It Is a Matter of the Heart, Part 2
Tom Shrader walks through Matthew 6:1-18, showing that Jesus' warnings about hypocrisy in giving, prayer, and fasting all share a single root: acts of righteousness performed to be seen by others rather than to please God. Building on the key verse of Matthew 5:20, Shrader demonstrates that the scribes and Pharisees were outwardly religious but inwardly motivated by the desire for human approval, and that this same temptation confronts believers today in every spiritual discipline. The sermon calls listeners to examine their own hearts, pursuing acts of righteousness privately and honestly before God, trusting that the Father who sees in secret will repay.
“Whether it's giving or praying or fasting or some other activity, don't do it to be seen by them — the whole world says look at me, but you are to live a life for Him.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: The Sermon on the Mount
Recorded: 2005 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 45 min
Themes: hypocrisy, prayer, fasting, giving, humility, heart, spiritual disciplines, pleasing god, struggling with pride, seeking approval, new believer, long-time churchgoer, feeling spiritually hollow, young adult, church member, parent modeling faith
Scripture: Matthew 5:20, Matthew 5:16, Matthew 5:21, Matthew 5:22, Matthew 5:27, Matthew 5:31, Matthew 5:33, Matthew 5:38, Matthew 5:43, Matthew 6:1-18, Matthew 6:1, Matthew 6:2, Matthew 6:3, Matthew 6:4, Matthew 6:5, Matthew 6:6, Matthew 6:7, Matthew 6:9-13, Matthew 6:16, Matthew 6:17, Matthew 6:18, Matthew 6:19-20, John 5:39
Theological Themes: righteousness, sanctification, sermon on the mount, spiritual formation, hypocrisy, becoming holy, biblical obedience, inner transformation
Full Transcript
Opening Announcements
As you look at the bulletin, you may notice something missing — the section that talks about attendance and where we are in terms of money. If you close the bulletin and reopen it, you will see that information is on the other side of the tear tab. This is designed for you to take with you. On one side you have a week at a glance, and on the other side you will find the budget figures and the attendance record.
As you look at that attendance record, you will see that we had almost 5,600 people on campus in worship last week for Easter. I know it was Easter, but it was by far the largest group in worship we have ever had, and I think part of that is our ability to use the conference center. We had something very unusual at the 9:45 service — 1,500 people here in the worship center, and for the very first time, far more people were in the conference center than in here. So it was a great time at Easter, and we appreciate you using it to reach out to your friends.
We also took a run at Good Friday and made some changes — changed the music, changed the video, and used different film clips, drawing from Jesus of Nazareth and The Passion. All of that generated a response from you. Someone stopped me tonight and said Good Friday was absolutely incredible, and I am seeing heads nodding in agreement. We also received input from people who expressed some concern and suggested there may be a better way to present or handle certain elements. I want you to know that when you email us, we collect those emails, put them together, and debrief — working through what we did right, what we did wrong, and what we can do better. If you thought about writing but never did, trust me, someone emailed us on your behalf.
Update on Susan
On a personal note, I told you I would keep you informed as we worked through our timeline with Susan, and I want to update you now. We have completed the first stage — chemotherapy is done. She has appointments this week, with her surgeon on Wednesday and her oncologist on Thursday, and the hope was to reach the point where surgery would be possible. Things physically look good, but we will not know for certain until the test results come back this week. My assumption is that I would be very surprised if they did not say it is time to move forward with surgery, and if that happens, it will likely be within the next two or three weeks. When it does, we will let you know.
So please be praying for Susan, pray for the girls, and pray for all of us. It would be as you might expect when something like this comes along — there were lots of flowers and cards at the beginning, and that was wonderful. But what has been remarkable is that literally every day, two or three cards still show up. It is so encouraging to her. She loves those cards and those emails, and you have been wonderful.
We are trying to communicate as openly as we can about this, so if you hear something other than what I have just told you, that person does not know what they are talking about. I have heard some things that have been incredible — I even heard that I had a heart attack. Someone told me, "I heard you had a heart attack." I said, "Really? I didn't even know." So now we are all up to speed.
