Righteousness: Before God or Others?

Transcript

Good morning. So over the Christmas holidays, I had a little bit of downtime, and when I just kind of want to relax and chill, I'm a TV person. So I just decided I would pull up Netflix on my phone and just kind of start trying to find a TV show to watch, just something kind of mind-numbing. And my go-to is always comedies. So I'm an office person, 30 Rock, Parks and Rec, for obvious reasons.

But I had caught wind of a particular show I used to watch with my dad. I caught wind that it was on Facebook, and so I was just kind of scrolling, on Netflix, and so I was just kind of scrolling through, trying to find it, trying to find it, and then there it was, The West Wing. I could tell by your, like, judgy smirks and laughter. Some of you don't share my excitement. For the two of you that do, you're welcome. West Wing's on Netflix.

But I did. I used to watch that show with my dad, and for some reason, I've always been interested in politics. I'm not a super political person, per se, but just politics in general has always kind of interested me. So, like, why do people run for the offices they run for? How do they kind of choose their platforms? How do they raise money?

How do they do all this stuff? And as you're looking at elections or even watching some of these TV shows, there's this perception, this theme that kind of runs through them about the question of kind of the motivation for why politicians are running. So, you look at politicians and you think to yourself, like, are they running? Like, are what we're seeing on the outside, so the speeches, the handshaking, the sacrifice, the service, like, is that coming from a genuine heart of American patriotism, or do they have other motivations? So, are they running for the good of the public or for the good of themselves?

Or maybe the more basic question is, what's their motivation? And I think the reason that politicians are such an easy target for this question is because of how public their platform is. There's something to having every aspect of your life kind of lived under the microscope or being in the spotlight, being visible to others, your life kind of being portrayed on the news that makes you begin to wonder about the motivation behind why people do the things that they do. And up until this point in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has been talking about what citizens in his kingdom should look like.

What should they look like? What should their perception be? How do they stand out from the culture around them? And Jesus has used language like, we should be light. So, in essence, it's going to be visible. And he's been talking about his followers being kind of held to a higher standard.

So, things that they would say would be, not just don't murder, don't hate or be angry. Not just don't commit adultery, don't even lust. Not just love your neighbor, but your enemy also. There's been a heart level theme to everything that Jesus has been talking about, not just the external. And we're going to see that continue today as Jesus begins to press in on what's our motivation behind the things that we do. Why do we do them?

And here's the deal. In this section, Jesus is going to lead off with kind of the main idea. And then he's going to give us three examples to illustrate it. And very rarely does Jesus do this in his teaching or in his parables. And I think the reason that he does it is to give the main idea and to show how all the other three things that he's going to talk about next are connected to it. The three things he's going to use as an example are giving, praying, and fasting.

These are three actions that devout Jews, faithful Jews would have already been doing. But Jesus is going to go deeper than just the action. He's actually going to take the emphasis off of that and begin to ask the question, what's the motivation? Is it genuine, heart level love for God, following God, or is it something else? And so what we're going to see is that Jesus actually cares as much about our reasons, our motivation for doing things, as he does about the actions themselves. So I'm going to pray for us and then we'll hop into the text.

God, I'm thankful that your word is clear. I'm thankful that we have it so that we can learn and study and grow. God, what we're talking about today is difficult to see and we need your Holy Spirit to expose it in us so that we have the ability to respond appropriately. God, this is your word. I pray that you would teach it this morning. Holy Spirit, I pray that you would fill me and speak through me.

In Jesus' name, amen. All right, grab a Bible. If you don't have a Bible, just grab one of the white ones that we have in the seats and go to page 473. We're going to be in Matthew chapter 6 today, beginning in verse 1. I will say this. If you don't have a Bible, take this one with you.

We want everyone to have a Bible. So just take it with you when you go. And again, the way Jesus begins is he starts off with the main point. So really, we could just throw the main point up on the screen and talk about it from there. And that's what Jesus does. He starts with what's the motivation.

So chapter 6, verse 1. It says this. Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them. For then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. I'll read it again. Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.

