http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrsa/passage/?q=matthew+6:1-7;+matthew+6:16-18 (Matthew 6:1-7, 16-18) A new attorney had just opened up his office. On his first day of practice, he saw the outer door opening as he was settling in, and he thought, Oh, good. A new client! I have to impress him. So he picked up his telephone and said to the imaginary person on the other end of the line, “No, I’m very sorry. I can’t take your case – not even for $1,000. I’m just too busy.” Then he replaced the receiver and looked up at the person in the doorway. “And now, what can I do for you?” he asked briskly. “Nothing, really,” was the reply. “I’m just here to connect your telephone.” Oops! We laugh at a story like that because we love to see showoffs get humbled. No one appreciates a person who is constantly looking for attention or trying to impress others, including God. This is what Jesus is telling His disciples in today’s passage. He counsels them to not be religious showoffs. Listen to the opening statement again. “Beware,” which means take caution. A warning sign. “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.” The word “piety” is talking about your spiritual practices, your devotional life, whether it is worship or prayer. The word used here means righteousness in the Greek, which is appropriate. In the first part of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus is talking to His disciples about exercising a moral and ethical righteousness as citizens of the kingdom of God, which is different from the world’s standards. Now we see Jesus talking about religious righteousness – piety. He tells them, Don’t be religious showoffs, putting on a performance to impress other people. He actually picks out three important practices of the Jewish faith: giving alms (such as charitable giving), praying, and fasting. Regarding alms, Jesus says, “So whenever you give alms, do not sound the trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so they may be praised by others.” Notice, first of all, Jesus says whenever you give, not if you give. It sounds to me like He expects His followers to be generous givers, helping the poor. He says, Don’t be like the hypocrites. The word “hypocrite” means literally means an actor, a spiritual pretender of sorts. Don’t be like those actors. They blow their own horn for everyone to see and praise as they give gifts of mercy. They are showing off, looking for the applause of others. We shouldn’t be too hard on those hypocrites, because we also like to blow our own horn a little bit now and then. We like to see our names listed with things we’ve financially supported or have people recognize us for something good we have done for someone else. We like to be recognized for our charitable work. My college magazine even ranks its big donors in each publication. When it comes to praying, Jesus says, Don’t be like the hypocrites. They love to stand on the street corners or in the synagogue to be seen by others. The Jews, you see, were big on prayer. They had set times of the day for prayers: 9:00 a.m., noon, and 3:00 p.m. When they got out of bed and when they went to bed, they would pray the great Shema, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength, and mind.” If a Jewish person wanted to pick up a reputation for being holy and pious, a person of prayer, they would go down to the marketplace to the steps of the synagogue, and when the hour strikes, start praying. As they raised their arms, a great audience would see them perform. Behind this kind of piety lurk pride and ego. What we are really wanting is the applause of others around us and for people to say, Look how devout he is. I wish I had that kind of discipline in my life. We know from other parts of the Gospel that Jesus was actually describing the Pharisees...