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You may be seated.
Well, there are six words that children can be listening for
in my sermon this morning.
The words kingdom, warning, religion, motive,
piety, and grace.
Well, friends, when it comes to the posting
of video content online on social media platforms,
you know, platforms like Facebook or TikTok
or what have you,
one popular trend that I’ve noticed recently
is the posting of videos where the content creator
of the video performs a random act of kindness
or charity to a total stranger.
And so, for example, there are videos out there
of the video creator offering food
or perhaps offering a new item of clothing
to a random homeless person.
Other acts of kindness that these videos feature
include such things as giving a huge tip
to the pizza delivery or door dash delivery person
or perhaps paying for a stranger’s grocery
at the checkout line at the local grocery store
or paying for a stranger’s gas at the gas pump.
And the list goes on and on.
Now, I’m no expert on such video content,
but I have to wonder if these kinds of random kindness videos
may even be competing in their popularity
with the ever-popular funny cat videos that are out there.
I mean, who doesn’t love a funny cat video?
But in any case, these random acts of kindness videos,
they can often be very touching and uplifting
and heartwarming.
I’ve found myself drawn in to some of these videos as well
as I’ve watched them.
And often the recipients of these random acts of kindness
that are featured on such videos are genuinely appreciative,
genuinely thankful, even sometimes touched
to the point of shedding tears.
But having said all of that,
I have to be honest with you, friends.
In the case of at least some of these types of videos,
I have to wonder about the actual heart motivations
that lie behind the video recording
of such random acts of kindness.
Now, if the video creator is simply doing this
to try to encourage others to be generous and kind
and give random acts, do random acts of kindness
to strangers, then okay, that’s one thing.
But are these recorded acts of kindness and charity
primarily motivated by a pure heart desire
to actually benefit strangers in need?
Or are they merely acts of performative theatrical charity,
acts of charity designed to make the content creator
look good to others in order to get more clicks,
more likes, perhaps more subscribers to his or her page,
and perhaps as a means of psychological self-validation?
Well, friends, obviously there was no such thing
as the internet in our Lord’s day,
and thus no such thing as social media
in the days of Christ.
But nevertheless, our Lord Jesus had to confront
similar types of performative kindness in his own day
and among his fellow Jews.
There was a tendency among certain Jews in our Lord’s time
to perform acts of mercy and piety hypocritically
and for the primary purpose of making themselves
look good before others.
There was a tendency back then as there is even today
to be more concerned about pleasing man
and making themselves look good to man
than to be pleasing to God
and to genuinely show love to their neighbor.
In our passage for this Lord’s day morning,
we see the clash between the hypocritical
performative religion that characterizes
fallen humanity on the one hand
and the pure piety that is displayed by those
who through God’s sovereign grace
have become citizens of the kingdom of God
on the other hand.
Now our passage for this morning
is taken from the Gospel of Matthew,
and the Gospel of Matthew has rightly been called
the most Jewish of all the Gospel accounts.
It seems to have been written to a Jewish audience,
an audience of Jews who Matthew was trying to convince
that Jesus is the Messiah or Jewish Christians.
To quote from the Bible Project’s excellent introduction
to this Gospel, and I quote,
“‘Matthew shows how Jesus is the continuation
and fulfillment of the whole biblical story
about God and Israel.’
First of all, Matthew’s Gospel shows that Jesus
is the Messiah from the line of David.
Number two, that he is a new authoritative teacher
like Moses.
And thirdly, that Jesus is God with us.
He is Emmanuel, God in the flesh.
Under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration,
Matthew structured his Gospel to include
five blocks of our Lord’s teaching materials.
And the passage that we are considering this morning
is taken from the first major block
of our Lord’s teaching material
presented in Matthew’s Gospel.
Because of these five blocks of teaching material,
some Bible scholars and commentators
believe that what Matthew is doing
in structuring his Gospel this way
is he is mirroring the five books of the Torah,
the five books of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy.
