Not Overlooked
THE KINGDOM COME • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Good morning!
If we haven’t met before...
Memorial Day weekend…thank you to those of you who have served or are currently serving…you’ve made sacrifices for the benefit of a greater cause of bringing peace and freedom to this world so thank you.
Family Sunday! The Rays are sick with COVID and we have been asking subs to fill in lately so out of service to them and service to you to keep the Rays home we are having the kiddos hang out which is awesome.
If you’re someone who’s interested in serving…email the Rays! Our family is growing.
Do you remember the Ice Bucket Challenge?
How many of you did the ice bucket challenge?
Don’t know about you but when I did there was a higher quantity of ice in it and that hurt.
The Ice Bucket Challenge was a viral sensation which was a fundraiser and awareness campaign for ALS - Lou Gehrig’s disease.
The premise was someone on social media would get dunked with ice water and then tag 3 people saying, “I challenge you!” And if those people didn’t do it in 24 hours they had to give money to help fight ALS.
So the challenge was you needed to post about ALS so you didn’t have to give to ALS.
It went crazy and so so many people did it. Including me!
Now, what you saw on social media was that I did the challenge. You saw me and others help raise awareness for a good cause.
What is overlooked is that I have no idea what ALS stands for…I don’t know a single person with ALS, nor at that time could I tell you a single thing about ALS, nor did I ever stop and pray for someone, nor did I give money to the cause which I promoted with my silly video.
What is seen my actions…is good, but what is overlooked, my heart…is not as noble.
Anybody?
There’s a term for this…virtue signaling...
Usually on social media, but not always, it’s when you do something, say something, post something, wear something, to signal that I’m a good person.
You change your profile pic in lieu of a situation, cause, or protest
You stop shopping at a store and tell people about it
You stop buying a product and let people know because of something that brand did
You put a flag on your home or a sign in your yard or a bumper sticker on your car
Christians are far from immune to this...
When we brag about the money we’ve raised for a cause, make statements about issues or positions, carry a certain translation of the Bible…the one I was thinking about this week is email signatures. As a pastor I see other pastors with Christian email signatures “Grace & Peace” “In Christ” “Blessings” and I think, “Well I need one of those too because I’m a pastor!”
How do I know who is really a good person and who is just faking it?
In the age of social media and in a world where we are so concerned with what others think about us and we work so hard to manage our perception…it’s so hard to know what is real and who can be trusted.
And this is not a new problem.
In our text today, Jesus confronts people who do good deeds solely to be noticed by others…to signal their virtue to receive praise, glory, honor, recognition, accolades, power, affirmation from others without any regard for God.
In Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus gives us his main point and then three illustrations to show us this:
Our Father does not overlook what others cannot see.
Our Father does not overlook what others cannot see.
How does this work and how do we live this out?
Pray
We’re in Matthew...
Matthew is all about Jesus the King and what it’s like to live with him in his good kingdom.
And we’re in Matthew 6 now which is in the Sermon on the Mount, which is Jesus’ famous TED talk on a hill where he tells his followers about what it means to live with him in his kingdom.
He has more and more followers now because he’s a pretty big deal. He’s been healing and teaching and performing miracles so folks from all around are coming to him. He’s becoming a well known teacher of his time.
But Jesus begins to distinguish himself from other teachers.
In the Sermon on the Mount we see that Jesus is not like other religious teachers.
In his talk, Jesus flips the world upside by saying those who are well off are not those we think. They’re poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle, the merciful…these people - and not the fit, the rich, the ones you give the most money - are well-off in life.
And Jesus says that to be a truly good person in God’s kingdom, it’s about more than just doing the right thing. It’s about being a right kind of person.
20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus is talking about a goodness that exceeds just right action but is about right character and a right heart because we’re the kind of people who live in the blessing and grace of God our Father.
And so in Matthew 5:21-48 he taught us about what it means to be completely whole or perfect as our heavenly Father. It’s about how we see people, how we treat women, how we talk, how we deal with being hurt, and how we love others.
Jesus is not saying actions don’t matter, but your heart - your intentions, motives, desires, purpose - is far far more valuable.
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.
Jesus begins with a warning...
Beware, pay attention, take heed, watch out...
Of practicing your righteousness - or virtue and goodness - before men to be noticed by them.
Beware of doing good before others to be praised, given approval, affirmed by others.
Jesus is not saying...
Never do anything good in front of others.
What does he say?
Beware of doing good in front of others for the purpose of others.
Why?
Otherwise, you will have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
Jesus in his talk about life with him in his kingdom...
Says what matters more than what you do is why you do it.
In the kingdom, doing the Ice Bucket Challenge is not good or bad, but what truly matters is why you do it.
