Behind the Gift: Unwrapping True Motives

Music.

This week, I came across the story of a couple, and they were trying to get

their last-minute Christmas shopping done.

How many have all your Christmas shoppings done?

Wow, good job, you three people. The rest of us might be like this guy.

So there was a guy named Jack, and he was married to Sarah, and they were trying

to get their Christmas sheet art.

The woman is always – she probably ordered it on Amazon six months ago or maybe on Black Friday.

But he remembered that he still needed to get a Christmas present for his wife.

And the house had been looking a little messy, a little dirty.

And he was thinking in his mind, man, I hate living in this.

Maybe if I get her something that will motivate her, she'll take care of the house more.

You can tell where this is going. So he walked into the store and he sees this

beautiful vacuum cleaner.

He says, I bet if I get that vacuum that she's going to begin,

she's going to love it so much.

She's going to want to vacuum our house all the time.

And I won't have to do as much work and I can just, man, it's going to be awesome.

So he did, he bought it and she gave him his gift, which was wonderful.

And then he gave her the gift

and she saw right through

it like most wives do and it

was because the gift that he gave was not

a sincere gift it was with an ulterior motives

how can i just ask since i don't

want to be alone in this how many husbands have you

ever bought your wife a vacuum for christmas dean

yes adam all right good

job guys i'm not alone mine was pure mode

mine was a pure motive i'm sure of it i remember both christmases that happened

but we've all made decisions based on selfish motives right we we tend to do

that because we're so human and we're so full of ourselves a lot of time.

And it's important for us to pay attention to our motives because they can result

in us blessing others as a result.

Or it can result in complete self-focused. You see,

the mark of a Christian is someone who's motivated by love to treat others and

to honor others as better than themselves, isn't it?

That's what Jesus Christ modeled for us.

And during his earthly ministry, Jesus was more interested in people's motives

and the reasons why they did what they did than their actions a lot of times.

Jesus knew that people's motives were really deep-seated heart issues.

Last week, we talked about the language we use, you know, and we saw that our

tongue and what comes out of our mouth is a reflection of what's in our heart.

And it's the same thing when it comes to our motives.

We're going to be in Matthew 6. If you brought your Bible today,

I really encourage you to bring your Bible and to use the Word of God.

To be in it, to highlight it, circle it, write in it.

If you look at Matthew 6 in a Bible, it says there's a lot of Bibles will have

little headings for different sections.

In chapter 6, mine says it splits it into three sections, four really,

but I'm going to break it down into three.

Verses 1 through 4 is how to give, and Jesus is telling us how to give.

Verses 5 through 15 are how we're supposed to pray.

And then verses 16, 17, and 18, Jesus gives us instructions on how we're to fast.

And yes, we are supposed to fast as Christians. It's a biblical principle.

And so follow along as we read from Matthew 6.

And we're going to read verses 1 through 8 and then 16, 17, and 18 together.

So it says this, be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.

Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven.

So whenever you give to the poor, don't sound a trumpet before you,

as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by

people. I would underline that.

Truly, I tell you, they have their reward.

They're going to get what's coming, he's saying. Verse 3, Jesus says,

but when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right

hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret and your father who sees

in secret will reward you.

Now he jumps into how to pray. Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites.

You see, Jesus keeps looking, making these comparisons between people who are

true worshipers and people who are hypocrites.

He says, whenever you pray, don't be like the hypocrites because they love to

pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people.

Truly, I tell you, they have their reward. But when you pray,

go into your private room, shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret.

And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

When you pray, don't babble like the Gentiles since they imagine they'll be

heard for their many words.

Don't be like them because your Father knows the things you need before you ask them.

And then in verses nine through 15, Jesus gives us the example of the Lord's

Prayer, which is an example prayer.

It's something that teaches us how we're supposed to pray and the direction we're supposed to pray.

And then we pick back up in verse 16, and Jesus says, Whenever you fast,

don't be gloomy like the hypocrites. There's the hypocrites again.

For they disfigure their faces so that their fasting is obvious to people.

Truly, I tell you, they have their reward. But when you fast,

put oil on your head and wash your face so that your fasting isn't obvious to

others, but to your Father who is in secret.

And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

So here we see Jesus using three different areas of our lives,

three different areas of the Christian life, our giving, our praying, and our fasting.

