财宝在天上 Treasures in Heaven

Title: Treasures in Heaven
Date: 14th Feb 2024
Preacher: Rev. Wong Siow Hwee

Tonight is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. Lent is a season (40 days excluding Sundays) to prepare ourselves in remembrance of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. Just like how the seasons regulate the pace of our activities in a year, the church also has a different emphasis for each season. Lent is the time of the year in Jubilee when we focus on our spiritual health. We hope that amid our busy lives, we diligently set aside time during Lent to strengthen our relationship with God.

Tonight, I have chosen to focus my message particularly on fasting, because it is also the subject of two of the four lectionary readings. [1] First, what is fasting? The basic meaning is to deprive yourself of food. [2] This principle of spiritual discipline works for all forms of temptations, whether it is sexual matters, wealth, or power; but I think there’s something so raw and vital about food since it impacts us on a day-to-day level. In the Lord’s prayer, we are reminded to pray for our daily bread; and in the same way, through fasting, we are reminded daily that ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ (Matthew 4:4, Jesus quoting Deut. 8:3) In short, when you fast, you are immediately challenging yourself to be free of a daily concern. That’s what makes fasting so real as a spiritual discipline.

Food deprivation is merely the passive side of fasting. Fasting is more than just not eating. There is an active side, which is what you are supposed to be doing when you are not so obsessed with eating. The two active actions related to fasting are praying and almsgiving. When you fast, you save on two essential things: time and money. Therefore, you can then use the time saved during fasting on prayer, and likewise, you can use the money saved on almsgiving. Since fasting is about self-denial, the active side which are prayer and almsgiving then help you grow spiritually in love towards God and his concerns for the needy. This must be the reason why in our Lectionary reading for Ash Wednesday, the gospel reading is linked to all three practices.

Matthew 6: “3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Whether it is almsgiving, prayer, or fasting, Jesus had the same instructions for his disciples: “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” The righteousness in this verse describes not your morality, but rather your alignment (being right) with God. As stated earlier, all these spiritual practices help us draw closer to God, and hence, it is natural for observers to conclude that those who practice these practices religiously must therefore be very close to God. Such inferences are somewhat valid. I also think those who pray more often, have a QT habit, or attend church and cell group regularly should be those who are more spiritual. But unfortunately, this presumption is not true for everybody. The exceptions are who we call hypocrites.

There is a simple way to understand hypocrisy. The Greek form of the word “hypocrites” is derived from the word “acting”, just like performing in a theatre. And in a way, Singaporeans have a similar lingo where we describe some people as “wayang kings”. [3] Wayang is the malay word for street theatre. Whether it is in the national service or in the workplace, “wayang kings” are only pretending to be enthusiastic to win the approval of others, especially the superiors who oversee evaluation. They don’t actually care about the work itself. In the same vein, Jesus accused some of the religious leaders of being hypocrites, because they were just putting up a show of their religiosity to win the approval of the people, and not because they really cared about drawing closer to God, or to give to the needy as a channel of God’s love for them. Jesus’ point in our gospel reading today, was that since they were already rewarded with men’s approval, they would receive no more rewards from God.

There are a few direct applications I can think of based on Jesus’ warning against the hypocrites of his times.
First application: Jesus said that you should practice your fasting, prayer, and almsgiving in secret, so that nobody will reward you with praises and approval, and then all the reward will consequently come from God. The idea of rewards might seem rather foreign to us, since our dominant theology is salvation by grace, not by works. So, when we live righteously, whether it is morally righteous, or through practices to stay close to God, we attribute it as a natural way of life as a child of God. We do not live righteously for rewards, even though that is the promise of God. Paul spoke of such rewards in the form of heavenly crowns and divine inheritance. In short: rewards are the result, but not the aim of righteous living.

A better way to think about our rewards from God is to use the analogy of treasures in heaven. Jesus said, 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Jesus was trying to contrast treasures on earth and treasures in heaven: one is temporal while the other is eternal. [4] Back in the context of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, treasures on earth refer to human affirmation; and so, treasures in heaven would hence mean the approval of God. Jesus was saying that the human praises that the hypocrites were earning were merely transient rewards; at the end of the day, it is God’s commendation that has eternal value. How do we achieve that? We should do our spiritual practices in secret. This is the first application.

But what if you cannot do it in secret? For example, our worship services routinely roster people to pray. In almsgiving, the finance team will know because somebody has to process the financial contribution. I still remember when Jubilee received a sizeable offering, the audit committee requested the details to ensure that there was no money laundering. Some church members like to fast from social media during Lent, and they have to let others know, just in case people think there’s something serious happening to them because of their sudden withdrawal. If you are fasting from meat or alcohol, that can be discovered easily in social gatherings.

