Our blessed Lord presses the issue. Do you or do you not want to be my disciple? If you do not, then it is with great sadness that your Savior must move on with those who are willing to fully commit themselves.
In our lives, each and every one of us receives Christ’s invitation of discipline and abandonment of the world. No longer are we getting acquainted. We are being asked to come into a relationship at once glorious and painful. Yes, it comes to all of us — sooner or later.
It is like moving from an introductory offer, which we explore, and then deciding whether or not to buy into the entire program. There is a host of witnesses that function, I like to think, like a cheerleading team. They want us and plead with you and me to come into the most blessed fold of all.
There is nothing academic or even philosophical about all of this. It is more a matter of, “Do you or don’t you?” — so much depends upon our answers. To avoid and evade over a period of time, perhaps years, is to say, “No.” Are there regrets in this experience? You bet there are! We must be realistic.
Our Lord commands us to do that which is against our natural tendencies. After all, why shouldn’t we show off our good deeds? Dear Jesus, you have called us to witness and others must see our splendid work! Surely we waste our time and energy by not displaying the giving spirit in our lives! If others don’t know about these wonderful acts of discipleship, how can the world be expected to believe? Well, yes, that is you and me — at least — upon some occasions. Isn’t it interesting and irritating how the problem seems to recur all during our lifetimes? Some of us may even have secret diaries that resemble Saint Augustine’s Confessions.
The world says show off your achievements. The dear Lord says do your ministries in the quietude and holy secrecy that best serves his purpose. The world says we must not hide our good deeds and the more they are seen, the better. The world says don’t restrain your natural tendencies of wanting others to see and especially reward, your accomplishments. Yes, the world keeps right on insisting that we are to look at how others view our expressed goodness, even if we have to hire a publicist! But our dear Lord has other plans and they are intended for the saving of our eternal souls. Often, this is a more clear-cut choice than we would like to admit.
There are those popular philosophers and theologians who believe in the innate goodness of man. They will tell you that at birth we are totally clean and rightly motivated. Whatever we do is simply a means to enhance a goodness we have had from the very beginning. In fact, serious religion of any variety may be an obstruction to our naturally intended growth. How do we answer this? If they are right, then the Adam and Eve story has no validity. Even more importantly, the coming of a Savior to right our wrongs — indeed, forgive our sins — is mostly hogwash. Granted, our Lord’s request can be a “hard sell.”
In all honesty, the “back to nature” theme and method of living can have its solidly desirable and suitable points. Who can argue with the promotion of clean air and pure water? Who can seriously challenge the call to relieve us of the pollution in our lives? In an environment which raises many crucial questions, we know the truth of this rightful quest. At the same time what would the most purified environment look like without the internal and very personal cleansing of Jesus Christ? It does not seem the proponents of pristine living conditions know quite what to do with that momentous and essential inquiry. Perhaps professing Christians have not spent enough time looking at and praying for our natural surroundings. Granted, but never at Jesus’ expense!
Our Lord calls us to a depth the world does not know. To be an alien in this life has become a rather popular theme and topic in recent years. Of course, this is nothing new. The New Testament apprises us of this. While living out our lives among others, we are continually reminded of this state of affairs. In short, there is a difference — even qualitative — between committed followers of Christ and those who are minimally interested or not interested at all. Those of us who listen carefully to his voice have a struggle with this and it has a lot more to do with our lives than on Ash Wednesday once each year! We must learn to be content with our “alien” status.
The Master told his disciples it would be that way. He tells you and me — sometimes frequently — that’s the way it is. We are on different wavelengths. We discover that our assumptions about life and even our most cherished beliefs do not strike a significant chord with those seemingly content to live as the world directs. Our best mode of behavior is to succumb to the blessed reality, in our case, that all is well with us because we have seen a great light in the darkness. Forbid we feel superior! Forbid we overlook the necessary Christlike compassion that is a beacon to an otherwise lost and dying world. Yes, our work (ministry) is cut out for us. It is an old/new battle.
One of the dangers that strangely poses itself in taking Saint Matthew’s words with supreme seriousness is the subtle temptation of “self-elevation.” How often we have seen the finest and best be virtually annulled by an attitude of thinking of ourselves too highly. To be separate and distinct as holy people somehow gets translated into “I am better than you are.” The devil is much at work (and play) here! His twists and turns seem never to stop, as he persistently seeks to trick us into becoming more abomination than blessing. We are never truly big enough within ourselves to handle these fabrications and machinations. The Holy Spirit must be present.
It is always wise to remember that wherever the greatest spiritual success comes into being, there is likewise the greatest opportunity for the evil one to derail the highest and best we know. Pause for a time and recollect the moments in your lives this has happened. We forget our common humanity and believe we are more than sinners saved by the grace of God! It is a slippery slope. We are called to invigorating celebration but can end up in debilitating frustration. Indeed, the vast majority of us are not called to hibernate in prayer on a faraway island. Our Lord instills within us the motivation and equips us to live out our days victoriously among other people. Some are saintly and some not so saintly! How fortunate we are.
