Matthew 6:1-4
~16 min read
💭 Consider this: Which is more important to you right now: receiving the praise and approval of people, or receiving God’s eternal reward? What does your current lifestyle of giving—whether money, time, or service—reveal?
TRANSCRIPT
Our text for tonight is taken from Matthew 6:1-4. The Bible tells us that there will always be needy people around us and we are commanded to give to the poor. Deuteronomy 15:11 says, “For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open [thy] hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to [the] needy, in thy land”.
On one occasion in John 12, ‘Mary, the sister of Martha, she took some very expensive perfume and anointed the feet of Jesus Christ. And Judas Iscariot complained that the perfume should be sold and the money be given to the poor. Actually, he did not care for the poor because he was a thief and he wanted the money for himself’ (John 12:3-6). Nonetheless, Jesus said, “For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always” (John 12:8).
This world is filled with needy people. And we do see acts of charity everywhere; we do see people giving to the poor or, perhaps, we ourselves have given to the poor. But what we do not consider is — and, perhaps, we cannot see — the motive behind the giving.
When I first visited the Philippines, I saw many children beggars in the streets. And when they knew that you were a tourist, they would run after you, asking for money. One taxi driver said to me, ‘You ought to have a handful of five pesos coins’. 5 pesos is equivalent to about 10 cents in Australia. And he told me that all I needed to do was to give those five pesos to the kids to stop them from pestering me. So, the taxi driver’s perception of giving, at least in this regard, was to avoid any inconveniences.
On another occasion, I was eating with some friends in one of the streets of Malaysia. And a man had his legs crossed and folded. And he crawled from table to table, asking for money. One of my friends commented that his handicap was fake. Another friend said that it was real. Both of them started to argue. A third friend of mine replied and said, ‘It really doesn’t matter whether it is real or not. If a man is willing to stoop that low — to kneel and to walk with his hands — then we ought to give’.
At first, I thought his thinking was quite noble. But later on, I realised that his perception of giving is about justification. As long as he justifies his standard, he is willing to give. Indeed, people have all kinds of reasons and motivations why they give to the poor. Some give out of love and compassion. Others give out of obligations. And yet others give to receive commendations from the people.
Is the motive behind our giving really that important? If it is, what is the right motivation? Let us learn from the Lord Jesus Christ, the One Living and True God, about this matter of giving. The title of our message is ‘Do Not Blow Your Trumpet In Charity’.
I. The Motive
Our first point is the motive. In Matthew 6:1 and 2, Jesus said, “Take heed that ye do not your arms before men to be seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore, when thou doest thy arms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily, I say unto you, they have their rewards”. To give arms is to give to the needy as an act of mercy.
The Old Testament scriptures repeatedly emphasize the importance of giving to the poor. It is the duty of the believers to give to the poor. Proverbs 19:17 says, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and that which he hath given, will he pay him again”. Proverbs 29:9 verse 7 says, “The righteous considereth the cause of the poor, but the wicked regardeth not to know it”. Psalm 41:1, “Blessed is he that considereth the poor. The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble”.
Men have this sinful tendency to make sure people know about their good deeds. Jesus knew about this strong sinful desire to have our good deeds seen by men, approved and recognised by men. And so he began by saying take heed. In other words, beware of this ungodly motive.
Actually, Jesus is not teaching us to give alms in these verses. In fact, he is assuming that we are already doing it. What Jesus was concerned about is how the giving is being done. Is it done to win the approval of men or the approval of God?
It is a sad reality that many people give to win the approval of men. That is why it is so common to see the world publish the names of donors and philanthropists. When you walk into some secular institutions, clubs or organisations, you will see a list of names printed on the walls. Sometimes you can even notice the amount of money printed beside those names for everyone to see.
Tragically, this kind of attitude has also crept into the church. People who call themselves believers, they want to have their giving to be noticed and appraised by men. They want to draw attention to their giving so that they would be praised.
Jesus calls it to sound a trumpet before thee. In our modern term, it means to blow your own trumpet or to boast. Here, the description is that of the sounding of the temple trumpets that called the people to come worship and give. What a great opportunity to show off. The trumpet would sound. People will be rushing along the streets toward the temple with these pious looks on their faces. People will be saying, ‘Hey guys, look at his generosity. Look at this great giver rushing toward the temple’.
They thought they were really something. But Jesus called them hypocrites. In ancient Greek, the hypocrites or hypocrites were actors. The phrase to be seen theomine in Greek is from where we get the English word for theater. In a sense, this act of giving is like putting on a show on the stage in the theater.
These hypocrites or actors were pretending to do something. They were putting on a show. They were not giving for the glory of God or even for the benefit of the poor. They were giving for the praise of men. They were giving so that others would think of them as holy, loving, and generous. They were hypocrites.