The Terri Schiavo Case
This week I want to speak briefly about the Terri Schiavo situation. I am not going to do a full lesson on it, but I want you to understand what happened. This was a woman with normal sleep cycles. She was not on any heroic or extraordinary means of medical support. All they were doing was giving her food and water — and they starved her to death. This is a pivotal moment. We are now killing children in the womb, and we are now reaching the end of life and making the same kinds of decisions there.
I understand that all sorts of people have said, "I don't know if I'd want to live that way." But that is not the issue here. Contrast this situation with the Pope — and obviously there are significant theological differences — but what I loved about that man, even when it was sometimes painful to watch, is that he stayed very public and very visible. He honored life all the way to the end. I told someone this week: if I am ever in that situation, I am not looking for anything heroic, but I want food and water. I want food and water because I believe it glorifies God. Even when life may not look exactly the way we would want it to look, it is a great opportunity for us to serve one another.
I am stunned by the reaction I am getting, even among Christians, who are saying, "Well, that's not much of a quality of life." But living —
The Seriousness of Quality-of-Life Arguments
We are starving someone to death. We are denying them food and water, and that is a serious point. We want to make sure we are clear on this. I am not speaking on behalf of the elders — I don't know where the elders would come down on this — I am just telling you from my heart. I was stunned by her husband and the whole group who said, "She has no quality of life. She doesn't know what's going on." It is a grave thing when Christians begin making those kinds of declarations.
Returning to the Context of Matthew 6
Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Matthew chapter 6. We are going to look at verses 1 through 18. Let me tell you up front that there are many ways to deal with this passage. We have three different topics here: giving, prayer, and fasting. We could easily spend a week on verses 1 through 4, weeks on verses 5 through 15, and a week on verses 16 through 18. I am not going to do that. We will talk about these issues at other times and in other ways, but I do not want to lose sight of the continuity, the flow, and the context.
Can I remind you of something? Look back to chapter 5, verse 20 — that is the key verse. We have the greatest preacher who ever lived, Jesus, preaching the greatest sermon ever preached: the Sermon on the Mount. Here is the key verse: "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven."
Who Were the Scribes and Pharisees?
For us, since we know the story and we know these scribes and Pharisees were not particularly great men, this verse may not seem like a big deal. But when the Jews heard this, they were shocked. They had a saying that went like this: if only two people could go to heaven, one would be a scribe and the other would be a Pharisee.
Let me read to you from Martyn Lloyd-Jones: "We must remember that the scribes and Pharisees were in many senses the most outstanding people in the nation. The scribes were men who spent their time in teaching and expounding the law. They were the great authorities of the law of God. They gave their whole life to the study and illustration of it. They, more than anyone else, therefore, could claim to be concerned about it. They were men who made copies of it, exercising great care as they did so. Their whole life was lived with the law. Everyone looked up to them for that reason."
Lloyd-Jones continues: "The Pharisees were men who were quite outstanding and famous for their so-called sanctity. The very word Pharisee meant separatist. They were people who set themselves apart. They did so because they had formed a code of ceremonial acts connected with the law, which was more rigid than the law of Moses itself. They had drawn up rules and regulations for life and conduct which in their stringency went far beyond anything we find demanded in the Old Testament Scriptures."
So these were the chief religious figures of their day. Setting theology aside, these are the Billy Grahams, the Mother Teresas, the John MacArthurs — the spiritual icons of their time. And along comes Jesus saying your righteousness must surpass theirs. What the people hearing this understood was: we do not have a chance. There is no way we are going to be more righteous than these men.
The Pattern of "You Have Heard… But I Say"
Jesus then begins to expose these men for what they really are. Look at verse 21 — it begins a pattern, and there are six instances of it. "You have heard that the ancients were told… but I say to you." You see that pattern again in verse 27, again in verse 31, in verse 33, in verse 38, and in verse 43.
Jesus is saying: here is what you were told, here is what the ancients taught, here is what the scribes and Pharisees said as they quoted their ancestors and taught from what they had heard and read. What you heard had to do with compliance to the law. Probably the most graphic example is in verse 27: "You have heard it said you should not commit adultery." And people hearing that were thinking, "Perfect — I have never slept with anyone outside of marriage, I have been faithful to my spouse, no problem."
