Sa fort

An Appropriate Piety
March 1, 1970
Matthew 5:14016; 6:1-18

Somewhere along the line most philosophic approaches to the nature of man fail
to be honest. Most philosophies don't really take man seriously and because of this
hopelessly underestimate or overestimate his nature and possibilities. Humanism,
and there is a lot of it built into the Democratic ideal, never gets around to honestly
confronting the fact of human evil, Man, the humanist proposes, will pull himself
up by his own boot straps, and if given enough education and freedom will always make
the best decisions regarding his own welfare. Fortunately, the founding fathers of
this nation were not total humanists and had the good sense to ineorporate in our
system of government checks and balances. The doctrinaire communist, on the other
hand, grossly underestimates and reduces man to one aaa in a giant collective entity
which operates solely on the basis of economics.

Popular philesophies fail notoriously to confront the incredible complexity of
man and his behavior. We are eomplex. We do a lot of things for reasons we don't
understand, Psychoanalysis is not only enlightening but frightening because it reveals
some of the reasons we are the way we are ~ and inevitably we are shocked and perhaps

threatened by this deep self-disclosure, We are able to rationalize and justify past

“behavior. You've done it and so have I. We've done something wrong or foolish or

impetuous; it turmed out badly. But somehow we are able to excuse it by literally
creating the necessary rational out of thin air. We do good things for the wrong
reasons and bad things for the right reasons and inside each of us is a labyrinth of
motives and feelings and needs that no one totally comprehends and few take very
seriously.

Let's take religion, for example. Acts of piety. By this I mean those acts
which are generally regarded, at this time and place, as acts of religious devotion
and reverence. Somo of them are very simple, like praying before meals, or displaying
religious art or a Bible prominently in our homes. Dressing up and going to worship
is on act of piety; praying beforo a P.T.A. meeting begins in popular piety. Some

of them are very complex. The question is; why do we do thom?

There are probably . number of reasons, But one thing is certain, we are able
to use them for ego support, Having done something religious — having prayed publicly
or gone to church, we feel good about it. And if we are honest with ourselves the
shouates is going to occur to us that perhaps.that's why we did it in the first place.
Now, in a sense, that's a very dangerous idea to suggest. Because men who have thought
about it very long have usually ended up flagellating themselves in a monastery. One
way to live with our complexity, of course, is to never do anything.

Jesus had an agenda for his disciples. He called them to a life of activism
and risk. And yet, he was, at the same time, a suprome realist, absolutely honest
about man and his nature. When it came to religion and piety he was brutally, offen—
sively frank, cutting through outward behavior to inner motivation.

He lived in a very religious culture. Pioty was a way of life, to a degree you
and I have difficulty assimlating. A good Jew expressed this piety, or religiosity,
mainly in three ways.

The first was alms giving. The good Jew gave a tithe, one tenth of all he had,
and on top of that he gave alms for charity and the support of the poor. The tithe
was expected; alms were the "icing on the cake", At certain times during the year
a trumpet was sounded to signal a special offering. And Jesus had the audacity to
suggest that some men were using that occasion for a little public display of gener-
osity. He suggested that the man who was really interested in the poor - and in the
will of God will be so secretive about his giving that he will not even allow his
left hand to know what the right is doing.

The second major act of piety was prayer, Three times daily, at appointed
times, the good Jew stopped what he was doing, turned toward Jerusalem, and prayed,
in much the same way as the Moslems do today, or the devout Catholic at the ringing
of the Angelus. Jesus suggested that some mon were calculating to be on the busiest
corner, or in the middle of the market place, at the appointed time. And that their
praying was, in fact, an act put on solely for the benefit of the audience, He
suggested that the man who is really inturested in picty will seek out a place apart,

an inner chamber: and there pray to God - who knows what's going on anyway.

