Don’t be like the hypocrites…

Why are we here? No I’m not having some kind of existential crisis. I mean why are we here tonight, in this church, at this service?  Why do we pray? Why do we give up things for lent? Why do we help those in need?

I think that if we were asked to answer these questions our answers would all be fairly similar and would mostly have God as the focus.  But I wonder – if we were to really examine ourselves and look into our own hearts, would the answer be something else? Sometimes, would the answer be something we were much less willing to admit?

It could be easy enough to take this evening’s reading and almost cast it to one side. Verse one says –

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.

OK, no problem, I never practice my righteousness just to be seen.

(v2) So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others.

No trumpets. Easy. Next

(v5) And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing  in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.

I’ve never stood out on the street praying aloud, next.

(v16)When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting.

No facial disfigurement, easy, let’s move on.

But perhaps it’s not quite so simple.

Jesus says that these hypocrites have “already received their reward in full.” Why? Because they have taken these good things, that should be about God and made them about something else. They have made them about themselves.  I wonder whether we are also sometimes guilty of this? If we really examined our own motives, might it be the case that some of the things that we claim to do for God, are actually more about our own selfish desires and that sometimes we lie to ourselves about our motivation?

Secret

But Jesus doesn’t just give us a list of things not to do, he follows each one up with how we should act. The way God wants us to work out our faith.

(v3) But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.

(v6) But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen.

(v17) But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen…

Notice the common thread? To keep these things private, to keep them between ourselves and God.

The secrecy here, the privateness with which Jesus commands us to practice our faith is not about hiding our relationship with God from the world but is about entering a space in which we can, with humility, make it completely about God.  By doing this, rather than inflating our own ego, we respond to the love of God with love. We make him our priority and allow something beautiful to blossom, a relationship.

When we drop the act, stop the hypocrisy and just come to God honestly and humbly, we are rewarded with a wonderful relationship with him.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Towards the end of our reading Jesus uses these words –

(v19-21) Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth[…]But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven[…]For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The reality is that what we value is a good indication of where our heart is.  If we value praise from others above God, then our heart is in the wrong place. If we value anything above God, our heart is in the wrong place. If instead of storing up the praise from others we spend time quietly growing in relationship with God, then our heart is in the right place. God wants us to value him above all, he wants our hearts to be for him.

He clearly has a heart for us, he has written us the greatest love letter ever written – it’s right here (Hold up Bible). He sent Jesus to die on a cross so that we could spend eternity knowing his love for us. He has given us this great invitation of an eternal relationship and he wants us to respond.

He wants us to respond by making him our priority, making him the reason why we do the things that we do. He wants us to respond to his love, by loving him back.

The challenge for us is this – When we go home this evening and pray to our God before we sleep, or when we wake up tomorrow and continue with our lent fast, when we come across somebody who needs our help -we need to ask ourselves, why? Why am I doing this? And if the answer is for God then that is wonderful and we should be thankful for that. But if the answer is anything else, then it is time for a change, it is time to ask God to transform our hearts into hearts that are for him and not for ourselves.

It won’t necessarily be easy, it means being honest with ourselves which can sometimes be painful but the reward is growing in this relationship with the God who loves us and what can be more wonderful than that?