Ash Wednesday | Matt Ostercamp - Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

The holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to

Matthew beware of practicing your righteousness before other

people in order to be seen by them for then you will have no

reward from your father who is in heaven thus would you give to

the needy sound no trumpet before you as the hypocrites do

in the synagogues and in the streets that they may be praised

by others truly I say to you they have received their reward

But But when when you you give give to to the the needy needy,

do do not not let let your your left left hand hand know know

what what your your right right hand hand is is doing doing, so

so that that your your giving giving may may be be in in

secret secret. and your father who sees in secret will reward

you and when you pray you must not be like the hypocrites for

they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street

corners that they may be seen by others truly I say to you they

have received their reward but when 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.

And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for

they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by

others. Truly I say to you, they have

received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your

head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by

others, but by your Father who is in secret.

And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth

and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but

lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor

rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also

the gospel of the Lord. Well, good evening and welcome

to Emmanuel Anglican Church. Welcome to Ash Wednesday in

talent. My name is Matt Osterkamp.

I'm one of the lay lay leaders here at Emmanuel.

I'm a member of the preaching team.

And so I will be bringing the message tonight.

We are going to be looking at our gospel text, those verses in

Matthew chapter 6. But before we do that, let me

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

just open with a word of prayer. The Lord be with you.

Heavenly Father, I pray that you would come and dwell this place

this evening. May your Spirit come and

minister to us. Give us ears to ear hear and

eyes to see. May you use my words to glorify

you and edify your church. We pray in the name of the

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Amen.

So you can find our text in your bulletins or in your Bibles.

But before we read the words of Matthew, I want to open with

these words from the Gospel of John, John 3 verse 17, where we

John 3:17

read For God did not send his son into the world to condemn

the world, but in order that the world might be saved through

him. Not to condemn the world, but in

order that the world might be saved through him.

When you hear of somebody or something being saved, you have

a a story or something that comes to mind.

Maybe a time when you or someone you knew was in sudden and

immediate danger. And then there was some

intervention, some rescue, and the danger was removed and there

was relief and there was salvation.

I think back four years ago in 2022 and March 6, I woke up to a

phone call. I know some of you have received

these phone calls from my father that my mom was having an active

heart attack. Her heart was failing.

But we talked on the phone. He was at the hospital, the

local hospital, waiting for a helicopter to arrive that would

fly my mom to the Regional Hospital where she would have

emergency heart surgery. See, multiple arteries had

become so blocked that blood was only trickling into her heart

and she would need 5 stints. And through the mercy of the

Lord, her life was extended. That comes to mind is I think of

somebody being saved. And, and what we learned as a

family that weekend is that heart surgery.

It is painful that it it makes you and leaves you in a very

vulnerable place. But when the blood, when the

arteries open and the blood flows again, there's new life

and there's strength and you're not always tired and you didn't

you have energy again. And I share this because I think

in the season of Lent and even as we look at these scriptures,

the Lord wants to work on our hearts.

He wants to open up arteries that have maybe become clogged

and blocked. See, these verses aren't here to

just make you feel guilty, to make you feel embarrassed or

inadequate when you worship. The Lord is giving us some

warning because He wants His love, his abundant life to flow

through US, the power of the Holy Spirit to indwell us.

And so as we hear these words, let us remember He does not say

this to condemn us. His mission is to save us.

So let us now turn to Matthew chapter 6, starting with verse

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

one. Beware of practicing your

righteousness before other people in order to be seen by

them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is

in heaven. So the context here, as some of

you know, and we're in the Sermon on the Mount, this is

Jesus's great oration. It kind of announces in Matthew

his ministry, and he goes up onto the mountains and his

disciples are at his feet and the crowds are beyond the

disciples. And he begins with this

beautiful poetic vision of the Kingdom of God, the poor being

blessed, those who mourn being comforted, the hungry being

filled. There's something so compelling

and so beautiful about those early Beatitudes.

And I imagine the crowd just their attention, increasingly

riveted to the Messiah who's giving them his agenda, the one

they've been waiting for. And then he pivots from those

beatitudes to a retelling of the law.