Then Jesus said: "But I say to you that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery already with her in his heart." He took it to a whole new level. The law is not just about keeping the letter of the law — though that is important — there is also the spirit of the law. What is the intention? Jesus is saying: you need to be more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees. And the people are responding in their hearts: we do not have a chance. These men are praying all the time, they are witnessing, they are evangelizing.
The Pattern in Matthew 6
They are traveling all over the world, Jesus said, to find a single convert. They search the Scriptures — John 5:39, He says to the Pharisees, "You search the Scriptures diligently." They are engaged in all these activities, but Jesus said, don't be deceived by that. Apparently, I can be doing what we call very godly things or very religious things, but I can be doing them with the wrong heart. That is what this lesson is about today — that is the singular point we want to come at again and again.
That is why, though it is tempting to get distracted with a message on giving, or on praying, or on fasting, that is not the goal here. If you have your Bibles and your pencils, make some notes and observe the patterns, because there are significant patterns in this passage. You have three sections: verses 1 through 4 are section one, verses 5 through 15 are section two, and verses 16 through 18 are section three.
In each of these sections, you see Jesus give a warning. In each of them, you see Him command you to be engaged in a specific activity. In each one, you see Him say that the hypocrites already have their reward — but He also promises that there is a reward for those who act rightly.
Look at verse 4: "Your Father who sees in secret will repay you." Look at verse 6, now addressing prayer: "Your Father who sees you in secret will repay you." Verse 18: "Your Father who sees you in secret will repay you." There is a clear pattern. He is talking about almsgiving, praying, and fasting, and what He is pointing out is that there is a right way and a wrong way to be engaged in any of these activities.
The Wrong Motive Exposed
He begins by pointing out the wrong way, and in each case, at the core of this wrong way is a wrong motive. At the end of verse 2, speaking about giving alms, He says they did it "that they may be honored by men." There is their motive. Look at verse 5 — they are praying in order, as the end of the verse says, "to be seen by men." They are fasting, why? Verse 16: "in order to be seen fasting by men." Jesus is saying that here are these people engaged in good activities — things that you and I are to be engaged in as well.
Look at it again. Verse 2: "When you give alms." He repeats it in verse 3: "When you give alms" — not if, but when. Verse 5: "When you pray." He says it again in verse 6: "When you pray." Verse 16: "Whenever you fast." Verse 17: "When you fast." Jesus is not saying that because these are hypocrites, and because there is a way to hypocritically engage in these activities, you should not do them. He does not say that. He says, "When you pray, when you give, when you fast." It is expected that you and I are engaged in these activities.
And that principle extends further. When you study God's Word, when you teach a lesson — I can be engaged in something that we look at and call good, and yet be doing it for the wrong reason. You could be standing up on a platform on Easter, singing, looking wonderful, dressed beautifully — and be doing all of it so that people look at you and think something special of you. There is nothing wrong with saying you enjoy doing something, but that enjoyment should flow from it being part of your gift of serving. Whatever the activity is, you fill in the blanks. The point is this: I can be engaged in any of these things simply so others will view me in a positive light. This passage is about examining your heart, and Jesus comes at it again and again.
Secrecy and Shining Your Light
In each of these cases — giving, praying, fasting — Jesus tends to say, do it privately, do it in secret. But how does that compare to chapter 5, verse 16? Look back there: "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Wait a moment. How can I do these things secretly while others still see my good works?
Jesus is acknowledging that there will be times when I am engaged in one of these activities and other people will see it. But I think He is going a little bit deeper. I think He is saying that if I am in the right attitude in prayer, in giving, in fasting, and in these other things — as I live my life, that attitude will be evident to everyone around me. They will say, perhaps without even having the words for it, there is somebody living a transformed life. There is something different about them.
A Life That Testifies
I was at a funeral on Monday for a man I used to work with. God saved him fourteen years ago, and in all of his life, probably the most powerful testimony has come in the last three, four, five, or six months. I had breakfast with him right around Thanksgiving. I told him that Susan may indeed have cancer — we did not know yet. He told me that he had cancer, and that the doctors had given him three to six months to live. That was four months ago.
