The Pitfalls of Piety
The Pitfalls of Piety by Rev. L. John Gable
September 4, 2022
This morning we come to a turning point in Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Having spoken about the “what” of the blessing of the Beatitudes, the call to be salt and light and His reinterpretation of the ancient Law (“you have heard it said…but I say to you”), Jesus now turns His attention to “how” we are to be and do these things, and He does so in a most unconventional way, which should not surprise us by now. He takes on three of the most familiar and widely accepted practices of the faith, nearly any faith tradition, charity, prayer and fasting, and rather than promoting their goodness, as we might expect Him to do, He poses their pitfalls. Please don’t get me wrong, and certainly don’t get Jesus wrong. He isn’t saying we shouldn’t be doing these time-honored, God-honoring practices, but He is challenging our understanding as to “why” we do them and what we hope to gain by doing them. In short, He is asking us to ask ourselves, “What is my motivation here? Who is my audience when I do these things? Who am I trying to please or impress?” And He makes it very clear, if we are doing these things in order to gain the attention and admiration of anyone or anything other than our Heavenly Father we will have fallen in to one of the pitfalls of practicing our piety.
The opening verses of chapter 6 state Jesus’ case very plainly when He says, “Beware of practicing your piety (your righteousness, your faith, your religion) before others in order to be seen by them. For then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Is it important that we do these things (acts of charity, pray, employ the spiritual disciplines)? Absolutely! Remember, Jesus said, just a couple of verses ago, “Let your light so shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Of course we are to do these things, but the question we need to continually ask ourselves as we do them is, “Why am I doing them? What is my motivation? Who is my audience?” Jesus clearly says, “If your motive is to be noticed by others, so be it, but be aware that that will be the only notice you will get. You will not then be noticed by God.” Most assuredly, a reward of recognition will be given for your good deeds, either by those around you who are impressed by your religiosity, or by God. So the question we have to ask ourselves is, “Who am I trying to please?
It is a tightrope He is asking us to walk, isn’t it? On the one hand we want to be seen as a person who loves God, gives generously of our resources, prays and practices our faith; but on the other hand, if we do these things simply to be noticed and admired by others we have suddenly fallen in to the very pitfall of piety about which Jesus cautions us. It is a subtle distinction, isn’t it? So we must be constantly checking our motives as to why we do what we do.
To illustrate this, Jesus begins by discussing the giving of alms, which we can expand not just to the giving of our financial resources, but to any act of charity or service we may offer. Think of those kinds of activities you practice: serving in the Open Door Café, tutoring a neighborhood child, taking a meal to a friend, writing a note of encouragement, the list is endless. Fill that practice of your Christian service and charity in to Jesus’ teaching when He says, “So, when you do that thing you are thinking of, do not sound the 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.” Of course we think to ourselves, “I don’t do that!”, but do we, when we hope someone is catching us doing something good and religious? When we expect someone to say, “Wow, you are really something the way you (and then you fill in the blank.)” If that is what we are hoping for and expecting, or are disappointed when we don’t get the recognition we think we deserve, then we will have been playing to an audience of others, not of God. And believe me when I say, that audience can be very fickle.
While we are on the topic of acts of charity, another pitfall Jesus addresses here is not merely that of seeking the approval of others, but even the self-admiration we have when we catch ourselves doing something good. Jesus, rather confusingly says, “Don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” That sounds impossible! What He means is, “Don’t become so enamored with your own goodness (the proverbial patting yourself on your back) that you start thinking, ‘I’ll bet God is really pleased to have me as His child (which of course He is, but it is not because of the good works you do. That is another topic for another day.)’” Remember the pitfall of the pride the Pharisee felt when he boasted to God, “I sure am glad I’m not like that sinner over there.” Bear in mind it was that humble sinner who went home blessed that day.
So, Jesus plainly says, “When you give alms (when you do your acts of Christian charity and service), do them in secret and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
He goes on to apply this same teaching to our practice of prayer. Again, is He commending us to pray? Absolutely! Is He cautioning us against making our practice of prayer a public display? Absolutely, once again. If we find ourselves wanting to pray in a way or in a place that we hope others will see us, hear us, admire us, we aren’t really praying at all, or at least not to God. We are seeking the praise of others. “Oh, isn’t he a wonderful pray-er? I wish I could pray like she does. Do you know she gets up a 5:00 every morning to pray, she told me so!” Friends, I think this caution was written specifically for pastors. This idea of being a professional pray-er or practitioner of all things religious is surely a dangerous pitfall of piety.
