Notes from the Wayside: Lenten Perspective: The Treasures We Seek

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Lenten Perspective: The Treasures We Seek

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The Treasures We Seek

Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven...

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:1, 21 (NRSV)

Ruin my life, the plans I have made

Ruin desires for my own selfish gain

Destroy the idols that have taken Your place

'Til it's You alone I live for

You alone I live for

From "Ruin Me" by Jeff Johnson

What I like about Jesus' teachings is that they not only instruct us in what we should do, but also force us to examine our motivations for doing what we do.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus urges us to make sure that we are not practicing our acts of piety in order to be seen by others. He teaches us that, when we give charitably, we should give discretely, without announcing to anyone what we are doing. He teaches us that we should not pray out loud in public places but should instead pray privately.¹ He teaches us that, when we are fasting, we should make ourselves presentable before we go out in public, lest our haggard appearance broadcast to the world how miserably hungry we are from fasting.²

Repeatedly, Jesus warns us not to be like the hypocrites who do what they do in order to be noticed and praised by others. The Greek word hypokritēs, from which we get the word hypocrite, describes a stage actor,³ one whose craft is to effectively convince his audience that he is something he is not. Hypocrites, Jesus says, will get exactly what they want, but the recognition of others is the only reward they will receive. The sincerely pious and charitable, on the other hand, will be seen by God and rewarded by God.

Jesus goes on to encourage us to collect treasures that are eternal as opposed to earthly treasures that can end up rusted, busted, and boosted, for, wherever one's treasure is, one's heart will also be found.⁴ Typically, we might be tempted to think that Jesus is shifting gears at this point, changing the subject from our motivations to our relationship with our material possessions, but I think that this teaching about treasures might also apply to our motivations as well. As Captain Jack Sparrow said on the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, "Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate."⁵

Perhaps we would do well to consider what kind of treasure we are seeking in doing the things we do.

If the treasures we seek in our acts of piety and our acts of charity are the recognition, approval, and praise of others, our focus will be on these things, and we'll run the risk of missing out on any other treasures to be found. If we take the pursuit of such treasures off the table, acting privately or discretely as Jesus instructs us to do, we just might find that there are greater treasures to discover. When we fast and pray, seeking only an Audience of One, we will be rewarded with a closer walk with God. When we give, without seeking praise, we will be rewarded with a greater love for other people.

The applause of others is no less fleeting than any other earthly treasure, but a greater love for God and other people cannot be taken away from us.

According to the Church calendar, we are currently in the season of Lent, a time of the year set aside for self-examination and self-denial. It is a good time for us to examine our motivations for doing what we do to see if they are indeed sincere. It is also a good time to deny ourselves the pursuit of recognition, approval, and praise so that we may discover greater treasures.

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