I want to start by saying it is August. It is finally August. I think August is like the most wonderful time of the year Anybody else you guys are like. Well, christmas is when they have that song, right. But August is my favorite. It's sunny outside and bright except for today, of course and then the bees get to buzz all over the place and butterflies and dragonflies and all kinds of crazy birds just everywhere.

It is peak gardening season, which most of you know. I am kind of on this crazy mission to turn my entire yard into gardens because I would like to have pretty things and I want to be able to eat and I want to be able to support the pollinators and, most importantly, I hate mowing the lawn. So I'm on this mission to turn my yard into this garden, right. And so from May until October, my social media posts are the majority of them are flowers, right, they're pictures, and I brought one along because I like to show off. Maybe we can there it is, isn't it great? I have a confession I sometimes take like 10 pictures of one flower just to get the right angle and the right look and all that stuff, because social media is crazy, right, and I know you guys all do this with selfies, so don't be judging me. We want to present ourselves in like the best possible way we can and sometimes we throw in like some sort of humor or something that went wrong, just so people don't think we're stuck up and snobby, right. But we're carefully curating this image that we present to the public and we do this because we want people to like us right. We want people to appreciate us and sometimes we want to be complimented and admired. I mean, that's normal human nature and in some circumstances it's easy to show these highlight reels. It's not hard for me to love that picture of the beach with the sunset that you posted, even if you don't have it perfectly framed right, even if I can see some little bit of chaos on the side, I still love it. But if I back up and take a wider lens, look at this flower you would see that, right, it's not just that one little flower, it's this thing, and I think that still looks pretty great. I'm still impressed with myself.

But other times we can zoom in and we can show a highlight kind of like that one which looks an awful lot like the first picture I showed you. But if we zoom out of that one, you get a different view. It's a lot more chaos. There's a mess in there, right? I know that there's weeds and the mulch needs refreshing. It's not filling in how I wanted it to yet.

And I don't share that zoomed out picture very often, right, because I don't want people to see that. I don't want them to see the chaotic mess. I want them to see the beauty. Them to see the chaotic mess. I want them to see the beauty. And if I'm honest with the crazy amount of time and energy I spend gardening, I want people to think it's time well spent. If I have ridiculously horrible nails and dirt embedded in every pair of jeans I have this time of year, I want people to think it's because I'm good at it, but I don't want to show them that, right, I want to just show the close-ups. I don't want people to know that if I plant 10 things, I'm really hoping that five stay alive. I just focus on the five that made it. I want to focus on the good things. I mean, how else are people going to compliment me? I wonder what we would see if we zoomed out on some of your pictures. What would we see if your private life was more public. Being authentic kind of reveals how messy things can be inside and around us.

There is a wealthy neighborhood in London and they have this lovely row of townhouses which I think we have a picture of there. It is a lovely row of townhouses and when they were running the train through the city they had to actually go through this row of townhouses, so that train eventually became the Tube, which is kind of like their version of the subway. But they needed to go through right where number 23 and 24 were. So 23 and 24 were replaced by a facade in the front so that it just blends in with the rest of the homes. These people are on the wealthier side so they don't want it to just look like a big hole there. They want it to look nice. It keeps that appearance of a pristine row. But if you look at the back, there it is. There's this big ugly brick wall with a hole in the middle. While driving or walking down the street in London, at a simple glance it just looks like a normal row of beautiful homes, but numbers 23 and 24 are completely empty inside. They're completely fake. It's just a facade. If we're not careful, our spiritual life can become like this too Close-ups, highlight reels, beautiful facades on the outside, but empty, messy, chaotic inside and behind the scenes. So Jesus had a little something to say about this. Go figure.

Today we're going to be looking at Matthew, chapter 6. If you want to follow along, you can. Matthew 6, starting at verse 1. It says Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 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 others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

So when the Pharisees wanted to give something to people who were struggling, it was their custom to go down to a busy street corner in Jerusalem and blow a trumpet. And the purpose of the trumpet was supposedly to call all of the people that needed something together to receive those gifts. But it also afforded quite the opportunity for others to see all of their good works. Jesus said that when the Pharisees do it this way, they have their reward. So what's the reward? It's exactly what they were after Jesus said they did it to be honored by others. They blew the trumpet and everybody came running out to see how generously they gave and to see them and that was their reward. Their giving was not between themselves and God and I'm wondering do you guys ever see similarities in the way people give today like this?