And Jesus probably could have picked a lot more areas, but he gave us these three.

In this particular passage. But the focus is not on the act that is being done,

but it's on the heart and the motive behind our actions.

If you haven't noticed yet, Jesus wants to get to our hearts.

He's not concerned about a religious show or the things that we do so much as he is our hearts.

Jesus is always about getting to the heart. And he reveals several things about

the hearts of those who claim the name of Jesus, but their hearts aren't following their actions.

And so this morning, I just want to give you some takeaways or some warnings

from Matthew 6 that Jesus gave us.

And the first one comes in verse 1, when Jesus said this, he said,

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.

Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven.

Number one, when it comes to giving and serving the poor, we must be careful

not to practice righteousness in order to be seen by people.

Why do you and I give of our time and our talent and our resources?

Why do we help someone out when we're in a diner? Why do we want to pay it forward?

What is our reason? Is it so that someone will pat us on the back or so that

someone will say, hey, look at that person. They're so holy.

Or is it because you're trying to be Jesus to somebody in their life?

You see, Jesus warns about practicing righteousness to gain attention and admiration of others.

And he redefines the nature of giving into two ways.

When he first emphasizes that the true essence of generosity is found in secrecy and humility.

Secrecy and humility. That's the complete opposite of what's happening in the

religious people back in that day.

Verse two, Jesus says, So whenever you give to the poor, don't sound a trumpet

before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be applauded by people.

Now, they weren't actually blowing horns and trumpets,

but Jesus is emphasizing here figuratively how loudly people were publicizing

their charitable acts in such a way that they were trying to gain the recognition

and approval of those around them.

And Jesus redefined this one

by emphasizing that true devotion seeks the approval of God and not man.

When you do what you're doing, it's not because you're trying to win the approval

of man. At least it shouldn't be if you're a Christ follower.

You do what you do because you want the approval of God.

You want to be like Christ. You want to be holy. You want to be full of love and about other people.

Keep your finger in Matthew 6 and flip over to Galatians chapter 1.

Galatians 1 · chapter mention

And I'm going to read this. Verse 10, it says, Am I now trying to win the favor of people or God?

Or am I striving to please people?

If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

That's what Paul says, that you're not a true servant of Christ if you're trying

to please people and you're not living your life for an audience of one.

In verse five, Jesus moves on to the topic of prayer.

And he says, whenever you pray, don't be like the hypocrites because they love

to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people.

And again, Jesus isn't telling us that we shouldn't be on the streets and we

shouldn't be praying in public.

He's saying, Listen, it's about the heart attitude.

What is your motive when you go and you do these things in public?

Jesus doesn't say don't go to church and pray.

In fact, the New Testament tells us otherwise. But he says this in verse 6,

But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door,

and pray to your Father who is in secret.

And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

When you pray, don't babble like the Gentiles since they imagine they'll be

heard for their many words.

He's calling out the people that are just saying, you know, look at me.

I can, have you ever gone to like a prayer group or just been with some people

and there's some ultra religious people that are in there and they're just like,

they're going on and on and on and on.

And you're like, what is going on? I can't pray like that.

He's saying, I don't care about the person that babbles and babbles and just goes on.

What I care about is the heart of someone that's seeking me.

Number two, God desires intimacy with you through prayer.

God doesn't want to hear just your words. He wants your heart.

He already knows it, but that intimate relationship comes when you share your

heart. And what is prayer?

It's communion with him. It's talking with him. It's conversation.

That's why Paul says, pray at all times.

Pray without ceasing. We pray at all times.

It's living a life of intimacy with Jesus, that we're talking with him at all times.

And it doesn't have to be a bunch of babble, and it doesn't have to be lengthy.

I love the story in Luke chapter 18, verses 10 through 14.

Luke 18:10–14

Jesus really hits these guys square on the head.

Says this, two men went up to the temple to pray.

One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself. Can you imagine this?

God, I thank you that I'm not like those other people.

Wow. You must be really holy. I thank you that I'm not like the other people,

greedy, unrighteous, adulterous, or even like this tax collector over here.

Can you imagine praying that?

Come to a Wednesday night and Adam says,

Praying, God, I thank you that I'm not like this guy over here. Wow.

And then he goes on and he brags about his quote-unquote righteousness.

He says, I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of everything I get.

But the tax collector standing far off would not even raise his eyes to heaven,

but kept striking his chest saying, God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

And this is what Jesus said. I tell you this.