For then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. So once again, Jesus leads with the point. What's the motivation? He says, beware, be on your guard, fight against any urge or temptation to practice your righteousness in front of other people to be seen by them. And so when he says practice your righteousness, basically what Jesus is getting at is any action or activity that anyone would do in following God or as worship to God. So basically, anything that we have in the Bible is what Jesus is going after here.

And the three examples that he's going to use are praying, giving, and fasting. But he goes beyond just the action and he qualifies it. He says, doing righteous deeds is what people should do just to beware of doing it in front of people so that they'll take notice. Jesus understands that by nature, these actions at times are going to be done in front of people. In fact, Jesus, in the next section, he's going to pray in front of people. His point is this.

You're going to do these things in front of other people. He just says, don't do them just to be seen. That's not the point. Jesus says, be on your watch that any action that you're doing to ultimately bring glory to God, or that's an act of worship or an act of obedience or following him, isn't done so that other people will see it. Because if that's the case, the way he ends the verse is, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. And here's why I think it's so important that Jesus leads with this idea, both for his original hearers and for us today.

For most of us, we're unaware that this is even happening, much less a problem. It's just kind of sneaky. For most of us, you don't walk around questioning your motivation for why you do the things you do all the time. We just don't. That's not natural for us. For the most part, when we're doing good things, or even like when we're doing something specifically that the Bible tells us to do, we don't question our motivation because we're just trying to be obedient.

Like we're just trying to follow and do what the Bible says, but Jesus is pointing out that there's a danger when we're following him, when we're trying to be obedient, that we'll begin to slip into thinking more about what other people think about it than we do the original intention of the action to begin with. And it's sneaky. Again, we don't question our motivation all the time. And so what he's basically getting them to do is look at these three examples and ask, am I doing this because I genuinely appreciate love, want to follow God, or is it something else? Or is it so that other people will notice?

And again, he's assuming that they're already going to be doing these actions. He's just saying, check your motivations. So verse 2 is where we get our first example. Pick it up there. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

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. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Notice that he says, when you give to the needy, not if you give to the needy. Remember, Jesus is already assuming that people would be doing these things. He's just beginning to question their motivation. He's taking the emphasis off of the action itself and going more towards the motivation.

The Bible's clear in teaching that Christians should be generous. We should give. We should specifically look for people who are in need and try to meet those needs. The Bible tells us that basically everything we have has been given to us by God and it belongs to him and we're just his money managers. The part of the way we know the gospel has actually begun to affect our hearts is if it has begun to affect our wallets. But again, here, Jesus is putting the emphasis on their motivation rather than the action.

You see, giving to the needy in Jesus' day would have been a fairly public action. So whether you were going to the temple itself or going to a synagogue, there would be an alms box placed in kind of a public location and you would go and you would take your offering and you would put it in that box. In fact, in Mark 12, we see Jesus and his disciples, they're sitting in the temple watching people give when a widow walks up and she gives a very small amount but Jesus praises her because she didn't have very much but she gave out of her poverty. She gave all that she had. So it was this public thing.

And I had the opportunity to go to Cleveland, Ohio last year on a mission trip and that Sunday morning that we were there, we got the chance to worship with another church and it was kind of a charismatic church. I mean, the music was awesome. The preaching was awesome. It was just an awesome time. Like, I mean, people dancing, clapping. I mean, I was in it.

And the way the service ended was that they got everybody back up and we started singing. And everybody's dancing, they're kind of clapping. And I mean, I'm loving it, okay? But as I'm dancing and singing, I start to notice that people are leaving. But it's not like everyone's mass leaving.

It's just kind of like by rows almost. And I turn and look over my shoulder and the one exit to the room, there are ushers on either side with buckets and they're getting it too. That was how that church did their offering. So the one door that everyone funneled through was the door that you gave. Ain't nobody forgetting their checkbook in that church. There was no like shimmy and bye or like I left my checkbook in the car because those ushers were like, just like closer and closer to you on the way out.

But I just, I thought that was crazy. We're, you know, we're a little more low key. We kind of put our box and our computer to the side and we just remind you about it. Nobody's in your face, giving you the old shoulder shimmy. But it was visible.