Now, as we work our way through Matthew,
in chapter four, we see our Lord Jesus
beginning his earthly ministry.
And he begins his earthly ministry
by announcing the coming of God’s kingdom
by calling his first disciples
and also by beginning to minister to the crowds
with supernatural signs of the kingdom,
such as the miraculous healing of the sick
and the casting out of demons.
Well, that brings us to chapter five.
Chapter five begins our Lord’s famous sermon on the mount.
And this sermon on the mount
extends all the way through chapter seven.
Now, friends, in this section of Matthew’s Gospel,
Jesus is presented by Matthew as a new Moses.
He is presented as a greater than Moses figure.
Not only that, there is a parallel
between God’s revelation at Mount Sinai on the one hand
and our Lord’s revelation on this unnamed mountain
as he delivers his sermon on the mount
to his disciples on the other hand.
Just as Yahweh declared his law to his people
who were gathered around Mount Sinai in ancient times,
so our Lord Jesus declares to those
who are blessed to be citizens of God’s kingdom
and who are gathered before this unnamed mountain,
he declares to them the ethic of God’s kingdom
and the lifestyle of discipleship
that is expected of his people in the kingdom of God.
And it’s interesting, while it’s not an exact parallel
in terms of wording and concepts,
we do see that there is a parallel
between the preface to the Ten Commandments on the one hand
and our Lord’s opening statement in the sermon on the mount.
Let’s just briefly go back to Exodus 20
and let’s look at verses one and two.
I read this a little bit earlier in the service,
but let me reread it and remind you of the context.
Remember, Yahweh the Lord had rescued the children of Israel
from their slavery in Egypt by a mighty hand,
by an outstretched arm.
He had saved his people from slavery.
Now he has brought them through the Red Sea on dry land,
brought them to the foot of Mount Sinai,
and here he audibly declares to them his covenant,
his Ten Commandments.
And we read these words, and God spoke all these words
saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
As we learned a number of Lord’s days ago,
as I preached on the purpose of the law,
we see that the law of God was revealed
in the context of grace.
God had rescued his people.
He doesn’t say, do this so that you can become my people.
He doesn’t say, keep the Ten Commandments
as a condition for being my people.
He says, no, I’ve already taken you to be my people.
Therefore, this is how I want you to live.
Now turn to Matthew five and let me just read
the opening verses of Matthew five.
It says in Matthew five, and this is after Jesus
has called his first disciples and crowds begin
to follow him, it says, seeing the crowds,
he went up on the mountain.
See the parallel?
God speaks his law to his people from Mount Sinai here.
Jesus is going up to a mountain and when he sat down,
that was the posture of the rabbi, of the teacher back then.
When he sat down, his disciples came to him
as the children of Israel were gathered before God
at Mount Sinai, so Jesus’ disciples,
his professed disciples are gathered before him.
And he opened his mouth and taught them saying,
and then we get the Beatitudes.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The Beatitudes are not law, they’re not conditions
that we need to follow in order to become citizens
of God’s kingdom.
Rather, they are characteristics of those who,
through grace, have become members of the kingdom of God.
That’s why Jesus declares the Lord’s blessing upon them,
just as the Lord from Mount Sinai reminded his people
of the blessing of grace and deliverance
that they had received.
Well, in any case, here they are gathered before
the Lord Jesus on this mountain, this unnamed mountain.
And our passage for this Lord’s Day morning is found
in the midst of this famous Sermon on the Mount.
And it focuses on acts of righteousness
that are part of the kingdom lifestyle.
In particular, Jesus gives three examples.
He gives the example of giving to the needy,
of prayer, and of religious fasting.
We focus in particular on the opening section
of chapter six today.
And what we find here is we turn our attention
to the first two verses of our passage for today.
We find here, first of all, a serious warning
against performative religion.
Jesus here issues a serious, almost stern warning
against what might be called performative
or theatrical religion.
He says, beware of practicing your righteousness
before other people in order to be seen by them.
