Reflection on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

I have one prayer for you.  It is the same prayer I have for you every day, but it really comes into focus here at the beginning of Lent.  I pray that you might be free.  Truly free. 

Free to be the person that God created you to be. 

Free from all the distractions in life.

Free to enjoy the new life that Jesus provides. 

I want you to be free from worry about money.  I do not wish you to be like the elderly woman who worries about how the heat is going to be kept on for another month as she tries to find some way to scrape together a living even though the aches and pains of old age are great.  I want people like her to be free from such worry.

I want you to be free from the worries of the world.  I desperately do not want mothers and fathers to stir through the night because of anxiety about the world their children are going to live in.  Whether it be fear of war or homelessness or societal collapse, I wish that mothers and fathers would be free to sleep safe in the knowledge that their children will never be forgotten by God.

And, I want you to be free from any daily habit with which you struggle that hurts you in the long run.  I want you to be free from the alcohol, or the empty calories, or the lack of motion, or the daily complaining, or the anger, or any other number of other things that hurt the body or soul, but are difficult to kick.

I desperately want you to be free from it all because Jesus desires that you be free from it all. 

Jesus desperately wanted to free the crippled who were swept to the sides of the marble laden Roman main streets; those suffering people who gazed up at the nice homes of the two percent. 

So, he did free them.  Jesus healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, cured the crippled, fed the hungry, and raised people out of their pits.  He gave of himself so that others might be free.  Then he told each one to keep it all a secret. 

The reason he healed and helped is because that is what love does.  Love frees.

The reason for the secret is because there is no need to get the approval or accolades for doing what love does. 

There is no need to have trumpets blown when giving money for the sake of others.  Nor is there any need to put on a bumper sticker telling about how you care for the earth.  Jesus wants us to be free from that need to be acknowledged too.

Jesus also needed to hand the cares of the world over to God the Father.  So, Jesus went away, alone, to pray. 

Jesus talks of meditating on flowers because they do not worrying, and talks of yolks being lifted from our shoulders, and also talks of doors being opened when knocked upon.  It is all a way of showing us the freedom that comes from giving it all to God in prayer. 

But, Jesus did not do it to show how faithful he was.  If you recall, the disciples needed to ask Jesus how to pray.  Jesus obviously did not make a show of it.

No, Jesus prayed because that is what love does.  He prayed for neighbors.  He prayed for friends.  He prayed for enemies.  He prayed for guidance.  He prayed for God’s will.  He prayed in secret.  And, all of that prayer leads to freedom.

And, Jesus definitely knew the trappings of evil habits and mindsets.  So, Jesus went into the wilderness to deny himself and to fight the devil who tempted him…who tempts us. 

There is a freedom that is found in denying the devil all he wants.  There is a freedom in denying the excess food, or the excess anger, or the excess nicotine, or the excess whatever!  We all have temptations.  We all have bad habits.  We all have unhealthy crutches in life. 

Jesus desired to stay free from it all and desires that we be free from it all. 

But, Jesus did not overcome temptation in order to show how faithful he was.  Jesus desired to be free of the devil because that is what love does.  Love knows no evil.  No recognition is needed.  Jesus wants us to be free of that need for recognition also.

So, during Lent we are given gifts.  We are given the gifts of three disciplines: giving, prayer, and self-denial.

 

Giving.  To give for the well-being of others in a larger way than we have been doing is an incredible gift of freedom from material things and is a gift of love for others.

Prayer.  To intensify our prayer for all in the world, both those we love and those we fear, both those who are friends and those who are enemies, is a gift that draws us closer to others and, most importantly, closer to God.

Self-Denial (also known as fasting).  To determine some aspect of our daily habits that would benefit from self-denial is a gift that draws us away from temptation and the Devil, and away from harm of self and others and, instead allows God to draws us into God’s arms.

After-all, whether you realize it or not, Jesus has already made you free.  You have been given the gift of a new life.  You are already free from all that binds you up or holds you down. 

You are dust and ash who has been remolded and reformed to live lives of love in Jesus, to live lives of freedom. 

So, allow these gifts: Giving, Prayer, and Self-Denial, to un-clutter your vision and un-clutter your lives, so that you may live in the freedom that is yours through Jesus Christ our Lord.