The First Steps: Read Matthew 6
Focus Verse: “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:1
Meditation: The Good Deed Gone Underground
It was a typical Sunday. I was sitting with one of the many Bobs I know, sipping Kool-Aid to his coffee, reflecting on church and life in general as we passed the early Sunday afternoon away.
Bob was a thin, frail man in his seventies. Though one with strength and determination. Despite his hands being twisted with arthritis, he still managed to run and operate the local antique store with his wife. At every town event, particularly at their International Food Festival, Bob was the one in charge. He had a voice about him and a way of presenting himself that made others stand up and pay attention to him.
Bob was a quiet man. Never known to have much of an opinion about anything. So it was with some wonder this day that I heard him speak out. I was talking about this or that. I think it was about our stained glass windows which had been donated by one family in the congregation. Raising his head from his glass, he pointed up into the church.
“You see that cross up there, pastor?”
“Yeah...”
“You know where that comes from? It came from my family.”
“Oh really...”
“And the lights. The lights were donated by them too.”
Then Bob continued on with a laundry list of things that he or his family had done or donated to the church.
As I listened to him, I realized something. You never know. You never know the good deeds being done behind closed doors. You never know the prayers being said, the alms being given. You never know what is done in secret. And you’ll never because what is done in secret isn’t for you. It’s for God.
Today’s reading really brings up the “Why” question. Why do you do what you do? Let’s take the first one. Giving.
The IRS is gracious enough to reward us for giving alms. It’s called a tax deduction. A tax deduction works, especially for those who itemize their taxes, on a dollar to dollar basis. Every dollar given away is another dollar deduction. For itemizers, this works wonderfully. Every dollar given and recorded on their account can be taken off of their taxes.
But imagine if this program ceased. Imagine if this tax deduction went away. Would you still give alms? Even if no one noticed? Would you still give money to the church and to your various charities if the deduction suddenly disappeared? If not... why are you really giving your money away?
Prayer is another way people display their righteousness to others. Usually not in Lutheran circles, though. (Lutherans are rather shy about praying in public most times)...but in other Christian circles long drawn out prayers are the norm. So... why do they pray like that? To worship God? Or to raise themselves up? Why pray like that when “...your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matt. 6:8)
Fasting is one spiritual discipline most of us never do. Fasting is traditionally going without food. Starving yourself to aid your soul. Jesus points out that it was used in his day as a sign of how spiritual you were. “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting.”(Matt. 6:16). Traditional fasting is used still today, often in groups and for various service reasons, but fasting itself has changed. Now, I think, fasting has become volunteering. The giving of one’s time to a certain cause and here too we fail to keep it secret. I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard how much time so and so has spent volunteering for this or that and giving their time for this cause or that cause. I wonder if they tell others this as well. Fasting of the activities we enjoy, should also be kept secret I think. We needn’t seek pity or complain about what we’re doing. Instead we should know that “...your Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”(Matt. 6:18).
Behind everything we do is truly the question: Why? Why do we pray? Is it for others benefit? Or our own? Are we trying to make a image for ourselves? Or are we just talking to God? Why do we volunteer? Is it to appease ourselves, to look good for others? Is it to quell the feelings of guilt we have bubbling up inside? Or is it to genuinely help others in need? Why do we give alms? For the tax deduction? Or because we’re called by God to give to others in need?
Once again Jesus looks beyond the obvious and looks at the motivation, calling us to a life of perfection. And, let’s face it, we’ll never get it all right. Motivations are complicated things. Even the best of our deeds have complex motivations. But still Christ calls us to re-examine what we do, to take a look at the “whys” of what we do, and to throw ourselves at the foot of his cross, sin-tainted people that we are, knowing that God’s very public act of salvation applies to us as well.
So... take heart! Your deeds, those done in secret and those done in public, those done for yourself and those done for others, those with simple motivations and those with complex ones, have all been done in Christ and, by His grace, are done to the glory of God the Father! Amen.
Questions to Answer
1) Which of these three do you have the hardest time with? Prayer? Fasting? Giving Alms? Where do you struggle?
2) Why do you think Christ tells us to do these spiritual things “in secret?” What is he trying to get at here?
3) List the “random acts of kindness” you have practiced lately. Cross out all those people who are aware of your involvement. What does that leave you?
A Prayer to Pray
Heavenly Father, your Son calls us to find our treasure in you, to seek the hidden and secret places to fast and pray and give alms. Forgive our complex motivations. Bless the work of our hands. May the prayers we say, short or long, be to your Glory. For Jesus Sake. Amen.
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