Scripture Reading Matthew 6:1-6; 16-18
[Jesus said,] “Now, beware of practicing your justness before other people in order to be seen by them; surely, lest you have no reward from your Creator in heaven.
“So when you give alms, do not trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, in order that they may be praised by other people. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, in order that your alms may be secret; and your Creator who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order that they may be seen by other people. Truly I tell you, they have received their recompense. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Creator who is in secret; and your Creator who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you fast, do not be sullen like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces in order to show other people that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, in order that your fasting may be seen, not by others, but by your Creator who is in secret, and your Creator who sees in secret will reward you.
Meditation
Here we are, at the beginning of the season of Lent—a word whose root is ‘to lengthen,’ as in, the lengthening days of spring, for which we are waiting eagerly. But the days are already lengthening. One month ago, the sun set in Endicott at 5:02 PM, and this evening the sun set at 5:42 PM, which means that, today, the sun set a full 40 minutes later than it did on January 18.
And here we are, smack in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus is seeking to advise us about three activities which, for most of the history of the church, have defined Lent: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving (which is to say, giving to worthy causes, for the sake of those who do not have enough). Jesus’s strong advice with all these activities is: Don’t do this in public. Do this in secret.
And here I stand, in this pulpit, a professional religious person, and my job is more or less the public recitation of scripture, and sermons, and prayers. More or less.
Make no mistake. Lent is about love. It is about our participation in remembering the most profound expression of love a people ever experienced.
So what does this have to do with our passage? What’s Jesus talking about? Is he saying that public prayer is always bad? I don’t think so. Jesus loved and took part in communal worship, and he preached regularly in the synagogues and the great outdoors. Jesus isn’t talking about the where of prayer, fasting, or giving, he’s talking about the why.
Why do we pray? Lots of reasons. We pray out of habit. We pray out of gratitude. We pray for urgent needs. We pray for relief from pain, physical, mental, or spiritual. We pray for those who have asked for our prayers, we pray for those we believe need our prayers. We pray for our loved ones. If we’re really listening to Jesus, we pray for our enemies. And all these are fine reasons to pray.
The only poor reason for prayer, according to Jesus, is the desire for praise and approval from other people. Jesus calls those who seek that approval, hypocrites. But it’s important to know that the original meaning of that word was “stage actor.” Jesus is warning against prayer as performance. He wants our prayer to be a heartfelt reaching towards God. Undergirding all our prayers, whether we’re aware of it or not, is the deep need for a relationship with God. Undergirding all of it, is love.
This is why Jesus says, pray in secret. Not because we should be embarrassed about or ashamed of our prayers, but because, alone, wherever we can find a haven of peace and privacy, most of us can get past the noise of this world we live in. Then and there, we can open our hearts to God unabashedly. We can speak a love-language that is ours alone, and experience the loving response of God.
Jesus says the same thing about fasting. The Sermon on the Mount takes place not too long after Jesus’s sojourn in the wilderness, what indigenous folks would call a spirit quest. In the wilderness Jesus experienced more than a month of solitude dedicated to fasting and prayer.
Fasting can be tricky, if we’re thinking only in terms of food. No one should adopt a practice that risks their health. Fasting, whether from certain foods, or all food, should be done with the advice of a doctor. But spiritually speaking, fasting should be done with the purpose of opening a space for God in our lives. And fasting doesn’t have to be about food at all. We can fast from our phones, from TV or radio, from anything we are concerned might obsess us in an unhealthy way. We can free ourselves from those things, and in their place, find time for meditation, journaling, reading scripture, taking a walk or hike in God’s beautiful world, listening to music that lifts the soul.
The same goes for giving. This is a remarkably generous congregation, and I’ve never once witnessed someone giving in a way designed to garner attention. Quite the opposite. I have known of people who have made generous gifts and who were not in any way interested in taking credit for it. If you want to give during Lent—whether of your time or talent or treasure—use that, too, as an opportunity to deepen your relationship with God. Say a prayer as you write your check. Pray for those who will benefit from your gift. Bless your gift as you drop it off, or send it.
Jesus invites in this season of Lent to draw closer to God. By praying, fasting, or giving with intention—the intention of opening our hearts to the vast heart of God—we ca truly have a Good Lent, because a Good Lent is a Lent that reminds us of the overwhelming, ineffable, always available, always steadfast love of God for us, and for all creation. It is always about love.
Thanks be to God. Amen.