Why Give? Why Pray? Why Fast?

The Gospel of Matthew, written 60 years or so after Jesus was teaching, records his “greatest hits” in the Sermon on the Mount with the hope of convincing faithful Jews, who were curious about this movement known as “The Way,” that Jesus truly was the Messiah whom the prophets had foretold. In the portion of the sermon we read this morning, we have Jesus’ teachings on three of the main outward marks of righteousness of faithful Jews – almsgiving, prayer, and fasting.

Jesus says about all three – these are not for show. You are not to be hypocrites. The word “hypocrite” in Greek means an actor in a play. In ancient Greek theater, actors wore large masks to indicate which character they were playing. So, the word hypocrite came to mean anyone who was pretending to be something they were not.

Some were being showy with their almsgiving. One scholar noted in the comparison of the rich coming and giving alms and the widow who gave her last coin was that the rich would drop their coins into the collection containers in the Temple courts as loudly as possible. At that time, the tithe was not optional for the faithful. The tithe is the first 10% harvested, also known as first fruits. This 10% is given to support the running of the Temple. Alms are the offerings made for ministries of mercy – for mission work, for service work, to help the poor – and they are optional. Jesus says, “You are not to put on a mask and make a show of being merciful.” There were not actually rich people hiring trumpeters to parade in front of them into the Temple to make their offering. But there were people who wanted to be sure that everyone saw how “generous” they were. Alms are not to be given in a way that makes others indebted to you or in a way that makes sure everyone knows what you have done.

Some were being showy with their prayers. The faithful were expected to pray 5 times a day – at sunrise, mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon, and sunset. When the time came for prayer, they would simply stop where they were and pray. Some people, though, made a point of being in a public place when it was time for prayer, so everyone could see how devoutly pious they were. Jesus says, “You are not to put on a mask and make a show of being spiritual.”

Some were being showy with their fasting. When they were fasting, they would not put oil on their hair…they put oil on their hair so that they could get a brush through it. So, they wouldn’t comb their beards or brush their hair. And they would smear ashes, a sign of mourning, on their faces; so everyone would know that they were denying themselves. Jesus says, “You are not to put on a mask and make a show of your sacrificial devotion.”

So, what is the reward, the motivation for these outward faith practices? Jesus says, if you give alms of mercy for the reward of other people seeing what you do and praising you for it, you’ve gotten all the reward you are getting. But, if you give secretly, God will reward you. If you pray standing in the synagogues of on the street corner where people coming from all 4 directions can see you, you’ve gotten all the reward you are getting. But, if you pray in private, God will reward you. If you mope around and look all distressed and disheveled like a mourner who hasn’t brushed their hair and has put ashes on their face, then you’ve gotten your reward as everybody asked what was wrong.

But if you quietly make your gift, privately offer your prayer, and personally deny yourself, God who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. We don’t gain God’s favor with our giving or prayers or self-denial. God doesn’t require them of us. We don’t need to do them to appease God. God loves us, and nothing we do or don’t do can change that love. But, they do change us. They open us to receive God’s love and the reward is that that love fills us to over flowing.

Dr. Charles Allen was a Methodist minister and the son of a Methodist minister. He was born in 1913 and told about growing up as a boy in Georgia and riding with his dad to the rural churches he served in a horse and buggy. He said one Sunday morning they were driving in the buggy to one of his dad’s churches and along the way they passed the home of an old, retired schoolteacher everybody called “Professor Miller.” He was sitting out by the side of the road in front of his house, waiting for the preacher to come along. Dr. Allen says that his father stopped, and they talked for a few minutes. Then Professor Miller took two 50-cent pieces out of his pocket and handed them to his dad saying, “I want to make a contribution to the church for my wife and for myself.” His father, knowing the circumstances of this family replied, “Professor Miller, I appreciate this gift, but we are coming out real good in the church this year, and we do not really need it, so I want you to keep the money.” To which the old teacher responded, “Brother Allen, would you deny me the privilege of giving to my Lord?” He wasn’t giving because he thought the church needed it, he was giving because his heart needed to express his love.

In 1577, Teresa of Avila wrote a book about her prayer life, The Interior Castle. In it, she describes her soul’s inner journey through 7 mansions until finally reaching the center where, transformed, it was enkindled and illumined by a cloud of great brightness as she truly experienced God’s presence. Jesus says that the motivation to pray is not to let God know what we want. God already knows. It is not to say the perfect words in the perfect order, like unlocking a safe, as the Pharisees claimed. It is not an attempt to manipulate God into acting or to impress God or flatter God. God does not need our flattery. God does not require our prayers. God wants us to want to pray, to want to build a relationship with God, to want to know and experience God. God listens when we pray because God cares about us and wants us to be honest and open and to share our deepest thoughts with God.

If you had a house that you never went inside, would you ever come to know its rooms? If you only went in the basement, where it was dingy and dark and dirty, would you come to know the best of the house? If you made your way to the office and stayed there, working, concerned about the bills and the future, would you not miss something by not going into the other rooms? If you spent all your time in the kitchen, satisfying your physical wants, would your life in the house be full? If you made your way to the attic, filled with memories both good and bad, would that be truly living? What if there was a room that was bright and breezy, comfortable with an incredible view, that just filled you with hope, where you were surrounded by love, would you not want to frequent that room?

Fasting in the church is not common today with the exception of people giving something up for Lent. And, it is not healthy for everyone with fasting diets, eating disorders, and other ways that our relationship with food has been corrupted. Traditionally, fasting was practiced by Pharisees twice a week by not eating from sunup until sundown. The purpose for fasting is to be remind us of our dependence upon God and for experience of feeling hungry to make us realize our hunger and need for God.

When we give, when we pray, and when we fast, what is important is our motive. Jesus says, “Be careful that your righteousness, your acts of devotion, are not done with an eye to who is seeing you.” Jesus also says later in the sermon, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” New Testament scholar Dr. Amy-Jill Levine commented that “To be righteous,” in the practice of our faith “is to have one foot in the kingdom of heaven.”

As we come to this table today, we come without fanfare, not for show or for recognition from other people. We come, not because God says we have to, but because Jesus invites us to feast with him, to receive God’s presence and be filled by God’s love. Our reward? Abundant life, overflowing, with one foot in the kingdom of heaven.