Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Good evening and welcome back!
What a wonderful time we had with the youth today as they led our service!
Tonight if you will start turning in your Bibles to .
We are going to continue our Journey Through Matthew tonight and pick up where we left off last week.
If you will recall that last Sunday morning we looked at and the subject of The Righteousness of the Pharisees and how God’s expectation was for our righteousness to “surpass that of the Pharisees.”
And if you remember, the reason for this was because the righteousness of the Pharisees was a kind of self-righteousness and a self-centered/self-serving attitude.
Their goal in life was to lift themselves up and not God.
Which is precisely the attitude that people in our world today have.
“It’s all about me,” is the attitude that really permeates our world today.
And in chapter 5, Jesus is setting the tone for what he is going to teach them about in chapter six.
We didn’t cover it but in the rest of chapter five Jesus builds on that notion of demonstrating the righteousness of God and not man, through things like love, forgiveness, and humility.
And where our Scripture tonight picks up in chapter six, Jesus is going to tell them about the opposite of love, forgiveness, and humility.
So, if you have found in your Bibles, I’d invite you to stand with me as I read.
We will be covering verses 1-18, but I’m just going to read you part of each of the sections . . .
Scripture Focus
Matthew 6:1
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Matthew 6:5
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Giving to the Needy
Do we see a pattern forming here, a point that Jesus is trying to make?
It is quite obvious that Jesus does not want them to act like the other people.
He does not want them to be “hypocrites,” as he puts it.
And to us, just the word “hypocrite” is offensive.
Because if someone calls you a hypocrite, they are basically calling you a liar, calling you fake, saying you tell one thing and do something else.
In our modern language we would call them “two-faced.”
And the word actually means “actor,” which implies, “playing a part,” or “acting out a role.”
It’s not real, not genuine....it is fake.
And Jesus is telling the people here do not be like the Pharisees because they are fake.
They are just playing the role.
If we want to talk about it in church terms today, Jesus would be telling us not to act like the “religious people” who basically know all the lines and all the parts and act them out.
There is no heart behind it, no Holy Spirit leading, guiding, and teaching them.
They are just playing the role that they think everyone wants them to play.
And they play the role, for no other reason but to glorify themselves-to make themselves look good-to look important-to puff themselves up.
And in this passage Jesus points out three areas where this is the most prevalent then and now.
He starts out with our giving and says . . .
Matthew 6:1
Anybody ever seen someone do exactly what Jesus is talking about here?
They are very giving but they make sure that EVERYBODY knows about it.
They dance around like little Baney Roosters strutting around where everybody can seem them.
As Jesus says in verse 2 they announce it with trumpets . . . in the synagogues and on the streets, for the sole purpose of being honored by men.
He calls them hypocrites!
And some of the worst ones for doing this are pastors and church leaders.
I call it the “humble-brag.”
They act all humble but all they are doing is bragging on themselves.
Like making sure everyone in the church sees them putting their money in the offering plate.
Or calling for a special offering and announcing that they are putting in the first $100.00
“as an example.”
As an example to who?
Or some of my favorites are the Facebook posts about how 25 people are saved and 40 sanctified or healed at every single church service they ever conduct, even though they may have had 30 people there.
Or how they make absolutely sure everyone sees them check in at every single visit they make when they are “doing God’s work.”
Does God need you to give a tally of all of your ministry activities?
And the problem I have with it is they do these things because they are “bragging on God,” as they put it, or “sharing what God is doing.”
Really?
No, they are really trying to make themselves look more busy and more important in man’s eyes.
Jesus says though . . .
Matthew 6:3-
And people will say…Whoa pastor!
Jesus is talking about money here.
Is it just money though?
When we ask people to give to the church are we just asking for money?
No, we ask for time, talent, and treasures.
Remember Paul tells us to . . .
We are asked to give OURSELVES to God as living sacrifices.
We have to give money for things to function, but God wants more than just money.
God wants it all.
And God wants it with a humble heart, out of love for God and love for others.
Did Cain and Abel give money?
No, they gave of what they did.
They offered what they had.
Abel his best, and Cain the rest.
My grandfather always told us stories of people in the church who would pay their tithes with whatever they had to offer.
Farmers would often pay their tithes with fruits, vegetables, and chickens.
I also remember him talking about pig or two.
The point was, people didn’t have money so they gave what they did have.
And he was grateful for it.
But they didn’t go around bragging about what they gave.
And he didn’t go around bragging about what all he was doing either.
But somewhere along the lines we lost focus on that and thought by telling everybody everything we were doing all the time we were someone glorifying God.
We need to check our self-righteous attitude at the door and stop it.
Because if we were really honest we might begin to understand that people see through the fakeness and see it for what it is.
And it actually does the opposite of building up God’s kingdom.
It pushes people away.
So, when we give to those in need, whatever the gift and whoever is in need, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.
Praying Like Hypocrites
So, we have pretty much covered our giving, now we can talk about the second area where religious people like to shine like stars . .
.prayer.
Jesus writes . . .
Matthew 6:5
Now, in our modern days, we do not see much praying taking place on the street corners as it is primarily done in the churches (and hopefully at home also).
But Jesus warns us to not be like the hypocrites, who love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, and here is the key to this to be seen by men.
And it goes on in churches across our country.
I have actually had people tell me that they don’t want to pray because they “can’t pray as good as so and so...”
I’ve got news for you , YES YOU CAN.
Prayer is not meant to be about being seen or heard, but prayer is our communication with God on our behalf and the behalf of others.
If when you stand up to pray, you are concerned about what others will think about what you are saying, you might as well sit back down.
If I call on people to pray, I don’t want their best, rehearsed version.
I want their heart-felt communication with God.
If I ask someone to pray for me, I am not interested in their thees, and thous, and what-nots.
I want them to pour out their heart to God on my behalf, and you should expect the same thing from me.
It is not about being seen or heard.
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