This one went down to his house justified rather than the other because everyone

who exalts himself will be humbled,

but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

The ugliest motive, uglier than any ugly Christmas sweater that we could ever

wear, is the prideful heart of a quote-unquote religious person.

God is not interested in some rote, memorized prayers.

God is interested in the honest, broken, and humble, contrite heart.

Number three, God desires a broken and contrite heart.

He's not interested in those of us who brag about righteousness or how holy we claim to be.

God isn't interested in people who display their self-righteous attitudes and

say, God, thank you. I'm not as bad as that person.

It's the opposite.

Here's what God desires. Psalm 51, 17. The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit.

God, you will not despise a broken and humbled heart.

Have you ever been in a place where you just can't even feel like,

you just don't feel like praying.

Like, God, are you even hearing me? I've got nothing to say.

I feel like I'm far away. I feel like you're not hearing me.

And you just stop and you just say, God, help.

Help. Help me. I'm broken. Help me. I need you. Help me. I'm sick. Help me. I'm broke.

Help me. I need wisdom. God would rather hear the prayer of someone saying, help me. I'm a wreck.

I'm full of sin. Have mercy on me. Then hear our pious rambling and self-righteous pride.

Because that's a prayer looking for the approval of man and not for the approval of God.

Listen, it's not about the number of words you pray.

It's about the motive of your heart.

God's more interested in the relationship and the fact that you are pursuing

intimacy with Him more than anything else.

In verses 16 through 18, Jesus gives us this last example about fasting.

And he says, whenever you pray, right? I'm sorry.

Whenever you fast, don't be gloomy like the hypocrites, for they make their

faces unattractive so that their fasting is obvious to people.

Truly, I tell you, they have the reward. But when you fast, put oil on your

head and wash your face, Clean yourself up.

And your father, so that your fasting isn't obvious to others,

but to your father who is in secret.

And your father who sees in secret will reward you.

The hypocrites in Jesus' time, they would often, they would fast in such showy,

pious manners that they would make themselves ugly.

They'd put ash on their face. And they'd wear ash cloth and they'd parade around. Oh, God.

And it was a show. It wasn't them communing with God. It wasn't fasting as the Bible depicts it.

Jesus said, this isn't the way that you're going to please me by putting on a show.

Putting on a show may be fun. It may attract people, but it doesn't honor God.

I love that in each case, when we do things in private, Jesus said,

the Father sees you and you will be rewarded.

It's very clear through Scripture that Jesus is seeking those who will give

him true and intimate, heartfelt, sincere worship.

These religious people were so focused on living for other people.

Their passion was still spiritual. And it's a good thing to fast,

and it's a good thing to pray, and it's a good thing to give,

and we're supposed to do that.

But we have to do those things out of a heart that is completely sincere and in love with Jesus.

Because our ugly motives can nullify our witness in this world.

Ugly motives can nullify our witness in the world.

They can. Christmas season is full of opportunities to serve people and to meet needs.

We have an opportunity Thursday to go over to the nursing home and just love on those people.

You could go over there and you could flaunt your stuff and you could bring

keys to a new Porsche and you could do whatever and try to look good to people.

Look good to the staff or look good to the church or look good to those people there.

But how much more is an honest, heartfelt action going to be received by someone

who's alone this Christmas?

Doing the right thing for the

wrong reason can cost us our ability even to

grow as God wants us to grow I want us to look at Luke 2 before we wrap up today

it's the famous Christmas story I think some of our kids memorized it in school

and Hudson used to quote it to us every Christmas,

But as we read this together, I want you to notice the way in which Jesus came

to us as we celebrate Christmas this season.

Luke 2, 1-7 says, In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that

the whole empire should be registered.

This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.

So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town.

Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea to the city

of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family

line of David, to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant.

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Then she gave birth

to her firstborn son and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a

manger because there was no guest room available for them.

Now, if anyone deserved the praise for their actions, it surely would have been

the God of the universe who was coming to rescue us, right?

But notice how he came. He didn't come to a temple or to a castle or he wasn't

born to kings and queens or rich people.

He came in the form of a baby and he came to a stinky manger full of farm animals.

Jesus' motives were not for recognition and praise. His motivation was love.

What he went through in the gospels and what he went through in scripture was

because of his great love for you.