He doesn’t say it’s wrong to practice righteousness
in public, but he says it’s wrong to practice righteousness
before others in order to be seen by them.
For then you will have no reward from your Father
who is in heaven.
Here in verse one, we have Jesus presenting us
with this general warning.
Now, I would remind you, brothers and sisters,
understand that in the Sermon on the Mount,
our Lord is addressing His professed followers.
He is addressing professed believers,
those who by grace through faith have been made citizens
of the kingdom of God.
In the opening Beatitudes, which I just referred to,
our Lord had described the blessedness
and the characteristics of those who through sovereign grace
have been made members of God’s kingdom.
In this passage found here in the midst
of the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord Jesus confronts head on
the ostentatious and hypocritical practices of piety
that were common among some of His fellow Jews.
Perhaps He had in mind in particular,
the scribes and the Pharisees of His day.
It’s interesting, what does Jesus say in verse one?
He says, beware of doing what?
Practicing your righteousness.
The Greek word is dikeasune.
Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people.
And we find a link here between this verse
and what Jesus said about the so-called righteousness
of the scribes and the Pharisees.
Back in chapter five, verse 20, if you turn to that verse,
Jesus says, for I tell you, unless your righteousness,
your dikeasune exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will never enter the kingdom of God.
That might be tempting as Protestants to think
that Jesus in that verse is speaking about the need
for the imputed righteousness of Christ.
And of course, that is true for our justification.
But Jesus rather is pointing out
that the so-called righteousness of the scribes
and the Pharisees, many of whom were unconverted,
many of whom had not been born again by the Spirit,
their righteousness was a merely external
form of righteousness.
They did works of righteousness
that were good on the outside,
but their hearts were corrupt and sinful.
And so Jesus is saying, if your righteousness proceeds
from a sinful heart rather than a heart renewed
by the Holy Spirit, then you will not enter
the kingdom of God.
This is another way of Jesus saying what He said
to Nicodemus, that unless you are born again,
you will not see much less enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And so getting back to this warning in chapter six,
verse one, Jesus is here saying basically,
He’s saying to His professed disciples,
look, don’t imitate the so-called righteousness
of the scribes and the Pharisees.
In other words, don’t engage in acts
of quote righteousness, hypocritically,
merely or mainly to be seen by other people,
to get accolades and praise and acclaim from other people.
Don’t seek glory and recognition from men,
but instead seek to honor God in your practices
of piety and your acts of righteousness.
Avoid performative show-off religion,
religion which is motivated by a sinful,
unregenerate desire for human acclaim and praise.
Instead, seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness.
In fact, Jesus will go on and say that later on
in this chapter, if you skip down to Matthew six,
verse 33, Jesus says, but seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness and all these things
will be added to you.
Now, the fact that Jesus gives this warning
to His professed disciples, what does that teach us?
Well, that teaches us that this tendency,
brothers and sisters, towards show-off religion,
towards performative piety, this is not just a problem
among the unconverted, among unbelievers,
though it certainly is a problem in the case
of those who do not know Christ as their savior.
But it can also be a temptation
for the true believer as well.
So yes, we need to take this warning to heart.
And what is the consequence
of practicing performative piety?
Well, Jesus says, for then you will have no reward
from your Father who is in heaven.
Show-off religion results in no reward from God.
Now, let’s step back a second.
Some of you might be wondering,
well, why does Jesus talk about a reward?
Is Jesus here preaching works righteousness?
Is He preaching salvation by works?
Is He saying that we can somehow put God in our debt
so that He has to reward us?
Why does Jesus use this language of reward?
Well, understand, beloved, Jesus is not preaching
a merit theology simply because He uses
this language of reward.
He’s not preaching a works righteousness
or merit theology as if by our works,
we could somehow put God in our debt.
The fact that He is not preaching a merit theology
can be seen on the face of it when you notice
that Jesus speaks of God as your Father who is in heaven.
In other words, those whom He is speaking to
have a relationship with God
as their loving heavenly Father.
