Are We in God’s Secret Service?

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

February 6, 2008, Ash Wednesday

It seems that a pastor saw his parishioner Emily one day while he was out shopping. He stopped to talk to her and he said “We’ve missed you in the service.” Miss Emily leaned towards him and said that she was in God’s Secret Service now. In many ways, that seems to be an issue with much of the church today. We like the idea of being in God’s secret service; it takes the pressure off of us. But I wonder if we haven’t taken the idea too much to heart.

Kenneth Bailey, in a recent article in the Presbyterian Outlook magazine writes:

The text opens with a general negative admonition to not practice your piety before others in order to be seen by them. The reader of Matthew’s Gospel has already read Matt. 5:16, Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. The parables in that text focus on salt and light. Salt works in an invisible way, while light is worthless when hidden. So in expressions of piety, there a place for both the hidden and the visible, but the text before us presses back to questions of quality and intention. The announced goal is that others will see our good works, and sense that to thank us for those works is not adequate. The works are to be of such a nature that all who observe them instinctively know that these acts could only be inspired by God. Thus thanks should naturally flow from the observer of those works to the God who prompted them.

So the author of Matthew is not telling us to hide our faith from others, but to question why we let our piety be seen. The basic question is – Who is given the glory in the expression of piety?

Rev. Bob Deffinbaugh shares the flowing story and thoughts:

Not too many years ago, a well-known evangelist was holding revival services in a great American city. As I recall the story, the Spirit of God moved in a mighty way and thousands were converted. After one particularly effective sermon, this great evangelist went to his hotel room, and as one report had it, he spent much of the night in fervent prayer. One report made much of this night of prayer, even quoting portions of it.

Some time later a Christian who had heard this report had the opportunity to be with the companion of this great evangelist. He had been said to have witnessed the soul-stirring prayer of the evangelist the night of the great revival. The curious Christian couldn’t resist asking the evangelist’s companion about the events of that famed evening. “Tell me,” he inquired, “was it really as it was reported?” “Well, not really,” the man responded. “When we arrived back at our room, he threw himself upon the bed with these words: ‘Good night, Lord, I’m tired.’”

Later Deffinbaugh talks more about this externalism of piety:

The error of Judaism, (and I must say the error of 20th century Christianity) is much more subtle than it may seem on the surface. No devout Jew would determine to please God and to disregard God. The problem of externalism resulted from an illogical and unbiblical equating of man’s applause with God’s approval. The Jews supposed that the measure of a man’s spirituality was the approval and esteem granted by his peers. If you wished to evaluate your spirituality, simply listen to the evaluation of your associates.

And isn’t that the truth, not just in piety, but in much of our spiritual life. We equate the accolades of other human beings as God’s happiness with our piety, or spirituality; just like we equate riches and blessings in life as a sign of God’s happiness with our life, or as God’s blessing on our life. So what happens then is that we continue to work for those blessings and accolades.

When it comes to piety we do better to be members of God’s Secret Service so that we don’t fall prey to that most human of needs – that of needing affirmation. But when it comes to speaking about justice for others, or why we believe what we do, or do what we do, then we need to let God’s light shine out bright through us.

It is so easy to tie ourselves in knots trying to get what we want or need in life. And in many ways that is our sin; the sins of needing affirmation, to be recognized, and other human traits. It is where the ways of human life does not mesh with what God calls us to be. Those are the knots we need to be aware of and work to untie in our Lenten Journey. During Lent I will be preaching a series entitled Untying the Knots, and will look at where our humanness creates problems for us. I hope you will join with me in the journey.

So, have you entered God’s Secret Service?

Amen

© 2008 Rev. Dr. Thomas T. Peters