Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6But whenever 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.
16“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
SERMON
They say that confession is good for the soul. So, let me make a confession. I don’t like Lent. I never have. Don’t get me wrong. The concept is great. Maybe I phrased it poorly. Maybe I should have said, “I have never been a fan of how Lent is observed.”
In a few minutes, we have the part of the service where I give you ideas for how to observe Lent. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but it’s going to involve things like prayer, reflection, fasting, repentance, and giving up things you like.
I’ve always felt weird at Lent. I’m not good at giving up things I like. One year, before I was a pastor, I realized that I loved going to church. I asked my pastor if I caught God in a technicality if I were to give up going to church for Lent. I only got a blank stare followed by a nervous chuckle for a response. Seriously, however, I love chocolate. Trust me, you don’t know how much I LOVE chocolate. How is giving that up going to bring me closer to God? I tried it before. I found myself resenting God because I gave it up supposedly for Him, even though He didn’t ask me to it, and I was miserable. My fast lasted almost the better part of an hour. I finally gave into my temptation after about 40 minutes of torture. Then I worried that God hated me. I thought I was an evil and horrible person. Basically I missed the boat of the real meaning of Lent. Lent isn’t about giving up one thing, it’s about a relationship with God.
As a child, I attended a church where Lenten discipline was strictly encouraged. Actually, we were guilt tripped into observing Lent. The logic went something like this - If Christ could give up his life for us, we certain could give up chocolate for him – or so we were told. To my 7 year old mind, my sacrifice seemed much more severe than his…he only suffered on the cross for 3 hours….they wanted me to do this for 40 days.
As the years went on, and I started to understand what Lent was supposed to mean, I found myself feeling more and more guilty, because I couldn’t, or maybe wouldn’t, give up even the smallest things. What was the point? I’d ask. God isn’t going to like me more because I give up something so trivial as chocolate.
When the movie “The Passion of the Christ” came out, we got to see in graphic detail the brutal torture Christ went through. Suddenly, giving up chocolate seemed pointless in comparison. Christ gave everything…What could I give that could even come close? Then, suddenly I realized the answer. I have nothing to give that could be even close to what Christ gave. And in case you haven’t figured it out, neither do you. All of this fasting, praying, and giving things up isn’t to give something back to God…it’s to bring us closer to God. Isn’t it sad that it took a movie for me to get that? It’s so clear in the Bible – if only we’d realize what discipleship is all about. Yes, Christ tells us to take up our own cross…but it’s the cross of discipleship. Discipleship may involve suffering, and yes, even death, but our death does not bring redemption like Christ’s. It’s just our passing from one life to the next.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus directly addresses how we should practice our piety. Now that’s a fancy word – “Piety.” All it means is the stuff you do to grow spiritually. That could mean good deeds, prayer, worship, devotions, reading your bible, and so forth. Basically, he tells us not to be show-offs.
We sure live in a “show off” culture! Watch a football game…someone makes a touchdown (in other words, does his job), and acts like he saved the world. Watch a politician win an election, (that is convince more people that he or she is a better candidate), and you’d think this person thinks he or she is the 2nd coming. If you ever had to write a resume, you probably know what I’m talking about. Your previous jobs go from being a normal everyday job to one that changes the entire rotation of the Earth. We feel that if we don’t show off, even a little, we’re not noticed. We need to be “bigger than we really are.”
Maybe that’s true. Maybe people won’t notice us if we don’t show off. But, that’s the point of the Gospel tonight. Jesus is telling us that people shouldn’t notice us. Only God should notice us. And there’s nothing too small for God to notice.
Maybe I’ve never been a fan of Lent because of how many people treat this season. What should be a holy time turns into a “show off” time. We’ve all seen it, and probably most of us, me included, have done it – we act miserable because we can’t eat that piece of chocolate. We let everyone know that we’re giving more to the church or that we took the money set aside to buy a new (and obviously “well deserved) TV and donated it to charity. Our faces look paler, we break into a sweat, we look tired, our expressions are dismal, and plain and simple, some of us are just no fun to be around. Then the issue of sin comes up. While people should recognize their own sins more, many seem more critical of the sins of others. Through fasting and reflection on themselves, they “magically” get insight into how others should live their lives. I’m not quite sure of the logic there, but I’ve seen it happen way too many times. And they’re never kind about pointing it out. It’s always blunt and usually rude. I have to wonder if they just ate the stupid piece chocolate they gave up in the first place if they’d be more bearable to the rest of us.
So, whatever you choose to do this Lent, and I highly encourage you to do something – give up something, set aside a time of day to pray every day, fast one day a week, donate to the needy, volunteer…something. Even if you have to change it to something else, please remember that it’s not for God to love you more, it’s for you to get closer to knowing God.
Tonight, we’re going to start Lent by placing ashes on our foreheads. Ashes are a symbol of sin and the fact that we all return to the ground – that is we all die. But, I’m sure it’s no accident that the ashes will be in the shape of a cross. That shows us that even though we sin, even though we die, there is the one who died on the cross that made forgiveness and eternal life possible.
There’s nothing magical about these ashes. They won’t do anything to you except serve as a reminder. They’ll remind you that you belong to God. And though you’ll wash the ashes away, you can never wash God away. Even when you try to chase God out of your life – and we all do that from time to time – God just won’t leave. And for that, we can be thankful.