Everyone who was there that day remarked on his incredible attitude. He was sixty-three years old, had lived forty-nine years as a pagan, and had been converted for fourteen years. Some who knew him well — who had known him during those years before his conversion — were witnessing something they could not fully explain. His life in those final months was his most powerful testimony, and it was not something he was manufacturing for an audience. It was the overflow of a heart that had been transformed.
A Transformed Life
"I don't understand how he could handle that." I heard that from one of his best friends. I said, well, I don't think he can, but I think what you see is the Holy Spirit living in his life. I think you see a life that's been touched by God, a heart that's been transformed by God. He's engaged in those right works of righteousness, and the outward manifestation of that is something that baffles us.
Doesn't that make sense? Isn't that what He says — that you will have a peace that passes all understanding? How can he handle that? How can he go through this pain? How can he sit with you, knowing that he's thirty or forty days away from dying, and ask you, "How are you doing? What about you? Is there anything I can do for you?" That's a transformed life. That's what Jesus has in mind here.
Practicing Righteousness Before Men
Look at verse 1 of chapter 6. The word "beware" literally means to take hold of something, or to pay attention — especially the idea of being on guard. Be on guard of what? Practicing your righteousness. He is talking about religious activities, acts of righteousness, whether praying or giving or fasting or whatever they might be. "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them, otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven."
"When you therefore give alms" — now almsgiving is a little different than just general giving. It carries the idea of an act of mercy or pity, primarily the giving of money or food, maybe clothing, to the poor. But again, we could apply it in this broader area of giving.
"Do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets." Why? "That they may be honored by men." The word "hypocrite" carries with it the idea of a Greek actor who would wear a mask to portray a role, to be something he wasn't.
Nobody Admires a Hypocrite
It's interesting — I can talk about almost any personality trait and somebody will admire some part of it. I can mention a name and half the room likes the person and half the room doesn't. You can say Charles Barkley, and one person says, "I can't stand him," and someone else says, "Hey, he's kind of a hoot." I went to my first Suns game in five or six years the other day, and it happened to be when they were putting Cotton in the Ring of Honor, and Charles was there.
There was a time when it seemed like every day there was a Charles Barkley quote in the paper. He went to Auburn, and they asked him what his favorite class was, and he said music appreciation. They asked what that was like, and he said, "Well, I was in a room with a piano when a girl came in and played it. I said, 'Man, I really appreciate that.' They gave me an A. That was my favorite class." So I say "Charles" and reactions are mixed. But when I say "hypocrite," everybody says, "I can't stand a hypocrite." Nobody says, "There's nothing better than a good old hypocrite."
That tells you something. A hypocrite says one thing and does another. That's the heart of this problem. Jesus said your righteousness has to surpass that of the scribes and the Pharisees, and then He sets out to expose them for who they really are. They're hypocrites. They're dressing in a certain way, doing everything to draw attention to themselves — "Look at me, look what I'm doing, you must think I'm spiritual" — and Jesus says, don't give this way.
The Right Hand and the Left Hand
There were times when these men would literally have a trumpeter go before them. They would stand up, the trumpet would sound, and they would proceed to "anonymously" give this enormous gift. Jesus says, don't give that way. How then should you give? The left hand shouldn't know what the right hand is doing.
The right hand was always considered the primary hand in action in normal workday life. So He is describing a kind of giving that is so unplanned, so moved by compassion, that it is almost instinctive — you see something, you respond immediately, it isn't even premeditated. That, He says, is the way to give. That is the way to respond.
Talking About Giving
Let me say just a bit about giving. I think that at East Valley Bible Church we talk less about giving than almost any church around. Some of you have told me how much you appreciate that. The problem is that I'm somewhat convicted that we don't talk about it enough, and I know you don't like hearing that.
Part of the reason is that it involves money, and that clouds the issue. But what we're really talking about here is a spiritual matter. If I bring up prayer, everyone says, "Oh yes, we need to pray every day." If I say we need to be in God's Word, or share the truth, or stand for the truth, there's no resistance. But the moment money enters the conversation, everything shifts.
