and you’ve already proven that!
We need to look at our lives and ask – Why? Why are we affected so much by someone’s disapproval? Whose approval do you need? In your life – discover what it is in your life that is causing this – because we are seeking the approval of someone and God wants us to seek His approval. Until you can face that 0- -you might not be able to ever get that person’s approval – but you need to convince yourself that there is only one approval you need – and that is God’s. You don’t need your boss’s or spouse’s approval – you need God’s approval.
Sometimes we do things to meet others’ expectations. Do you go to church because you are concerned what others think? I am amazed how often I run into people who haven’t been to church in a while. It is always a little bit awkward – I go up and say – hi – and invariably – We are coming back next week! But I don’t take attendance – but there is something in there that makes people say, I need to do this or what do people think?! And I am thinking – Are my sermons that bad that you don’t come?! We are trained to meet others’ expectations. We are pleasers. Understand – God accepts and approves of you – He did it all at the cross. And it is not because you are wonderful – You are wonderful because of what He did for you – it is not about how much you give for the needy – Your worth must come from the cross. If you are trying to gain it from work and your fellow employees – you will be disappointed. When you gain it from His love for you – THEN you are able to relate well to people – because you are interested in serving them. You have what you need from Christ and that is enough for you – that HAS to be enough for you to work properly in this world and His kingdom and community.
The next area is the area of prayer – we’ll skip the Lord’s prayer because we’ll do that in a couple weeks.
Matt. 6: 5 "And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
In our context, it is cool to be really spiritual. There is this spirituality that we want to demonstrate. It is a secret, private, discipline – not to be done publicly that others can see you. This prayer was done in a public setting – and there is a danger of doing our spiritual activity this way.
I have three ways to check yourself:
1) Do you dominate conversations? 1on1 or small group? If you do that, you may have an approval problem.
2) Do you brag, boast, or exaggerate a little much? You are probably looking for recognition.
3) When you have a position – do you draw attention to yourself? The way you stand, walk, act?
Matt 6: 16 "And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites [do,] for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 "But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face 18 so that you may not be seen fasting by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
Putting oil on the head might be a little odd – the idea is to not make it obvious that you are fasting.
Here we have the issue of radical, sacrificial spirituality. Sometimes this can be an addiction that gives us approval. Not always, because God calls us to this – because when there is a high call to holiness, there is that opportunity for hypocrisy.
Another thing we see – God is in secret. Unseen. He sees what is done in secret. We meet God in the private places of our heart and world. In our Christian life – to be spiritual people of the kingdom – we need to have a private life with God – we need to stick to it – hold to it – and discipline ourselves to do it! And it is the first thing that goes – those times we are with God and with God only. I challenge you – don’t let that aspect of your Christian life fade. It doesn’t’ need to be long amounts of time – but it must be consistent. Take breaks with God – let Him examine you and make sure you are following Him in each situation. Carry your Bible. Memorize verses. Take the opportunity at work to refocus on God.
So. In closing. We are to do these things – WHEN you pray – When you give – When you fast – this is not optional – the question is – what is the right motive, because we have to do it.
1) Gratitude – having an overwhelming sense of what God has done for you – that is why you do each of these things. That is why you serve/pray/give/fast.
2) Love – (these aren’t in an order). When Jesus went to Peter – Peter, do you love me? Your motivation to minister has to be – do you love ME? Do you love ME – not loving that other people think well of you.
3) The Joy we get from serving God. Nothing wrong with that. When you sacrifice – you know what it is like – there is this joy that God gives.
4) Reward – the eternal reward. That is okay too! He has given us that as a motivation –and it is an okay motivation as long as you have the others – gratitude, love, joy – It is a reward that comes after this life. The point of this is to teach us to be kingdom people – to live for another kingdom – another world – so to seek that reward in that kingdom is a good and biblical thing. That is where God wants us to live and our focus to be and the point of the sermon on the Mount.
Thy kingdom come – thy will be done – on earth as it is in heaven – that sums up the Sermon on the Mount. Let’s pray.



7 "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8 "Therefore do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him.