The Christian Life in This World

DMLJ: We come now to quite a new section, and it runs right through this sixth chapter.  Here we have what we may well call a picture of the Christian living his life in this world in the presence of God, in active submission to God, and in entire dependence upon Him.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching, Vol.2 - The Sermon on the Mount, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev

Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting are in view in this part of the Sermon.  The entire section is introduced with this verse:

Matthew 6: 1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Both Lloyd-Jones and Metropolitan Hilarion offer that the word “alms” is not a proper translation.  The better word would be “righteousness,” and looking at several other Bible translations, this is confirmed.  In other words, the first statement is a preamble to the entire section, which, in many ways, extends through the rest of the Sermon.

2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

So, what of this righteousness?  We are not to do it to be seen of men, yet elsewhere we are taught that our light should shine bright that they may see our good works.  Instead of considering the teaching of Jesus here as some new set of laws, if we keep in mind that He is teaching of a new spirit, a new heart, then the understanding becomes clearer.

DMLJ: Almsgiving, of course, means helping people, giving a helping hand in case of need, giving money, time, anything you like which is going to help people.

We are not to let our left hand know what our right hand does.  In other words, we certainly do not announce it to others, be we even are not to announce it to ourselves. 

MHA: The meaning of this expression is that a person, having done a good deed, must forget about it as soon as possible.

The glory is God’s, not ours.  We are to please God, not please ourselves; we certainly are not to look for praise from other men.  As we dwell on our righteous acts, we make the focus about us, what we did.  This is why Jesus teaches that we are not to let the left hand know.

MHA: John Chrysostom paraphrases the metaphor thus: “’If it can be,’ saith He, ‘for thyself not to know it, let this be the object of thine endeavor; that, if it were possible, it may be concealed from the very hands that minister.’”

Care for the poor was to be a quality of a pious person.  Jesus does not teach any specifics about almsgiving here: to whom, how much, and when.  He only makes clear: it must not be done for show.  It is done only for the Father, and only for rewards in heaven. 

We are always in the presence of God; everything we do is done under His watchful eye.  Even that righteousness that we do in secret is open to God.  This is what should be in our focus: that God sees it, and we know He sees it.  We have no desire to be seen by men.

Finally, we see that Jesus speaks positively about rewards from God.  Concern about rewards is legitimate, and encouraged often in the New Testament.  But it always means one thing:

DMLJ: There is nothing wrong in [a concern about rewards] as long as the desire is the reward of holiness, the reward of being with God. … There is no reward from God for those who seek it from men.

And there is no reward if we keep account of our almsgiving instead of leaving the accounting to God.

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.  8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

If the Father knows everything already, why pray?

MHA: The greatest value in prayer is not in some earthly blessing that a person can receive through prayer, but prayer itself, standing before God, feeling the presence of God. … To listen to God, to feel the father in him, to sense his presence in one’s life – this is the true goal of prayer.

Lloyd-Jones makes a wonderful point regarding this passage, and by doing so he immediately cuts through the concerns and paradoxes that we struggle with if we read this as just more law:

DMLJ: Sin, He shows us here, is something which follows us all the way, even into the very presence of God.

Sin is a disposition, a state of the heart.  It is with us everywhere, and Jesus is teaching here that it is even taken with us even when we pray – when we come into the direct presence of God.

DMLJ: [Sin] is something that is so polluting our whole being that when a man is engaged in his highest form of activity he still has a battle to wage with it. … Even there self is intruding itself, and the temptation is for him to think about himself, to think pleasantly and pleasurably about himself, and really to be worshipping himself rather than God.

Jesus teaches here against two dangers: first, that we pray in order to be seen by men, and, second, how we pray – the repetitive statements, the length, the prose.  In other words, these point to the self, the pride, the ego.  But again, Jesus is not teaching a new law; He is teaching a new heart.

Metropolitan Hilarion makes an equally valuable point: by “closet,” we should understand our heart and mind; the closed door refers to protecting the mind from extraneous thoughts.  In other words, Jesus is not teaching of a physical space, but a mental and emotional space.  We are to enter the secret spaces of our heart. 

Jesus is not teaching against public prayer – he went several times to the temple to pray.  He is also not teaching against communal prayer – he taught that if two of them agree and ask it, it shall be given.  He is also not teaching against prolonged prayer – Jesus, at times, prayed through the night.  Again, this is not a teaching of law, but a teaching of heart.

Realize, we are in the presence of God.  And when we pray, there is no more direct presence than at this time.  Are we communicating with God, or are we showing ourselves to men?  Are we being repetitive because we are afraid God doesn’t know our need, or is it truly from our humility?

16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

You will notice that I have skipped the Lord’s Prayer.  Both authors dedicate substantial pages to this prayer, yet they both connect this teaching of fasting with the teaching on almsgiving and general teaching on prayer, so I will do the same.  Subsequent posts will cover the Lord’s Prayer.

DMLJ: Fasting means an abstinence from food for the sake of certain special purposes such as prayer or meditation or the seeking of God for some peculiar reason or under some exceptional circumstance.          

MHA: In this teaching Jesus does not dispute the practice of fasting itself.  He is arguing only against an understanding of fasting that places the emphasis on the external, conspicuous form of the practice while ignoring its internal content.

To be complete, the idea of fasting can apply to anything which in and of itself can be considered legitimate, as long as it is for the sake of some spiritual purpose.

Lloyd-Jones doesn’t shy away from one truth: this whole question of fasting has virtually disappeared from the life of Protestant Evangelicals.  It occupies no space in the discipline of the Christian life.  He sees the source likely as a reaction to Catholic teaching, and, he says, like most reactions, it has gone too far. 

In what follows, I will present the teaching of each author, but, as is obvious, they come from two different traditions with two different views and understandings on this topic.

So, what is the place of fasting in the Christian life? Lloyd-Jones offers that God only directly commanded one fast, the great annual fast.  Jesus never directly taught fasting, but He did so indirectly – and He certainly did so Himself, for forty days.  The early apostles also fasted, as they would pray and fast before going out on their mission.  This practice continued through all of Church history, even to include the early Protestant Reformers. 

DMLJ: If we fast in a mechanical manner, or merely for the sake of doing so, I suggest that we are violating the biblical teaching with regard to the whole matter. …we should never regard fasting as part of our discipline.

MHA: The prophets warned against formalism with regard to fasting…

Fasting is to be regarded as a means to a spiritual end, and not an end in itself. 

MHA: …it should be accompanied by good works toward one’s neighbors.

As you can imagine, Lloyd-Jones doesn’t support the idea of fasting for Lent, or abstaining on Friday, etc. 

DMLJ: If a man is living entirely to the glory of God, you need not prescribe for him when he has to fast, you need not prescribe the sort of clothes he has to put on or anything else.

In the Eastern Church, in which Metropolitan Hilarion lives, fasting is much more formalized: for Great Lent, the Nativity Fast, the Dormition Fast, and the Apostles’ Fast.  Wednesdays and Fridays are also observed.

As mentioned, I am presenting the two views.  In this area of fasting, more than any other thus far, the differences between these two men and their backgrounds are apparent.

Conclusion

MHA: The Gospel of Matthew, like the other Gospels, is full of accounts of the polemics between Jesus and the Pharisees. … It was the fact that their piety was for show and merely external….

The Christian life is not one that lives according to trivial directives, as the Pharisees would teach.  At the root, this is the point of both this section and the entire Sermon.  The Christian life is not a life done for show; it requires an internal change. 

Call it being born again, or born from above.  It is a spiritual, internal rebirth that results in physical change.