On Sunday we continued with our series on discipleship from The Sermon on the Mount. This week we are looking at Jesus’ teaching regarding generosity that’s pleasing to the Father.
“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 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 6:2-4)
Jesus is teaching us that our giving is to be in obedience to the Father. We are to give in response to His love and revealed will. However, generosity can easily become a means of serving public and self-esteem. Giving becomes worthless when it is not done for the Father. Grant Osbourne wrote of the first-century practise of alms-giving,
'By the time of Jesus righteousness and almsgiving were virtually synonymous, and almsgiving was an important part of temple and synagogue services. Synagogues functioned as social agencies in the first century, providing relief for the poor who depended on contributions from people in the community. Therefore, it was natural that ostentation became connected with giving; it was a perfect way to be seen as particularly pious.’
Jesus’ reference to trumpets may have been an actual practice but is most probably a vivid metaphor for drawing attention to oneself giving. Today, we might say, ‘don’t make a sing and dance about it’. There is evidence that large donors were publicly honoured.
However, we must be careful not to become pedantic and miss the point as Christians can often do. Jesus is not concerned about whether our giving or goodness become known (See Matt. 5:16). Rather, He’s warning against doing things in order to be esteemed. For example, he draws attention and makes famous the giving of a certain widow,
‘Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)
RESPONSE
Are you aware of the love of the Father for you? Are you and I motivated by the love of the Father for His church, His mission and lost people? Are we motivated for the glory of God? Are we exemplary in our secret giving? Take a moment to meditate and pray out of this text,
‘But since you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you – see that you also excel in this grace of giving.’ (2 Corinthians 8:7)
A helpful book on biblical generosity is,
COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY - USE MONEY LIKE GOD IS YOUR FATHER
Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
Suggested opener/Ice-breaker
Have you had any experience of someone giving you an unexpected gift?
Recap of Sunday's message - please share in your group
On Sunday we continued with our series on discipleship from The Sermon on the Mount. This week we are looking at Jesus’ teaching regarding generosity that’s pleasing to the Father.
“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." (Matthew 6:1-2)
Jesus warns us to be "Be careful". Like the religious leaders in Jesus' day, our spiritual lives can become external - for a show.
Throughout this chapter, we see that the truly righteous person relates to God as Father. ‘Father’ (Patér) is used 12 times in chapter 6. Healthy Christians know God as a Father. Knowing God as Father give us a healthy relationship to giving (6:1-4), prayer (6:5-14), fasting (6:16-18), storing ‘treasure’ (6:19-24) and fear (6:25-34).
I love the often overlooked but profound truth that our praying is to address God as “our Father…” What a difference it would make if we simply followed Jesus’ model of addressing God!
Lloyd-Jones wrote,
‘The theme of this section of the Sermon on the Mount is, you remember, the relationship of the Christian to God as his Father. There is nothing more important than this. The great secret of life according to our Lord is to see ourselves and to conceive of ourselves always as children of our heavenly Father. If only we do that we shall be delivered immediately from two of the main temptations (Pride and fear) that attack us all in this life.’
Knowing God as Father transforms the way that we give. Through knowing His love and power, we are released into generosity.
“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 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 6:2-4)
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