So giving in Jesus' day was visible. And even if you were just giving to somebody on the street who is needy, who is begging, someone who's in that position is going to go to the most high traffic area so that they can attract attention so that hopefully somebody will see them and give to them. It was a visible thing. And Jesus is not saying, never give money publicly. He's saying, don't let your motivation for giving be about the people who are watching. It's not about that.

He literally says in verse 2, and it's my favorite, he basically says, don't toot your own horn. Don't sound a trumpet before yourself as you go to give. It's not about the people who are watching. And Jesus does give us a picture of what faithful giving looks like. He says, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that it's in secret. And you guys understand that it's nearly impossible for your left hand to be doing something that your right hand doesn't know about.

Try it when you get home. You'll be amazed. Your brain controls both hands. So Jesus is using exaggeration. It's hyperbole. He's saying that the posture in us giving shouldn't be about who sees it.

Shouldn't be about who knows about it. Whether it's the mount or the person we give to or the situation. He's saying that our response as we give should be, our response should be responding to what Jesus has already done for us. It should be the gifts that we've already been given. That's our reason for giving. So, should we give?

Yes. And is it going to be public or visible sometimes? Yes. Jesus' point here is that when we give, it doesn't have to become a Facebook status where we put hashtag blessed to bless. He's saying that maybe if we're going to give, maybe we show up early before a gathering and put our money in the give box or use the computer so that nobody sees it. He's saying that if our neighbor has a need and they don't have gas money, that the next conversation at our community group isn't all about how we help this one person.

He's saying that our heart and our attitude needs to be in worship to Him. Not about the other people who know. And that's sneaky. Again, we don't question our motivations all the time. But I think if we would begin to, we would say, maybe they're not as righteous as they should be.

And he continues on in verse 5. And this is going to be a little bit bigger section. But this is the section on prayer. And as we get to the back half of it, you're going to see that it's going to be familiar to most of you. It's what's known as the Lord's Prayer. Next week, we are going to specifically teach through the Lord's Prayer.

So I want most of our attention to be spent on the first part. What is Jesus saying about the nature of us praying when it's going to be visible? Verse number 5. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them. For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Pray then like this. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. So again, we're going to focus on the first little part of that. So my question becomes, does this prohibit all public prayer? Goodness, I hope not because like 15 minutes ago I just prayed in front of y'all and I don't want y'all analyzing the fact that I just prayed in public. That's not what He's getting at. It's obviously not the point because Jesus prays in front of people.

Right here in Jewish culture just to give us a little bit of a background what He's talking about. In Jewish culture there were specific times throughout the day that it was just known that people would stop and pray morning, midday, in the evening. And what He's saying is there were some people who would kind of go off by themselves and pray quietly, maybe not even out loud, maybe just whispering to themselves. but then there were others who would kind of go out into the more open areas and raise their voices and with eloquent speech begin their prayers so that others could hear them. His original hearers would have known exactly what He was talking about.

And what Jesus is saying is that there are those who love to stand and pray and let everyone hear their prayers so that the people around them start looking and going, dude, my elbow and the person beside him is praying. That's a prayer. You listen to this? Oh, what perfect theology. Did He just say propitiation? I don't even know what that means.

Do you know what that means? Jesus is saying there's a temptation when we're praying out loud to begin to think about what others around us are thinking. Like, are they taking notice? Do they, are they impressed by the words that I'm saying? He also says don't pile up empty words or phrases to impress others or for that matter to impress God. God's attentiveness to your prayer is not based off of how many theologians you can quote or how many sections of scripture you can recite or how long you can go without taking a breath.

That's, that's not the point. He says pray simply. If you look at the prayer that Jesus prays, it is a short, simple, direct, heartfelt, genuine prayer. He says, don't do it so that others can see it and don't heap up all these phrases and empty words. When I was in middle school and high school, they would have this event once a year. It's kind of across the nation.