Introduction: Giving as a Spiritual Barometer
There is an old Flip Wilson skit where he played a preacher coming into a new church. He said, "This church is dead and I want to make it come to life." The congregation responded, "Make it live, Rev, make it live." He said, "This church is down and it needs to stand up." They said, "Make it stand, Rev, make it stand." He said, "This church needs to walk." They said, "Make it walk, Rev, make it walk." He said, "This church needs to run." They said, "Make it run, Rev, make it run." Then he said, "If it's going to run, it needs money." And they said, "Let it walk, Rev, let it walk." That was the old skit, and that's sometimes how it is.
The last time we talked about giving in the context of Scripture, the giving was averaging something like $70,000 a week, and it went to $80,000, then $90,000, $100,000, $110,000, $120,000. When I finished that section of Scripture, it went back down: $110,000, $100,000, $90,000, $80,000. That means something, because it is a spiritual issue. It is just like anything else — when we talk about evangelism, people evangelize; when we say it is Easter and there is room, bring your friends, people bring them; when we talk about spending time in God's Word and offer a class on it, people do it. Giving works the same way.
There are some great resources available on this subject. Crown Ministry is a magnificent class that will help you understand your relationship with the world around you, with money being a major part of it. It is really about stewardship — how do I handle the things God has given me?
The Danger of Impure Motives
There were some friends of mine who were on a committee and needed money badly. A man came to them and said he would give them a million dollars if they named a building after him. There is certainly some tension there, and it is a clear violation of the principle being discussed here. What Scripture is saying is that, by and large, our whole life is not about pleasing men and pleasing people — it is about pleasing God.
Jesus speaks about prayer in the same way He spoke about giving. He says that when you pray, you are not to be as a hypocrite. The hypocrites loved to stand and pray in the synagogue and on the street. In itself, that was not the problem, because those were the very places they were supposed to pray — in the synagogue and at appointed times throughout the day, often while out on the street. The problem is found in verse 5: they were doing it in order to be seen by men.
It is also worth noting that the Greek word translated "street" in verse 5 is different from the word used in verse 2. Verse 2 refers to a narrow, less-traveled road — something like a frontage road off the main path. Verse 5 uses a word referring to a very busy thoroughfare with a great deal of activity. So what these men were doing was coordinating their travel so that when it was time to pray, they would be at the busiest intersection in town, saying their prayers where the most people could see them and think, "What a spiritual man." Their problem was not prayer itself — their problem was their motivation.
Praying in Secret
Jesus says, "When you pray, go into your room, shut the door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you." This does not mean the only valid prayer is private prayer — there is public prayer, and we may engage in it several times in a single gathering. But the premise is that we must rid ourselves of the temptation to use prayer as a platform to display our own spirituality. The warning is about motive: watch what you are doing and why you are doing it.
Meaningless Repetition
Jesus then makes another point in verse 7. He says that when you pray, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. He is not saying it is wrong to bring the same petition before the Lord again and again — there is nothing wrong with returning to God repeatedly with the same request, the same supplication, the same entreaty. What He is addressing is something different: long prayers, repetitious prayers, rote prayers that are simply recited without any real engagement of the heart.
When my daughter Sarah was a little girl — she must have been three, four, or five years old — she came and jumped onto my lap one night, ready for bed. I said it was time to sleep, and she said, "Pull the string." I asked what she meant, and she said again, "Pull the string." So I reached around and pretended to pull a string in her back, and she said, "Father, thank you for this day, thank you for the world, thank you for all that you have given us." It was a perfect illustration of what Jesus is describing. Hundreds of people sitting in a room, each one pulling their own string: "Father, thank you. Thank you for this. Thank you for what You have done. Thank you for my mom. Thank you for my dad. Thank you for the day. Thank you for the food. Thank you for the school. Thank you for the world. Thank you for all that You have given me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen." — and not having a clue what they are saying.
The Irony of Meaningless Repetition
There is a little irony here. In verse 7, Jesus says He does not want any meaningless repetition, yet verses 9 through 13 have probably become, in the Protestant community, the most meaningless repetition of all the prayers we have. We are sick people.
