Matthew 6:1-18. Genuine Faith
Religious hypocrisy puts so many off the church even though we are all hypocrites to some extent. Here Jesus warns us to be on our guard and to keep thinking who we are trying to impress.
Who is my audience?
Jesus begins this section of the sermon with words of warning:
“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
The motive of our actions is all important in God’s eyes and only he and we know what our motivation is. Are we doing this with my eyes on the Lord or on others. He selects three examples that have always commonly been marks of religious life.
v. 2-4 Giving
v. 5-15 Prayer
v. 16-18. Fasting
It is so easy to behave appropriately in order to impress others with my devotion.
Giving
Jesus assumes his people will not be skin-flints or misers, stingy or parsimonious people who hoard money. Again what matters is our motivation in giving.
“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 honoured 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 6:2-4
There were special days in Jerusalem committed to giving and this was a feature of the Feast of Trumpets or Yom Teruah. This day, the beginning of the Jewish civil New Year, was on the first day of the seventh month, is literally described as a ‘memorial of blowing of trumpets’ (Leviticus 23:24). In the Temple in Jerusalem, this was a day of intense sound, with both the shofar and trumpets being blown from morning to evening.The blasts served to remind the people of God's covenant, call them to repentance, and signal the start of the new year. A stone has been found at the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, bearing the inscription ‘To the place of trumpeting’ and this is probably the spot where priests stood to blow the shofar to announce the start of the Sabbath and festival days. Two types of trumpets were used, the silver trumpets and the shofar, a rams horn.
It is so easy for giving to be used for ostentation. When visiting a large ‘prosperity gospel’ church in Ethiopia the time of the collection was a major feature. There was a large rug laid out at the front on which people could throw their offerings. The opportunity for ostentation was enormous. Everyone could see who was donating and what they were giving. Jesus is warning us not to make our giving self-centred, for our glory and reputation. Our giving should be private and is meant to reflect our gratefulness to God whose service we are committed to.
It is possible for preachers and leaders of services to be giving their time and energy to glorify themselves. One writer noted:
“The sonorous tone, the appropriate pause, the well pitched, further, the right versus quoted. All these can become tools to win the approval of others or even compete with other members of the synagogue for the respect and admiration and the approval of men.”
Our motivation must be to please our heavenly Father who sees both what we do and why we do it. Note that those who are living for the glory of God will be rewarded by God.
Prayer
Jesus assumes that his people will be in regular communication with him. He doesn’t say, ‘If you pray’ but says ‘when you pray”.
“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.” Matthew 6:5
In synagogues or church meetings it is all too easy for the leader to try to impress others by their oratory and language. It is noticeable in prayer groups that some people are always the first to pray and tend to pray long prayers. We do need good speakers in churches, we need people to start the praying but what God is asking us to consider is our motivation. Am I using the gift he has given me for my glory or for him? Although corporate prayer is important private prayer is even more important. It reflects how important our relationship with god really is.
“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.” Matthew 6:6
Notice how Jesus keeps emphasising that our heavenly Father knows all that we do and all that we think!
The English word ‘theatre’ is derived from the Ancient Greek word ‘theatron’ (θέατρον) which means ‘a place for viewing’. In Ancient Greece, the ‘theatron’ referred specifically to the seating section of an open-air theatre, where the audience sat to watch (or "see") performances, rather than the stage itself. The aim of an actor is to be centre stage, to be the focus of attention.
The word hypocrite also originates from the Ancient Greek. Their word ‘hypokritēs’ (ὑποκριτής), literally meant ‘an actor’ or ‘stage player’, ‘Hypo-‘ meaning ‘under’ or ‘beneath’ and ‘Krinein’ means ‘to decide’, or ‘to judge’. Combined, it referred to an ‘interpreter from underneath’. In ancient Greek theatre, actors wore large, stylised masks that depicted the character they were playing and they literally ‘interpreted’ their characters from underneath them.
Jesus is saying,
“Make sure that your Christianity is not just an act, a performance, laid on to impress others.”
We must all be clear who we are really serving.
Fasting
Fasting can be a means of showing others how ‘spiritual’ we are. It is usually associated with mourning, mourning over our own sin and imperfections and is a sign to God to show our dependance on him. There are many such self-disciplines in the Christian life such as setting aside time to pray and meditate on the Bible each day and joining up with other Christians regularly, whether you are in the mood or not.
All these religious activities can look as if they are directed to God but can be, to a large extent done to glorify myself.
Polphail was a village located on the west coast of the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, on the shores of Loch Fyne. It could be seen from the road on the other side of the loch. It was a majestic Scottish village. It had a pub, small church and many cottages. However if you entered the village there was nothing there, no people, just graffiti. The village was built between 1975 and 1977, and was designed to accommodate up to 500 workers for a nearby government-funded oil platform construction yard during the 1970s North Sea oil boom. However, due to the move away from concrete oil platforms towards steel, the nearby yard never produced a single platform, and the village was never inhabited. The village sat empty for nearly 40 years, becoming a well-known "ghost village" used by street artists and artists. Polphail was demolished by December 2016 to make way for a new development. In the same way it is all too easy for church people to appear to be godly but for this to be an empty shell. The test is what are we like when we are in secret, what do we think about. The Lord knows all this and does know those who are his.
It is all too easy to have a form of religion, looks can be so impressive, but for this to be a facade. There is no real relationship with the Lord. What a tragedy it is to hear of well-known Christian leaders in all denominations whose disgusting private lives have later come to light. They have had their reward, there will not be an eternal glory. Didn’t Jesus say:
“What comes out of a person is what defiles them.For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7:20-23
Old Testament teaching about hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is repeatedly spoken against by the Old Testament prophets. These are some examples::
“These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honour Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me”. Isaiah 29:13
“Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations - I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! “ Isaiah 1:13-15
Jeremiah 7:4-10 warns against God’s people relying on the false security of having the "Temple of the LORD" while stealing, murdering, and committing adultery.
