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Gospel of Matthew - Chapter 6 - Almsgiving

by Paul George  
4/02/2008 / Bible Studies

Matthew 6:1-4

"Be careful that you don't do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Therefore when you do merciful deeds, don't sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you do merciful deeds, don't let your left hand know what your right hand does, so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" (WEB).

The subject matter of Matthew chapter six is almsgiving, prayer, fasting, money, and anxiety. The first four verses cover the subject of "alms giving" or giving to the poor. The general warning is not to do acts of righteousness before other people, to be seen by them, for then there will be no reward. There are times when it is necessary to do good deeds publicly. However, Jesus was speaking about motivation, doing good deeds so that people would see and therefore think that you are spiritual. That is one form of hypocrisy, for in doing good deeds that people might see what you do you are not doing good deeds, put promoting self-interests.

The Lord always looks at the motives when He evaluates our works.

There is a trend today, especially in affluent societies, to let this one go. The thinking may be that the poor are just lazy and should work harder, or that it is the government's responsibility to help them, or that it is a never-ending task and so it will not do much good anyway, and so on. There are many reasons people can come up with to avoid this spiritual duty. Prosperity theology fits into the reasoning as well, teaching that if people had faith they would have wealth, because God wants His children to be rich. What is most disturbing is to see the wealthy and the successful promoted on Christian talk shows on television or in church services as if they were the spiritual ones, blessed by God. Jesus said that when people give money to the poor they should not "sound the trumpet" as the hypocrites do in order to be recognized and honored by others.

There are a number of ideas about the meaning of "sounding the trumpet" but the point is clear that the hypocritical alms giver was more concerned about being noticed for his deed than for helping the poor. Jesus said we are not to do this. Those who do this would receive no reward from God, because their alms giving were motivated by seeking the praise of men. Jesus calls those who seek the praise of men in their alms giving, it is all a show of spirituality, but it is not genuine. Many people will give to the poor, but they thrive on the praise of people who perceive them to be generous and spiritual. Jesus was saying that if you give to the poor in order to receive this acclaim, then that is all the reward you will receive.

The subject of rewards is a difficult subject. The Bible warns people not to do good deeds for the praise and honor you would get from other people; and on the other hand, it instructs people to run the race for the reward. There is nothing wrong with doing a righteous deed for the sake of receiving a reward, or praise, as long as the praise you seek is of God. In the Bible, when we are instructed to do acts of righteousness there is always a mention of reward from the Father in heaven. There has to be a motivation for the righteous deeds and our chief motivation is to please God. This is very different from doing something so that others in the church will praise you or think more highly of you than they should.

Jesus said that when you give to the poor do it in a way that is secret, without the public notice and acclaim, and without the poor knowing it was you who gave. If God is the motivator of our good deeds, what people will think about us or what debt of gratitude they feel they owe us has no value.

The second point in Jesus' instructions to the disciples is prayer. He told the disciples, the hypocrites "love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men." Jesus was describing someone who may or may not be sincerely praying, but certainly wants everyone to know he prays. Jesus was not ruling out public prayer; rather, He was criticizing the motivation of the hypocrite. Once again, Jesus was denouncing any religious act that is inspired by the opinions of people. In his denouncement He used sarcasm again: "They have their reward."

There were two principle errors in the scribes and Pharisees posture of prayer, seeking the praise of men (v 5) and meaningless petitions (v 7). The scribes and Pharisees prayed in two places, the synagogues, which was the proper place for public prayer and the corners of the streets. The purpose in praying on the corners of the street was to give the impression of their devotion to keeping the appointed hours for prayer; the real purpose was to seek the praise of men.

Praying in these public places revealed two things about the attitude of the scribes and Pharisees, first, they did not love prayer for its own sake, but they loved it when it gave them an opportunity of making themselves noticed. Second, they used prayer to seek the praise of men and not acceptance by God.

If we seek the approval of God when we pray we must ignore the praise of men because we do not pray to men expecting an answer, when we pray our eyes must be focused on God and not self or our fellowman. A story comes to mind of an elderly, quiet woman when asked to pray, after a few moments of silence she said "amen." After the service, one of her friends told her she could not hear what she prayed. The woman answered, "if I was praying to you, you would have heard my pray, I was praying to the Lord." When we pray what passes between God and our own souls must be out of sight. Public places are not the proper places for private solemn prayer. In His instructions to the disciples Jesus was not condemning public prayer. Public prayer has its place in the worship service.

Jesus told the disciples, instead of praying in public places pray in a private place. Jesus often went alone to the mountains and prayed. Peter went to a housetop to pray. The private place of prayer is a place where we can pray and not be seen, interrupted, disturbed, distracted and heard. The private place of prayer is the place where we have the freedom to pray we that do not have in the public place. In the private place of prayer, we can share with God the deepest desires of our hearts.

The second thing Jesus told the disciples to avoid was meaningless repetitions (v 7).

Jesus was not speaking against long prayers or repetition in prayers He was talking about trying to manipulate God through long and repetitious prayers. God does not need endless detailed information. Jesus said to avoid these practices, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

The third point concerns fasting. First, there is a warning of what not to do, instructions of what to do and the promise of a reward.

Jesus here criticized the hypocritical acts of disfiguring the face for a public show, to be seen by others as one who fasts and therefore who must be spiritual (6:16). This is perhaps the biggest hypocrisy, because fasting was a sign of humility before God, not an occasion for self-promotion.

Fasting had a distinct purpose in Israel. It was a way of saying "no" to the physical and material needs of the body and giving all the attention to spiritual matters. It was a way of saying that this time of prayer, or this time of repentance, is the most important thing in life. The Law commanded Israel to fast at the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29-31; 23:27-32; Numbers 29:7); and after the exile other fasts were added (Zechariah 7:3; 8:19). However, people could fast and pray anytime there was a need. An individual could fast at any time that some special petition was offered. Jesus Himself was in the wilderness for forty days, fasting and praying.

To proclaim a fast without any concern for changing the life as a whole missed the point. People cannot think that by fasting for one day, or for one month, they have put things back into balance. The fasting is supposed to have a lasting impact for righteousness. Fasting is not a common part of worship in most churches today, which is perhaps a pity, for if it were understood and done correctly it would be spiritually beneficial.

Jesus told the disciples, "Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting." Jesus told the disciples when they fast they wash their faces so that people will not see they are fasting. Only God will see, and He will reward the act as a righteous act.

Retired pastor,Church of the Nazarene

Author of web site Exploring God's Word

www.thewordofgodonline.net

New American Standard Bible

King James Version

The World English Bible

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