One theologian said, ‘A great deal of our religion amounts to nothing more than just trying to impress the world with our supposed generosity, love, humility, and devotion. Such religion is nothing more than a game of pretense’. A game at which the scribes and Pharisees during Jesus’ days were masters. But not only the scribes and Pharisees were hypocrites.
Since the fall of man in the garden of Eden, there were hypocrites. Cain was the first hypocrite who worshiped God by offering the kind of sacrifice that God did not want. When his hypocrisy was exposed, he killed his brother Abel out of resentment. Remember Absalom who hypocritically vowed allegiance to his own father, King Solomon, while plotting to overthrow his kingdom? What about Ananias and Sapphira who hypocritically claimed to have given all the proceeds from the sale of their property to the church, and they were killed for lying to the Holy Spirit? Perhaps the supreme hypocrite of all was Judas Iscariot who betrayed the Lord Jesus with a kiss.
It is one thing when someone says they are a bunch of hypocrites acting in the theater, but it is another thing when it is God himself—the Lord Jesus Christ, who said that giving to the poor is a good thing. But people have abused this act in order to win the praises of men. And it is as common today as it was in those days.
Sometimes I wonder whether what would happen to those big charitable organizations if the donors do not get the handshakes from the celebrities, or they do not have their names printed on those walls, or they do not receive awards, or have institutions named after them, will they still give? What about the church? If no one knows about your giving, will you still give?
There was a man who went to the pastor’s office one morning and told the pastor that it was the first time he had attended the church service the previous Sunday, and he had decided to make the church his church. He then handed the pastor a generous amount of money for the church with the promise that the pastor will receive the same amount of money from him every week. The pastor told him that he did not want to receive the money personally and suggested that he simply put the money into the offering bag during the worship service. Upon hearing that, the man stopped attending the church.
Another man left a certain amount of money to a particular church after his death. But there was one stipulation in his will, and it comes with a clause that a plaque with his name printed on it must be erected somewhere in the church so that everyone can see. Can you fathom that? Even at the point of death, people are still thinking about being praised by men.
Some people know that if they openly show off their giving, other Christians would find out and see through their hypocrisy. So they would try not to draw too much attention to themselves, but they would still try to make their giving accidentally noticed.
A pastor friend of mine told me that he noticed a church member would always drop hints about his giving by checking with him the following week if he has received a certain designated gift. And this particular church member would use a type of envelope which is colored and it is not common.
This is what we mean by accidentally showing off. But there’s no such thing as being accidental to God. God knows everything. The real trumpet blowing, the hypocrisy is always on the inside, the heart. And that is where God will judge because God sees into the innermost of the heart.
Verse 3 says, “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth”. The right hand is the one we normally use in giving because most of us are right-handed. In a normal work activity, the right hand would do many things that would not involve the left hand.
Giving to help those in need should be a normal activity of the believer and it should be done as simply and discreetly as possible. Here the idea is that the giving is so secretive and hidden, not only are we not to tell others, we are not to make a great deal of it to ourselves. There’s a sense in which we do not even tell ourselves. Self-consciousness can very quickly turn to self-righteousness.
Allow me to briefly explain. When we are self-conscious that we are doing the right thing but it can be in a negative sense. We keep reminding ourselves of how good we are, how generous and loving we are, how giving we are, we will become proud.
In other words, we do not keep a record of our giving in order to pat ourselves on the back for our generosity. We do not keep a diary to jot down our good deeds in order to congratulate ourselves every now and then for acts of charity. The whole point is do not keep track of our giving. Do not give ourselves merit points. Do it and then forget it.
The kind of giving that God will bless is that which is done and forgotten. It is done in love, out of a sincere response. And when the need is met, the giver goes on about his business, not waiting and wanting recognition. And God knows.
But having said that, it is not always possible to give in absolute secrecy. There are times when you want to encourage someone by giving him or her a gift personally. There are times when someone trusts you and shares with no one else but you about his needs and you respond by giving. Even if you quietly put the money into the offering bank, the person still will know that it is you.
The question is not whether our giving will be known by others. The question is whether it is done for that reason. When it is done in such a way that the glory is focused on our Father who is in heaven and not on ourselves, God is pleased. But if it is done for the praise of men, if it is done self-righteously and hypocritically, it will be rejected by God. The difference is in the purpose and motive. When it is done for the right purpose and with the right motivation, then inevitably it will be the right way. God will be pleased.
II. The Reward
Our second point is the reward. Jesus said, “If you do as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets that they may have glory of men” — in other words, to be honoured by men — “verily I say unto you, they have their reward”. It is not a question of whether you will be rewarded for your giving. You will be rewarded. The question is who rewards you? God or men.
The word reward is a technical term for commercial transactions—to receive a sum in full or to be given a receipt for it. You paid for something and you receive the receipt. If the praise of man is all that you want, you will get it. You will receive it in full. The truth is that you are not actually giving. You are buying. You are buying the praises of men and you will get what you have paid for in full.