Sometimes we take missions trips and we have all these photos right, and the best ones to post are preferably the ones with children of color and their meager homes in the background, right. Sometimes we serve at a homeless shelter and we take pictures of all the food we brought. Sometimes we serve at a homeless shelter and we take pictures of all the food we brought or bringing supplies to the park for the unhoused people that are staying there and snapping a picture with your friend, putting friend in quote, because I'm wondering if that's really your friend. I mean, do you trust and confide in one another? Do they know how to contact you? Do they know where you live? Do you get together regularly or is there a power differential there and they need what you have so they're willing to pay with a photo while you exploit them for applause?

Jesus is telling us here that you only get to pick one reward. You can either be honored by God or you can be honored by people. Your method points to your motivation. If you're doing something kind out of your desire to live generously, to treat people with dignity, to help someone with a need, you will just do it. You don't need to blast it on social media. You don't need to tell every person that you come across about your good deed. Your reward will be from God. If your motivation is to impress people, absolutely do all those things, because people will be impressed. They will. They'll applaud your generosity. They'll tell you how kind you and giving you are. But you need to know that the reward that you have chosen is the one that was given. So pick your reward. Know that one is fleeting and one is everlasting.

We don't know the names of the pharisees, who they helped or what they did to help them. Of the Pharisees who they helped or what they did to help them, no one even cares that 2,000 years ago, people gushed at them about how great and generous and holy they were. No one cares how much money they gave, how much time they spent or even the sacrifices they made to make it happen. They made to make it happen. That reward didn't last through the ages. Does anybody care about that virtual signaling repost from six months ago or even last week? That social credit burns out really quickly, doesn't it? The Pharisees had to pick a reward and they got it. So these people that Jesus is calling out, they shouldn't be expecting anything further.

Verses 3 and 4 say this. That can be confusing. How do I not let my left hand know what my right hand's doing? We're connected, right, but Jesus is promoting something really radical here. Not only don't let anyone else know, but try not to even let yourself know why. Because you can sit around and think about how awesome you are, right, and that will be the reward that you want and get. So it might not be to impress other people, but it might be accidentally impressing yourself with how religious you are, how good you are, how generous you are, how you've clearly earned the favor of God. Good for you.

Jesus is showing us that there is no point in keeping these religious disciplines to prove how wonderful we are to others or even ourselves, because the whole thrust of this kingdom value that Jesus is putting forward is that the whole thing has to be for one purpose and seeking one reward only, and that is the glory of God. It is to honor God. Despite what social media would, let us believe we can serve people without telling the world about it. We can make some sandwiches, gather some blankets, head down to the park, actually have conversations with the people that are there and never post about it. Now, jesus didn't directly say this part, but I feel like I need to because I have a soapbox. So here it is. Unless you are doing advocacy work, you don't need to talk about it. You don't need to share someone else's story. It's not your story to tell, it's theirs. You don't get to buy their story with a sandwich and a blanket. Please stop. Not anybody personal, but I see it happen over and over and it just it breaks my heart. Okay, so that was me. But let's get back to what Jesus said In verses five and six.

It says when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly, I tell you they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. Ouch, jesus used some strong language here. They have received the reward in full. They pray so they may be seen by people. They were seen the end. Jesus says when we pray like that, we have our reward, we get what we want and that is to be seen, maybe even admired, for our eloquent prayers and our holiness. So I want to stop and pause and talk about corporate prayer for a minute, because there is a time and a place for it, absolutely for sure, positively.

James 5.16 says Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Obviously, this is an instruction to pray with each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Obviously, this is an instruction to pray with each other. Pray together. Specifically, though, I want you to notice that it says confess your sins to each other. Now, who wants that done in public, right? I'm guessing we don't do that for attention. We do it for the prayer. We do it for the prayer. We do it for the prayer of the righteous person, because who doesn't want powerful and effective prayer in their life? If we're confessing our sins to each other, we have the chance to have someone with those powerful and effective prayers pray with us.

