Store Up

Matthew 6:1-6“Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow your trumpet as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may get praise from people. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. 3 But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing 4 so that you may give to the poor in secret. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

5 “When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. 6 But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:16-21 “And when you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward. 17 When you fast, brush your hair and wash your face. 18 Then you won’t look like you are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

19 “Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them. 20 Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t break in and steal them. 21 Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

INTRO

As we enter into the Lenten season, we again find ourselves faced with this Gospel lesson. Many times, we find ourselves in two camps. For some of us, maybe we are horrified as we see Jesus not only calling people hypocrites but instructing us on how to fast. We hear the scriptures ushering a word of correction to Matthew’s community, and to us gathered here, we cannot help but wonder if anyone can truly be good enough.

Maybe we have the opposite reaction to the text…I follow all the spiritual disciplines, I tithe, and I serve in multiple church leadership positions…this text is not talking about me! It is speaking about all those other people. Oftentimes, we see hypocrisy more easily in others than we see it in ourselves. After all, it is easier to label others as imperfect and hypocritical than it is to reflect on ourselves. And when we use these labels, it becomes all the more easier to dismiss the behavior of others while praising ourselves for the ways that we are seemingly perfect or have it all together.

Lent is a season in which we examine the ways in which we connect our daily lives to God. We approach the season with signs of our devotion to Christ. We come to this service, receive ashes on our foreheads, then head out into the world as we show off our ashes to those we encounter and look for ashes on the foreheads of other Christians in our community. We prepare our Lenten practices or fasts and announce them on Facebook.

As we do this, we begin to live as those that Jesus calls out in our Gospel lesson. The publicity and the perception of yourself that you are sharing with the world become the reward. The very act of bragging about the sign of the cross on our heads or sharing how you will “suffer” for the gospel by taking on new spiritual disciplines throughout the next forty days is really a means of trying to establish some form of control. It becomes a cover-up whereby we try to show the world our “perfect faith” rather than truly preparing our hearts for the coming of Christ.

Sometimes, the barrier to preparing our hearts is self-established. We think that the pious practices we are called to embody must take on one form or another. In one of her devotions, Kate Bowler shares a story of one of her friends. This friend was part of a Christian group that believed one must always kneel in order to pray. One day, her appendix burst, and it was physically impossible for her to pray. In the midst of her ordeal, she began to realize that her practices were creating barriers to overcome in her relationship with God. She began to realize that she could find new ways to place herself in the presence of God as she prayed.

This Lenten season, we are being called to open ourselves up to abiding in God’s presence in new and different ways. If you are one of those people who regularly follow the rules, perhaps you believe that you have your life together and you regularly follow your own spiritual disciplines. Perhaps your call this lenten season is to be more merciful towards yourself and others as you lean into the mercy of God. Or maybe your call is to pick up a new spiritual discipline, to try something new. Ask yourself what you could take out of your life or fast from in order to grow your relationship with God.

If you are one of those people who struggling with keeping a regular practice of spiritual disciplines, maybe your call this lenten season is to begin to live into a routine. In creating a routine, you might begin to give yourself room to abide in the presence of God in a new and different way. You may allow yourself to recognize the ways that even in your imperfection, God continues to move within and through you.

As we journey towards the cross this Lenten season, we need to examine the ways in which we allow other things to get in the way of seeing the holy. Maybe it is the approval of our friends, our colleagues, or our family…yet the call to examine a holy lent is one whereby we recognize and are made aware of our utter dependence on Christ. When we see everything as a gift of God, then we will see holiness in the mundane, ordinary, everyday actions. When we see everything as a gift of God, then we will begin to see the holiness inside of ourselves.

Before the sermon, we were called as the church and as individuals to live a holy Lent, to observe practices of old, to be reminded that we need to repent and believe the Gospel. Rather than seeing this Lent as a time to follow the rules or to ground ourselves in practices that are ridged and become like rules that “help” us obtain holiness, why don’t we reshape our understanding and view of the Lenten journey?

Why don’t we see this Lent as an opportunity to grow in relationship with the very God who made us from dust and breathed into us the breath of life? Why don’t we take steps to make a difference in the world? During the season of Lent, we are entering into a new sermon series, “What R U Up 2?” In this sermon series, we will embrace the call to connect to God by making a difference. By doing small things that, when added together make a big impact in the world.

This season is our chance to grow more fully into who God is calling us to be. Why don’t we take this Lenten season to grow in holiness as we grow together in God’s grace through new practices and opportunities? Might we remember that the call to prayer, fasting, Reading scripture, and repentance is not meant to hold us captive, but instead, the call to observe a holy lent is meant to enable our growth in love. And remember, you do not go on this journey alone. We go together, and our God goes before us, making the way for us that in Jesus Christ, we might be made whole. And when we do this, when we focus our practices on places of growth and making a difference, we are storing our treasures in the right place. For when we build up the kingdom of God, neither moths nor rust nor thieves can take it away.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.