Post by M.R. Hagerty on May 12, 2023 22:43:28 GMT -7
Matthew 6:1-13
"Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2 "So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
3 "But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 5 "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
7 "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8 "So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 9 "Pray, then, in this way: `Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 `Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 `Give us this day our daily bread. 12 `And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 `And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. ' (Matthew 6:1-13)
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Commentary
Matthew 6:1-4
1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
Now it would seem that the practice of righteousness before men is precisely what we are to do in order to draw all men unto Christ. He has just said previously that we are to let our light so shine that others may see our works and glorify God.
But this is about practicing so as to be noticed by them, meaning to build up one’s pride in himself. When He says that we have no reward with the Father, it is because we have sought an earthly reward (to be thought highly of by men) and so we have received it. So it is a principle we should take note of: we can seek earthly rewards or heavenly ones, but not the former as equal to the latter. We may receive both, but we are to seek one in preference to the other.
In churches today it is so very easy to get involved so as to be seen as someone special, someone in authority, or someone with influence. This is made evident when there is disdain or the lack of interest in doing something alone, without people around to notice.
C.S. Lewis’ commented notably concerning heaven – “there will be surprises.” Not only as to who is saved and who isn’t but as to what was done for God and what was done for self.
3 "But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving will be in secret;
”left hand . . right hand” This is just an idiomatic phrase for keeping things very discrete. The business in your right hand is so private that even the left hand of your body does not know about it, (which is technically and biologically inaccurate because hands do not know. But it was meant metaphorically.)
The intent is that we do everything to be sure that our giving is in secret so as to forestall any credit coming to us.
The KJV has “will reward you openly” but ‘openly’ does not appear in the Greek text, hence the NASB version - ‘will reward you.’
It is to mark that we work for our Invisible Father and are content that only He sees the work done.
Now this is a true wonder of His grace and love, because it is enough to be His children and citizens of His Kingdom. To work should not engender in us any view towards reward. We ought to be glad to do them for our loving Father. But His love is such that He delights in giving us gifts in recognition of what we have done, and in this He shows the excellence of His nature in unexpected blessings.
Matthew 6:5-6
5 "When you pray, . . not . . like the hypocrites; . . I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 "But . . go into your inner room . . . and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father. . . will reward you
The word hypocrite comes from Greek drama, meaning the actor pretends or plays a part while not being the person in the part themselves. We are therefore hypocrites when we put forward the pretense of another person to be seen by others. Much of this has also to do with our self image, and today there are many who cannot bear that others see who they really are. In society it is easy to emulate someone else and pretend very effectively to be that person.
The actor Cary Grant, had a rather low self esteem in his youth and when acting came his way, he adopted Cary Grant as his persona. He said that he played him so well that he became Cary Grant in real life. He did not mean that the transformation worked. He meant that he became very adept at always being “on.”
We are not to use prayer as a vehicle for our own public aggrandisement, - to advance the image we want others to see. Some folks know how to pray very eloquently in public but have a meager private prayer life. What is striking about this teaching is its validation that God sees in secret. We sometimes attribute vision to physical presence. If no one is here so no one is seeing. Part of the conscience we are to have as Christians is being ever mindful that God not only sees our actions and hears our inner thoughts, but knows their motives.
The atheist dismisses this as so much bunk because the very scene of hearing all the voices in the world and all their motives at the same time is beyond comprehension, and for some just plain nonsense. But of course the problem is in trying to bring God down into the confines of human understanding, to make Him conform to the limits of what men can do. He is in fact beyond all comprehension, a being so unlike His creatures that we make a grave mistake in assuming He is just like us.
”inner room . . close the door”
Some call this “alone time” with God, but whatever we choose to call it, it is needful that we have both a place and the time to be alone. This is a tall order when you’re raising a family of little ones. It’s a difficult thing even for a new couple because being private can be misunderstood by our wives and husbands.
The view that has helped many is the idea that God is very willing to make an appointment we set with Him and ourselves. Once made, He will be waiting there faithfully for us. That we forget Him and go on about our lives should prick our consciences and get us to fixing whatever interruptions and cares prevent us from getting back to meeting with Him as planned.
So the encouragement is to make that appointment. Make it with Him and with yourself and keep it. He promises that those who seek Him will be rewarded.