Piety and Intention

Friday, April 18, 2008 -- Week of 5 Easter
(Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1109)

Today's Reading for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 963)
Psalms 56, 57, [58] (morning) 64, 65 (evening)
Leviticus 8:1-13, 30-36
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

There is an interesting juxtaposition in today's readings. In Leviticus we read of the elaborate and public rituals that ordain and set aside Aaron and his sons for their holy work as priests. In Matthew we are told to take care to match our piety with our intention and to avoid public displays of our religious practice.

Liturgy and ritual are deep in our bones. We resort to solemn rites whenever we want to invest something with deep significance. A black robed judge walks in: "All rise." She takes her seat at a central elevated place. An athletic event is about to being. We stand for the national anthem. A President is inaugurated. There is a parade and a formal swearing in. A group organizes for fellowship or service -- Rotary, Elks, or Masons -- they have their rituals of belonging and beginning.

Ritual elevates our action and unites us in a common purpose. When the people of Israel were defeated, scattered and threatened with extinction, exiled from their home, the rabbis carefully preserved these texts we read today, describing in revered detail the holy regard for holy things. Their intention was to continue to call forth Israel as a holy people even though they had lost the Temple as the center of their religious life and Jerusalem as the center of their political life. Attention to ritual and liturgy was part of the reason why they were able to maintain their identity as a people.

Matthew's gospel emphasizes the importance of our harmonizing our intent with our action. Mere outward forms, liturgical or social, without a corresponding intention of heart is meaningless. This passage speaks to three important religious practices -- prayer, almsgiving and fasting. Jesus' words from Matthew urge us to make our intentions congruent with our actions. The inner landscape is more important than outward appearances.

Who is the giving for? Is it more for the giver and the giver's honor or is it more for the need and the recipient? Who is the praying for? Is it for the appearance of the person praying or is it for God to whom one prays? Who is the fasting for? Is it for the public standing of the one fasting or for the spiritual exercise of sacrifice to God? In all three, the answer is the latter.

The advice seems appropriate for both private and public piety. When we worship and serve in corporate prayer, our rituals and piety need to be congruent with our heart's intention. We offer to God the most beautiful, holy, joyful and reverent expression of praise and thanksgiving of which we are capable. Every part of that liturgy, including things mentioned in Leviticus today like vestments and priests, can be a finger pointing us toward the divine, a lens focusing us on God. Every part of the liturgy can be a distraction or an end in itself.

In Christianity, motivation is everything.

Lowell

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About Morning Reflections
Morning Reflections is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas