Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly

Personal prayer at Golgotha Altar, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

 "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

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"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance.  For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

- Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

We are currently in the midst of reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5 -7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said:  "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'  But I tell you not to resist an evil person.  But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.  You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?  Do not even the tax collectors do so?  Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

"Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward."  In this next, middle section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presents the three basic aspects of spiritual life:  charitable giving, prayer, and fasting.  My study bible calls these three disciplines those related directly to God's righteousness.  Here, Jesus introduces the topic of charitable deeds and our conduct in doing them.  The word "hypocrite" originally meant "actor" (in the Greek, the word literally means "below the mask" -- as in the ancient plays, actors wore masks delineating their character).   The word as Jesus uses it here indicates those who practice piety for show, who desire to please other people rather than God, thus receiving glory from men.  In the words of my study bible, they wear masks of compassion, but are inwardly heartless.  Therefore, their reward is the applause of people, and nothing more.

"But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly."  My study bible says that God is not impressed with what others think about us, nor by what we think about ourselves.  It notes that good deeds are rewarded which are based on pure motives of the heart.

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."   The hypocrites neglect the true spirit of prayer, or perhaps fail to understand it altogether.  Prayer, according my study bible, is an intimate, personal communion with God, which leads to the vision of God's glory (1 Corinthians 2:9).  Hypocrisy stymies this communion and vision.    Jesus gives us specific words to repeat (verses 9-13, called the Lord's Prayer, which will be found in tomorrow's lectionary reading).  My study bible adds that true prayer does not consist of telling God what God already knows, and then demanding a particular response from God.  Neither is it a matter of appearing to be pious before other people.  Jesus teaches here that true prayer is humble (go into your room), that it is personal (pray to your Father), and that it is sincere.

"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance.  For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."  To keep a sad countenance in order to show off that one is fasting is just one more external display, which Jesus rejects as hypocrisy.  To fast is to learn discipline, and to keep God in one's heart and mind through such discipline.  It is therefore the compassion and love of God on which is the focus.  Fasting is for spiritual growth and for the glory of God; therefore to "show off" a fast is counter to its purpose for us.

Jesus repeatedly assures us in today's reading that our Father, who is in the secret place and who sees in secret, will reward us for those acts of faith which are done in secret.  This is an interesting kind of reciprocity.  We will find various other types of reciprocal promises made by Christ.  For example, we are each to carry our own cross, in imitation of Him, and in so doing we are given in exchange a "life in abundance" (John 10:10).    In Mark 8:34-35, Jesus teaches, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it."  This is quite a promise, indeed.   Elsewhere in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us that it is better to lose an eye or a hand, so that in exchange we will save the whole of who we are.  Of course, He is speaking metaphorically about discarding those characteristics which form a part of ourselves, and which may seem as precious as a right hand or eye, but which we're better off without (see this reading).  Of course, the whole of the Beatitudes is a statement of exchange -- types of worldly loss (such as mourning) in exchange for the blessings of the Kingdom.  He also makes promises of exchange based on positive behavior, as when He teaches, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."  Here in today's reading, we're given positive examples of how we should conduct ourselves in practices of the exercise of our faith:  almsgiving, prayer, and fasting.  Each of these practices is designed to shore up faith.  They are expressions of faith, but also activities which are forms of active worship.  To give is to live the Kingdom and the promises of God.  It is an active form of loving God and loving neighbor, putting the love God teaches us to work in the world.  But Jesus gets specific about how exactly we go about doing this.  Going more deeply into what righteousness is, as He has done all along in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us a depth of psychology at work in our spiritual lives.  Are we giving for show, for the approval and good opinion of others, or do we give in secret so as to insure the sincerity of the gift?  None of us are strangers to the "trumpets" and fanfare that accompanies grand acts of charitable giving.  But Christ wants our hearts -- and so important is this cement of our faith in its sincerity that He repeatedly emphasizes it.  We are to give in secret, so much so that we're told, "do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."  Prayer is another secret activity.  Whatever we do in acts of public worship, we are told also to go into our room and shut the door, and "pray to your Father who is in the secret place."   The word for "room" in Greek is meant to be an inner room, used as storage chamber, and linked to a "treasury."  In fact, this same word in modern Greek now is used for "cash register."  So the double secrecy here is emphasized (praying in secret to your Father who sees in secret), and it is this secrecy -- this hiddenness -- that serves to shore up the sincerity of the prayer and God's response to it.  In the Greek of the text, the word "openly" (as in the Father's reward) does not specifically appear.   Perhaps it is considered to be implied, but nevertheless there are responses to prayer which only we may know and feel and experience, rewards which give us things we need, and cherish, and treasure.  The emphasis here is on the hiddenness both of God and our practices of relationship to God -- and prayer in particular, for that is the root of this personal relationship.  As God is in a hidden place, let us remember that we, too, go to that place for true communion, the depth of relatedness, in order to participate in God's kingdom.  It is there where our need for answers takes us, our search for reconciliation, the real response to prayer and the desire in the depths of the soul.  It is there we meet God, in the various ways we may practice and grow spiritual understanding, and it is there that God seeks us.