Isaiah 58:2-7 describes people who appear to seek God daily and delight in His ways, yet continue to oppress workers and fight while fasting.
Amos 5:21-24 God expresses hatred for religious feasts and songs, demanding that "justice roll down like waters" instead.
Micah 6:6-8 contrasts the desire for lavish sacrifices with what God truly requires: "to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God".
Deuteronomy 17:1 indicates that offering blemished sacrifices is an abomination, highlighting the hypocrisy of offering God less than one's best.
New Testament teaching about hypocrisy
This theme continues throughout the New Testament.
Matthew 23:13-36 HereJesus explicitly condemns the Pharisees and teachers of the law, calling them "hypocrites" and "blind guides" who focus on appearances, neglect justice and mercy, and shut the kingdom of heaven to others.
Matthew 7:1-5, The Log and the Speck passage warns against judgmentalism, telling people to remove the ‘log’, the major fault, from their own eye before addressing the ‘speck’, the minor fault, in someone else's.
Mark 7:6-8. Quoting Isaiah, Jesus notes that hypocrites honour God with their lips, but their hearts are far from him, preferring human traditions over God's commands.
Luke 12:1. Jesus warns his disciples that the hypocrisy of the Pharisees is like ‘leaven,’ which spreads and corrupts.
Romans 2:1-3, 21-24. Paul highlights that those who judge others for doing wrong but commit the same sins are hypocrites who come under God’s condemnation.
1 Peter 2:1 Peter here instructs believers to rid themselves of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
The Bible scholar, Don Carson, told of an able young man from a Christian home who, at school, was excellent at sports and was made Head Boy. He gained a place at Harvard University to study law. There he represented the University in two sports and was made President of the Christian Union. After graduating he became a lawyer in a major city, got married and had a family. Soon he became an elder of his church. He was a very gifted speaker. However he then had a sexual affair and dropped out of the church. His minister, when discussing the issue with don Carson said,
“I wonder if he ever was really a Christian. Everything he did in the christian life was centred on him. He relished the popularity his gifts gave him. His Christian life really revolved around what satisfied him.”
Shock
This teaching was so radical. In his day the Scribes and Pharisees were considered to be the most upright members of society, they were the religious aristocracy. When it was time for the synagogue, they were there. They were elected to senior positions. They gave meticulously to the poor. Their companies were the first to donate to charitable causes. Their personal study of the Law and the prophets was exemplary. They were the teachers of the Scriptures. Yet Jesus says that their behaviour was a phoney righteousness in God’s eyes.
Jesus use of the word ‘trumpet’ is a dramatic way of showing what was wrong. How we like to show people that we are heavily engaged in good work. We use God’s name, yet too often ‘we use God’s name in vain’, much is really vanity.
I suspect this is a particular problem for those of us who want to be leaders. We desperately need more leaders of God’s people yet with this ambition can come a great temptation.
In Shakespeare's play ‘Richard II’, Henry Bolingbroke knelt before the King but in his heart he was not really his servant. He also was a hypocrite with hidden ambition that led ultimately to treacherous actions against King Richard II. Throughout the first half of the play, Bolingbroke speaks to Richard with outward deference, calling him ‘my dread sovereign’ or ‘my gracious lord’. However, this ‘service’ is shown to be a mask. After Richard unjustly banishes Bolingbroke and seizes his inheritance, Bolingbroke returns to England not just as a wronged subject, but with the intent to take the throne, effectively making his earlier loyalty a sham. When they finally meet at Flint Castle Bolingbroke kneels and claims he has come only for his rights, saying "My gracious lord, I come but for mine own". Yet, this is the very moment he is actively deposing Richard. His "service" was a political performance. Richard himself recognizes this, noting that Bolingbroke, the "horse" he used to feed, was actually his ruin. Bolingbroke's actions demonstrate that he was never truly a loyal subject in his heart, but a pragmatic leader waiting to take power. Bolingbroke's swift move to usurp the crown confirms that his allegiance was temporary and conditional, rather than the deep-seated loyalty of a true servant.
In December 1998, while their husbands President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Tony Blair held meetings, their wives Hillary Clinton and Cherie Blair, visited the newly reconstructed Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London to watch a performance of Henry V. The two women sat in a prominent box just at the side of the stage. In Shakespeares day fops and showoffs would preen themselves there. It specially designed for people who want to be seen rather than to see. The attention of the audience and the gathered press was on the two ladies.The visit was a high-profile public appearance for the two ‘first ladies’.
Jesus is saying ‘Watch out’, leadership roles can go to your head. Unfortunately many have succumbed to worldly temptations and caused immense harm to Christ’s reputation. Yet there have been many godly people who have, to all we can see, lived lives centred on pleasing the Lord Jesus. Great will be their reward.
We will look at the Lord’s prayer later but note how it focusses on what it means to be a Christian. The prayer starts with ‘Our Father’. He is at centre stage, not me. It continues, ‘You Kingdom come’, it is his Kingdom that matters, not mine.
The essence of the Kingdom of God is the relationship we each have with our heavenly Father because we have a relationship with God’s only Son. Skin deep morality cannot earn us salvation, religious activities cannot earn us salvation. Redemption is only given to those who genuinely live with Jesus as their Lord. We will all fail but then we need to return to him on bended knee as soon as possible. There is no salvation outside of the Lord Jesus.
BVP