So, the second application for me is, if you cannot do your righteousness in secret, then guard your heart against human approval. I don’t think anybody starts out aiming to be a hypocrite. But compliments and praises can become addictive. As church leaders, we need feedback to know if our services are going well, but how do you know when you are slowly veering towards just putting up a performance? I find Jesus’ words really helpful for me: 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. We may not be able to do our religious practices fully in secret. It is even harder if you wish to lead by example, and surely you have to let the congregation know what you do, otherwise how can they follow? But to ensure that the affirmations do not become a stumbling block, I have to routinely search my heart. I have to keep asking myself where my treasures are. Do I still keep them with God? Or is what I crave now the admiration of men?

The next application is for the observer. What should we do when we hear a prayer during service that resonates with you? What should you do when somebody’s spiritual walk in your cell group is a great encouragement to you? Should you affirm them? What if I make them stumble or cause them to lose their heavenly reward? My answer is: Yes, you should still definitely affirm them. By this, I do not mean flattery. False praises would be harmful for both of you. I mean if you have sincere upholding words, you should definitely say it because it would lead to a more loving spiritual community.

What happens if that person is only a hypocrite whose pretence had fooled you? Then all the more you should give that person his earthly reward so that he has none in heaven. My recommendation for the third application is to be free with our true and honest affirmations for one another. Jesus reminded us in the next chapter not to judge one another, and I would rather have a community that is loving and affirming, than one that is always trying to judge who is actually a hypocrite, and who is not.

Now we shall learn the final application about fasting, which is in congruence with our daily living. This is taken from the Old Testament reading from the lectionary.
Isaiah 58: 3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Isaiah might have been addressing Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon, eager to rebuild their lives back in Israel. However, they faced setbacks one after another, and the progress of their nation building had been far from ideal. In desperation, they did what most churches had often done when they hoped for a revival to their churches’ dire situations: more intense spiritual practices. You may have heard of prayer meets and church-wide fasting started from similar intentions of divine interventions. Unfortunately for the Jews’ during that time, the situation remained unchanged for them, and after a while, they started complaining about God not answering their prayers and fasting.

In our Old Testament reading tonight, God spoke through Isaiah a key insight about fasting: our religious practices must be congruent with how we live our daily lives. Isaiah told them that fasting was meaningless if they continued to live sinful lives. He gave examples of exploitations of workers, human conflicts everywhere even to the point of physical fights, quarrels and malicious speech, etc. This might be puzzling to some of us. Shouldn’t the prayers and fasting lead to life transformation towards the will of God? So, my guess is, they did not use the prayer and fasting time to get close to God, but merely to go through the motions to get what they wanted in terms of divine help in the restoration of fallen Israel. Isaiah’s advice was as timely then as it is today: Make sure you live a righteous life morally, then your righteousness in terms of religious practices is meaningful. Otherwise, it is all “wayang” (acting), but instead of wayang to people, now you wayang to God instead.

Final application: How then should we live our lives so that it is congruent with our religious practices? On Ash Wednesday, we remember the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. We remember that the purpose of his life is to bring salvation for humanity. This is how he fulfils the will of the heavenly Father. Allow me to read a few verses from the New Testament reading of the lectionary.
2 Corinthians 5: 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 6: 4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: 10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Paul’s words are a good example of the right mindset in everything we do in ministry. We follow our master Jesus, who gave his life willingly for us. In the same way, whether it is fasting, prayer, or almsgiving, none of it is done to earn credits from people. Our religious practices are also not bargaining chips for us to haggle God to fulfil our agenda. We are contented simply by the assurance that God is pleased when his will is done, which is the abundant life of many blessed by his love.

[1]One of the spiritual practices that Christians throughout the ages do is to fast during Lent. Today, the Catholics certainly practice it, and among the Protestants, it is practiced by the Orthodox churches, the Anglicans, the Lutherans, and the Methodists in varying degrees. It is a lot less common in the other denominations, including the Presbyterians. However, I should note that it is less common for us, not because we think it is wrong theologically, but mainly because we don’t actively promote it as much as the other religious practices. Fasting is most definitely part and parcel of our Christian tradition, and certainly not just a Catholic practice as some might assume.
[2]People trying to lose weight do it all the time. Fasting is also a form of spiritual discipline because it is a way to curb your fleshly desires, just like how inversely gluttony is one of the so-called seven deadly sins. The less you are controlled by your fleshly desires, the more you can then channel your attention towards spiritual matters. This is why you see fasting as a practice across other religions.
[3]https://employmenthero.com/sg/blog/office-lingo-best-phrases/
[4]In the ancient days without a banking system, treasures became the way in which people accumulated their wealth for a rainy day. If you were rich, then precious metals like gold and silver were your treasures; whereas if you were poor, your treasure could be as simple as a coat or a full body inner wear. Jesus’ point is that treasures on earth are perishable in one way or another. But it does not mean that Jesus was against bank savings to put his advice in modern context.

Ash Wednesday 2024 Video Link：
2024年圣灰日崇拜视频链接：
https://youtu.be/s5sOVr4FcKw?si=N8aDdnEUrM-nkM7b