17 June 2026 - seen and unseen

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.

It isn't a bad thing to occasionally receive appreciation from others for the righteous deeds we do. But it is a problem when we become dependent on them for our motivation. If we only do things that can excite the admiration of others than much that needs to be done might remain not done. It will be as though those others are ultimately the ones in charge, giving us our marching orders, rather than God himself.

When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.

We can't be limited in our almsgiving only to those things that other people notice. Even when there are people out there who care enough to reward good work with approval, they are not in a position to do so always and in every case. And that means that the human approval we gain by our good works will be a fickle friend. Even the good feelings we may produce in our own hearts by doing good and seeing ourselves as good people often prove unreliable. If we grow too addicted to human praise what happens when we can find any, either from others, or even ourselves? Will we nevertheless persist in doing what we ought? This is why Jesus does not encourage us to seek no reward whatever, but rather to count on God to reward us. We know that everything we do to bring us closer to him will eventually pay off. But we know better than to expect immediate one to one compensation from him. Rather, we grow in our capacity for him in ways that is often invisible even to ourselves, until he eventually comes and fills the space we have created with his own presence. It is he himself who desires to be our chief reward.

When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.

When we do things because it helps us to project a certain self-image to others this too is an unreliable motivation. It may work partially, for a time. But it quickly becomes an addiction that is increasingly difficult to satisfy. We have to become more and more extreme in our behavior to continue to get others to notice, let alone to impress them. Before long our religiosity has shifted from impressive to intimidating or even annoying. Aside from how we are likely to come across there is the more important truth that God would not have us use prayer, which is supposed to be the means by which we grow in relationship with him, for any lesser agenda. We don't want to cause scandal by appearing indifferent to the things of God. But it would be better for us if we could keep the depths of our devotion hidden and appear unexceptional to others, more willing to reveal our flaws and our shared humanity than supposed strength. Sometimes, it is true, we do need to set an example for others. Like Paul we may even need to say, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (see First Corinthians 11:1) and thus reveal some aspects of our spiritual life to others. But when this is required of us we must also be careful to insist that "we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us" (see Second Corinthians 4:7).

When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.

Another thing that people are unreliable at providing is pity. We may well learn to seek this from them by the way we present ourselves to them, hoping that they can help to assuage the suffering we feel. We may even do more than mere honest self-presentation and play up our misery in hopes that others notice. Receiving sympathy from others is not a bad thing, any more than receiving earned praise from them is a bad thing. But the fact of the matter is that people are unreliable, and ultimately incapable of giving us what we need. We may find in their compassion a partial and occasional answer to our grief. But God's heart is not fickle like human hearts. That is why we are called by the psalmist to "pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us" (see Psalm 62:8). His mercy and love are constant, always available to us, whenever we seek them. But if we are too busy seeking the pity of our neighbors we will tend to be too preoccupied to turn to God.

But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to others to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.

 

Songs In His Presence - Trust Him (Psalm 62)