THIS IS TABLE ROCK FELLOWSHIP – PASTOR RYAN LADEN
| Challenge In this week’s section of the Sermon on the Mount we heard a challenge from Jesus Christ to avoid the slippery slope of hypocrisy in our outward signs of worship and service to God. That teaching can be heard in the following passage: “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 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 honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 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.”Matthew 6:1-4 NIV-11 Why? · Why do you think someone would want to blow a trumpet and get everyone’s attention as they do something good for the church or for others?· Would you want to hang out with these kinds of obnoxious and showy people? Left and Right Jesus instructs his people to give gifts and to serve others in such a way that our left hand does not know what our right hand is doing. This was an analogy built on the instruction to do our acts of righteousness in secret… away from the eyes of others. Obviously, this image is meant to be provocative as our hands don’t know anything, and it’s pretty much impossible to carry out this kind of ignorant form of action. So, what does it mean for you to serve others in the name of Jesus in such a way that your acts of righteousness will not be trumpeted and spotlighted by others? Gifts Along the same line of thinking:· What does it look like for you to give a gift without “strings attached”?· How does dictating how others use your generous gift rob you of the joy of giving in secret as Jesus describes?· Do you think that giving money for your favorite project is better than giving faithfully and discretely?· Or, do you think that being faithful to this calling of Christ means something else? Assumptions There are a few assumptions that Jesus Christ makes about his audience in this teaching: · Jesus assumes that his disciples will be out in the world doing acts of righteousness.· Jesus assumes that his followers will be regularly givers who bless others with their finances.· Jesus assumes that his people want to receive their reward from God rather than men. You Do these assumptions apply to you? Are you someone who is actively seeking to honor God by serving others in the name of Jesus? Are you actively giving generously and faithfully to support the work of your local church? How can you continue to celebrate these opportunities to be used by God to be blessing to others without falling victim to the siren song of public adoration and the praise of others? Prayer Lord Jesus Christ,Help me become one of your servants who finds great joy in being generous and free with the blessings you have provided me. Help me to give to an audience of one; to give to you alone. Where there are signs of hypocrisy and selfishness, call these out in me. And help me turn from these terrible perversions of your selfless love. In Christ,Ryan Laden |
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