In the 1990s there was a TV show called “Keeping Up Appearances.” The series was about a lady called Hyacinth Bucket. Her whole purpose in life was to try and impress everyone with how posh she was. She tried so hard to give the impression that she is part of the upper class, but the reality is very different. She lived in an ordinary house in an ordinary suburb somewhere in England. Her husband had some boring job at the local council.
But Hyacinth was always trying to convey the impression that she was from the upper class. Her surname is Bucket – but she pronounced it “Bouquet,” and she answers her phone, “The Bouquet residence, the lady of the house speaking!” Like she lives in some grand country mansion.
Hyacinth Bucket, sorry, Bouquet, lived her life constantly trying to keep up appearances. Everything she does is oriented to trying to impress those around her. Everything she does is for show.
If you keep Hyacinth BOUQUET in mind, she is exactly the opposite of what Jesus says we should be like in John 6:1, “Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them.”
But, there is also a complication here. Because, in Matthew 5:16 Jesus told his disciples:
“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
Well, how do we hold those two things together? How can we BOTH let our light shine before others, AND do things in secret? How is that even possible? Is Jesus inconsistent or confused?
If you read closely what Jesus said you’ll see that what unites these two teaching points is the idea of motivation. Matthew 5:16 gives the motivation for public acts of good being that people might “give glory to God”. Not that they might give glory to us.
And in John 6, the key idea is also about motivation – why do you do the good things you do? Is it for public acclaim? Or is it to please God? And the willingness to do things unseen, is a pretty good test of our motivation.
In John 6, Jesus says three times about those with the wrong motivation – “Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.” If someone’s primary motivation is human acclaim, then God will consider human acclaim to be their full reward.
Jesus also says three times about those with the right motivation – “And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
But notice that Jesus does not actually say what the reward for our piety is.
Obviously when we give alms, we are prioritising others needs over our own comfort. When we pray, we are prioritising our relationship with God over other relationships. When we fast, we are prioritising the spiritual over the physical. But beyond that, the reason for doing these things is that they bring us closer to God. And this closeness to God has significant results in our lives.
Remember in Acts 10:4, the story of Cornelius? He prayed and had a vision from God where an angel came to him and we are told, “And he stared at the angel in terror and said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ And he said to him, ‘Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.’”
Notice, Cornelius’ prayers and his alms came up before God. And because of this he had God’s favour. So, God sent Peter to preach the gospel to him. So, God’s reward to Cornelius was seen in;
• Giving potency to his prayers.
• Giving him favour with God.
• Giving him a deeper revelation from God.
Talking about prayer for healing in James 5:15 we read, “The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.”
The way we live, the deep motivations behind our conduct – when we get those right – when we live a righteous life, that does something to the efficacy of our prayers. Spiritual disciplines, practised for the right reasons, make our prayers more powerful before God.
So, the key principle that Jesus is teaching here is do your acts of righteousness in order to be rewarded by God, not so people will think well of you. Don’t be a Hyacinth BOUQUET.
Note that Jesus is not saying that we can’t give alms publicly. Otherwise, how could we gather offerings in church. And remember in Luke 21:1-4 when Jesus commended the poor widow who gave publicly to the temple treasury?
Neither is Jesus saying that we can’t pray publicly. Corporate prayer has always been a feature of the life and worship of the church. Both Jesus and the apostles prayed in public.
And Jesus is not saying we can’t fast publicly. Paul and others fasted publicly as we see in the book of Acts chapters 13 and 14.
No, what Jesus is really saying is this, “Don’t draw attention to yourself when you do these things.”
Jesus gives some negative examples, how not to do things.
• Blowing a trumpet when you give alms. Calling peoples’ attention to what you are about to do.
• Praying where the most people can see you. Or trying to pray impressive prayers. Which, incidentally, is a good reason for using written prayers, or praying scripture. It prevents any temptation to use impressive language.
• Looking miserable so that everyone knows you are fasting.
Instead, Jesus says, “Don’t draw attention to ourselves.” And he drives this idea home with typically extreme statements:
• With regard to giving – don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
• With regard to prayer – go off into a closet to pray.
• With regard to fasting – dress up as if you are celebrating.
Of course, this is all hyperbole or intentional exaggeration. But it makes the point.
Hypocritical pray-ers are interested in how their prayers appear, how their prayers sound to others. They’re not interested in communion with God. But the sole purpose of prayer is for the purpose of communicating with God and experiencing God’s presence. To pray for any other reason is just hypocrisy.
Hypocritical givers are tempted towards ostentation, to do things so that others might see, so that others might applaud. “Oh, how generous you are, how kind, how selfless.”
Jesus’ corrective is that we should avoid letting our left hand know what our right hand is doing.
And that is insightful psychologically. Because there can be a double temptation, one to do things so that others see us; but also we can be tempted by a form of spiritual pride that puffs us up – “How good am I?!”
Fasting was a common religious activity for Jews and then also Christians in the ancient world, but not so much practised by contemporary Christians. In Western culture we have managed to almost completely divorce spiritual practices from bodily ones. We so emphasize our inner heart and state of mind that it is hard for us see any benefit from such a thoroughly bodily action as fasting. For the ancients there was no such divorce, and hence humbling oneself before God through abstention from food — or alcohol, or sleep, or sex — was a natural religious expression.
So what? Well, firstly Jesus expects these things to be a feature of our religious practice – giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting. The first two we can all do to some degree. Indeed, as giving is about what it costs the giver, rather than about the value of what is given – so the poor can actually give more than the rich.
Prayer we can all do. It requires no equipment, no training, we simply need to make the time.
Those with medical conditions, might not be able to fast from food. But we can fast from other things, or from food that we particularly enjoy.
Secondly, we need to constantly examine our own hearts. Why are we doing what we are doing? Is it truly for God? Or is a bit of ostentation creeping in. Or are we getting puffed up, when we think of all the good that we are doing?
Be careful of the Hyacinth BOUQUET effect. Amen.
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