We are now beginning the season of Lent, a period of forty days before Easter where Christians take part in solemn observances of prayer, fasting, abstinence, and often adding special acts of service or other religious practices. As I am writing this on Ash Wednesday, I swapped our usual Gospel reading from later in the week to today, as it focuses on giving alms, prayer, and fasting, two common practices during Lent. In today’s Scripture Jesus contrasts true righteousness with the empty religiosity of the Pharisees, and calls His followers to sincere, God-centered righteousness.
In Jesus’ day, many of the Pharisees liked to perform their acts of spiritual observance, such as giving alms, praying, and fasting, out in the open. They would often do this with great show, so that others would see. They hoped that others would notice and be impressed with how religious and godly they seemed to be. Unfortunately we still see this today with people in church congregations who try to impress others with their “godly” practices. Jesus warns His disciples about this subtle spiritual trap (vs. 1). He isn’t telling us that we should never do any good works publicly, however we should not be doing them for the public’s applause. We should be doing them for the right reasons - so that others will glorify God. If our goal is human praise, human praise is all we will get.
Scripture shows that the people who seek out public applause for their spiritual acts are hypocrites, as they are pretending to be something they are not. God values quiet, humble generosity with our alms giving (vs. 2-4). We should be giving in ways that only God needs to know about. Jesus wants us to give from a heart that seeks only His approval, not those around us. The less attention we draw to ourselves, the more glory goes to God.
Jesus continues by speaking about our prayer life (vs. 5-6). Generally, most of our prayer should be done in private. That is not to say that there is anything wrong with praying with our Christian brothers and sisters. Corporate prayer with family and in church is good. However, again, Jesus is speaking against making our prayers a performance in order to be admired. Our prayers should not be man-centered, but instead be God-centered. Our private prayer life reveals our true walk with God.
Next we jump down to verses 16-18 where Jesus talks about fasting. The Pharisees were frequent fasters, and they would let everyone know they were doing that by their appearance and actions. Jesus told His followers that was the wrong way. We should not be making ourselves look miserable so others will admire our devotion. Instead Jesus said that we should look and act our normal way when fasting. It should be between ourselves and God, so we don’t need to be telling others that we’re fasting, either. Spiritual disciplines are not props for public admiration.
Fasting does not serve to change God’s mind. Nor should it be a way to try to manipulate His will, or think that it will speed up His answer. Instead, fasting helps us focus our attention on God alone, so that we listen and worship wholeheartedly. When fasting, we are better able to fix our eyes on Jesus, and hear Him clearly. Also, fasting can be carried out in several ways. Frequently it is going without food or certain types of food. We can also fast by eliminating some activities, or giving up that extra hour of sleep, in order to seek the Lord during that time. The intent of any fast is to pray without disturbance so we can focus fully on the Lord.
Jesus finishes this lesson with teaching us where our true treasures should be (vs. 19-21). There are two kinds of treasure. One is earthly treasure, which is temporary, vulnerable, and corruptible. Then there is heavenly treasure, which is eternal, secure, and incorruptible. Our heart will follow where we have made our investments. Heavenly treasures can include our acts of obedience, our sacrificial giving, the God-honoring service we do, and especially the souls that we have won for Jesus.
Remember, God is always watching. Whether our work is on a public stage or done in the quietness of our homes, God sees it. And when we do things with a heart to serve Him, He rewards us with His pleasure. However, when we work with impure motives, or just to gain other’s approval, that will be our only reward. We secure God’s approval in the secret places, when no one else knows what we have done. One word of approval from God is worth more than a million from the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment