Showing Off
Matthew 6:1-4
July 16, 2006
Recently someone was telling me that they were visited at their home by a couple of young men selling religion. The young men were kind, generous and nicely dressed. They shared their faith and invited the woman to join them in their belief. “What's the catch?” she asked, “You'd have to live like we do.” She looked them up and down, “That doesn't seem too bad she said.” “It's great!” they offered, “to serve God with our whole lives.” “And, how do you do that?” she asked. “Well, first of all you have to prepare yourself for God. Men need to wear a shirt, tie and slacks. Women need to wear dresses that go below the knee. In these ways our outer appearance is pleasing to God.” “Really,” the woman said. “Then, you need to share out of your blessings a tithe to God. We never pass the basket during service, Jesus turned over the tables in the temple. Instead an elder will come by and you will set up a 30% withdrawal from your checking account, based on your income. It's so easy, you don't even have to think about it, the giving just happens.” “Wow!” the woman said, “That's unbelievable!” “But, it is believable and you can bank on it,” the young men said. “Yes, you are banking on it,” the woman said. “Finally, you will be enrolled in a class to learn our discipline. It takes three years. During that time you will be welcomed into our community but only as a beginner. After three years the elders will vote on your readiness. It's little to give when God blesses us with so much.”
As I heard of this encounter I was reminded of the work we were going to do this morning. . For it used to be said, before the God Is Still Speaking campaign, that the people of the UCC believed everything. It came from people's desire to say that we are progressive thinkers that embrace the grey areas of faith. However, it also communicated that we didn't believe anything and that is and never was true. We in the UCC, as part of the Jesus movement, we have certain beliefs and standards that we hold ourselves to. We have standards that we try to hold ourselves to that reflect our theological understandings of who and what God is and how that God speaks to us each day. And, the UCC has a unique call out of our particular understanding of who God is. Hallelujah! It's Pentecost, the time of year we get black and white and specific about who we are and what we believe. It's the time of year we find out what we need to do and be to really run with these Jesus movement folk. But, the difference from many of the other folks who are part of this Jesus movement is that in the UCC we don't get real hung up on what's happening with how we dress, what our hair looks like, if we shave our legs or not. We believe that our motives must begin with God. And, if our motives begin with God and God's call we are prepared. But, even that is not enough. For in the UCC we must also ask what the consequences of the action will be. If they will not spread unconditional love pointing to a Loving Creator we doubt it is an authentic call from God. And, we will not be fooled by suits and ties, dresses or skirts, or however things are dressed up we want to know the process of how something developed and the consequences of following that process through. We do care a whole lot about what motivates us and what the outcome of our actions are going to be. And, our Scripture meets us right in this place. Hallelujah! It's Pentecost and we are learning what it means to be the church.
Our Scripture passage and our introduction to the theme remind us to watch who it is we are conveying. Are we working so hard to bring peace, joy, love and hope into the world that we might be the ones remembered for our actions? Or, are we working hard to bring peace, joy, love and hope into the world that God's kin-dom might just be. Are we doing to get or doing to give?
Matthew's gospel was written at a time when the people who followed Jesus had been kicked out of the synagogue. They were separated for the first time from the foundation of their faith, the holy sacred place. And, like all people who get kicked out of church. Like all the people that receive those messages, “you're no longer welcome here; you're not good enough, when you repent from your sin you can come back.” It was a painful time. There were deep wounds that needed healing and direction. Matthew's community was working from that place of being ostracized and beginning to become a new thing just because they found themselves outside of what had always been. They had to articulate what set them apart in order to survive. And, they not only had to set themselves apart from those who still lived inside the law and the synagogue but those who were good Romans, working to be the best humanitarians of all time as Romans. Most of the people in Matthew's religious community would expect to give charitable donations, as well as pray and fast. But, Matthew says it's not enough. The difference in this community wasn't doing these things, but it was a shift in understanding where these practices were to come from. These practices weren't connected to outward signs of holiness, or stature, these signs were to be connected to the purity of your heart in giving back to the God who dwells within and calls to us by name. The Greek word that has been translated hypocrite in our passage this morning actually means actor. It's a neutral term, not stigmatized like hypocrite is. And, it is used in the sense of putting on a particular mask for a role you are going to play. Matthew's community and the Jesus movement are called to not be a group of actors. We are not just a group of actors playing out the roles of charitable giving that the applause will all be for them. However, Matthew's community and the Jesus movement is instead called to be reflections of the loving, joyful, hope filled peace of God. When we share our gifts out of our passion and thankfulness for God's presence in our life, for the gift of breath, for the opportunity to be wholly living in our beings, we reflect the God our theology resonates from.
So how are we First Church ? How are our insides? Are we showing off to avoid really sharing who we are and what we believe? Are we projecting a mask that no one might be able to see the questions and doubts we hold inside? Matthew reminds us this day to stop it! To cut it out! For when we say we are part of this movement we are allowed to be who we are. Nobody likes the “nice” church or the ‘friendly” church. We are called to be the truth tellers, matching our insides to our outsides. This means when you've had a rough time and you can barely drag yourself here, you don't put on a smiling, “I'm great everything is great” face. Instead you are allowed to cry, be angry, and cry out, question and doubt. And, you can do all of those things in this room, in this community. God calls us to be authentic people, which require us to match our insides and our outsides. This means when you've had the most amazing week and the job came through, the date went well, the test came back this is the place you can tell it, and we'll be happy for you, genuinely happy and celebrate with much joy for you and your work. The community teaching this week is that our God is what our God does. And our God does out of an authentic feeling of unconditional love. This was witnessed in Jesus' teaching that no one is greater than another; no one was righteous unless motivated by God's unconditional love pointing back to God's great love. Matthew reminds us that the stage only lasts for a short amount of time, then the clapping fades away and we are left removing our mask, having to leave the theatre and face life without the makeup, the lights, the lines, or the crowd. And, the UCC reminds us, that our God is so big that no matter who you are or where you are on this journey of life, God can meet you there. So this week, let's get rid of the masks. Let's stop trying to mask others. And, let's start sharing who we are, how we see ourselves and begin the journey a bit more aware and a whole lot more clear. God's light is transparent, no need for a mask.
Once upon a time there were two young men who came around the neighborhood selling religion. They were kind and gentle young men who were nicely dressed. When they began to share their faith with the woman who answered the door, she shared her own faith right back in a kind and gentle way. When they suggested that God was ready to listen when we followed a dress code, she asked what dress code their hearts and conscience were wearing. When they suggested Jesus looked down upon offering and turned the tables in the temple over, she asked why the disciples were called to leave everything they had and follow him? She asked why the widow's coin was acceptable? And she asked why the rich man had to give everything away in order to become a disciple? Finally, when the youngsters spoke about the three year class it took to approach the elders for acceptance, the woman responded that God's acceptance required no elders, no church, no money, no mother, no father, no education, no status, it only required an ability to identify God's loving call within and the wisdom to know how to share that with all he met. I will pray for you young men and if you have any questions don't forget to stop by again tomorrow. It matters what is going on within us, it matters what our motivations are and for every motive there is a consequence which also must be weighed when you are part of this United church of Christ within the Jesus movement. Let us Pray.