SEASON OF LENT

ASH WEDNESDAY-YEAR-C

I Reading: Joel 2:12-18: Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn.

II Reading: 2Cor 5:20-6:2: Be reconciled to God...now is the favourable time.

Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18: Your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.

The Right Motive for Giving, Mt 6:1-4

God expects a people to be kind and to do good in the world: to help others both through personal involvement and through giving generously and sacrificially. Above all God expects a person to have the right motive. Because a person’s eternal fate is determined by his/her motive. Because of this, Christ warns us about right and wrong motives.

1.    Acts of righteousness-doing good and giving (v.1)

a.    Warning: Do not seek recognition

b.   The reason: God will not reward

2.    The wrong motive (v.2)

a.    Giving for recognition

b.   Characteristic of hypocrites

c.    Reward: Recognition by men only

3.    The right motive (v.3-4)

a.    Giving unconsciously

b.   Giving quietly-privately-secretly

4.    The reasons (v. 4)

a.    Father sees in secret

b.   Father rewards openly

The Right Motive for Prayer, Mt 6:5-6

This passage is speaking to those who pray-people who take prayer seriously. Prayer is one of the greatest acts of the Christian believer. God desires is fellowship with man (Is 43:10). Jesus’ concern is how we pray. Christ sets out to teach us the right and wrong motives for praying.

1.    The wrong motive: Praying to be seen by people (v.5)

a.    Place: Loving to pray

i.                Only in the Synagogue

ii.              Only in the streets

b.   Reason: For recognition

c.    Reward: people’s esteem

2.    The right motive: Praying to be heard by God (v. 6)

a.    Place: in one’s private place

b.   Reason: God is in one’s secret or private place

c.    Reward: will receive open blessings from the Lord

Thought: Many pray on the run; few pray in secret.

The Right Motive for Fasting, Mt 6: 16-18

Biblical fasting means more than just abstaining from food; it means concentrate upon God and his answer to a particular matter. Biblical fasting involves prayers intense supplication before God. The benefits of fasting are enormous, but there are also dangers. We can fast for the wrong reasons. This is the point of the present passage. Christ counsels us on the wrong and the right motives for fasting. Jesus reveals what God means by fasting in today’s Gospel.

1.    The wrong way to fast (v.16)

a.    Fasting as a hypocrite

b.   Fasting for recognition

c.    Reward: to receive only human recognition and esteem

2.    The right way to fast (v.17-18)

a.    Fasting as a duty

b.   Fasting without notice

c.    Fasting to God alone

d.   Reward: God shall reward openly

Thought: A religionist fasts before people. A genuine believer fasts before God.

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