(Matt Koerber)
Matthew 6:1-18 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have 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 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 at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and 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 heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven…
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
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In this next section, Jesus addresses the dangers of religious hypocrisy. He presents two alternatives. Either we are living the Christian life for God. Or we are living the Christian life to be seen by others. The application of this passage is a little more straight forward, but the challenge that Jesus offers is provocative: Why do we do what we do?
There are three topics that Jesus addresses here: Giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting. The section on prayer includes teaching which is often called the Lord’s prayer. We will read that in full and address it tomorrow. Together, these three items form a structured unit dealing with “religious practices.” They are all good things to do, but even these religious activities can be done for the wrong reason. The particular wrong reason that Jesus names is the desire to be seen by others and viewed by others as spiritual. Jesus warns that people who do good things from this motivation are actually “hypocrites” (v.5,12.)
Modern people may not sound trumpets before works of charity, but they are prone to make press announcements. How many politicians show up at soup kitchens to hand out food just long enough for the cameras to capture their actions? Those of us who are lower profile may be tempted to post to social media at “just the right moment” when we are engaged in charitable activity. Of course, this stuff is slippy.* There are legitimate reasons to share good things we are doing. It can encourage others to do the same or raise beneficial awareness. That is why Jesus directs our attention to the heart and asks us to examine the complex motives behind our actions.
The final question to address is the matter of “rewards.” People who practice righteousness for the approval of others will receive no reward from God (v.1,2,5,16.) By contrast, in each of these instances, religious practice done in secret are said to receive a reward from God (v.4,6,18.) To many of us, this can sound like a troubling invitation to some form of “works righteousness.” Perhaps part of the problem is that we jump to the conclusion that rewards can only refer to earning our salvation or enhancing our own status. There are certainly distorted ways to imagine the topic of “spiritual rewards.”** But clearly, Jesus thought there was a proper way to talk about rewards in the context of spiritual activities. The proper reward for any activity is in the completion of the activity. Simply put, the proper reward for prayer given to God is… answered prayer. The proper reward for charitable gifts is…glory to God and benefit to neighbor. The proper reward for a true fast is…deeper dependence upon God. If you do these things to be seen by others, then, Jesus says, you get approval from others – not a particularly important reward, and maybe even harmful. Because your action does not have integrity, you will not receive the true benefit or “reward.” But if you do these things with integrity, aware of God’s presence, then God himself will work for good purposes in the midst of it!
*After a long, icy, Pittsburgh winter, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use “slippy” in a sentence. For those of you not from Western PA, this is how you say “slippery” in the local dialect.
**C.S. Lewis explains this well in his wonderful essay, “The Weight of Glory”, and I follow his reasoning here.