It was called See You at the Pole. And so there's this one day of the year that all the Christians were supposed to, before school, you would go out to the flagpole and you would circle around the flagpole and you would pray. I've got concerns about the fact that we were around the flagpole and praying. But, anyways, so you would get out of your car and you would walk out there and everyone's already in a circle. You know, sometimes they were holding hands at which point I'm always scoping out for the cutest girl like, where do I, where do I break into the circle? Here.

I'm sorry, I need to hold your hand. And so you're in this circle and basically you're praying about all kinds of things. You're praying for your school, you're praying for your country, all kinds of different stuff. And the way it would work is you would kind of say a short prayer and if you didn't want to pray, you just squeeze the person's hand next to you. So, a couple sentence prayer, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, next person would pray. And we're all in a circle, everyone's heads are bowed and their eyes are closed and all of a sudden into the bright morning sky.

Father God, Father God, we thank you, Father God, for this day, Father God, because you are Father God, Father God. And like my head, like I just, immediately head shot up because I was like, who is this person? And they prayed for five minutes and all I can remember from middle school is that they said, Father God, 84,000 times. Now, I do not know what the heart level motivation was going on inside of the man that was praying that. What I do know is it looked like it was very showy, it was very loud, he said, Father God, to the point, I can't remember anything else that he prayed about and what Jesus is saying is that when our prayer begins to be more about the people who are watching or listening than it is about communication with God, we've messed up.

We've missed the point. And let me give us an example of kind of how this can show up in our lives, okay? So imagine, imagine you're hanging out with a group of Christians or you're hanging out with your community group and you're wrapping things up and someone looks at you and says, hey, will you pray to close us out? Sure. So you pray out loud as your group meeting times kind of come into a close.

No big deal. Well, the next week you show up, there's a period where you need to pray and someone looks at you and says, hey, hey, will you pray? You're really good at it. Okay, sure, I'll pray. And so you start praying but now the whole time you're inside your head. You're thinking, wait, I'm good at it.

What does that mean? Is that, okay, all right, so I'm praying. Then you're so inside your head that now every time when your group gets together and there's an opportunity to pray, you say, well, I'll pray because now you've, you know, you're the good prayer so you need to make sure that you're the one that's praying for your group or you're in a group setting and you're going around in a circle and everyone's praying and rather than praying alongside of the people who are around the circle, you're actually sitting there thinking, okay, what am I going to say when I pray? What are the words that I'm going to use?

I don't, you know, I don't want to mumble. No stumbling. It needs to be perfect. And that didn't even cross your mind weeks ago. It can slip in that easily and I think all of us have a little bit of apprehension when it comes to praying out loud in front of people because we go, I don't want to sound, I don't want to sound silly. I don't want to say something silly.

I don't want to sound like a third grader. But Jesus is saying that there are times when our prayers are going to be public. And if the point of our prayer is so that other people notice and pay attention, then basically, basically, Jesus is saying if it's for them, then good. They can listen to it because I'm not going to. It's missing the point of what prayer is supposed to be. So let me just give us a couple of questions to consider specifically about prayer.

Okay? Do you volunteer to pray when your group gets together because in your group you're kind of good at praying? Do you only pray when you're around people so that it seems like you've got a deep prayer life? So what I mean by that is like do you, when you're by yourself, you don't pray a whole lot but if there's a chance to pray in front of people, you're up for it. When people have situations going on, do you tell them that you'll be praying for them? And if you do that, do you actually go away and pray for them or did you just tell them that so that they thought you would do that?

When you have a good quiet time or devotion time, you've been reading your Bible and praying, do you take your phone out and take a picture of your Bible and your coffee cup and run it through that best Instagram filter and then put it online because you have, I mean, it's not about you. You just want people to know. And here's the deal. The reason it's so easy for me to ask these questions is because that's what God's been dealing with me for the last couple of weeks. Guilty. All those things.

All of them. And it can be so subtle that it sneaks in that rather than prayer being communication with God, it becomes about who's watching, who will take notice, what are other people thinking. So, God's been dealing with me about this. But Jesus does lay out what correct posture and prayer should look like. He says, go into your room, shut the door. Prayer is meant to be communion with the eternal God, so let's make it about that, not about what other people are thinking or hearing.

