Introduction: The passage we will read tonight is the traditional reading for Ash Wednesday. It focuses our attention on the three disciplines of Lent: Praying, Fasting, and Giving. You will hear each one described. Tonight we’re going to discuss how to practice those disciplines. Hear now the word of the Lord:
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the churches, synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. 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, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the churches, synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you…
“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others 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, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Prayer: Lord God, We have so much to learn and so many spiritual practices to renew. We bow our heads humbly before you. As we begin our Lenten journey, guide us to a deeper understanding of what it means to follow you. May your Word take hold of our souls in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
We love instant gratification. We don’t want to wait for anything. We want everything right now. The trouble is that Lent is a season of waiting and fasting. Being forced to wait and expected to deny ourselves is repugnant to us. As a result, Lent isn’t the most popular season.
I think the reason prayer, giving alms, and fasting are not easy to do is that in a way each involves giving something up. Prayer involves giving time and power to God. Giving alms means sharing our money. Fasting is giving up food. For years, I’ve found myself in the unpopular position of saying you can’t replace the idea of giving up something with just taking on something good. The spiritual disciplines of Lent are built on the reality that we need to give something away in order to have space and time for God. For most of us, a promise to pray more can’t be fulfilled if we don’t find some extra time.
Let’s face it: Prayer, giving, and fasting aren’t popular. I’m not sure they ever were, even in Jesus’ time. What was popular then and is popular today is showing off and Jesus has some words to say about that.
Whether he is talking about prayer, giving, or fasting, Jesus says don’t be showy about it. Practice your spiritual disciplines in secret. A pastor named John Purdy speaks about our tendency for self-aggrandizement. He says:
“Fasting can be a form of body praying… [But] fasting has nearly ceased to be practiced among us as a religious duty. It has been replaced by other forms of self-denial. One of the most common of those among us is dieting, which is largely cosmetic and therapeutic. What is there to say about it? Perhaps only this: How much happier we should all be if persons who diet would just shut up about it!...The couplet that used to be quoted to those who quit smoking could well be modified and recited for dieters:
‘Giving up eating too much isn’t enough,
It’s giving up bragging about it that’s tough.’”
[John C. Purdy, “Returning God’s Call, 51]
The first message from Jesus about praying, giving, and fasting is don’t be showy about it. Go about the business of praying, giving, and fasting quietly.
I believe that prayer is very important, but I don’t believe that prayer in public places or with friends who would be self-conscious is a good idea. Ostentations prayer can turn off those you hope may some day become Christians. What I suggest is that if you are in a restaurant and would like to pray inconspicuously, simply drop your head and pretend you are checking your napkin. I said that once from the pulpit when I was in New Jersey. A friend from that congregation told me just the other day how often she uses that tip.
The second message from Jesus on praying, giving, and fasting is that we do it to draw closer to God, to build a stronger relationship with God.
Lent is the time when we are called to do without and through that experience to sense what it would be like to truly rely on God. As they say, “There are no atheists in foxholes;” but there are plenty of atheists among the wealthy and the comfortable. Lent invites us to deny ourselves. Maybe then we would understand how close we can grow to God.
One of my favorite books is called This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women. It is a compilation of eighty essays based on the National Public Radio series of the same name. The essays are from the famous and the unknown. One of the essays that I found most moving is entitled “The God Who Embraced Me” by John W. Fountain. He writes:
I believe in God. Not that cosmic, intangible spirit-in-the-sky that Mama told me as a little boy “always was and always will be.” But the God who embraced me when Daddy disappeared from our lives—from my life at age four—the night police led him away from our front door, down the stairs in handcuffs.
The God who warmed me when we could see our breath inside our freezing apartment, where the gas was disconnected in the dead of another wind-whipped Chicago winter, and there was no food, little hope, and no hot water.
The God who held my hand when I witnessed boys in my ’hood swallowed by the elements, by death, and by hopelessness; who claimed me when I felt like “no-man’s son,” amid the absence of any man to wrap his arms around me and tell me, “everything’s going to be okay,” to speak proudly of me, to call me son.
I believe in God, God the Father, embodied in his son Jesus Christ. The God who allowed me to feel His presence—whether by the warmth that filled my belly like a hot chocolate on a cold afternoon, or that voice, whenever I found myself in the tempest of life’s storms, telling me (even when I was told I was “nothing”) that I was something, that I was His, and that even amid the desertion of the man who gave me his name and his DNA and little else, I might find in Him sustenance. [John W. Fountain, “The God Who Embraced Me,” This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, (New York: Henry Holt, 2006), 68-69]
Doing without leads us to God. As Victor Hugo said in Les Miserables, “The pupil dilates in darkness and in the end finds light, just as the soul dilates in misfortune and in the end finds God.”
Lent calls us to set aside our wealth and our many comforts. In the process of setting aside our blessings we are called to share what we have – to come to the aid of the downtrodden – not for the glory it will bring us, but for the strength it gives to our relationship with God. As Karl Rahner wrote, “To keep on through dull, tedious, everyday existence can often be more difficult than a unique deed whose heroism makes us run the danger of pride.” (Meditations on Hope and Love, 22)
The third message from Jesus on prayer, giving, and fasting is don’t pretend to be long-suffering through it all. The fact is that Jesus suggests looking your best as you practice these disciplines. I don’t think Jesus is telling us to fake it. I think that as we strengthen our relationship with God through prayer, giving, and fasting, we find joy. God wants us to have a full life.
Jim Valvano, the exuberant coach of the North Carolina State University’s 1983 NCAA basketball champions, was known for his up-front, cards-on-the-table attitude. When he quit coaching at NC State under a cloud of scandal, instead of seeking some low visibility position, Valvano took a job with ABC and ESPN as a sports announcer. Then, a few years later, he was diagnosed with a virulent, fast-spreading form of cancer. Again, he chose to stay out front. Instead of retreating to the sidelines of life, he kept working – through chemotherapy, hair loss, weight loss, radiation therapy, gray days and good days. Just before he died, he was given the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. In his acceptance speech, Valvano spoke about how dying of cancer had taught him how to live:
“We should do this every day of our lives,” he said. “Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears. If you laugh, you think, you cry,” he said, “that’s a full day.”
As I close, I’m wondering if you have figured out what is the most hated word in the English language. The word relates directly to Lent.
Give up? The word is “no.” We hate the word no, but for Lent we are called to embrace it—to say “no” to those things that keep us from praying, fasting, and giving. To say “no” to being showy and ostentations about praying, fasting, and giving. To say “no” to bragging about our disciplines of praying, fasting, and giving. We can do it…just say “No!” Amen.