So what is He saying about the Lord's Prayer? Prayer is about communication with God. As Martin Luther puts it, by our praying, we are instructing ourselves — we are not instructing God.
Praying Honestly Before God
Every day I pray for Susan. I tend to be honest: I tell God this is hard, and I wish He would heal her. That is what I want. If He is asking me what I want, I want her healed.
But having communicated that, I also tell Him that what I want on top of that — which is more important — is what He wants. So if He wants her healed, I am right on board with Him. But if He is not going to heal her, that is fine too. I ask Him to help me understand and see what He is doing, and how we can use it for His honor and His glory.
I am not a "thees and thous" person. I tend to be very straightforward: "God, here I am." There is nothing wrong with going to Him that way. That does not mean He is obligated to give you what you want. He will always give you what you need. He may not give you what you always want — and here is why: because you do not even know what to ask for.
The Story of Dave Dravecki
Some of you may remember Dave Dravecki, a pitcher who had serious problems with his shoulder. It turned out to be cancerous, and I have talked to men who were on the field the day he threw the pitch that snapped his arm. They ended up amputating it.
For many years I used this illustration, because Dravecki was praying at the time — and he will tell you this himself. His prayer was, "God, use me in a significant way. Whatever it takes, use me." God, in effect, said, "Then I need that arm." Dravecki ended up sitting with Barbara Walters, and millions and millions of people heard him speak about the Lord Jesus Christ.
That had always been my suspicion about how it happened. Then one day I was invited to someone's house where Dravecki was present, and I asked him about it directly, telling him what I had been saying. He confirmed it was exactly the truth. He had prayed, "God, I want to be used — I'll do whatever it takes." And God said, "Give Me the left arm."
So when you pray that "God, do whatever it takes" prayer, you need to understand that the answer may not be what you think you want. If someone told you they would have to take your left arm, you would say that is terrible. But God can use it for His glory. You do not even fully know what you are asking for.
Aligning Our Will With God's
Pray openly and honestly. But if my idea of what needs to be done is here, and God's is there, I am not praying to bring God over to my side. I am praying to declare what I want and then asking God to drag me over to His side so I can see and understand it. That is what Jesus is saying.
Fasting for the Right Reasons
Then Jesus moves to fasting, and the same principle applies. In verse 16, He says, "Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face." He has already said about giving, do not sound the trumpet. About praying, do not stand in the middle of the street. About fasting, do not make yourself look gloomy like the hypocrites do.
They would neglect their appearance — unwashed hair, wrinkled clothes — so that anyone passing by could tell they were fasting. Jesus says, do not do that. The reason is right there in verse 16: they were doing it in order to be seen fasting. Whether it is giving, praying, fasting, or any other activity, do not do it to be seen by others.
John MacArthur writes that many Pharisees fasted twice a week, probably on the second and fifth days of the week — which also happened to be the major Jewish market days, when cities and towns were crowded with farmers, merchants, and shoppers. Those were therefore the two days when public fasting would have had the largest possible audience. That is what their lives were all about: look at me, watch me.
It Is Not About You
You can wear a green wristband and carry a big Bible and be involved in all the right things — and I am genuinely for all of that, especially in reaching students, reaching the schools, and reaching the people you spend time with, whether in junior high, high school, or college. But you can also be prancing around saying, "Look at my armband, look at my Bible, look at me — what about me?" No. It is not about you. That is the whole point. The whole world says look at me, it is all about me. It is not about you. It is about Him.
Living a Life That Points to God
Living a life for Him means living in such a way that people see you and say, "There's something different about you." You're not like all the other kids on campus. You're not engaged in all the same things. But let me give you the flip side of that. When you are engaged in all those other things and acting just like every other kid on campus, there's no honor and glory in that. All that does is discredit everything else.
Walking around with a green armband and inviting kids to summer camp, while being involved in drinking or drugs or sex or disobedience or disrespect — there's nothing commendable there. You're better off being quiet than being a hypocrite, and you're best off by changing your life so that what you say, how you think, and how you act all line up. That's what He's saying.
