Jesus said: “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. “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. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
“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. 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.
“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. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 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.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
My sermon from Ash Wednesday (March 2, 2022) on Matthew 6:1-6,16-21.
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When was the last time you practiced being part of an audience? Now that’s not really an easy question to answer because I don’t think about being in an audience as something we need practice. Instead, practice is something I drive my kids to while they’re busy with sports. For a few hours a week, they learn the fundamentals of the game, run drills, and listen to their coaches. Practice is something we do and it often involves doing the same two or three things over and over again. Practice takes a lot of energy, time, and commitment which isn’t what we think about when we’re in an audience. When we’re sitting on the sidelines, watching a great show or our favorite sport, we’re there to experience the gifts of others. We observe, listen, laugh, cheer, cry, and raise thunderous applause to celebrate those who practiced really hard to get to where they are. And while we might have our own part to play in the audience by either laughing at every joke or singing along to every song, there’s distance between us and those up there. Our focus and our attention is directed towards them and that doesn’t sound like something we, necessarily, have to practice. But being part of an audience is actually a little hard because different experiences require us to be present in slightly different ways. For example, we wouldn’t expect the audience at a punk rock show to act like we all are right now. And while I’d appreciate seeing you form a mosh pit right here in the sanctuary, being that kind of audience might not be what this audience actually needs. And figuring out what different audiences need is something that takes a lot of practice. There’s a certain amount of work, time, and communal conversation that goes into learning how an audience should react at a music venue like the Knitting Factory or during a showcase by Pascack Valley’s choir. What works in one place isn’t going to work in another – and discovering those differences involves knowing where you are, who you are, and why you’re there. And if we want to figure out the answers to those questions, we need a caring and creative space where we can practice.
It just so happens I was allowed to witness such a space last Friday when I was invited to watch the talent show at oldest’s elementary school. Every month the students are invited to showcase their talents before the entire school. As the school gathered together in the gym, the staff and teachers began to help them practice being an audience. They found their spot on the floor, sitting with kids who weren’t necessarily their friends or in their class. The principal then started an assembly wide conversation about why they were there. She didn’t talk about the talents they would see but rather how they could support those willing to be in front of everyone. Students were then invited to share their own thoughts about what would be supportive and what wouldn’t. The teachers didn’t give them the words to say; rather, they invited the kids to imagine what they would need if they were on that stage. I could tell, as they talked, that this wasn’t the first conversation they had about being an audience. They had, month after month, created a space where they could practice celebrating one another. The more they practiced, the more caring they became regardless of whatever was showing up on stage. The gathering wasn’t really about celebrating the most talented kids at the school. It was about helping every kid become as brave, creative, and loving as they possibly could.
Today marks the official start of a new church season. We, together, will spend the next 40 days and six Sundays journeying with Jesus to the Cross. And to kick this season off, we heard a few verses from the middle of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Near the beginning of his ministry, a crowd gathered around him full of disciples, the curious, and those in need. They were, most likely, waiting for Jesus to do something amazing. He was, in his own way, a kind of spiritual one-man show. But Jesus wanted to do something a little different so he invited everyone to sit down and listen as he described what it looked like when the kingdom of God was near. He didn’t interrupt his long sermon with bursts of spiritual fireworks or a series of random healings to show how amazing he was. Jesus wasn’t interested in making his ministry into another event people consumed. He didn’t call the people around him to be for him because he was already for them. Jesus chose to break through the barrier between him and the audience that came to him because he knew the kind of life they would be given through a deeper relationship with God. Now his words about fasting and praying and flaunting our faith might not relate exactly to how we live our life. But his point, I think, was to encourage us to reflect on what we do and why we do it. Sometimes our faith is really kind of thin and our need to be seen is really why we do what we do. Jesus wanted us to recognize how we often transform God into our own image because we don’t want to see the image of God in everyone around us. We are the star of every show and faith we practice is sometimes full of what truly motivates us – such as our culture, our grievances, our anger, our prejudice, our fears, and our unwillingness to fully embrace who we are. We go through life acting as if we know how to do everything we’re supposed to. But Jesus knows that the life he gives is a life we’re meant to practice. Jesus invites us to be honest about all our struggles, our fears, our worries, our hopes, and our dreams. He’s there to listen as we confess and share how our motivations might not always be as holy as we think they are. We get to notice how we make ourselves the center of our world. And we need to admit that what we practice isn’t always what Jesus wants us to do. We need our own space and time and opportunity to practice who Jesus calls us to be. And that might be what this Lent for 2022 might be – a moment when we can practice who we are and who we can be. When we were baptized, we were sealed by the sign of the Cross and called to live the love of Christ out loud, every day. We start this time in Lent with a little bit of ash placed on our foreheads as a reminder we truly are made in the image of God. And the cross we carry shows who carries us through all the joys, hardships, and struggles in life. The love of Christ is with you – and that love is inside of you. You get to be the bearer of the love of God through all that you do. This Lent might be the time we need to ask ourselves hard questions while putting into practice the small and large acts of care, support, and love our world desperately needs. And the love we practice is how we all grow into a new kind of audience that keeps God at the center of who we are.
Amen.