And he says, you have heard it said do not commit murder.

And maybe they're sinking. Yeah.

And I haven't, I haven't done that.

But then Jesus says, but I say to you, whoever is angry with

his brother is in danger of the fires of hell.

And now things are getting uncomfortable.

You've heard it said, love your neighbor.

Yeah. Yeah.

Mostly I say to you, love your enemies.

And as he keeps telling the law and he talks about OS and

adultery, I imagine them seeing the chasm between themselves,

their lived reality and the Kingdom of God, that initial

vision just growing wider and wider.

And they're sitting there and they're thinking, how are we

ever going to get into this Kingdom?

And probably there's some rabbi's kid, I'm a preacher's

kid myself, some rabbi's kid sitting there and he's thinking,

I know, I know. The spiritual disciplines we

need to reconnect with those ancient practices that's going

to get us to God. And for a 1st century Jew, those

disciplines, as Father Aaron said, would have been practicing

alms, doing acts of generosity and mercy.

They would have been praying and calling out to the Lord

Almighty, the great God and deliverer of the Hebrew people,

and they would have been fasting, taking a break from

your regular rhythms and routines to turn your attention

to God to the great story of redemption.

And they thought these are the ways and Jesus turns to these

exact things right in this sermon.

But he doesn't just give an uncomplicated go do it instead.

He he talks about these things. Prevents the full experience a

full relationship of God that prevents those blood from

flowing into your your spiritual heart be careful even here even

when you're doing these spiritual practices We're going

to find a word in this text that's translated into English

as hypocrites the Greek word would be a word that'd be used

for actors it could mean an actor on a stage it could also

be translated as performer we might say that this is kind of

performative religion in our current language I'm going to

use the word performer I can stick a little softer than

hypocrite but we're going to look at a performer who is

engaging in spiritual disciplines But not connecting

not fully connecting with God maybe not connecting at all with

God and I want to ask three questions and I think these can

be 3 questions we sit with during the 40 days of went

question 1 is how do we see ourselves how do we see

ourselves question 2 is how do we see other people how do we

see those around us and then question 3 is what story are we

living out What What story story?

what is the story that defines and drives our lives so read

with me now we're in verse 2 of Matthew 6 truly when you give to

the needy sound no trumpet before you as the hypocrites do

in the synagogues and in the streets that they may be praised

by others truly I say to you they have received their reward

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know

what your right hand is doing so that you're giving may be done

in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you.

I was reading an interview with Internet pioneer and fellow

Illini Marc Andreessen the other day.

He's from way back in the 90s dot com boom and they were

asking him what motivates the leaders in Silicon Valley.

You know, all of these famous mostly men that we hear so much

about. Some years they're heroes, some

years they're villains, but what motivates them?

Is it really just about making money?

The reporter asks and and Marc Andreessen replies, making money

that that's like goal number 5 or something.

I, I would say goal number one is I'm a good person.

I'm a good person is wildly more important than profit margins

wildly. And I think the performer in

Matthew 6 would totally agree with the Silicon Valley mogul.

In fact, he's so invested in raising moral capital that he's

he's giving away financial capital.

He's giving out his money trying to build this narrative that

he's a good person. He's not like those exploitative

capitalists who are are just taking from the masses.

He's he's giving back. He's not just signaling virtue.

He's actually doing virtue over here.

I'm doing it like you're the trumpet.

I'm doing the thing. I'm giving away the money.

You know, sometimes we get caught up in needing to prove

that we are not like those people.

When I say those people, you know who I'm talking about might

be different for each one of us, But I think we often have these

categories. Like I am one of the good guys.

I'm not like them and this self righteousness like plaque in our

arteries, it starts to clog out our connection to God.

I've been there. Maybe some of you have been

there. I think the performer here, he

might be caught up in this need to to communicate to other

people to continue to say like I am one of the people who gets

it. I'm one of the people who's

doing the right thing. Look at me.

I need you to validate that. I need you to hear me.