And here's the deal. There's a way to actually do that. There's a way to talk to God like that when you're in front of other people. It's just thinking, believing, realizing that it really is just you and He talking. And listen, that takes work. It takes work to not be thinking about what everyone else is thinking as you're praying.

Jesus says, we've got to begin to check our motivations and let prayer simply be the part of our relationship where we get to have communication. And then He moves on to the third example to kind of illustrate this point in verse 16. Pick it back up with me. It says this, And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret.

Okay, let me just say this. Of the three examples that Jesus gives, this is probably the one that is most foreign to us. And maybe we just don't emphasize it or talk about it as much as we do praying and giving. And so I want to take just a little bit of time to kind of camp out here and talk about it. We've actually never really talked about fasting at length in a sermon. So if you're a definition person or a note taker, here's kind of our working definition of fasting.

Fasting is abstaining from eating food for the purpose of pursuing God. Fasting is abstaining from eating food for the purpose of pursuing God. And even as I was preparing for this message, there are a lot of wonderful reasons why you should fast. But really the one that I find most compelling is that as your hunger begins to grow, the more easily you can see your own weakness and dependence on God. So in the same way that you get hungry or if you're like me, you get hangry, your body needs, craves food.

When you go without food for the purpose of pursuing God, it shows you how weak and frail and dependent you actually are. And in the same way that the body craves, needs food to survive and thrive, we need that kind of relationship with God to survive and thrive as well. And so when you look in the Bible at the times that people were fasting, they would fast to go along with their prayers. There were times where they fasted at different festivals or feasts. They would fast at times of repenting and mourning. And even as you move into the New Testament, you would see people fasting as personal devotion or they would fast before they were going to make big, wise decisions.

Jesus looks at his disciples in a situation. He's talking. He says, they're going to fast when I'm gone. So Jesus had the expectation that his followers were going to fast when he was gone. So fasting was and is a part of the New Testament church.

And part of what Jesus is trying to emphasize here, specifically in this situation, is that there were people when they would fast, he says, don't be like the hypocrites and look gloomy or disfigure your face. Sometimes when people would fast, they would put on what's called sackcloth. So just imagine like wearing a burlap shirt. Awful. Okay, so they would put on sackcloth and then sometimes they would put ashes on top of their heads as well as kind of like a sign of mourning. And basically what would happen is these people really weren't bathing during their time of fasting and I don't know if you all know this but the Middle East is kind of hot and so the ashes would kind of drip down over their faces and onto their sackcloth.

As well as kind of like a sign of mourning. And basically what would happen is these people really weren't bathing during their time of fasting and I don't know if you all know this but the Middle East is kind of hot and so the ashes would kind of drip down over their faces and onto their sackcloth. So when it says they disfigured their faces, it's not like if you were eating like a sour warhead

Or something like that. it's more like their appearance just they look disheveled and Jesus is saying that there were people who were fasting and they were going through this process so that people would see them as devout and holy so that they could get approval from other people just for their willingness to go without food and again Jesus says they've received their reward.

If that's the reason that they're fasting is just so that other people will see it then they've gotten their reward which is other people will take notice but Jesus keeps going and he says when you fast again not if you fast when you fast Jesus' expectation is that people would be fasting and this continues down through the New Testament to us today he just says wash your face

And anoint your head in other words it shouldn't be visible to other people by your appearance or by your words this is something that is between you and God when I was in high school I remember I got to class one day I sat down in my seat nobody was really in there yet just a couple of us I was early go figure and as I was sitting there there was a guy a couple of seats away and I'm just sitting there minding my own business I don't even remember

What I was doing but all of a sudden I hear oh man what's going on over here so obviously I took the bait and I just I just turned and said hey man you alright yeah oh man I'm just I'm super hungry okay and I'm I'm pretty sure I can't remember this I'm pretty sure we had just left lunch

