Secret Service!
- Jun 21, 2024
- 5 min read
In the Sermon on the Mount here in Chapter 6, Jesus turns his attention to Christian motivation. We can call Chapter 6 the Heart-Attitudes.
This chapter focusses on three things that Jews see as a standard obligation towards God: giving, praying and fasting. Jesus’ point is the same for each. What matters is the motive. Don’t perform these religious duties with an eye on the audience, do them with a right heart towards God and Him alone!
Jesus is going deeper. He wants us to pay attention to what is driving us, what motivates us. It’s not enough that you have the right behaviour if you’ve the wrong heart motives.
Verse 1: "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others." These acts of righteousness are not to be carried out for spiritual status!
After being away on business, Tim thought it would be nice to bring his wife a little gift. “How about some perfume?” he asks the lady in the shop. She showed him a bottle costing £50.00. “That’s a bit much,” said Tim, so she returned with a smaller bottle for £30.00. Tim slightly annoyed said, “That’s still quite a bit,” So, the clerk brought out a tiny £15.00 bottle. “What I mean,” said Tim, is, “I’d like to see something really cheap.” The clerk handed him a mirror. Funny story, but it’s probably got a lot of truth in it.
In Matthew 6:1-2, Jesus was exposing the hearts of the Pharisees again. They pretended that they love to give and made a big show of it: "Before men, to be seen by them" (v1). They weren’t interested in the lives of the beneficiaries at all! They were only interested in themselves and what they could get out of it!!
What motivates your giving? Why do you do it?
The Greek word for ‘to be seen’ is “theathanai.” It’s where we get the word “theatre.” So the question of motive is, are you just playing a role in the drama of church life or are you being authentic?
Here in Matthew 6:1-4, Jesus speaks to His disciples about the issue of authenticity. Just how genuine is our relationship with God? It’s possible to have an outward display - “talk the talk” - without demonstrating any inner reality of godliness. Authentic Christianity requires both!
Religious hypocrisy is far from dead you see! Why do we go to church? What is it about 11am (or 10.30am, or whatever time your church meets) on Sunday? Why do you give?
Hypocrisy, like other sins, will take us further than we want to go, keep us there longer than we want to stay, and cost us more than we want to pay.
RT Kendall suggests there are “3 kinds of hypocrites: (1) one who feigns goodness but is actually not good and knows he is being deceptive, (2) one who’s carried away by his own acting and deceives himself, but not fooling others, (3) one who deceives himself into thinking he is acting in God’s best interests.”
Jesus warns not to be like the Pharisee, desiring encore, loving the "praise of men more than the praise of God", as John 12:43 states.
About 200 years ago there was a Jewish family in Germany. Their lives revolved around their Jewish community and Jewish religious customs, but the family moved from one part of Germany to another. One evening the father returned home and announced that the family would no longer be going to Jewish synagogue. Instead, they would be going to the Lutheran church. In fact, he insisted that his children get baptised. His young son, who was very intelligent, asked him, “Father, why are we no longer going to synagogue?” The father said, “In this part of Germany, in order to do business, it would be much more profitable for us to go to the Lutheran church.” The son became angry towards his dad. He left Germany, and came to England to study. While he was in London, he penned these famous words: “Religion is the opiate of the people.” Billions of people have been impacted by his atheistic philosophy. His name - Karl Marx.
All of us recoil instinctively against hypocrisy. This is what upset Jesus: simply wearing a mask and pretending to be someone we’re not, or better than we are. The troubling truth about all this is that there’s a trace of it in all of us! So Jesus says, "Be Careful" (v1) - or ‘Prosecho’ in Greek, whichis a nautical term, meaning to hold a ship in a direction so that it can continue to its destination. This is a warning to stay on course and not veer off. The danger is powerless godliness.
What’s the issue here? Your motivation. Your heart. If you do good works to get the praise for yourself, Jesus says you’ll have no reward from your Father in heaven. God must be first in our hearts in all things.
If one craves the praise of men, one will become a lover of self and will have a form of godliness but no power at all, as 2 Timothy 3:5 says.
Dallas Willard -"Having shown us true well-being and the goodness of the kingdom heart, Jesus now, in Matthew 6, alerts us to the two main things that will block or hinder a life constantly interactive with God and healthy growth in the kingdom.These are the desire to have the approval of others, especially for being devout, and the desire to secure ourselves by means of material wealth."
Our giving must be part of our ‘Secret Service’ to God!
By the way, Jesus uses two words, ‘when’ and ‘secret’ in pointing out three areas of righteousness: Give (Matt 6:4). Pray (v6). Fast (v18). Each one followed by, “your Father who sees in secret will reward you”. We prefer things to be seen, not secret! We live in a society where we are bombarded by marketing and advertising. Everyone is fighting to be noticed, to stand out.
Chrysostom said,“You may do good deeds before men, and yet not seek human praise; you may do them in secret, and yet in your heart wish that they may become known to gain that praise.”
Jesus wants us to so love and please God that we will do everything we should do (even secretly) so that it’s for His eyes alone.
Dr. Martyn Lloyd -Jones said this:"According to our Lord it comes to this: man by nature desires the praise of man more than the praise of God. In desiring the praise of man, what he is really concerned about is his good opinion of himself… we are either pleasing ourselves or else we are pleasing God.”
Sadly, pleasing ourselves can lead to an inauthentic ministry, a sham. Being a Christian must mean genuineness, authenticity and transparency. It’s not about earth’s applause but heaven’s favour. Serving and living for the Audience of One.
We are always being watched. In Matthew 6:3-4, God sees the heart (see Ps 139:1-4, Heb 4:13) and rewards such, spiritually and eternally.
Jesus uses the word “reward” three times in four verses! And each time it’s used with reference to our motivation for doing something good. Are you prepared to serve if no one notices at all, or doesn't say anything, or shows no sign of appreciating you? Are you into ‘secret serving'?
Just knowing that your Father sees is all that matters!
Are we living and doing everything for our Father’s ‘THEN?’
R.T. Kendall asked,“Who gets the credit? Who said it first? Who gave the money? Who had that idea? Who prayed for the healing? Who brought enemies together? Who was the mover or shaker that made this or that happen? Do you insist on getting the credit? Or can you wait until God’s ‘then’? “Then your Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Now this must be a principle for the whole of our life. There's perhaps no better way of trying to live than to constantly remind ourselves, “You, Father, see me”.
I reckon this will revolutionise our lives and especially our ‘secret service’ to Him!
May it be so for His glory!
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