Our Lord wants us to be “low profile” for the benefit of all. Virtually every word tells us exactly that in our text. Be a braggadocio if you must — but that is not the way of Christ. Sound the trumpets and call attention to your giving but don’t label that Christ’s way of doing things. Some of us have this ongoing itch to let others in on our good deeds, so they can — at least — smile with affirmation. If someone doesn’t scratch it for us, we do it ourselves! Some might call this unfair and even unjust but for the moment let’s be brutally honest. If we seek to stand out before others and take unlimited bows, how in the name of high heaven can we benefit anyone?
We are led by the Holy Spirit to benefit others. Why? For the simple reason that this is the behavior our Master lays before us and urges us to accept. Don’t let others know you are fasting for them. If the Holy Spirit causes them to learn this precious thing is taking or has taken place, so be it. Most of us on such a journey know this happens from time to time. It is God’s doing and not ours. His will and ways are always to have priority. Christ sets the pattern and we are to emulate him, come what may. So, the message is crystal clear — or is it? Again, there is this fallen nature that rears its ugly and sinister head. It says that if we do something good, others should know.
You may say, “But, pastor, we all have the need to be praised by others.” If that is our basic motivation, then as the scripture says — we have received our reward. How can we possibly serve others by constantly demanding attention and thanks in our own ways? The answer to that is obvious. We can’t. Among our cumulative experiences, there must be dozens and even hundreds of good people we have known who insist on being given credit for their good deeds, monetary or otherwise. Really, is it praise or sincere affirmation from others we need? Ponder that for a time and you will see the chasm separating the two. The most affirming person in the universe is our Lord!
Treasures on earth are often summed up in property and money. We can’t seem to keep from putting price tags on everyone and everything. Who and what are you to a world that is immersed in such a mentality? We even put a monetary sticker on those in our sacred ordained ministry! Just maybe, on judgment day our Lord will implement “the last shall be first and the first shall be last”! Then, the worldly label of dollar bills on each head will run amuck and he will have a free-for-all on his hands because we could never think in any other way. Perhaps we will then come begging to enter the heavenly gates, being freed from our secular mindset. Is this an excursion into a fanciful and unrealistic world? Frankly, that is doubtful and it is time for clergy to confess.
Our Lord gives a glimpse of where lasting riches are. It comes down to a choice, doesn’t it? If we but look carefully at our passage of holy scripture, the obvious is before us. If we choose to play psychological games and attempt to rationalize our human nature into something of pure beauty, we have missed this lofty Ash Wednesday message. As we know, such a choice is continually before us. It is not a matter of a one-time answer set in cement. If we fail to get it the first time, it is still there. Even if we fail many times, it is in the recesses of our souls. To have once received and implemented it is no guarantee we live by its wisdom.
Every so-called secular or worldly accomplishment in our world can be taken from us. Who knows the amount of money, time, and energy that goes into the print or other media to explain away someone’s good deeds? Those sorts of shenanigans appear to go on all the time. The calculated deceit in today’s world stretches our imaginations! Only what we have done for Christ and consequently stored up in heaven is free from such onslaughts. It is a simple, spiritual truth but human nature is often hell-bent on discrediting it. Our saved souls yearn for permanent treasures. Only by living Christ’s ways can they be there at our death.
If we place our hearts in this world’s treasures, we have a big problem. It is going to evaporate or worse! The titans of today and the past have all had to deal with it. The little folks, like you and me, also have to deal with it. We can condemn such people and even — in our own minds — send them to hell, but that by no means indicates that they are going there. Some of us have laid up treasures in heaven and we are not so concerned about who has the biggest treasure, but that what we do have is safe and secure. Yes, that is the way it is for those of us, who in our many sins of omission and commission, have sought to conquer, with the Holy Spirit’s full assistance, our fallen nature.
To trust any human being totally and completely — almost without exception — is a big mistake, perhaps catastrophic. Not to trust God totally and completely is a mistake we cannot afford to make. If he is wrong, there is no hope for anyone. If he is right through his Son, Jesus Christ — and he always is — even our lowly common sense tells us to pay close attention! To be sure, we are in an arena taxing our hearts and minds. Our perceptions and perspectives can be outlandishly wrong. But we certainly do have a glimpse, don’t we? We are not blind beggars with no shepherd and physician. The Holy Spirit is among us and the law of the Savior’s love pursues us, seeking our healing submission.
At the beginning of Lent, it is time to move beyond our convenient and well-accepted Christian practice. It is time to move boldly (or humbly) away from showing others we belong to Christ and to please watch what we do! Away with worship attendance mostly to be seen. Away with prayers having more to do with others hearing our perfectly spoken words. Away with giving all of our money in checks, so there is an accurate record for the church and the IRS. Away with ushering and greeting to show we are active in the church. Bring on the anonymity for which our blessed Lord calls! Bring on the blessedness wrought by not letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing!
The world has an ongoing lust for security. How can we keep our stocks and bonds from slipping away from us? How can we keep our popularity and have others always think well of us? How can we secure a place for ourselves in history forever and ever? In all cases, we are living in quicksand, which may devour us at anytime and most any place. As committed Christians, we know our treasures can be sealed in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes. We also know our treasures can be safe, where thieves do not break in and steal. It is a call for tears of joy because we have found the “pearl of great price.” The Lord holds our treasures and will present them to us on that great day!