So I just asked I was like dude did you did you not eat lunch he said nah nah man I didn't eat lunch just took the bait my next question why and he goes oh man you know me and some of the kids in my youth group you know we're fasting right now so you know we're not eating and man it's just it's just so tough and you know

I'm just I'm doing it I'm in I'm sold out I'm not going to give up it's really sarcastic I was like okay I just turned back in my seat and again I don't know what his heart level motivation was in that moment but the amount of grunting and sighing to then draw my attention I had to question like was he was he just trying to get my attention that's what Jesus is saying here

When our motivation for any amount of righteous action begins to be so that other people will notice we've missed the point and there is no reward from our father who is in heaven and here's the deal with fasting specifically I get it this is kind of weird for us you're basically depriving yourself of food so that you grow closer to God but here's

What I believe when you go away and try this you will be surprised at how close and how connected you feel to God I promise you that it's this time of just reminding yourself of your need and your dependence on him the times that I have fasted have been very very helpful for me and here's here's how fasting works okay the time that you would have spent eating you're going to abstain from food and you're actually

Going to spend that time with God whether it's praying or reading your Bible or singing worship songs like however you best connect with God and in those moments when the pains of hunger begin to to gnaw at you you're going to get to remember how much you need God that you actually need and depend on God more than you ever do on food and I will tell you one of the most

Helpful thing about fasting for me is it reminds me that food is not God food is just food that is so so helpful for me and let me say this if you're hypoglycemic or you're worried about any health concerns or health risks I would just caution you to use wisdom in terms of your specific needs if you want to have a conversation

About that when we're done I would love to but I believe that all of us fasting would be good for all of us and I would encourage you to do it and biblically fasting is abstaining from food but I think you can take that principle and really kind of apply it to abstaining from anything for the purpose of knowing God more so for some of us I think abstaining from TV

Would be a really good thing or maybe abstaining from coffee try that one boy that's fun for some of us maybe abstaining from playing video games for a time maybe abstaining from social media for a while and specifically with social media here's what's so dangerous for us in this day and time in the world when it comes to social media the point of social media

Is for you to put something up whether it's your thoughts or feelings or pictures or whatever for the purpose of other people seeing it that's actually the point of putting it up on social media so I think we've got to be careful as Christians to think like what's the motivation behind why I'm using

Social media or putting something up I think it would be very helpful for us to begin to question that but at the end of this fasting section I actually left off the last part of verse 18 so I want to go back let's actually pick it up we'll go all the way back to 17 it says this but when you fast anoint your head and wash your face that your fasting

May not be seen by others but by your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you your father who sees in secret will reward you in fact this is Jesus includes this phrase in all three of the examples that he says your father who sees in secret who sees your righteous deeds done with pure motivation will reward you

So we've already seen Jesus clearly lays out what it looks like when our motivations are off that the reward for that is just that other people will notice that they're going to see it but he says that there actually is a genuine reward when it's done with the right motivation so the question becomes what's the reward if there actually

Is a reward what is it so is it is it circumstantial is it based off of whatever the action is so like if I give and I'm generous is it that God's going to bless me and give to me Bible says some stuff like that is it is it if I pray that God's going to answer whatever prayer I pray

No we know that's not that's not it is if I fast and sacrifice that God's going to make my he's going to bless my life and it's I'm not going to have any other hardship other than when I'm fasting we know that's not true either it can't

Be the gift has actually got to be bigger and better than that even a lot of the answers that I just gave that are wrong those just terminate on us they're temporary there's got to be a reward that the creator of the universe the king

Of kings and the Lord of lords would give to his creation that is worthy of being something he would call a reward so the question becomes what gift would God give that he would think this is the best gift

For my creation himself the reward that God gives us is himself and so if just now you kind of thought to yourself okay saw that one coming and it doesn't actually stir your affections for him I think you've just

Gotten used to smaller gifts to the approval to the clapping of tiny hands to the watching of tiny eyes rather than the good reward that God gives us which is himself and here's the way that works here's how

That's possible Jesus willingly came to this earth and lived a perfect life that we couldn't live he died on the cross the death that we deserve to pay for our sin the punishment that we deserve and then he

