Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
In our righteous deeds we must avoid the temptation to seek reward by drawing attention to ourselves. This doesn't sound so difficult at a distance yet we often find that when we do something good it is hard not to talk about it. There is sometimes the sensation that their is a strange pressure building within us and the only valve to lessen it is to share it with others. This temptation is different from trying to present ourselves as an example to others or letting our light shine for the glory of God because, unlike those situations, it is all about us. Our egos desire some recognition or recompense for the righteous deeds in question, and are not capable of looking to our heavenly Father to receive it.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
When we perform actions that aren't intrinsically rewarding at the level of sensation or emotion there is a part of us that tends to feel cheated and tries to make up for it, feeling as that it has earned something and now deserves praise and reward. And this part of ourselves is very clever in the ideas it can construct to wring some sort of reward from our acts. But if we allow it to have its way, perhaps by broadcasting an image of ourselves to others as righteous or pious, we deprive ourselves of a better reward that only God can give.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
We can choose to ignore the ego within us struggling to find some reward for ourselves and instead choose to receive a better and more spiritual reward from our heavenly Father. If we allow ourselves to be content with the passing praise of men we will close ourselves to a reward that is more subtle and gentle, but also more lasting, and ultimately more satisfying. It is as though we can await a well made meal around the family table but often ruin our appetite with candy that briefly stimulates but eventually leaves us with a sour stomach.
When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
We should not fast in order to win pity from those around us. No matter what our egos insist, in fasting we are meant to forego earthly satisfaction in order to allow God to feed our hearts. But there is only room in us for one reward. We can find treasure on earth, and find out in turn how quickly such treasure fades. Or we can instead find lasting treasure in heaven.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
As we begin this Lent we can be confident that, although our ego tends to resist our progress, we do not have to rely on ourselves alone. We have the grace of God performing its work within us, transforming us, little by little, into the righteousness of God.
Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.
No comments:
Post a Comment