SPIRITUAL SHOWINESS Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 First Presbyterian ...

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SPIRITUAL SHOWINESS
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
First Presbyterian Church of Georgetown, Texas
Dr. Michael A. Roberts February 20, 2011
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
6“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. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right
hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward
you.
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“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. 6 But 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.
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“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. 17 But when you fast,
put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so 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.
Nathan made all of us uncomfortable. Our group of young adults met every week to study
the Bible, pray, and go out for dessert together. And then a person I will call Nathan
entered, our normal routines were changed. The problem began slowly but then the
problem grew.
In the course of our Bible study, Nathan would launch off on a long, extended discourse on
some theological or historical point. Most of the time his words were disconnected with
what we were talking about. Most in our group were uncomfortable because they felt he
spoke not to add to our discussion but to show off his knowledge. When prayer time
came- he would pray long, flowing words, laced with scripture, which intimidated most in
the group.
Nathan would constantly refer to his trips to the Holy Land. He would mention the many
mission trips he took to needy parts of the world. More than a few in our group wondered
about his sincerity because we thought he was showing off.
The story is told of an eastern ascetic holy man who covered himself with ashes as a sign of
humility and regularly sat on a prominent street corner of his city. When tourists asked

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permission to take his picture, the mystic would rearrange his ashes to give the best image
of destitution and humility. Rearranging the ashes- an interesting description of the
spiritual life.
Jesus says in Matthew 6:1 "Beware of practicing your piety before others to be seen by them." This
verse introduces 6:2-18 just as 5:20: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and
Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” introduced the rest of chapter 5. Chapter
5 focused on personal and social ethics. Chapter 6 focuses on matters of spiritual
observance (R.T. France pp. 233-234).
The main theme today is Jesus' headline: "Beware of practicing your piety before others to be
seen by them." I think the New English Bible captures the sense of this well when it says: "Be
careful not to make a show of your religion." Everything else in our passage flows from this
headline.
Most of us like being noticed in our lives. As a child, we said "watch me"- watch me build
this sandcastle, watch me do this cartwheel, watch me spell this word,
watch me shoot this basket. When we grow up we're not as obvious about it but we still
want to be noticed. Notice me doing a good job, notice me helping this person, notice my
intelligence, notice my humor. Sometimes this noticing carries over to our spiritual life.
Notice what I know about the faith, how I pray, what I give. Notice how really spiritual I
am. Or claim to be.
Jesus is concerned about theatrical spirituality. Being spiritual in order to be seen by
people. In our passage "to be seen" is the root of our word theater. Acting spiritual. All
churches have people who seem to be that way.
The motivation for the spiritual life is what is at issue here. Is our piety performed to affect
status with God or with people Jesus says that piety done to affect status with people only
achieves status with people. But it doesn't count with God. What is the ultimate purpose of
our spiritual activities Our service, our prayer lives, our study and reflection, our mission
What is our ultimate purpose To make connection with and commune with God, not to
impress people.
St. Augustine points out the deadly danger of Jesus' saying: "The love of honor is the
deadly bane of true piety. Other vices bring forth evil works but this brings forth good
works in an evil way."
In our passage Jesus addresses the way we give, the way we pray, and the way we fast.
These are three common forms of Jewish piety. Jesus assumes that we will be involved in
the spiritual life. The issue is not whether we will but how one practices their faith.

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“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets...but when you give do not let
your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Trumpets were blown when calling people
to a feast and other important occasions. But there is no record of somebody blowing a
trumpet to announce their gift. That practice would have been as unusual as it would be
today if somebody had a brass band announce their presence at church or having a string
quartet play while we put our check in the offering plate.
After they laughed at Jesus' exaggeration, they might have got his point. When we give, we
don't make a show of it. We don't play a trumpet for the world to notice, or have a camera
to record the special moment of our benevolence. We do not give for the crowd or the
camera. We give because it is an integral part of our relationship with God.
For some of us, this is not a real problem. We don't announce to our neighbor that we're
going to give a big gift to a worthy mission. We're too reserved for that. Our struggle is
with the inward trumpets. Dale Bruner put it well when he writes: "Not only should there
be no trumpets or public flurry; there should not even be any internal music, not even
violins in the background which might comfort us with the notion that after all we are
pretty good people." We can be as self- serving privately as we can be publicly.
“Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” That's physically impossible.
This is another humorous exaggeration to make a point. A Christian gives without
impressing ourselves with what we have given. We don't tell others what we give and we
don't even tell ourselves.
Jesus wants us to know that it’s possible to turn an act of mercy into an act of vanity. The
only genuine reward love wants is to see the need met. Our Lord is concerned with our
motivation for giving. Do you remember Paul's words to the church of Corinth “Each one
should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under complusion, for
God loves a cheerful giver.” Paul was trying to raise funds for a very important mission but he
was concerned about the giver's motivation.
The gift of money can help people. A gift given in a theatrical way can also hurt. The work
of God needs money, and money is a good thing. But it’s a pity if it is given with theatrics.
Maybe it just me, but it seems that this passage encourages healthy, generous, committed
giving which no one knows about but God.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and
the street corners to be seen by people." This is not a common experience for us- seeing
somebody pray for show. We don't often see somebody who prays because they love to
hear their own voice. Actually, in other church traditions that I've been a part of the

