You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. (Philippians 2:5)
“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. [. . .]
“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” (Matthew 6:1–6; 16-21 NLT)
If we are to “have the same attitude as Christ Jesus,” as Paul exhorts us to in Philippians 2:5, there seems to be no better place to start our Lenten journey than with the words of Jesus.
This passage in Matthew, like much of the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, is focused on the heart, or motive, of our actions. Do we pray so we might be seen as people who are connected to God, or do we pray to align our hearts to his? Do we fast so we might be known as pious people, or is it out of a desire to grow in our reliance on the Spirit? Do we give to the needy or perform acts of charity so we might be seen as kind and caring, or are they acts that flow out of love of Jesus and neighbor?
The truth is, most of us likely fall somewhere in the middle of the two end points; rather than acting out of selfish ambition or acting purely altruistically to love and serve God and others, most of us perform these acts with a mix of both motives. This can make it easy to categorize others as hypocrites and ourselves as pious. We become like the child told to clean his room, who, after working for some time, goes to his mom to show off his results. When she arrives to check on his progress, she finds the mess tossed under the bed or shoved in the closet; there are certainly parts of the room that are clean, but in the mind of the parent, the room is still a mess, even if the kid only sees the parts that are spotless.
When we ignore those parts of ourselves that are hypocritical and focus only on the pious bits, we are being like that child.
In addition to Matthew 6, another passage part of the lectionary reading for today is Isaiah 58:1–12, where God castigates the Israelites for their supposed piety and humility when there are people who have been wrongly imprisoned, those who have been oppressed, and others who are homeless and hungry. Correcting these injustices is the kind of fasting God wants.
Jesus reminds us at the end of today’s passage, “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
Read Isiah 58:1–12, then reread today’s passage in Matthew. What is your treasure? Where is the desire of your heart? Do you seek appearance of intimacy with God? Intimacy for its own sake? Or an intimacy that shapes us and drives us to act, addressing the wrongs of our world?
Michael Benson is the communications director for the North American Baptist Conference.