The Sermon on the Mount: Giving in Secret
In the eleventh in his series on the Sermon on the Mount, Pastor Shane examines Jesus' words on giving.
Click here for the recording of this 3/30/25 Service, and you can fast-forward to 27:51 to get to the start of the sermon.
Our text comes from Matthew Chapter 6.1-4
“Take care not to practice your righteousness in the sight of people, 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 on the streets, so that they will be praised by people. 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 charitable giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
Introduction…
We live in an era of ostentation- culturally, bling is good, a sign of success
In some cultures, the louder, the better; this is likely an overreaction to the days of poverty and want
There was a time when I tried to prove my success by many of these external markers; but the more markers I acquired, the less rewarding they were- “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” Lk 12.15
Such is Jesus’ counsel on giving
To this day, I remember my dad always putting the tithe envelope face down in the offering plate
When he gave cash, he always wadded up the paper currency so as not to be visible
Mom and dad rarely discussed their financials in front of me; any of my parents’ financial markers were only educated guesses in my adulthood
The Millionaire Next Door- drives a late model 4 door sedan; lives in the same house for many years; buys his suits at JC Penney; is married long term; is a dentist, owns a junk yard, or a small business; invests long term beginning at a young age; they tend to buy quality, but at a discount
In other words, you likely would not know they were worth 1 million by looking at them.
v1
Watch out that you do not practice your right living (dikaiosunē) so as to be seen by people; to be clear, Jesus wanted His audience to live right, but not primarily to do so to be seen by others
If you give to be seen, you have no reward with the Father in Heaven
Whenever I do something, I most often question why I am doing it
What is my motive? Is it right? You can do the right thing for the wrong reason…
What is my method? Is it right? You can do the right thing in the wrong way…
v2
When you give to the poor (He assumes that you will) don’t sound the trumpet (draw attention to yourself); He calls these people
Hypocrites- hupokritēs- utterly devoid of sincerity and genuineness; a stage player, an actor, one who is merely playing a role
In the synagogues- religious players; they are performing
In the streets- pagan players; they are performing
One is as bad as the other, because both lack sincerity
There motive is the praise of others, what rightly only belongs to God
They are looking for the affirmation from others, what they should only be receiving from God
There reward stops there
v3
When you give to the poor (again, He assumes you will)
Be discreet
v4
Charitable giving is done so in secret
The Father sees what is done in secret, hidden, not to be seen by people
He rewards what is done in secret
Applying the text to your life
What is your motive in giving? To be obedient to God, to meet a need, to be blessed by God
What is my method in giving, and why that? To extract the most long term benefit; to teach; to reward good choices
Do your homework when giving to the needy- if we are not careful, we can support an unbiblical lifestyle; some are in want, because of poor choices
Discretion has its own private reward
God will make sure you have the good coming to you
