One Short Verse. Many Long Implications.

One of the great thrills of reading the scriptures is looking not only at what is said, but sometimes, the bigger message is in what is NOT said. 

Another great tool in perusing the sacred texts of the Judeo-Christian narrative is to ask what else is present in the text that might not normally be observed or emphasized in many cases. 

Oh, and to go another step, sometimes it is in the one-verse snippet that you can see some truly deep realities when you take time to absorb the message on multiple levels.

Today’s single verse from Matthew, the first verse of chapter six, is one of those verses that I believe checks all these boxes. Before we go too much further, here is Jesus as found in Matthew 6:1 - 

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

Basic. Simple. Not much to see here…or is there?

Here are just a few things to note:

Let us not blow past the first word here, “Beware.” When it comes to how we live out our faith, we must always be cognizant that everything is a spiritual matter, and, as such, has a risk that must be considered.

If there is a warning about doing things so that others may see your actions, there is an implied message that others are watching how we do or do not live out the faith we proclaim.

By laying out that God is also attentive to how we do or do not live out the faith we proclaim, we are made aware that God MUST be the sole intended “audience” (if you will) for our practice of the Christian tradition.

BEYOND ALL THAT, though, is something major that goes unsaid here. When Jesus is issuing his warning to beware of practicing your piety, it is implied that a person who is attempting to live the life of a disciple of Christ practices their piety - that is, their faith. There is no room in Christ’s wording here for someone who has faith as an intellectual exercise. He’s almost foreshadowing his brother James’ argument about faith without works is dead.

So, Lamar, what do we DO with this information?

Well, we must start with the acknowledgement that the lives we lead are the manifestation of the faith we have (or do not have) in God through Christ. So, are we mature enough to be willing to be honest about whether or not we are leading lives that are exhibiting a deep faith in Christ?

Have we taken time to truly process that we have an influence on others’ understanding of what the life of a disciple is like? Do we own and accept that others DO watch our words & deeds (or the lack thereof) as an indicator of God’s gracious presence in the world?

In sum, in this small, one-verse excerpt from our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount offers us plenty of opportunity to do some truly necessary reflection and offers us plenty of inspiration to move forward in our journey to be Christ’s faithful disciple.