Right, and sometimes we need to be a little bit careful in corporate prayer because it can easily move into being manipulative or even bragging right. For example. God, thank you for blessing our family with a much-needed vacation to the Bahamas. We soaked up the beauty of your creation in each of the 12 sunsets we experienced the majesty of the ocean just reflecting the vastness of your love for us. It's humbling, lord, to recognize that you found us worthy of such a glorious way to unwind and recharge so that we're able to continue the work that you have called us each to do. Lord, I pray for those around me and those that are here with me today that they would be blessed as we have been blessed.

Gross, right, it's gross, and prayer can also be gossip. Maybe you've heard something like this. Oh God, please be with Sister Karen. She's having such a hard time managing her emotions at Walmart. You are all-knowing and omnipresent, so I know you saw the incident she had last week. She was trying to do right by you, but her anger just got the best of her. Teach her to be humble. Give her patience. Help her to see others how you see them Also gross right.

When it comes to prayer, jesus is telling us it should be sincere, it should be from our hearts. An honest and authentic conversation between us and God. That kind of conversation that you have with that person or those people in your life where you don't have to keep social norms. You know what I'm talking about. They understand you and they don't judge you for just venting, for having frustrations out loud. The people or person that you want to tell something that happens when it's absolutely crazy or super amazing. That is the kind of authentic conversation. That is what God wants from us and with us. And, let's be honest, that kind of raw, unfiltered, unedited conversation happens in private.

I don't think Jesus is saying we have to physically shut ourselves into a closet in order for God to be happy with our prayers, but it does give us a pretty good word picture of privacy. Jesus is telling us that prayer is not the time to show the highlights in public. Prayer is a time for the full picture to be shared with God. Now, I also want to be clear that this is not an excuse to avoid being obedient in some way. It is a wrong interpretation of these verses and a wrong interpretation of what I'm saying to read this and pray, and refuse to pray in public and refuse to offer prayer, refuse to participate in corporate prayer or some other action, refuse to genuinely give generously to serve, because you don't want to be seen serving. Right? That is not what we're saying here. That's not what Jesus is saying here. That's spiritual management. Right, that's not the heart of Jesus.

Do not hide behind these scriptures. Take them for what they actually are. In these six short verses here in Matthew, jesus is calling us to cultivate a life of authenticity us to cultivate a life of authenticity, integrity and presence with Him. He is explaining that we only get to pick one reward, and he encouraged us to pick the reward that honors Him. I'm wondering if you're up for the challenge today. Are you up for the challenge that Jesus has presented us with? Are you willing to serve people, simply to serve them, and honor God, even if nobody notices, even if nobody says thank you?

It can be hard to not do what we've been conditioned to do, to show and tell all the people all the good things we've done, how we helped someone. But remember, you only get one reward. Can you be generous without patting yourself on the back, without silently complimenting yourself for being so selfless? Can you be generous without silently judging those who gave less or didn't give at all? You only get to pick one reward. Are you willing to spend your devotional time with God without posting a picture of your coffee and your open Bible? Are you willing to use that Bible app even if no one you're connected with has been noticing that you have been powering through and are right on track reading through the Bible in a year? What if nobody even notices you're reading it at all? You only get to pick one reward. Are you willing to pray if no one hears you except God While you're talking to God? Are you willing to be honest, open, authentic?

True, it's a big challenge, isn't it? And we will all fail at some point. Right? Romans 3, 23 tells us, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All, we all fail, each and every one of us. But the next verse is also important Romans 3, 24,. And all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

So do we understand what that means? It means that Jesus issued us this challenge. His hope was that we step up and apply this and change our lives, that we would simply serve to love our neighbors, that we would give out of authentic generosity, that we would have a relationship with him that is personal and we would do these things with a pure heart, motivated to honor him. And yet Jesus knows us, doesn't he? He knows us.

He knows we mess up all the time. He knows that on our best day we'll get this right, but also we're going to get this wrong sometimes. He knows we need practice and he knows we'll all fail sometimes while we're working on it. And he died for that. He died and was resurrected so that when we screw up not if, but when when we screw up, our relationship is not severed. When we screw up, our relationship is not severed, so that our relationship can be restored, so that, even when we pick the reward of being applauded in public, just like the Pharisees did, despite that, we can still be in a right relationship with God. So let's do this, you guys. Let's take up this challenge. Let's accept His grace, his mercy, as we strive to be more like Him.