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“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, 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 your giving may be in 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.
Matthew 6:1 - 6 (ESV)
“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.
Matthew 6:16 - 21 (ESV)
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says,
“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10 (ESV)
The "Sermon on the Mount" comprises chapters 5 to 7 of the Gospel of Matthew. No paragraph does not emphasize the contrast between a godly life to Christ and a life that lives the opposite. Jesus seems to flee from the crowds of the cities and "withdraws" in this place that is still known today as a quiet place, with a panoramic view of the "Sea of Galilee" and the desert and mountainous regions of what we now call Jordan, an appropriate place for meditation and reflection and listening. The Gospel Message aligns with Paul's epistle and goes in the same direction, that of a godly, holy, honorable life for the glory of God and him alone. Here, we will enter the field of sincerity, of the honesty of a faith that is not interested in "showing off" but rather in showing the Glory of God.
The text shows us the risk of exercising self-righteousness, which relates to the practical way we exercise our faith regarding giving, prayer, and fasting. Such practices, recommended by Jesus, should be sincere and discreet. Notice that it is not the attitude that Jesus condemns but the motivation which he vehemently rebukes. Unfeigned faith is valued by the apostle Paul to his son in the faith of Timothy (2 Tim 1:5). So we can see from whom he learned about it, if not directly from Jesus because he did not have the opportunity, but by the action of the Holy Spirit together with the testimony of the disciples who put in their hearts what Jesus himself taught.
A positive memory helps us fight against public recognition as the first option in our lives and ministries. We live in a time when what others say sometimes dictates our behavior, and in the Christian environment, we are not free from this temptation. There are not a few cases of people who live a double life, a feigned faith, who "proclaim with trumpets what they give," pronounce beautiful prayers etymologically elaborated and in a high tone, "change the appearance of their face" to receive the reward of men. You and I know well how true this is, but we don't want to live like that. We want to live what Jesus advocates: a life of intimacy with God, in the silence of our soul, in the sincerity of our heart, and in the purity of our intentions. Run away from everything that deviates from it.
When I said that today's gospel aligns with the epistle, I said that here I see Paul writing to the church in Corinth and placing us as ambassadors of Christ, representatives of the Kingdom of God, and encouraging us to a consistent lifestyle, it is known from Paul's two letters to the Corinthians about the difficulty of these brothers in giving a testimony worthy of the name of Jesus, we know the moral conflicts, the social differences that this church lived. Perhaps more than any other epistle, this appeal is necessary, both from the gospel and the apostle himself. If we are ambassadors, we represent someone and everything that someone is. Thus, we cannot "receive the grace of God in vain" but live according to it and all that brings both mercy and diligence. Graça is free, someone said, but it was not cheap.
The apostle will conclude this text with recommendations he places contrary to those who try to live grace in vain. The nouns placed here are not words thrown into a text by a pen to complete the page of a message but are the result of a personal testimony of those who have never lived grace in vain.
The Most Rev Miguel Uchoa
Archbishop and Primate
The Anglican Church in Brazil