They’ve already experienced God’s grace in their lives.
Contrary to the common view out there
that says everybody is a child of God,
the Bible doesn’t teach that.
Jesus said of His enemies,
you are of your Father the devil.
Now, everyone is a creature of God.
Every human being is related to God
as a creature to his or her creator.
And so in that generic sense of creator and creature,
we could perhaps say that God is the universal Father
of all humanity in that generic sense.
But in terms of a spiritual saving sense,
not everyone is a child of God.
If you are outside of Christ,
if you have not received and rested upon Christ alone
for your salvation,
you are not a child of God in the spiritual sense.
You are spiritually a child of the devil.
And it is only by the grace of God
that you can be brought out of the devil’s household
and into and adopted into the household of God
as a child of God by grace through faith.
So the point here is that as disciples of Jesus,
we are related to God as our heavenly Father.
And that is a relationship not of merit,
not of works, not because we are worthy of it.
That is a relationship of grace.
It is a gift of God, not a fruit of our good works.
But as our heavenly Father,
God graciously chooses to reward
our kingdom service done in faith.
So again, when Jesus uses this language,
He has in view a reward of grace,
not a reward of merit.
So He says, again,
He gives the general warning in verse one,
beware of practicing your righteousness before other people
in order to be seen by them,
for then you will have no reward
from your Father who is in heaven.
And then He gives us three examples.
He gives us the example we’re considering this morning,
giving to the needy.
He also mentions the example of prayer
and the example of religious fasting.
But we focus on the first specific example
that He gives here in verse two.
He says, thus, when you give to the needy,
sound no trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and in the streets,
that they may be praised by others.
Truly I say to you, they have received their reward.
Again, Jesus here gives the first
of these three specific kinds of examples
of performative religion.
And He was, and here He gives instruction
on giving to the needy.
And He mentions those who are hypocrites.
The Greek term is huppocratai.
And it’s interesting, friends, in the older Greek,
the word huppocratais meant an actor.
It was a term that applied to the theater.
And so ancient actors, ancient hypocrites, if you will,
perhaps a lot of actors today are hypocrites too,
but hypocrisy is something that extends
beyond any particular calling in life.
It’s very common among fallen mankind.
But in the ancient world, these hypocrites,
these theater actors would often change masks
when they played different roles on stage.
And so this term came to evolve and came to expand
to include, beyond the theater,
to include those who play roles in life
and who see the world as their stage.
In other words, those who are inauthentic,
those who live their lives to get acclaim from others
and they pretend to be that which they are not in fact.
Again, Jesus says of such, truly I say to you,
He says amen or verily, truly I say to you,
they have received their reward.
They desire human acclaim.
They desire human recognition and human praise.
That’s all they’re gonna get.
They’re not gonna get divine approval, divine recognition.
They get human praise alone.
That’s it for their reward.
And Jesus repeats this warning two more times
in this section.
He had made the warning in verse one.
He repeats it here in verse two.
He also makes the warning down in verse five
when he talks about prayer.
He says, and when you pray,
you must not be like the hypocrites
for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues
and at the street corners that they may be seen by others.
Truly I say to you, they have received their reward.
And then skip down to verse 16.
Jesus says in verse 16, and when you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites
for they disfigure their faces
that their fasting may be seen by others.
Truly I say to you, they have received their reward.
You get the point?
He drives the point home through this repetition.
Now, important clarification that needs to be made here.
Is Jesus saying that it is somehow wrong or sinful
to give to the genuinely needy?
And by the way, when Jesus talks about the needy,
he’s talking about what they used to call the worthy needy.
He’s not talking about people who are needy
because they’ve made sinful choices
or because they’re lazy or because they’re entitled
and they’re gaming the system.
He’s talking about those who are in genuine need.
Well, it should be obvious brothers and sisters
that our Lord is not here
condemning acts of generosity toward the needy.
Rather, he is pointing out that God is concerned
about the heart motivation behind giving to the needy.