Or Or maybe maybe there's there's another another reason

reason, or or maybe maybe it's it's sometimes sometimes related

related. maybe it's not so much that he's just like thinks he's

the the you know the big self-righteous the the star

student maybe he's worried and he's trying to convince himself

and he's not quite doing it Maybe he's worried and he's

trying to convince himself and he's not quite doing it, that

he's not the same person that he is at his worst moments.

That those really cringy moments, you know, those moments

you might wake up in the middle of the night and you're like,

how did I really do that? I, I wish I could do that again.

I should have called them back. Did I really say that thing?

It could have been a secret shame that he was hoping the

voices of the crowds would drown out his own interior monologue

that he was not worthy. And he was hoping by by showing

off and being so demonstratively generous that he could start to

believe himself that he really was a good person.

But maybe he really, really struggled to believe that.

And I think what Jesus is warning us here, He's warning us

particularly about our own inner monologues.

I think it's interesting. He says like, do not let your

left hand know what your right hand is doing.

He's targeting how do we, how do we think of ourselves?

And he wants us to stay grounded in the reality that each one of

us are sinners. Each one of us are sinners, We

each need a Savior, but that each one of us are loved by God,

that we are worthy of being loved through the mercy and

grace of God Almighty. We are saved through the blood

of Christ. He's saying, don't believe your

own hype and don't give in to that nagging voice of shame that

says you are not worthy, for you are a Sinner.

But there is grace and the avenue is made for you to come

and approach God, not in a flashy, showy way.

You don't need the affirmation of the the audience.

Just go and do it in secret and experience the love and the

freedom of Christ. As we say tonight when we put on

the ashes, repent. Repent from yourself,

righteousness from your claims of moral superiority and believe

the gospel, the gospel that every single one of us is worthy

of being loved, that God loves every single one of us and he

wants to redeem every single one of us.

No matter what you've done, no matter where you've been.

How do you think of yourself when you stay resting in that

place of I'm a Sinner, but I'm saved by grace.

Second second question, second vignette here.

We're going to go to verse 16 now skipping down or actually

went out to verse 16, yet pages are out of order.

Verse 8 or verse 5. And when you pray, you must not

be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the

synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by

others. Truly I say to you, they have

received their reward. But when you pray, go into the

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.

Question 2 is how do we see other people?

And again, I think the performer in this this vignette, and we

don't know fully what the motivation are, but I imagine 2

possible motivations for them. Why are they praying?

Why do they love to pray on the on the stage, in the corner, in

the synagogue? Why?

Why do I love to pray sometimes on the stage in the synagogue?

Is Is my my audience audience that that I I need need to to

please please? maybe some of you remember the

old TV show Top Chef I don't know if it's still on and we see

other people as like the spiritual Tom colicchio's who

are going to come in and appraise our lives and we still

want their approval we still want to oppress impress them we

want that spread in bread and wine magazine you know we want

to be the top Christian and we start to see other people as our

judge but maybe that wasn't it and as I get older And as I get

older, I feel a second motivation creeping into my

heart. And maybe these Jewish elders,

these religious worshippers were looking around in the 1st

century and they had this thought.

Kids these days and you've seen what they're into.

They're into all this Roman stuff and this Greek philosophy.

I don't know that they really know how to pray.

I don't know if they really get it.

I need to show them what it's like to seek God with all of

your heart, with all of your mind.

They need me to stand there and demonstrate to them just what

it's like. You ever feel that pressure in a

changing world that we need to be visibly Christian or

Christianity will fail? If we're not out there, if we're

not doing it, this whole thing could collapse.

Maybe that was what they were feeling is they're on the street

corners and in the synagogues. And as I reflect on this, I

think about how religious performance isolates us, but

true worship connects us to God and it connects us to other

people. But as we connect to God in

secret and then we go out to the table, it's not some crappy

reality TV show meal where we're all kind of envious and we're

all jockeying with each other. I mean, what a messed up picture

of hospitality, right? It's we're just sitting down and

enjoying good food and good company.

