Jesus said, “But
when you are fasting, anoint your
head and wash your face, so that people won’t realize you are fasting, though
your Father, who is hidden from sight, will.”
—
Matthew 6:17-18a (USC)
Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets was Jesus’ call. The Word of God came
into the world so religion would no longer be devoid of the heart that
eternally underpins the law. The chief priests and Pharisees would achieve the
letter of the law – to diligently fast – but they usurped the blessings of God for
themselves and, therefore, the missed the point, and they missed out! Theirs
was no worship of God, but a worship of their very selves – what an irony.
The heart of Jesus
through the Sermon on the Mount is the heart of all life – to begin with the
heart as the only basis for the good works anyone can do.
And the heart of
fasting as an act of worship is secrecy for intimacy with God, and the
sanctification of our worship is our growth – which is only achieved if we keep
our quiet, according to God’s will.
We could go so far
as to say that a ‘worship’ that is rewarded in the world is baseless and
useless in God’s economy. He may not even hear it, apart from the blasphemy of
our doing a worshipful activity with a wicked motive. Worship – in this
context, fasting – so we might gain favour of persons is worse than futile. It
will invite the judgment of God
***
But there is good
news in the doing of the secret things with a heart after God.
Imagine the power
that is to be experienced in refusing recognition its way. Contemplate the
grace with which God is ushering in and through us through our intimacy with
him.
As we are praying
with God in the mode of our fasting, our Lord is opening up our hearts and
minds. We are saturated in the Spirit and revelation is the agency flowing
through the veins of our souls, as his Word flows over us as we immerse
ourselves in it.
The greatest
blessing of experience is to feel embodied in the Presence of God. This is
achieved when we are keeping a virtuous secret with God, which is to reject the
temptation of hypocrisy.
***
QUESTIONS in REVIEW:
1. What holy secrets have you been
keeping with God lately – remembering that holiness is something we can only
experience whilst we are enjoined to the Lord’s
Presence?
2. The claiming of credit from the
world – the receipt of recognition for the ego – is not what we seek. What are
the practical steps in rejecting the temptation to hypocrisy in your present
context?
© 2015 S. J. Wickham.
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