If we do good only to signal our goodness to others and remind them we’re part of the team, then we have no reward from our Father in heaven.
Who is our Father?
Jesus is talking about God but with the term Our Father he used last week.
And this Father is perfect, or whole. As John said he is light and in him there is no darkness. So this Father rewards those who don’t just do good but who do good for good reasons. Namely, to be acknowledged by him.
But if he’s off in heaven somewhere, why does it matter what he thinks?
Jesus’ understanding of heaven was not the place we go when we die, but the very space around our bodies, the air or the atmosphere around us - the unseen realm in which our Father reigns. And it’s in this space where our Father is able to discern our hearts.
But this is Jesus’ main point: Our Father does not overlook what others cannot see.
I cannot see your intentions, but I notice your actions and I can give you a reward for the good you do.
I can give you a smile, I can give you money, I can let you into my inner circle of friends because of your intentions.
Our Father sees more.
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
How does this play out?
When you…do not do as the hypocrites…received reward in full…but when you…your Father will reward you.
When you…do not do as the hypocrites…received reward in full…but when you…your Father will reward you.
Jesus is going to give three illustrations about giving, prayer, and fasting, and in each show what the hypocrites do, how they truly receive a reward for their actions, but in comparison what his followers are to do and how they will receive a reward from their Father in heaven.
Who are these hypocrites Jesus is talking about?
What’s your definition of a hypocrite?
Essentially the term means an actor. It’s likely there were theaters near Nazareth where Jesus grew up and he would know about these actors who played a part. And Jesus is using this term to talk about people who claim to have goodness by showing their outward works, but inwardly lack any spiritual virtue.
Turn to Matthew 23...
Jesus is on his way to die because he’s the king we didn’t expect who came to be killed rather than to kill.
And he confronts the Pharisees, the Jewish influencers of the day, and says things like
1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples,
2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses;
3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.
4 “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.
5 “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.
6 “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues,
7 and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
28 “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
31 “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32 “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.
33 “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
So in our passage, Jesus has these people in mind...
And he says to live in the kingdom is to not just don’t do what they do, in fact, you are supposed to still give, pray, and fast, but to not be like them.
In the words of Dallas Willard are ego can be bloated but our soul can be shriveled.
In the words of Jesus - you can gain the whole world and forfeit your soul.
Because our Father does not overlook what others cannot see.
First illustration is...
2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
3 “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Anybody sound a trumpet the last time they tithed?
I didn’t know how to play the trumpet.
Sounds kind of silly. But apparently this is something people did for the purpose of being honored by others. Why would they do that? Isn’t it great when someone says, “Wow, you are so generous.”
And that feeling we get when someone praises us Jesus says can be the entirety of the reward.
How do we do this today?
It’s a lot more likely for someone to donate money to a cause if they get to put their name on it. If I get something in return rather than just privately giving to a person or cause. We don’t pass the plate at our church but maybe back in the day you had a thought of “I really hope that person notices me.”
Most of us give online so this really isn’t a problem, right?
But I was thinking this week, is my motivation to give to Gateway Chapel because I care about the work of God in and through this family, or is it because I’m afraid that if someone saw how much I gave they would judge me because I’m the pastor?
Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing...
Again, it’s not that we are never to be seen giving or we are never to talk about where we give our money, but it’s the invitation to be the kind of people who care far less about being honored by others than we do about being honored by our Father in heaven.
Why do we care so much what people think about us?
Because we do, right?
Why can’t we just do good because it’s good and God is good and we love him?
Because there is a reward when people see us.
And it’s pretty awesome. It’s like a drug. It’s this literal chemical hit we get from getting applause. Have you ever gotten applause? It’s not terrible. But like a drug, the effect wears off and it never satisfies.
And what is the reward our Father gives?
His kingdom. And we overlook it because we can’t see it but like a mustard seed it’s the smallest thing but it will grow and one day everyone will see that it’s life-giving and beautiful.
Our Father does not overlook what others cannot see.
Second illustration is prayer...
5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may 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, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
The Jews were a praying people.
The synagogue was a place of prayer and could even be represented by the word prayer.
Synagogue prayers were not said in unison but by the person called on by the ruler of the synagogue to lead in prayer with the congregation responding Amen. You would usually pray standing.
A good Jew would pray three times a day, morning, mid-day, and sunset and before meals. Likely Jesus would have been raised to pray the Shema and the 18 Benedictions prayer twice per day.
Jesus notes that the religious influencers of the day LOVED to be seen praying.
