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Matthew – Chapter 6 – Week 1
Read Matthew 6:1-4 and your notes from Sunday morning’s sermon.
Intro:
Moving into Matthew Chapter 6, we see Jesus begin to look at and correct some ways people have put their faith into practice. He warns them against the ways they’ve been practicing charity, prayer, and fasting. This week, we are looking at charity specifically. In Jesus’ day, poverty was widespread – nothing like what we experience in America today. So to say that there was a wrong way to help the poor would have been a strange thing to exclaim. But Jesus wasn’t suggesting that we stop giving, or even decrease the frequency of our giving, he simply knew that there were those who were more interested in being known for their giving, rather than in actually helping the poor.
As followers of Jesus, when we give as an act of service, it should be in service of God. When done in self-promotion, it is no longer in service to God, but instead, it is in service to ourselves. Jesus says that those who do give in service of themselves have already received their reward. They wanted recognition, and they got it. What Jesus wants us to know is that giving should be done in self-sacrifice, not self-service. We should be glad to give without receiving any earthly recognition, as we know we are acting in service of God.
Questions:
- In the sermon, Drew mentioned having the right heart behind our service. How can we be sure we have the right heart behind our giving?
- Looking back at the passage, where do we see that people usually advertise their acts of giving?
- Other than avoiding looking like a hypocrite, why might Jesus suggest that we should give in His way, as laid out in the passage? In other words, what do you think is our reward for this kind of giving? (Think heart transformation)
Feel free to discuss or ask additional questions as they arise
Spiritual Practice:
We are starting a new spiritual practice this week: Sabbath. This is arguably one of the most important practices we can implement in our lives. Sabbath is simply rest, and rest is essential to following Jesus. John Mark Comer in his book “Practicing the Way” says this:
“Sabbath is an entire day of your week – one-seventh of your life – set aside to not only stop and rest but also delight in and worship the God who made you to be with himself. It’s a day to cultivate joy in a world of sadness.”
Sabbath is a discipline of NOT doing. This is something that is severely lacking in our culture and many of us struggle with being in constant motion. When we do not purposefully slow down though, we become over-busy, and exhausted, which leads us to a negative place. Think of how you become when you aren’t well rested. Are you anxious? Angry? Unable to do things to your full potential? This is the opposite of the life that Jesus offers as we apprentice under Him. If we want to live the kind of life where we are keenly aware of God’s presence, we have to learn to slow down and rest.
We will take a closer look at Sabbath over the next several weeks as we learn to practice it together.
Closing Verse: Psalm 51:10 – Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
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