He’s not only concerned about what we do for the needy,
although he certainly is concerned about that.
But at a deeper level, our Lord is even more concerned
about why we do what we do for the needy.
But having said that,
understand that generosity to the needy,
to the genuinely needy is itself commanded in God’s law
and it was reinforced in the prophets of God
in the Old Testament.
Just to give you a couple samples of that,
let’s go to Deuteronomy 15, Deuteronomy chapter 15,
and let me just quickly read verses seven through 11.
The prophet Moses, as he’s instructing the children
of Israel as they are preparing to go in
and conquer the promised land,
he writes this under the spirit’s inspiration.
He says, if among you, one of your brothers
should become poor in any of your towns within your land
that the Lord your God is giving you,
you shall not harden your heart
or shut your hand against your poor brother,
but you shall open your hand to him
and lend him sufficient for his need
whatever it may be.
And notice that even Moses under the Old Covenant,
he speaks to the heart here.
He says, take care lest there be an unworthy thought
in your heart and you say, the seventh year,
the year of release is near
and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother
and you give him nothing and he cried to the Lord
against you and you’ll be guilty of sin.
You shall give to him freely
and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him
because for this, the Lord your God will bless you
in all your work and in all that you undertake
for there will never cease to be poor in the land.
Therefore, I command you, you shall open wide your hand
to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in your land.
So again, God’s law expects this kind of generosity
from God’s people.
After all, God has been so generous to us.
If we have received the gracious generosity of God,
that generosity should flow out of our lives
and be expressed to others as well.
And as an example of the prophets taking the people of God
to task for their lack of generosity,
for neglecting the poor, let’s turn to Amos 2
and let me just read verses six and seven.
Amos chapter two, verses six and seven.
Hosea Joel, Amos 2, verses six through seven.
The Lord says this, it says,
Thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Israel
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment
because they sell the righteous for silver.
In other words, they oppress.
And the needy for a pair of sandals
who trample the head of the poor
into the dust of the earth
and turn aside the way of the afflicted and so forth.
Not only that, not only does God’s law
expect generosity from God’s people,
not only do the prophets enforce generosity,
but generosity toward the needy
will also be brought forward on the judgment day
as evidence that our faith in Christ
was a true and living and genuine faith.
As we are here in Matthew, let’s turn to Matthew 25
and let me just quickly read verses 34 to 40,
Matthew 25, verses 34 through 40.
And here, Jesus is painting the scene of the final judgment
and he talks about the separation of the sheep
who are the righteous, the saved,
and the goats who are the lost.
And here’s what he says about those on the right hand
of King Jesus on the day of judgment.
Verse 34, then the king will say to those on his right,
come, you who are blessed by my father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food.
I was thirsty and you gave me drink.
I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
I was naked and you clothed me.
I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you came to me.
Then the righteous, I love this answer,
then the righteous will answer him saying,
Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you?
We’re thirsty and give you drink.
And when did we see you as stranger
and welcome you and naked and clothe you?
In other words, when did we do all these great things
you say that we’ve done?
All we remember being were dirty rotten sinners.
You were so gracious to us.
When did you see us doing these things?
And Jesus says, verse 40, and the king will answer,
truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least
of these, my brothers, you did it to me.
Now many folks misread this passage
or misunderstand this passage as if Jesus was saying
that deeds of charity are a condition
for entering into heaven.
But the fact that that’s not what Jesus is saying here
is made very clear in the opening words of the king
recorded in verse 34, where the king, Jesus says,
come, you who are blessed of my father,
they’ve been blessed with the blessing,
with the gift of salvation,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world.
In other words, they’re chosen,
they’re elected from before the foundation
of the world by his grace.
But because they are blessed and chosen,
this is how they showed the reality of their faith.
And so the generosity described in this judgment passage
is a generosity that was produced by grace,
not a result of works.
But what do we learn from this warning?
Quick things by way of application.
Your listener, are you a man pleaser or a God pleaser?