Rose from the grave so that we could have new life in him and could be made into a new creation now and if that's true then the reward that we get is God himself relationship with God has been made

Possible so that we can repent of our sin and place faith in him which means this if that's true that means that every bit of your action and activity and obedience here on this earth isn't to earn God's favor

Or to merit his wrath for those who are in Jesus it means that your action gets to be a response of gratefulness and thankfulness for what God's done because Jesus died for you you get

The relationship with God which then means that praying and giving and fasting and reading your Bible and any other righteous action that the Bible calls us to gets to be simply to enjoy God

That it's not about it's not about what others think or what others see it's not even to earn something from God it's a response so when the Bible calls us to give and to pray what it is going after is communion with God you

Get you get the one who holds the universe in the palm of his hand and he wants to have an intimate relationship with you so that all of those actions get to be just to

Enjoy him there were some theologians in the 1600s that got together and they wrote what's called the Westminster Shorter Catechism and I think it helps sum up what Jesus is getting at here so well

I want to say this here's what they wrote man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever we'll say that again man's chief end is to glorify God

And to enjoy him forever the point of all of our action gets to be because we get God and we want more of him and that through these things we get to

Enjoy him now and forever more so my question for us this morning and really the question that Jesus raises through this entire teaching is what's what's our motivation is our

Motivation for the things that we do to honor him to know him more or is it something else so that others might see and here's what I want you to do I want you to actually ask right now

Holy Spirit where where am I doing this because it's sneaky some of you as we went through you immediately it immediately started going off but some of you may need to ask

Where am I doing this where's my motivation so that others will notice versus relationship with God is it my social media account is it conversations inside of my community group where am

I just doing stuff so that other people will notice even further than this where am I not doing stuff because of what other people would think

If I did so where's my obedience just motivated by what my wife would say if I did that or what my group would

Think if I did that it's sneaky guys and God's faithful God's faithful to lead us in repentance and so I want our response this morning to be twofold

As we repent repenting means turning away from sin and turning to God I want us to repent of where our motivations are off so the first question

Is this that I want you to ask where are my motivations where am I motivated by what others think versus communion with God sit

And ask that like right now if you don't know if God hasn't shown you yet just sit and pray ask him to show you

Where you're selling yourself short because of the cross you actually get to repent of where your heart is off and the second part

Of that repentance is where do my actions need to change to actually match that repentance so that if my heart is changing what

Needs to change about what I'm doing you're going to have a chance to respond here in just a minute some of you may just

Need to sit and pray and weep and think about where your heart has been chasing after smaller gifts rather than the gift of

God himself and who cares what people think if that's what you need to sit and do some of you need to stand and

Sing and praise God and raise your hands and thank him for the goodness of the gospel and it's not about what people think

Sing at the top of your lungs if you want to raise your hands if you want to some of you may want to

Give you've been convicted about giving you may want to do that go for it but don't let it be so that other people would

Notice church you're free we're free for those who are in Christ our relationship has been purchased by Jesus which means that all of

Our actions get to be to enjoy him a good loving holy God band is going to come back up in a second we're

Going to stand and sing I just want you for a second imagine if we as a church followed Jesus from a place of

Pure motivation rather than being worried about what others think of us all the time imagine imagine how free we would be how much

Joy we would have think about the genuine types of relationships we would have both with God and with each other so let's let go

Of the approval of others and enjoy the reward for our actions done with pure motivation which gets to be genuine fellowship with God and

With each other let's pray God I pray that all across the room right now your Holy Spirit would be working and moving God that you would lead us to

Repentance God I know that you expose sin in us we need you to expose the sin in us and I thank you for the

Joy that repenting is because it means we get to turn away from something that is ultimately destructive that will not satisfy us to

A good loving God that we get to continue to pursue righteous living and following you in obedience but we get to do it

From a place where we're not earning anything we're actually just getting to enjoy our relationship with you so God all across this room

I pray that you would do work as we respond to you we pray in Jesus name amenxurl --app my-app auth oauth2 zachpippin