Practicing piety

James Cathcart March 05, 2022 0 2

Playlists

Add to Favourites

Save for later

Listen to this daily worship

Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-21 (NRSVA)

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

2 ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a 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. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

5 ‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6 But whenever you pray, go into 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.

16 ‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

19 ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

Piety, virtue, devotion, ‘doing the right thing’ —consistently — takes practice.

We are, thankfully, capable of acting virtuously on instinct now and then. Or as a reflexive response to certain circumstances. Little sparks of compassion and selflessness.This haphazard virtuosity has helped keep us going as a species. Humans, by and large, tend to care about other humans. We don’t always care very well, or care enough, but we do tend to care. We feel we have a stake, we are invested in the lives of other people. It’s how we’re wired.

But being virtuous consistently, having character, takes work. Fittingly enough ‘having character’ requires a backstory. Character does not appear fully formed. Over time we develop habits, we create patterns, we cultivate ways of being, we refine our focus, we practice.

Like so many processes in life we move from trying, to trying not to try, to realising we’re not trying anymore. And then it gets trying. And then we try again. But we’re not alone, and we don’t have to do it all in our own strength. God cares and is with us to strengthen and renew us as we practice.

In all this practicing of our piety, of trying to do the right thing, there is a risk that we start focusing on the reception of our kind acts rather than the recipients. We are social creatures hardwired to care about one another. One of the ways we grow and develop is learning to harmonise how we understand the world with how others do. We care what other people think. That’s not a bad thing, but it can sometimes hijack our good intentions.

In these words from Matthew 6, we get a lesson on the pitfalls of caring more about what other people think of us than what they need from us. If we are just being virtuous to look good, it comes from the wrong place, it’s hollow.

So how do we practice piety without falling into the trap? By putting our heart into it, our whole honest little hearts that go on loving, go on trying, out of love. Verse 21: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” By gradually rediscovering the love that sustains the universe we shift our focus away from ourselves to something bigger. Encouragement and validation are great, but they’re not the point. Some of the most kind and compassionate people will never be encouraged or validated.

Well. That’s not true. God will see their compassion and weep with gratitude.

PRAYER:

Dear God,

May we be restless in our piety,

not content with showing off

but instead be motivated to rediscover the love at the heart of the universe

that is as restless in search of us

as we are in search of it.

Amen.