Matthew 6:1-21

“Beware of practicing your righteousness 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.

“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.

“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him…

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

“And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces 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.

Sermon Text

Every Lent we gather to declare our intent to devote ourselves to God. To take these forty days to devote ourselves to prayer and study and abstention. Each year as we gather to declare our intent to be holier, we are given a choice between two outcomes. We can take this intentional time to truly develop virtue and discipline and live holier lives, or we can take this time to feel holier and feel like we’ve done something, and afterward have nothing to show for it but a few weeks we lived a little differently. In Lent, we have the chance to make a change, to grow, and make a difference in our life, or just look like we have.

Jesus is clear in his teachings that true faith is quiet and humble while inauthentic faith is loud and showy. In our scripture we’ve read today, we see example after example of how faith can become a display. Prayer can become a way we say loudly how devoted we are to God, fasting (something we rarely even do today,) is a chance to show how much we are willing to give up, and even charitable giving is a way we can hold up our cheque book and show that we are willing to give more than other people. That last one stands out to me because in churches with a lot of online giving, they print out little cards you can put in the plate, just so your neighbor knows that you’re not skipping out on throwing something into the plate.

Lenten devotion is something we need to weigh carefully before we actually begin to participate in it. It’s easy to throw out something we would like to give up. Chocolate isn’t essential for life, nor is soda, nor is meat. Yet, giving those things up is not in itself going to produce any good in our souls. We need more than just a checklist of things we plan to do or not do over the course of these few weeks if we want to really come out the other side with a new and better understanding of God, of ourselves, and of our place in the world. We need to see this season as a chance to develop true piety, works of love toward God and others, and not self-pity.

If you plan to give up some kind of food for Lent, I would ask you to consider giving away the one that is most expensive for you. Do you have a coffee habit? Energy drinks? Those few dollars here and there add up. Giving up something like that might teach you how much money you could be giving to those in need, not to the pet comforts we want but do not require. If you are giving up social media or television, then you should consciously use the time you would spend on those things on something productive. Spend time with loved ones, create something beautiful, or spend that time in prayer and study instead.

If your plan for Lent is to add something to your life, to choose to pray and read scripture each day – then stick to it and let it be a priority and not just a thing to do if you have time. If you plan to volunteer throughout the season, then be prepared to stick to volunteering after Easter. The things we do in Lent are meant to develop habits within us that go far beyond these forty days, they are meant to set a foundation for the new life that Easter brings to really flourish. Lent is not a thing to be entered into lightly, our discipline is not meant to be an afterthought, this is a season to make serious changes and develop better discipline.

Here in a few moments, I will read out the formal invitation to the Lenten season. We as a congregation will bless these ashes, made from palms once held up in celebration. Then, we will all receive a mark on our forehead, black ash that asks us to remember that time is short in our mortal lives. If we want to be better, to more resemble Christ, then we must be willing to live like him now. To serve like him, now. To be like him, now. Let the cross that is marked on our foreheads today, be imprinted far deeper than our skin. Let us wrap our hearts in sackcloth, and truly mourn where we have failed. Let our Lenten Discipline, whatever it is we take on for ourselves, pave the way for us to truly be transformed. Otherwise, it’s all just for show. I pray that we are people who can move beyond appearances, to true and complete righteousness. – Amen.