We continue on our journey toward Jerusalem with reflections on the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) to guide our growth in discipleship.
Discipleship is disciplined participation in lifelong learning about how to live as Christians the way of love. Jesus has called each of us into the way of discipleship, but also warned us not to let irreligious devotion (piety) become self-serving public performance. Jesus did not have kind words for those who paraded their religiosity so that others would look up to them. The same went for alms giving: let the generosity of charitable giving be done without fanfare or expectation of reward or recognition.
Prayer, Jesus taught, is deep conversation with God; it is not performance art. Someone once said that long, wordy prayers as public performances rise no farther than the ceiling of the room. In other words, keep it simple. Jesus said to pray like this: Pray to Our Father, not my Father but our Father. It confesses that we are kin to every other person. We cannot say to anyone that you are not my brother or sister. Jesus’ way of prayer commends us to honor God’s holy name, participate in doing God’s work on earth, receive nourishment needed to do it, forgive as we are forgiven, and be rescued in our times of trial. It’s a way of prayer that combines communion with God and active doing in daily life, trusting that God is with us and for us. To pray like this frequently is to confess our weakness, doubts, and daily recommitment to trust God.
What about fasting? It’s supposed to be spiritual discipline and some say it has health benefits too. It’s not something that has worked for me, but good for you if it works for you. Jesus said to fast without public notice as a way to be in more intimate communion with God. The fast I need is to let go of feeling anxious responsibility for what is. Not mine to carry. It’s said this way in AA meetings:
- God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
God said, “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58). Is it what we are called to take up in these troubled times?
We live in a materialistic society where making money, having the right kind of possessions, and keeping up with the latest trends easily becomes the measure of our worth because marketers and influencers tell us it is. It isn’t. None of it has lasting value. It’s all transitory. The only treasure that will endure is God’s holy word and the way of love. It’s possible to have both, but only one can be served. No one can serve both material wealth and God. Choose wisely.
Jesus said to stop worrying about material possessions. It leads only to greater anxiety. We, you, and I, are loved beyond all measure, and God knows what we need to live well. Put Christ first, make the Lord’s Prayer be the outline for each day’s activity, and get on with what needs to be done. Life creates enough worries on its own, no need to imagine worries that may never happen. The reward will be a sense of resilient courage in the sure and certain hope of the peace that surpasses all understanding.