Are your acts of charity and piety motivated by a desire
to seek human praise, human acclaim,
or by the desire to glorify and please
your loving heavenly father for the gracious generosity
that he has showered upon you
through your savior, Jesus Christ?
May God grant us the grace to be God pleasers,
not man pleasers.
And that leads to my next and final point.
It will be a brief one, I assure you.
Consider next an earnest call to pure kingdom piety,
an earnest call to pure kingdom piety.
Jesus says in verse three,
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.
And here’s the promise,
and your father who sees in secret will reward you.
Don’t look for validation and accolades from man,
from your fellow men and women.
Look for the approval of God.
And as you do these acts with self forgetfulness,
you do them for the glory of God.
Now in verse three, think of it, think of the context.
Our Lord Jesus has seriously warned us
against the pitfalls of performative religion.
But now having warned us and told us what to avoid,
he now gives us instructions on how we are to give
in a manner that aligns with the values of God’s kingdom.
Now notice the language.
First, notice that he says, when you give to the needy,
he doesn’t say, if you give to the needy,
this is how you are to give.
No, he says, when you give to the needy,
this is how you are to give.
You see, showing generosity and kindness
to the genuinely needy is a kingdom value.
It is a value of the kingdom of God.
And our Lord Jesus expects that his disciples
will be characterized by such kingdom generosity.
And then he says, he explains what this looks like.
He says, when you give, do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing,
as if each of our hands has a brain of its own
and can act on its own.
Obviously, Jesus is speaking figuratively here.
But the point that he’s making in this language
is that genuine generosity to the needy
ought to be done in a manner
that is as self-forgetful as possible.
When you give to the needy, you shouldn’t be thinking,
ah, I’m such a good guy.
You pat myself on the back.
Aren’t I wonderful?
Aren’t I great?
Instead, you should give spontaneously
and then move on to the next thing.
As Jesus goes on to say in verse four,
so that your giving may be in secret.
In other words, genuine kingdom generosity
is not done to show off.
It’s not done to get attention or validation
or praise from others.
It’s certainly not done to get clicks or likes
or subscribers online, as seems to be the case
with some of these random acts of kindness videos
that I mentioned at the beginning of my sermon.
Instead, it is a generosity that flows naturally
and spontaneously out of a heart and life
that have been touched by the amazing, forgiving,
justifying, transforming grace of God.
The grace of God that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
has secured for us by his redeeming work,
his life and death and resurrection.
The grace of God that has been sealed to us
by the Holy Spirit who has caused us to be born again
and to become followers of Jesus.
Such kingdom generosity is the fruit of divine grace
and not the product of human worthiness
or human will or human effort.
And that is why our heavenly father graciously rewards it.
For in rewarding such acts of self forgetful,
secretive generosity to the genuinely needy,
God our father is rewarding the fruits
of his own transforming grace.
Dear listener, the only way to avoid the pitfalls
of performative religion and to practice the pure piety
of God’s kingdom is to be a part of God’s kingdom,
to be a citizen of the kingdom of God.
Are you a citizen of God’s kingdom, dear listener?
In other words, have you accepted and trusted
the Lord Jesus Christ in Christ alone
as your very own Savior and Lord?
Christ who died upon the cross, Christ the God man
who died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin
and who rose from the dead so that whoever believes in him
by faith might not perish but have life everlasting.
Come to Christ today, receive him as your Savior and Lord
and you will experience the divine generosity
in your own life and the outflow of that generosity,
that divine generosity is that the Lord
in his sanctifying grace will make you more
and more generous toward others.
Amen, let us pray.
O heavenly Father, we thank you for your divine generosity
to us in Christ.
We ask that you would grant us the grace
to demonstrate kingdom generosity to others
that we might bear good fruits
and bear faithful witness to our Savior
for it is in his name that we pray
and all of God’s people said, amen.
As we respond to the preaching of God’s word,
let’s rise and we’ll sing hymn 488.
May the mind of Christ my Savior.