Finally, 2 good Jew fasted as an act of penance and devotion. Fasting was
required several times a year. But the truly pious fasted every Monday and Thursday.
It was the custom to be very visible about it. To dawn a sack cloth, to smear the
face with mud and ashes, to walk about groaning and making noises of agony. Jesus
suggested that it was all a show, that these people were actually enjoying their
martyrdom, that the goal of that kind of behavior was public recognition: "there
goes a good and holy man!" He suggested that appropriate fasting would be totally
invisible. "Wash your face", he told them, “appear no differently from everyone else:
no one ought to know what you are about but God."

Now, I've resisted the very real temptation to bring these three acts of piety
into focus thus far, because it seems to me that it would belabor the obvious. I've
been there ~ many times — and so have you. I've managed to feel very good about my
generosity, and to compliment myself on 2 well turned phrase in public prayer, and
I'm absolutely delighted to be caught in my study working through the dinner hour.
Jesus knew the nature of man uncomfortably well and you are well equipped to see in
your behavior the very kind of thing he was describing.

Some have seen in his position a solid anti~institutionalism. Some have felt
that the Church summarizes "piety on display" and that Jesus was actually teaching
a totally individualized approach to religion. And if you're looking for a reason
not to give ~ or to stay home on Sunday morning - or to generally avoid the Church -
that argument will probably be sufficient. Of course, it is nonsense; just another
example of how incredibly maneuverable we are — and that we can undergird laziness,
unconcern and apathy with sound intellectual reasoning if we are so disposed. The
fact is that Jesus took for granted that his disciples would do these things. They
would give alms and pray and fast. There really is no question of whether Jesus
would favor church attendance and giving and public prayer. Of course he would.

The question - then and now - is, "for what reason?" The hypocrites, as he called
them, did these things in order to be seen ~ and they got their reward. They were
seen and applauded. The account was closed. But faith is more than that: life in

fellowship with God is the most meaningful, fullest and richest human experience.

That life exists in the area of our will, our motivations. And the man who wants only
to be recognized for his piety has seriously short-changed himself. |

Jesus got right to the heart of things by being totally honest about the nature
of man. What he did not do, and this is the danger in thinking about this passage,
was to rule out piety. He did not teach an “invisible discipleship". In fact, if
we wont to understand this portion of the Sermon on the Mount we’ must hold up beside
it something he said immediately prior. "You are the light of the world. <A city
set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but
on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in
heaven. [Matthew 5:14-16] . Now, there is a paradox. “Let your light so shino «++.
Beware of practicing your piety before men." Discipleship is visible but hidden,
both at the same time, How do we resolve it? How do we know what to do conspicu-—
ously and what secretively? One suggestion is: "Show when tempted to hide and hide
when tempted to show." [Expositors Greek Testament] That, I think, is the crux.
That takes seriously our maneuverability. That approach understands our need for
ego~support, and our fear of conspiciously doing the will of God.

I think this is o very important passage of scripture for Presbyterians. Ie,
needless to say, are not noted es our piety. In fact, one of the great appeals of
Presbyterianism has been that you can be one without being very "religious". We
don't flaunt our religiosity: we aren't fanatics, we aren't conspicuous - and we're
sinfully proud of it. .On the other hand I'm always amused at the way the fundamonta-
ist branch of Protestantism reacts vigorously against Roman Catholic piety and then
comes up with a system that is remarkably similar. The man who is most opposed to
the Virgin Mary on the dashboard - is the man most likely to sport a "Jesus saves”
bumper sticker, If you've ever attended a lengthy prayer meeting you know that
repetition in prayer is not a Catholic monopoly. The person most opposed to the
rigidity of ecclesiastical ritual, in fact probably has his own liturgy of pious
phrases about which he feels very good. ,

In any casc we Presbyterians find ourselves in the middle, une mfortable with —

ee ae: Z : = we a3 ay AMS =. a — ong m eae ES tay SU Se ce = a
| a a POLI ETE Re a Oe a ee
a y + ot at ace Ci ee he 5 outa ; oe) je

tee oe

Page
both traditions, not very pious, and rather glad of it. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, another
man who could be dieturbingly honest, suggested that "Protestant (and he could have
said Presbyterian) modest invisibility is nothing more than conformity to the world."
That hurts. That cuts to the quick. That suggests that you and I use this ideology
of hidden piety as an excuse for inactivity, - no piety at all. That suggests that
what we really want is to be religious without trying, without inconvenience, without
risk or cost. Bonhoeffer would say we want Christianity without a cross - which was,
after all, a very conspicuous symbol.