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practice is more common: using long, flowing words that impresses people but forgets who
we're praying to.
In my experience, Presbyterians are not showy prayers. They have the opposite problemwe're
inhibited from praying publicly at all. We're not sure we would say the right thing.
Or that we will pray long enough.
Prayer is conversing with God, honestly and naturally. Liturgical resources and prayer
collections support this aim but should not take away from it. In prayer we are talking to
God not to people. Prayer is rooted in a desire to commune with God not in a desire to
make a public display of our spirituality.
Jesus tells us that when we pray we are to go into our room and pray to the loving God in
private. This room probably refers to the supply room which was the only room that could
be locked in the house. It was used to store feed, small animals, tools and other supplies.
But it could be locked, it could be private, and that was the supreme consideration. We
close the door not only to lock out distraction and disturbance but also to resist the
temptation to impress others.
Nowadays there are many places to be alone with God. There may be a place in your
house. Some find praying while walking to be helpful. Many Christians today find their
cars a good place to pray. But if you drive and pray keep your eyes open.
Jesus is often portrayed as praying privately (Mark 1:35, 6:46), but it should also be pointed
out that on occasion Jesus prayed aloud where others could hear him (Matthew 11:25,
14:19, 26:39, 42). The prayer we know as the Lord’s Prayer which we will look at in two
weeks is worded in the plural, as a corporate prayer rather than a private one. Gatherings
for public prayer together were a regular feature of the life of Jesus’ disciples from the very
beginning. The issue here is not whether prayer is public or private but the direction of
prayer- to God or for people (R.T. France p. 239).
The last spiritual discipline Jesus mentions is probably the least familiar to us. Few
Protestants fast for any reason during any time. Fasting, though, is a historic, ancient
discipline in the church particularly during the season of Lent. Fasting was also an
important part of the Jewish faith. They fasted on the Day of Atonement as well as other
special days. The Pharisees made a practice of fasting twice a week.
The purpose of fasting is to go without food to focus one's attention and energy on God.
Jesus assumed that his followers would fast. He said "When you fast..." not "If you fast."
There are a number of biblical reasons to fast: to help us to humble ourselves before God,
when we are repentant for what we've done, when we are seeking guidance. Jesus often

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fasted when he was making significant decisions. Another reason is to appreciate what
many people around the world go through on a daily basis.
The issue for Jesus though is those who fast in a showy way. They would put ashes on their
head which would dirty up a person's face. It would give them an ashen look. This would
make them look gloomy, disfigured, dismal. They would draw attention to themselves. We
could probably draw attention to ourselves today by just announcing that we're fasting.
That would be impressive.
It is interesting when this scripture was used by the church. Traditionally, our scripture
reading in Matthew 6 was and is used on a particular day in the church year- Ash
Wednesday. This is the beginning of the season of Lent, the most common period of fasting
in the church. By the fourth century, the season of Lent had developed from a two-day fast,
through a week-long fast, to a biblical “forty days” not including Sundays. This was
modeled on Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness when he also fasted.
Using our gospel reading for the beginning of the Lenten season shows the wisdom of the
church. They were saying-- even during this special season preparation, even during this
time of fasting, even when ashes are placed on the forehead-- be careful, Christian people,
about spiritual showiness.
We are spiritual for God not people. We serve to please God not to get recognition. We
have experiences to be helpful to people not to impress them.
We can bluff a human audience. People can think we are genuine. They watch us give,
pray, serve and they say "Wow, here is a committed Christian!" But if we're bluffing, God is
not fooled. God can see right through our fake modesty and generosity, through our
spiritual showiness.
What God desires is honesty, integrity, heart-felt commitment. God desires generosity,
conversation, and spiritual practices that flow from our deep commitment to love God with
all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.