Have you figured out what you’re giving up for Lent? I confess I don’t really give up anything for Lent. But I used to. I grew up Roman Catholic, though we didn’t really go to church. But something changed in college. I went to mass all the time. I was strict about fasting. I was sure it was some kind of huge spiritual awakening. But with a little age and wisdom, now I realize that it was also a fantastic way to get attention at a Lutheran university. We all rebel in our own way, I guess. So here’s the funny story. I sang in one of the choirs, There was one other Catholic in the choir, so we commiserated. The choir went on spring break tour during Lent, singing in Lutheran churches. And they used to feed us starving college kids. Guess what the good Lutheran moms served us for dinner on Friday night? Lasagna! But the two of us were so proud of ourselves for taking a stand and only eating salad. It’s just a little bit embarrassing…..

This is what Jesus means when he says – “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them.” And he gives us a laundry list of what NOT to do. Don’t give offerings in order to show off our generosity. Don’t pray in front of others to show off our holiness. Don’t let our fasting look like we’re trying to win a round of Survivor. Basically, Jesus is digging into our motives. Are we really just trying to be seen, or earn praise, or get attention?

On the other hand, what about fellowship? Or encouraging others in their discipleship? If we’re secret givers, it’s hard to encourage folks to be generous, and it’s not really fair to deprive others of the chance to show gratitude. When we’re secret prayers, it’s hard to pray with folks who might be desperate for a word of hope. When we’re secret fasters, it’s hard to share a meal, or explain to our friends why we can’t accept their hospitality. Let alone host a table for others. And maybe it’s a little ironic that we’re about to put ashes on our foreheads, because there’s nothing secret about that. But at any rate, this secret-keeping can be pretty disruptive to our relationships. So, Jesus is giving some odd advice. Besides, if the bottom line is just that Jesus doesn’t want us to be hypocrites, well, we don’t have to go to all this trouble to do that. Unless we just want to keep our hypocracy secret, I guess.

Of course, Jesus is being pretty generous here. He’s assuming that we’re giving alms, and praying, and fasting, and not hoarding. And God sees everything in secret. God knows the truth of our hearts, and it’s no secret.

Friends, there’s no gospel here. Just more law. Rules that only hide our real problem – whether or not we’ve truly loved our neighbors as ourselves. Because if we can’t love the neighbors we CAN see, then how can we begin to love the God we CAN’T see?

But the good news is that Jesus didn’t practice what he preached. He was on full display when he was nailed to a cross. When he prayed “Father, forgive them, for they dob’t know what they’re doing.” When he struggled to gasp the words “I thirst”. And Jesus didn’t just die to himself. He died. But by his dying, he showed us that there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for us, just so that we might know the depth of his love. To prove that nothing can separate us from the love of God made manifest in Jesus. Nothing we do or don’t do.

True piety isn’t about discipline or perfection. True piety is naming the power of God made manifest in our weakness and imperfections. Because God never does anything the easy way. The Holy Spirit is the weak power of love, never forcing but always drawing us, luring us into its tether. We give alms with the hope that others might know the God of abundance. We pray just because it’s hard to believe that the Creator of the universe actually listens to us. We fast just because we trust that God sustains our lives, and Jesus sustains us with his body and blood. And though we may still fall, we prove that no one is beyond the reach of Jesus’ forgiveness.

Thanks be to God.