On Fasting
So they're fasting, and they don't take care of themselves. Jesus addresses this directly: when you fast, take care of yourself. Anoint your head. Wash your face so that you may not be seen fasting, but your Father who sees you in secret will see you, and He will repay you. When we're talking about fasting here, we're talking about food.
If we were to line up the spiritual disciplines and evaluate them by how often we're engaged in them, it seems we have far more people in prayer, Bible study, and evangelism than we do in fasting. I will confess that in the last 25 years as a Christian, my life has been off and on in terms of fasting. There was a time when we fasted every Wednesday.
When we're talking about fasting here, we're talking about the absence of food, and there are a lot of ways to do this. One approach is daylight fasting — sunrise to sunset. I'm not sure it wouldn't be a tremendous idea to say Wednesday is going to be our day, and we as a church are going to fast from sunrise to sunset. We'd take the time we would have spent eating and use it to pursue God — asking, "God, what do you have for us? What do you want to teach me? How do you want me to live? Where do you want me to engage? What are the gifts you've given me, and how do I use them?"
Richard Foster on the Central Principle of Fasting
Richard Foster takes this one step deeper. In his book *Celebration of Discipline*, Foster writes: "The central idea in fasting is the voluntary denial of an otherwise normal function for the sake of intense spiritual activity. There's nothing wrong with any normal functions; it's simply that there are times when we set them aside in order to concentrate."
Foster continues: "The Bible deals with fasting in regards to food, but permit me to take the central principle and apply it to other aspects of contemporary culture." What he's saying is that there are things we do all day long, or perhaps every week, that are not necessarily wrong — in fact, they may be good. But it is valuable, on certain occasions, to set those things aside in order to concentrate, in his words, "for the sake of intense spiritual activity."
Fasting and Summer Camp
We have summer camp coming up, and that would be a great thing to fast and pray toward. It would be a great practice for students and staff to engage in — fasting for summer camp, saying, "God, here's what we're doing. We want you to get our hearts right as we head over to Point Loma. Get our hearts right as we reach out to these other students."
I have to tell you, while it can be hard, I have come to love summer camp deeply over the years. It's not just about being at Point Loma, as great as that is. It's not just about being with Tim and the staff, though I enjoy that. It's not even solely about being with the students, though I'll admit I'm genuinely amused by it. I love summer camp because every year, it is probably the single event where we see God move most dramatically in the lives of students. That's why I love it, and that's why we do it. How appropriate, then, for us to set aside time to pray and fast toward that very end.
The Heart Behind the Disciplines
So here's what He's saying. Be about these things. Live in such a way that you are pursuing the acts God would have you engaged in. But God hates religion — He hates people who give and say, "Look at me," who pray and say, "Look at me," who fast and say, "Look at me." These are things to be engaged in, but not to please man or impress man. They are to please God, to glorify Him.
What you have to do is take a look at your life and ask whether your heart is right. This becomes a mirror tonight — a mirror you hold up and look into and ask, "Is that how I'm living? Does that describe my life?"
Looking Ahead: Our Relationship With Our Stuff
Here's where He goes next. Look at verse 19: "Do not lay up treasures for yourself on earth," but lay them up, verse 20, in heaven. And then: "No one can serve two masters." He has been talking about prayer, fasting, and giving. Now He is going to talk about you and me and our relationship with our stuff. That's where we'll go next time.
Father, help us see this truth. Let us live lives that bring honor and glory to You. Never let it be said that we are hypocrites. We are sinners — we are going to mess up, we are going to sin. I understand that. When we do, we confess it. But God, our heart is not to gloss over our failures or impress somebody. We are concerned about pleasing one person only — not our friends, not our neighbors, not the people watching us, not those who critique every move we make. We are concerned about pleasing You.
Let the glory of the Lord rise among us. Let the glory of the Lord rise among us. Let the praises of the King rise among us. Let it rise. Let the songs of the Lord rise among us. Let the songs of the Lord rise among us. Let the joy of the King rise among us. Let it rise.
---
*God, let us live a life that brings honor and glory to You and You alone. We pray this to You in Jesus' name. Amen.*