Lent is often known as a time of giving something up in order to make room in our lives for spiritual pursuits. Rather than just “giving up” in Lent, the scriptures ask us to consider all that Jesus is “up to” and all that he asks us to be up to in his name. Instead of bemoaning what we can’t do, or used to do, in a culture where “measuring up” to external standards seems impossible, this Lent we will celebrate the small things that we can do right now to respond to God’s call in our place, for our time.
February 18, 2024
God is Doing Something Amazing! Are You UP For It?
“Store Up”
Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-21
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-21
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever 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 whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Store Up Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-21
This Lent, we are celebrating being up to something good, celebrating ways which we can build up the Beloved Community not only for ourselves but for all of God’s people. Sometimes this being up to something good will invite us to be in conversation about difficult things like racism, sexism, and all the isms which continue to divide and create fear within our community. Sometimes this being up to something good will encourage us to reframe the story we tell about our community of faith and about ourselves. And sometimes this being up to something good will move us to let go of what we thought our lives would be, let go of where we thought our community of faith would be by now, let go of all the images, and stuff, whether that be physical, mental, emotional, spiritual stuff, which often weighs us down, to release it so that we can be ready for what new life, new ministry, get ready for a renewed sense of hope which God is creating in our midst.
Or let me say it this way…Adventure is out there! We just need the courage to go where it may lead us. (watch video clip from Up)
Two young kids make a connection because of a dream about adventure, a dream of what the world could be, a dream of the places they could go. A community is formed because they recognize that this dream cannot be created, cannot be fulfilled on their own. A vision comes to life because of possibilities. Sounds a lot like us as people of faith, as a community of faith.
Now I’m sure Pixar didn’t specifically have us in mind when they were planning the storyline for the movie, “Up!” But the themes which they touch on, the themes of life imagined, life lost, life reimagined are the same themes which run through our faith story. These themes captured the very conversations we are having as a community of faith. Since the beginning of the year, the Leadership of Midway Christian Church has been asking what the Spirit of God is up to within our community of faith, up to within the community which surrounds our building, up to within our lives as people of faith. There is a renewed sense of energy and wondering, an opening of our hearts, minds, spirits and hands to receive the life giving news God is bringing. However, for us to be ready to receive these things, as people of faith, we need to do a little prepwork which is where our text for this week comes.
On the first Sunday of Lent, we find ourselves listening once again to Matthew’s version of Jesus’ teaching called the Sermon on the Mount. The lessons, the wisdom, the guidance which Jesus gives to the crowd that day through the Sermon the Mount are the very fundamentals of our faith. However, please hear me say…just because they are the fundamentals, doesn’t mean living them out in practice is easy.
In our text, Jesus tells the disciples in the fundamentals of prayer, fasting and giving, don’t worry about what the next person is doing. Worry about what you/we as individuals are doing. Prayer, fasting and giving is not about making ourselves look better, or being better than the other person. They are about helping us become the person that God created and calls us to be. They are tools for lack of a better word which help us open our hearts, open our minds, open our hands to what God is doing in our midst. They are practices of our faith which bring about a new understanding of the Beloved Community of God. Prayer, fasting, and giving help us as people of faith manifest a lived out spirituality.
Something which is needed in this season, because part of the adventure which waits for us out there is discerning through prayer, fasting and giving to others, discerning the answer to this question: As people of faith, do we spend time reaching for “must haves” that our culture says we need? Or are we storing up the things that bring us closer to the reign of God, the good things — the treasures — that fill us and others with well-being of body, mind, and spirit.
Because as people of faith, when we discern, and practice storing up treasures for ourselves in heaven, something amazing happens…a realization that us growing in faith, us growing in love, growing in grace, growing in peace, growing in hope, doesn’t reduce the treasures available to others. In fact, these treasures in heaven reframe our story. They help us realize that by serving God and others, the Beloved Community comes to fruition more and more each day. When we as people of faith, store up treasures in heaven, we realize that by serving God and others, everyone gains; no one loses.” And we are one step closer to the reign of God here on Earth for all God’s people, May it be so.
Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, February 18, 2024 – Store Up Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-21.
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