So what is the remedy? Jesus says, “So, whenever you pray go in to 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.” Does that mean you have to have a room with a door and a lock on it? No. What it does mean is, don’t make a show of your time alone with God. As a safeguard of that it may make sense for you to put a chair in a quiet corner of a quiet room and go there to pray, away from the noise and distraction of others, as you would when you want to have an intimate, personal conversation with a close friend. When you go there, to your prayer room, you will know you are going have that kind of intimate, personal conversation with your Heavenly Father.
Jesus adds another helpful hint to this teaching when He says, “And when you pray you don’t need to babble on and on, like the Gentiles do who think they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them.” Why? “Because your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Isn’t that beautiful? Prayer is not a data dump informing God of everything you think He needs to know or do; rather it is an intimate conversation with the One who knows you even better than you know yourself and knows what you need even better than you do. As Augustine put it so well, “Remove from prayer much speaking, but not much praying.”
Do you recognize the name Phil Donahue? Long before he became famous as a television personality, he was a reporter for a local news station. In his biography he tells a story which I think captures the essence of Jesus’ teaching on prayer just perfectly. He was covering a mining disaster. It was late in the night in the dead of winter. A group of rescuers was standing around a fire barrel for warmth when a local minister began leading them in prayer for the men trapped underground. Donahue recounts how moving the prayer was and how perfectly it captured the scene, but his camera froze and he missed it. When he finally got the camera fixed, he approached the pastor and said, “I thought your prayer was very moving and it would summarize beautifully the mood here. Could you repeat it again, so I can film it for the evening news?” Surely the temptation must have been great for that local pastor to have his words shared with the nation, but instead he answered very simply, “The ears that it was intended for have heard it and there is no need to say it again.” That pastor knew who his audience was. “So, when you pray, pray to your Father in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Jesus closes this teaching by talking about fasting. Again we could insert any of the spiritual practices or disciplines we use to enhance and enrich our faith life. All are good and beneficial, right? Of course they are, but Jesus cautions that there are also pitfalls in each of them which we must be aware of in order to avoid them. Like He discussed when reinterpreting the giving of alms, here Jesus reminds us not to make a show of our spirituality. “Whenever you fast (or do whatever it is you do to enrich your spiritual life and walk with Christ) do not look dismal, like the hypocrites do, so as to show others that they are fasting (or are really spiritual!) Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.”
But when you do your spiritual practices do them in a way that allows you to appear “normal”, contrast that to say, “holier than thou.” Get up, wash your face, put oil in your hair is the way Jesus describes “normal” in His day, and we know what that means for us now. Don’t make a show of your religious devotion, just do it, not for anyone else to see you do it and admire you for it, but just for yourself and your relationship with God.
Curiously, when we live out our faith in this way, vitally, vibrantly, authentically, I am convinced that others will see it in us, and some will even ask, “What is it about you that makes you so different when times are tough or people are mean or things look hopeless?” That is our light shining before others which gives us the opportunity, not simply to bask in their praise, but to give glory to our Father in heaven.
You will notice that we jumped over Jesus’ teaching we call the Lord’s Prayer. That teaching deserves attention all its own so we will look at it next week. I hope you will be with us.
Jesus knows us so well. He knows that it is part of our human nature to crave attention and a natural instinct for us to want to be noticed, even in the practices of our faith. He isn’t trying to strip us of that, but He does want to refocus and to redirect our desire in the right direction. Our human desire to be noticed by others can only be countered by a deeper desire to be noticed by God. So, in order to avoid any of the many pitfalls of piety, as you do what you do to serve others and deepen your relationship with God, keep your eyes and heart focused in the right direction. Perhaps simply by asking yourself as you do them, “Who is my audience? Whose attention am I trying to get? Whose admiration am I trying to earn? Whose “well done” am I hoping to hear?”
Rev. L. John Gable
Tabernacle Presbyterian Church
Indianapolis, IN