You probably don’t pray on the street corners. But you know what it’s like to pray out loud at community group. I hope I say the right thing…I hope I say it the right way…I hope I don’t say something dumb…I’m a pastor now so I need to reference Scripture or something…and all of the something we are praying without God.
I was at coffee this week and heard someone praying out loud and I literally started going, “Oh I bet I know what kind of church she goes to” based off her prayer. Come on Chris.
5 “And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
6 “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
Here’s what the hypocrites do: they find the power of prayer in people thinking they are good at prayer.
“Wow, that was a powerful prayer.”
But people in the kingdom are the kind of people who find the real power of prayer in simply connecting with their Father in heaven like a kid walks and talks with their Dad.
Next week we’re going to spend time in the Lord’s prayer more but let’s read it out loud together...
9 “Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’
14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
What does that mean?
It means simply that if we are the kind of people who believe in our bones that our Father in heaven has forgiven us, then we will give that forgiveness to others. And if we are not giving that same mercy to others, maybe we’ve never received it ourselves. Matthew 18 has a great story on this we can read another time.
If the only praying you do is before a meal in front of your family, or at community group, or on Sundays while everyone else is praying...
Beware, you may have received your reward in full.
If you’re someone who like me finds prayer life-giving and yet incredibly difficult and a struggle...
Consider the Lord’s Prayer. It’s something I’ve been using more in prayer and I find it grounding.
Private prayer is powerful because our Father does not overlook what others cannot see.
Jesus’ 3rd illustration...
16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. 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 your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Not talking about intermittent fasting to shed a few pounds and fit in that robe...
The Hebrew expression for fasting, is “afflicting the soul.”
Fasting was common practice in Jewish culture, and it’s often - but not always - associated with sadness and grief and pain. In Esther the people fast when they hear Haman wants to kill all Jews.
It fits well with the imagery of disfiguring the face, weeping, lying on the ground, putting ashes on the head and putting on sackcloth.
Maybe you’ve felt like making those faces when you’ve fasted because boy oh boy could you go for a cheeseburger.
Fasting is a practice basic to following God much like prayer.
And yet Jesus is saying just because you did it does not mean you did it with God.
Rather, a kingdom person still fasts...
But not to be noticed and honored and acknowledged by others to receive social currency, but to receive more of the Father’s kingdom and life with Him.
I am not an expert in fasting...
I’ve made some tries at it and it’s hard. Maybe some of you have tried...
Feel like I can’t tell anyone! That’s not it, it’s questioning, what is my intention with this?
How’re you guys feeling?
Is Jesus saying that if you ever have an impure motive you should never do anything?
No. If I had to wait for a Sunday where I didn’t care what you guys thought about me before I preached, we would never have a Sunday service.
The reality is, no one has pure motives.
From the ice bucket challenge, to giving, to prayer, to fasting and other spiritual practices, to even loving our families, we are so affected by what people think of us. Why? Because it feels really good and we can see it.
And when that’s our motivation, it reveals something about our hearts.
9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
10 “I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.
Christian or not, we can all agree that it’s hard to tell if someone is for real or not.
Especially in our internet age where perception management is a huge thing and it affects how we live our lives.
But Matthew in his gospel shows us that Jesus is our example...
Jesus gives healing and forgiveness to people who offer him no social benefit but rather will contribute to people thinking worse of him.
Jesus prayed in private and regularly got away not to impress people with his retreat schedule but because he genuinely sought his Father’s will.
Jesus fasted privately not to impress others but to be filled with God to fight against Satan.
When we say Jesus never sinned we don’t just mean he never did a bad thing, it’s also that he never did a good thing for a bad reason.
Jesus is the only person in the history of the world who’s intentions were always pure.
And Scripture tells us that this same Jesus loves you with the kind of love that is the same in what you can see and what you can’t.
And he loved you enough to die on the cross to forgive your sins. And he was raised to new life in the power of the Holy Spirit and offers his Spirit to those who repent of their impure motives and helps us become the kind of people who are less and less affected by the tyranny of what people think of us.
And this same Jesus is coming again.
27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
And so for some of us, you need to hear this: Beware, if you think being a good person is just doing enough good things as evaluated by those around you, you may not receive the same evaluation from the Father when Jesus returns.
God cares more about what you do, he cares about who you are because he loves you.
God wants your heart.
And for others, you need to hear this: Your Father in heaven does not overlook what others cannot see. Keep going.
The way you kindly tuck your kid into bed, the way you faithfully give to Gateway and don’t need to say a word to anyone about it, the way you pray every day for God’s will to come in your life and for the help to forgive others even when it’s really hard, and the way you fast and practice spiritual disciplines to train yourself to become the kind of person who walks with God on a daily basis.
One day…your Father will reward you and it will be worth it.