The very reason we celebrate Christmas is because of a divine act of humility in the birth of Jesus.

And so fourthly this morning, as we live out our lives, as we give,

as we fast, as we pray, as we sing, as we do everything that we're called to do in Scripture,

we recognize that Jesus is our motivation.

Jesus is our motivation. See, when we wear our ugly Christmas sweaters to a

Christmas party, what are we trying to do, honestly?

Who are we trying to draw attention to?

Look at me. I'm hideous. No, we're trying to draw attention to ourselves, right?

But when Jesus is our motivation, our desires change.

And instead of drawing people's attention to us, Our motivation now is we want

to live life in such a way that when we do things, people are drawn to Jesus.

We don't want people to be drawn to us. We want to serve. We want to pray. We want to give.

We want to be a light to our community. We want to go places.

We want to collect, you know, the hats and the gloves.

Thanks for doing that. By the way, we've got a full bin that I'm going to take

over there tomorrow to the school.

We do those things not to gain recognition or glory. We do those things to point

them to Jesus because he is our source of love.

He is who we live our lives for.

He is who motivates us to live this life that he's called us to live. It's for him, right?

There's a story of George Gipp. Everyone, anyone ever heard that name, George Gippe?

What about this have you heard the phrase let's win one for the gipper how many

have heard that one i've heard this and i've never ever i've even said it but

i've never known the story behind it and this week i came across the story.

George gip was actually a notre dame football star he could do it all he could

run and pass and punt he was the star of the team,

In 1920, he had the most amazing year,

but it ended up with him getting pneumonia, going into the hospital and passing away,

December 14th, 1920.

Eight years later, on November 10th, 1928, Notre Dame and Army were tied at

halftime, and they were struggling to get a victory for old Notre Dame.

And the famous coach, Newt Rockne, himself a legend, went into the locker room

and he began to tell the players.

Music.

Newt Rockne asked him, he said, Gip, is there anything I can do for you?

He said, actually, coach, when the team's up against it, when things are going wrong,

and the brakes are beating the boys, tell them to go in there with all they've

got and just win one for the Gipper.

And he shared that with them.

Notre Dame went out motivated to honor their friend George Gipp And it inspired

them to fight harder And to push harder And to do their best And to fight and win And they did,

As Christians, our motivation for living this life,

This life of love This life of serving this life of forgiving,

this life of laying everything down for the cause of Christ,

isn't for a football player.

Our motivation for all of our life is focused on the life and the death and

the resurrection of Jesus Christ and what he did there on the cross for you and for me.

His sacrifice motivates us to sacrifice for others.

Colossians 3.23, Paul says this, and then we'll be finished.

Whatever you do, whatever you do, do it from the heart as something done for the.

Music.

Great things for the kingdom. I want you to serve Jesus.

I want you to give of your resources.

But I'm not the motivating factor here. We do it because he gave his everything for us.

Music.

And we want to win people to Jesus Christ.

Went out to impress other people with righteous living. we're out to honor the Lord Jesus.

Music.

He is our motive, and he is our reward for doing the right thing.

This Christmas, I just want to invite you to confess the ugliness of your motives.

Maybe your motives are pure, and I pray they are. But this is something I've

had to pray through this week.

God, give me pure, righteous motives.

When I speak, may it be because of what you've done.

You're my motivation. When I serve, let it be because I'm serving alongside

you. And I'm actually serving you.

I'm giving a cup in your name. I'm giving a hat in your name.

I'm going to go caroling in your name.

I'm going to invite people to Christmas Eve in your name.

Music.

Everything we do should be for the glory of Jesus Christ let's pray Father we

love you and we're so thankful that,

that you are so long suffering with us you're so patient with us you're so forgiving of us,

we ask that you would just cleanse our hearts and our minds we don't want to

have ugly motives this Christmas we don't want to have ugly words this Christmas

we don't want to have ugly thoughts this Christmas.

Music.

Lord would you convict us,

we want to live this life and we want to make a difference but it's not so that

we'll be elevated it's so you'll be elevated so lift We lift you up in this place today.

May you be honored by the lives we live.

Music.

It's for your glory we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

You've been listening to the Generations Church podcast. If you'd like more

information about Generations Church, feel free to get in touch with us at info

at generationchurch.us or

head over to our website, www.generationchurch.us. Thanks for listening.

You.