Who are you trying to impress? Have you ever asked that question, or been asked it? Perhaps you’ve had a colleague who doesn’t really seem to bother to do much work, until the boss walks in and suddenly they’re the most attentive, helpful worker ever. Or maybe it’s a teenage boy, attempting to look cool in front of the girl he fancies, acting completely different than when she’s not around and he’s with his friends. Who are you trying to impress? Who are you wanting to be seen by?
When it comes to living out the Christian faith, there’s a chance that we can do something similar. We can be aware of our audience, and seek to impress them. Thinking to ourselves - how do I look to them? What will they think of me? Will they be impressed with what they see?
Over this autumn term we’ve been listening in to Jesus as he gives the Sermon on the Mount. He’s spelling out what it looks like to live in his kingdom. He starts with the blessings that can only come from God, and aren’t based on our performance. He continues by showing us how his law goes deeper than the externals, as he calls us to love God and our neighbour with all our heart. And now tonight, he begins a new section in the sermon, as he addresses three very practical parts of living out the Christian faith: giving, praying, and fasting.
Jesus says that there are different ways we can do each of these things. Tonight we’re going to focus in on giving and fasting and we’ll come back to praying next week. But for each of them, verse 1 is the key to understanding what Jesus is saying in this section:
‘Be careful not to do your “acts of righteousness” before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.’ (1)
Jesus is saying that we shouldn’t seek to do these things in order to be seen to be doing them by other people. That even these good things can be done for bad motives. So again, Jesus is getting below the surface, and getting to the heart of the matter. Challenging how we do things, and why we do them.
So, first up, think about giving to the needy. How do you go about it? I wonder, when you give to charity or give to the needy, do you make sure that everyone knows that you’re giving? Would you hire Hamiltonsbawn Silver Band to come and parade in front of you to make a big show so that everyone could see what a good person you are?
The whole band might be a bit much. But it seems that in Jesus’ day, some outwardly good people had a trumpet sounded, like a fanfare, as they gave to the needy. So they’re in the synagogue, and there’s a trumpet blast do-do-do-doooo! Everyone looks round in time to see a couple of coins being given to someone in need. And everyone thinks, wow, what a good person, giving in such a way.
Or they’re in the street, there’s someone sitting begging, and before they give something, they make sure do-do-do-doooo! Everyone sees, and maybe even applauds their generosity. Blowing their own trumpet.
Now that’s not quite the way we’re likely to do it these days, is it? Or maybe I’ve just not been in Portadown to hear the trumpet when you’re being generous. We may not have musical accompaniment to announce our generosity, but we could still have the same desire to be seen and to be thought well of by other people. We might be aware of our audience and try to play to it - perhaps with a big cheque and a photo in the local paper; a plaque showing our generosity; or some other means.
But Jesus has a name for people who act in this way: hypocrites. We all know what a hypocrite is - someone who says one thing and does another. It comes from the Greek theatre where an actor would put on a mask to become another character. Outwardly, we appear as generous, zealous for God; yet inwardly our motive is for our own praise and a good standing in other people’s opinion.
Listen to what Jesus says: ‘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 men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.’ (2)
If you live to be honoured by other people and you receive that honour, then that’s your reward. That’s all you’ll receive by way of reward. But these hypocrites (and the danger for us) is that we focus on the seen, and forget about the unseen. Jesus warns us against hypocrisy, and instead calls us to live by faith: ‘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.’ (3-4)
Do you see the contrast in how we should give? Not with trumpets and a big show, but rather in secret - so secretive that even the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. Quietly, secretly, and yet seen by the Father, who sees what is done in secret.
Proverbs 19:17 says that ‘Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.’ That’s not necessarily promising that if you give to the poor then you’re going to receive back even more financially. But God is no one’s debtor. And his rewards are more than we can imagine.
The question is - whose applause are we living for? Who are we seeking to be honoured by? Other people? Or our Father in heaven? We should give, as we’re able, but seen only by the one who sees in secret.
[Perhaps you can take up this challenge. Think about how you can give to the needy so that no one else will know about it. Its like entering ‘stealth mode’ in computer games, trying to not be seen.]
The same principle applies in the other theme we’re going to look at tonight. Next week we’ll see how stealth mode applies to our prayer life; but tonight, let’s focus in on fasting. Just so we’re clear, fasting is to give up something, like food (or Facebook or something) in order to focus attention on God. And, just like giving, we can go about it with wrong motives.
So, there aren’t any trumpets around this time, but there can still be an attempt to make sure everyone knows that we’re fasting, so that everyone thinks well of us: ‘When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.’ (16)
So these hypocrites made sure that everyone knew they were fasting. They wouldn’t wash their face; they’d make sure to have plenty of ashes on their head; and they’d pull a big gurn, to show just how miserable they were. They might look like a false face that you could have calling at your door this week trick or treating.
But to fast so that people know you’re fasting, and therefore think well of you, and be impressed at how super-spiritual you are, means that you already have your reward. To live for the praise of people means that you’ll only ever receive the praise of people.
So what would this look like for us? Maybe when Lent rolls round again, making a big fuss so that everyone knows what you’re giving up, and how well you’re doing it, and how much you’re suffering through it.
And what should it look like? Here’s what Jesus says: ‘But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.’ (17-18)
When you fast (not if) - when you abstain from certain things (safely, and carefully, and if health allows), keep it between you and God. No one else needs to know about it. Otherwise you run the danger of doing it for the wrong audience, trying to impress others by appearing super-spiritual.
A while back I read an article on the rise of social media, trying to explain why people post so much, and share too much, like what they’ve had for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and every random thought in between. The author explained it as an attempt to be seen and be validated - because society no longer believes in God who is always watching us.
Do you see what they were saying (pardon the pun!)? If people don’t believe in God, then they have no one who is watching over them, and so they strive to be seen and acknowledged by someone, anyone, and so they post on social media. They want to be seen, and known.
But we have a Father who sees us, and knows us, and sees what is done in secret. So that even if no one else knows what we have done, and no one applauds us - he sees, and knows, and honours and rewards us. Whose applause is worth more? The temporary applause of the crowd? Or the enduring, eternal applause of our Father in heaven?
We’re called to give, and to pray, and to fast, in such a way that no one else knows. Because God sees, and knows, and will reward in his own way and his own time.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 27th October 2019.
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