An Audience of One
TRANSLATION
(1) “Be careful that you do not practice your good works in front of others to impress them lest you lose the rewards your Father in heaven wants to give you. (2) When you give to those in need, make no public announcement as do the hypocrites in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may be praised by others. Truly I say to you, ‘They have already received their reward.’ (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 done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
(5) “And when you pray, you must not 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 others. Truly I tell you, ‘They have already received their reward.’ (6) But when you pray, enter your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (7) And when you pray, do not use flowery language as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. (8) Do not pray like them, for your Father already knows what you need even before you ask him.”
OBSERVATIONS
Jesus’ command, “Be careful that you do not practice your good works in front of others,” served as the theme statement of this segment of his Sermon on the Mount as he showed his disciples how their lives must differ from those of Israel’s religious leaders. Repetitions included “reward(s),” used both as a noun and a verb, occurring five times in the same five verses (vss. 1, 2, 4, 5, & 6), and “in secret,” found four times in two verses (vss. 4 & 6). “Give” occurred twice (vss. 2 & 3) along with “giving” (vs. 4). “Pray” is found six times in the second paragraph (vss. 5, 6, 7, & 8). One other term, “Father,” Jesus’ name for God, sometimes modified by “your,” once with “our,” and other times alone, is found five times (vss. 1, 4, 6, & 8).
OUTLINE
I. Theme: Beware of practicing your righteous deeds before others. (1)
II. Applications:
– Give to the needy in secret. (2-4)
– Pray to the Father in secret. (5-8)
IDEA STATEMENT
Regarding our righteous deeds such as giving and praying, Jesus commanded that what we do must be done in secret if we desire the Father’s reward.
APPLICATION
While none of us can completely hide our actions from others, our motivation for living righteously must always be focused on pleasing our heavenly Father rather than seeking to impress others with our godly behavior. Jesus mentioned several areas in which the religious leaders of his day paraded their righteous deeds before others to impress them with their pious behavior. Instead, he required of his disciples that whatever we do to please God should be done “in secret.”
Each type of “pious” behavior was introduced in the same way: “When you give” (vs. 2), “When you pray” (vs. 5), and (as we see in tomorrow’s segment) “When you fast” (vs. 16). In each case, Jesus cautioned his disciples to keep their actions from being on public display. The question with which each of us must wrestle is how we are to apply his admonitions to our own behavior. While Jesus’ words were not intended to keep us from praying in a group or taking part in fund-raising activities, the issue in this segment really has to do with our motivation whenever we pray or give to the needs of others. If our desire is to impress others with our holiness or our generosity, we have missed the mark. Our praying and our giving and all our so-called righteous deeds should be directed toward God alone with the motivation of pleasing him alone, never toward others to impress them with our godliness. As Soren Kierkegaard once wrote, we are to play to “an audience of one.”