So it is like a transaction. I use my money to buy praises, and I will receive the reward of praises from men. Anyone who does a good deed for the purpose of being praised and honored by men will lose his or her heavenly reward, no matter how good and beneficial the deed may be.
So it is possible for the believer to sell his house and give all the money to the mission field and yet not receive a reward in heaven. It is possible for you to resign from your work and work amongst the homeless in Australia and yet not receive a reward from God in heaven. It is possible for you and I to serve, preach, and teach regularly and consistently and yet not have a reward in heaven. Because it is possible that all these things are done for the recognition of men—and we have received the reward in full already.
The reward for giving will come. There’s a reward that comes from man, and there’s a reward that comes from God. If we want the reward from man, we will get it. If we want the reward from God, we will also get it in due time. I find this most terrifying because everything we do, we say we do it in God’s name, but in the end, it may amount to nothing. Not because God is not truthful to His promises, but because we have already received our rewards.
So outwardly, the most self-righteous believer in the church may have all his good deeds rejected. Jesus does not want that to happen. That is why He said in verse four that “thine alms may be in secret, and thy father receiveth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”
If I may put it simply, the biblical principle is this: If we remember, if we do it for others to remember us, God will forget. But if we forget and no one knows, God remembers. Our purpose should be to meet the need we are able to meet and leave the bookkeeping to God.
Our God is omnipresent. We are always in His presence. We can never hide from Him. The Psalmist says in Psalm 139:7-10, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” You and I know that we are always living in God’s presence.
But one thing we must understand is that sometimes the presence of God may be felt—and it is a most wonderful thing to feel His presence. But at other times, the presence of God is not felt, but He is equally there. So whether or not we feel His presence, He is there 60 seconds a minute, 60 minutes an hour, 24 hours a day. He is with us. We are in His presence. He sees all, hears all, and knows all. He is able to see into the innermost of our hearts and knows our thoughts and motivations, whether why we do what we do and what we do if it is for the praise of men. He knows.
If we truly believe that we are living in the presence of God, and nothing escapes His knowledge—even the innermost recesses of our hearts, He knows, then we must make a conscious effort to set our hearts right with Him: to glorify Him rather than men, to please Him rather than ourselves.
Dear friend, whose well done is more important to us—from the people or from God? What kind of rewards are we seeking after? The praise of men or the heavenly rewards? God may reward us on this earth. We have been blessed by him so abundantly, but it is the heavenly reward that we look forward to which will last for all eternity.
2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone must receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad”. Verses 13 to 15 says, “Every man’s work shall be made manifest. For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built there upon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire”.
There will be some believers who will receive reward from the Lord Jesus Christ for all the things he has done on this earth. He would have crowns to cast upon the feet of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. But there would be other believers who would receive no such rewards. They are saved but they shall receive no crowns for their labors because they have already received their rewards on earth. No reward in heaven.
Dear friend, does that mean anything to you? Those who cannot wait and need to get the glory and praise now—they will get it. Yes, men may praise and honor you and you will get it in full here on this earth. But you have forfeited your heavenly reward which will last forever and ever.
Martin Luther once said, ‘He expects three surprises in heaven. There will be those in heaven he did not expect to be there. There will be those he thought will be there but they are not there. But the greatest surprise—that he is there himself’.
If I may switch what Martin Luther said, ‘We expect three surprises in regards to our giving and charity. There will be those who receive a reward we thought they would not receive one. There will be those who will not receive a reward—we thought they would surely receive one’. But the greatest surprise—that we ourselves hear our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ say to us, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord”.
If we truly want to hear and receive this commendation from our Lord himself more than anything else in this world, then we must not blow our own trumpets in charity. Whatever we do, do it for the glory of God. Men may not know—our heavenly Father who sees our deeds in secret will one day reward us openly. That reward will last for all eternity.
Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, indeed as we live our days on this earth, thou has commanded us that we ought to show acts of charity. We ought to give to the poor. It is commanded of us as believers. For thou has said in thy word, there will always be the poor on this earth, because this world is tainted with sin and there will always be people suffering, struggling and in poverty.
We do see acts of charity everywhere. But what we do not consider is the motive behind the giving. And this is something that thou has taught us tonight. We want to do this acts of charity. Not for the praise of men. If it is for the praise of men, we shall receive our reward in full on this earth. But we do not want that. We want to receive our rewards in heaven which will last forever and ever.
So we do it not for the appraises of men, not to receive commendations from others, not to be recognised, but we do it for thy glory out of a sincere and genuine heart which the Holy Spirit will rot in us. So help us that as believers we will live such a life and we do all this. It is for thy glory. May thy name be magnified through our lives until we see thee face to face. We pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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