We're free from all that pressure to perform and we don't

need to take on the burden and to see ourselves as the saviors

of the world who have all that pressure and see other people as

projects. See, I think as we connect with

God, we see that we are not little saviors out to redeem the

world. We can approach other people as

neighbors who walk with them to the cross of Christ.

We're going with you. We're a neighbor.

We're a fellow Sinner. We can love you in a non anxious

way. We can be present in your lives

because we're connected and grounded to God in prayer and

we're showing up not to impress you, not because we feel like if

we don't do this, this whole thing is going to fall apart.

See, the God who was is the God who is, is the God who will be

world without end. We don't need to hold on to that

pressure. We can connect with God through

prayer and secret. Now we go to our third vignette,

skipping down to verse 16 of the gospel text.

And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for

they disfigure their faces, that their fasting may be seen by

others. Truly, I say to you, they have

received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your

head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by

others, but by your Father who is in secret, And your Father

who sees in secret will reward you.

The American author Joan Didion once wrote, we tell ourselves

stories in order to live. We tell ourselves stories.

We are narrative creatures. We like to organize things and

some sort of narrative arc. We like to picture ourselves and

structure our lives in some kind of story.

And fasting in the 1st century, scholars tell us, would have

been performed for one of three reasons.

Either people would have fasted as a sign of repentance and as

an as a physical, bodily discipline that was helping them

turn away from the things of the world and turn towards the

things of God. Fasting was was orienting their

lives towards the redemptive story of God or fasting was an

act of remembrance. It was clearing out space so

they could stop and reflect on the great works of deliverance,

particularly in delivering the Hebrew people out of the land of

Egypt in the land of slavery. Fasting would be repentance,

fasting could be remembrance, or fasting could be preparation.

But But in in each each case case, fasting fasting is is

orienting orienting us us and and connecting connecting us us

to to the the great great story story of of salvation salvation,

to to the the story story of of our our creator Creator God God

who who has has promised promised us us blessings

blessings and and promised promised to to bless bless the

the nation's nation's through through us us. and now we know

his promise through salvation through the blood of his son

Jesus Christ so why no gloomy face fast why why can't we be

gloomy about this and as I was thinking about this I think it's

a warning And as I was thinking about this, I think it's a

warning to to look for the right reward, to look for the right

story. You see, the hustle is not the

story. Our own experience of

deprivation, while maybe poignant in the moment, is

really just preparation to be part of a much bigger story.

And I think Jesus is saying don't lose the plot, don't

forget the story. Your fasting is preparing you or

is a is a occasion for you to reflect and remember the great

works of God, to celebrate the great power of God, the

salvation of God. When we focus on our own

experience of, of deprivation, of missing out, we're choosing

the wrong story, choosing a very small story of personal striving

and, and personal effort. And we're, we're missing a

chance to connect with the story, the true story, the holy

story, the story of God's love. So this Lent, I would encourage

you to reflect as you think about the Savior who came to

save the world, desire anxiety to be seen as a good person.

Does it block our ability to connect with God?

Can you let go of that anxiety? This is our shame and our

feelings of the, the the feelings that I think come from

the enemy, that we are unworthy. Does that get in the way of us

connecting with God? How about the way we're we're

seeing others? Do we fall into the trap of

feeling that we must perform, that they're going to judge us,

that we need their approval? Can we step into the inner room

and just connect with a God who loves us even while we were yet

sinners, He died for us? Or are we feeling the pressure,

the pressure to see other people's projects who they so

need us? Can we see them as neighbors

instead of projects? Can we trust that the Lord who

worked in our lives to bring salvation can also work in their

lives, That we can go together with them to the cross of Christ

and find our salvation there? For For smaller smaller stories

stories, for for individual individual stories stories, for

for a a story story of of this this moment moment and and lost

lost sight sight of of the the story story of of the the ages

ages. can we use this lint to reorient ourselves to remember

to repent of of and turn from worldly things to remember the

great deliverance of God and to prepare ourselves for the Easter

feast when we will encounter God see nowhere in this text are we

are we are we told to not look for rewards It's always look for

the right reward. And Jesus says, for where your

treasure is, there your heart will be also the name of the

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.