HD Living: His Address - The Sermon on the Mount
“Day to Day Living - Part 1"
Matthew 6:1-4
December 7, 2008
Introduction: Can you recall a favorite Christmas? If you had to pick one out of all the Christmases you have experienced, which one would you pick and why? My favorite Christmas was not my favorite when I experienced it. I was in elementary school and my father worked for a diary company. He had a co-worker named Leon Satterwhite. A week before Christmas the home of the Satterwhites burned to the ground. They lost everything. Across the street from where we lived was a vacant apartment. The Satterwhites were able to move into that apartment. On Christmas Day as we sat around opening our gifts, my mother just could not get into the Christmas spirit. I one point I noticed tears running down her cheeks. With that she said, “Boys, pick out a gift that you have and let’s take it over to the Satterwhites.” I wish I could tell you that my brother and I jumped at the suggestion and were all too eager to share the Christmas spirit, but we resisted. My mother then said she was going with us or without us and she proceeded to gather up most of the stuff that she had just opened and was taking it to the Satterwhites. From mother’s example, we wound up giving away most of the things we had gotten. That Christmas was not about us, it was about others. That’s what the first Christmas was all about. God was thinking of others.
Focal Scriptures: Matt 6:1-4
6:1 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 "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 honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
(from New International Version)
The Motivation____ of Giving. V. 1
Some Give for Recognition___ To the Jew there were three great cardinal
works of the religious life, three great pillars on which the good life was based–almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Jesus would not for a moment have disputed that; what troubled him was that so often in human life the finest things were done from the wrong motives. A man may give to the poor, not really to help the person to whom he gives, but simply to demonstrate his own generosity, and to bask in the warmth of some one’s gratitude and all men’s praise. A man may pray in such a way that his prayer is not really addressed to God, but to his fellow-men. His praying is a show. A man may fast, not really for the good of his own soul and body, but to show the world how spiritual he really is. Jesus said that if you give only to be seen by others, you are to be pitied.
Some Give for Reward______Jesus said some give just for the quick reward. He said it that is why you give, you have received your reward in full. The GK word used here was a business term. When you paid your taxes the tax collector would write on the bill “paid in full.” No other statements were issued, nothing else was coming. So, said Jesus, it is the same if you give for reward. When you give to the poor, when you pray just to be heard by others, when you fast to show how spiritual you are - when people look at those demonstrations and say, “What a great follower of God,” that’s the only reward you are going to get. You have been paid in full.
((when I think of someone who gives for recognition and reward I think of Donald Trump. This man has to have his name on everything. There was Trump Airline, there is Trump Tower, there is Trump Casino, there is Trump golf course, there is Trump bottled water, there is Trump clothing...))
The Manner______of Giving.
Content____ If you are going to be a generous giver, you have to be content with what you have. Someone is always going to have a nicer car than you do, a nicer and bigger home, fancier clothes. ((I love a story about the philosopher Socrates. He was known as a frugal man and yet he could often be found in the marketplace, examining the most luxurious wares on display. A friend asked him why he came to the market when he never bought anything. “I am always amazed to see,” said Socrates, “just how many things there are that I don’t need!”))
Consistent_____ If you are going to be a generous giver, you have to be consistent in your giving. Giving only when you have been inspired enough or made to feel guilty enough does not lead to sacrificial, Christ-like giving. ((if you like girl scout cookies, you better hope that you never meet Jennifer Sharpe. She sold a record 17,323 boxes of girl scout cookies. When asked the secret of selling so many boxes of cookies, she said, "I look every customer in the eye, talk to them and make them feel guilty." Well, her strategy obviously worked very well.)) The believers at Corinth were challenged to be consistent in giving. We will look at a demonstration of consistent giving by the early church in our next point.
Compassionately_ The late Dr. Ward Patterson had a varied career as a writer, campus minister and college professor. As a young man, he determined to seek adventure and travel around the world on a motorcycle. As he was traveling around the world, he found himself in a Muslim country on Christmas, where all Christian celebrations were forbidden. He had the compassion of Christ inside and he wanted to do something to show love to others. He bought some candy and gave it to children playing on the streets. They did not understand what he was doing, but he did. He didn't receive anything in return other than the joy that he gave to others. He learned the timeless truth of Christ all over again, "It is more blessed to give than receive." He learned that giving to others is always a good way to celebrate Christmas
A Model______of Giving. Acts 4:31-37 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.
Shaken______((twelve years ago for the Living Christmas Tree, I told
this true story. A woman entered a Haagen-Dasz store on the Kansas City Plaza for an ice-cream cone. After making her selection, she turned around and found herself face to face with the late Paul Newman, in town filming the movie Mr. & Mrs. Bridge. He smiled and said hello. Newman's blue eyes caused her knees to shake. She managed to pay for her cone, then left the shop, heart pounding. When she gained composure, she realized she didn't have here ice-cream cone. She started back into the store to get it and met Newman at the door. "Are you looking for your ice-cream cone?" he asked. She nodded, unable to speak. "You put it in your purse," he said.))
Sensitive______if you have food, clothes, a roof - you are richer than 75 percent of the world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet and spare change in a dish some place, you are among the top 8 percent of the world’s wealthy
Selfless______((an elementary class teacher asked her class one day what they would do if they found a suitcase on the side of the road and it had a half million dollars inside. One little boy was quick to raise his hand and he said he would return the half million dollars if the family was poor, but if they weren’t, he would keep it!)) You see the problem for many people is a “getting” problem versus a “giving” problem. We give ourselves away every Christmas because we ask people, “What did you get for Christmas?” Has anyone ever asked you, “What did you give this Christmas?”
Servants______In a Japanese seashore village over a 120 years ago, an earthquake startled the villagers one autumn evening. But, being accustomed to earthquakes in that part of the world, they soon went back to their activities. Above the village on a high plain, an old farmer was watching from his house. He looked at the sea, and the water appeared dark and acted strangely, moving against the wind, running away from the land. The old man knew what it meant. A tidal wave was on the way! His one thought was to help the people of the village -- but there was not time for him to make his way down into the village. He called to his grandson, "Bring me a torch!" In the fields behind him lay his great crop of rice. Piled in stacks ready for the market, it was worth a fortune. The old man hurried out with his torch. In a moment the dry stalks were blazing. Someone in the village below saw the smoke and then the flames. The big bell in the village began to ring and people began to shout, "fire!" Back from the beach, away from that strange sea, up the steep side of the cliff, came the people of the village. They were coming to try to save the crops of their rich neighbor. When they reached the top, they asked what had started the fire and when he told them he had, they thought he was mad. But then the old man shouted, "look at the sea." At the edge of the horizon they saw a long, lean, dim line -- a line that thickened as they gazed. That line was the tidal wave and it was rising steadily like a kite in the wind. It slammed into the village destroying every inch of it. The old farmer had given everything, but in the process he had saved everyone. Years later when he died they erected a monument on his behalf. At the base were these words, "He gave us his today, so that we would have a tomorrow."
Here is my challenge to you (an assignment): Go out a buy a gift for someone you do not know and give it to them anonymously