The Sermon on the Mount, from which our text is taken, is our Lord's description
of the life of discipleship. The Beatitudes - Blessed are the poor in spirit, the
meek and merciful, the peacemakers - serve as the preface. This is the Christian
life. And then - "let your light so shine." The life in Christ - the life of
loving others, serving others, will always be visible. Let it shine! Do what God
wills for you to do in a visible way, so that people will glorify and ceatue God.
Jesus mew that it would be risky business. He told them it would cost them dearly.
He warned that they would be persecuted for their visibility. But he never said that
about picty. Piety offends no one. Christianity lived in the world just may offend
everyone, and that is the only piety he ever taught.

That has always been true and it is terribly true for the Christian today. We
live in a culture that applauds harmless, selfish piety in much the same way as
Jesus' own culture. The world expects us to be visible - so long as we confine our
visibility to the going definition of religiosity. That, I feel, is the worst
insult. After 2,000 years of Christian history the world still expects the church to
be pious in a way that disgusted its Lord. The church can rant and rave about
immorality, about the lack of pious symbols in public education, about gambling
and liquor, about religious observances or the lack of them - and everyone stands
back and applauds. The world expects the clergyman to carry his Bible and baptize
every public function with meaningless platitudes; and it's a very tempting game for /
church and clergyman to play. It's rewards are success and popularity and the

aecolades of the gallery.

ek

. » . \ : 2 aT, es ite ny on ae Hele S dat +25) Xe a ee = . aii

PRE ay NN Be ad LSC Te owes pe SS SESE ee Be ae te be Glee c=

fo Sar! pete ISR Fp dey By An IED Sil daa ee RT ol
But let the church or the clergyman or the layman tie into that "peacemaking™ ~ = ~~‘

idea and the cheers turn to scorn; the accolades to disdain; the popularity to per- .
seoution, Think about that for a minute in terms of the Black Manifesto, the widening
breach across this land between black men and white men; think about that in terms of
what the Black Panthers are saying about our way of life and the way in which our
system is responding. Is there cay die question about when the church - the Chris—
tian - the follower of Christ - ought to be? Is it possible to read Matthew 5 and

6 and be content with praying at football games in a state, the Governor of which
hands out axe-handles to flaunt his racism?

Now, it goes without saying that the Chrigtian who knows his calling in terms
of pence-making: the kind of peace a one is making today, is in for o rough time
of it. If he is a pious man in order to be applauded, he's going to pocket his
wallet and head for the nearest exit. We're not talking anymore about a comfortable
Christianity and a popular piety. Jesus mled that out a long time ago.

We are talking about Christian discipleship and an appropriate piety. This is
the life to which we are called. Whatever we do religiously is for God's glory and
his will, a will which was laid bare in the life of Jesus Christ.

Jesus was terribly honest about man and his complexity. He taught a new and
appropriate piety that might well be described in terms of "hiding when we feel like
showing, and showing when we are tempted to run for cover." But he did more than
teach, He lived that life and so loved those about him that they felt themselves
becoming new men - real men, for the first time. He died for them: for us. And
what we need to sec, in the midst of this discussion of piety, is that death lost
that battle; that the power of God himself is with us and on our side when we follow
him: that the greatest joy life offers is to be his people — his body on earth;
to grow ond to become the kind of men and women God created us to be,

Thai's what this game of life is all about - an appropriate piety.
Amen.

There is a lot going on out there that frightens us, our father. And it is

. tempting to feel very good about our piety. Forgive us. And grant us the power of
the Risen Christ to follow wherever he leads. Amen. oe