Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven

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Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Matthew 7:21-23

Every Monday when I go back to school I hear my pupils discussing the weekend’s footballing action. “We scored some impressive goals!” they might say, or “we got a great result this weekend!” Being the pedant that I am, I always feel like saying, “you don’t mean we, you mean they!” But football fans get so caught up in the excitement of cheering on their favourite teams that their identification is so strong that it is almost as if they have played their part in getting the ball into the net.

Many people across the world identify themselves as Christians. Here in the UK, although the phenomenon is diminishing, a substantial number of people, when asked their religion, would reply ‘C of E’. Especially amongst the older generation there is the view that if you live in England, then, if you do not hold to any other religion, you are automatically ‘Church of England’. Whilst the Church of England is, of course, there for everyone, and as the established church, plays an important role in the life of our country, identifying with the ‘C of E’ is not sufficient to gain salvation. Jesus makes it clear that it is not enough merely to identify with him; he says that ‘only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus goes even further, though. There are those who earnestly believe that they are serving him, yet will not enter the kingdom of heaven. He says that some will say to him on judgement day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Yet he will turn to them and say to them, ‘I never knew you. Away from me you evil doers!’

Some people don’t just identify with the Christian faith but believe they are fulfilling the obligations that Christ laid down for them. They would call themselves Christians, they might help with the tea and coffee after church, they might play in the church band, they might even run a church. Yet if, despite all of this, these people do not have a genuine and personal relationship with Christ then all their efforts, as noble as they might be, will not secure their place in heaven.

How can we be sure of entering the kingdom of heaven? Jesus tells us here. We must do the will of Jesus’ father who is in heaven. How can we be sure of what that is? By studying his word and listening to his voice, identifying from scripture the kind of people that Jesus wants us to be. And by praying, asking God to use the Holy Spirit to fashion us into people who will place his will first, and make serving him the number one priority in our lives. Ultimately, there is nothing that we can do to earn our salvation; ultimately salvation comes as a gift to those who place their trust in Jesus, acknowledge their own weaknesses, and gratefully accept that Christ died and rose again to win our freedom.

The question today is: do you identify with Christ, or do you actively seek to do the will of Jesus’ father who is in heaven?

Enter through the narrow gate

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Enter through the narrow gate

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Matthew 7:13-14

My friend Clive used to have impressive knowledge of the UK’s road network. If you gave him any two points on the British Isles he would be able tell you at least a couple of different routes to travel from one to another. Whilst this was undoubtedly a useful skill, he has unfortunately been surpassed by sat-navs, and mobile phones with smart apps.

Today’s verses are interesting, since Jesus explains how there are just two routes through life: a broad road, that culminates in a wide gate, and a narrow road that ultimately leads through a small gate.

Clearly, when confronted with these two options, the easiest road to follow would be the broad road. The broad road could be seen to be a bustling superhighway, with plenty of lanes to choose from. The person who opts to travel down this road will have the opportunity to choose their own route, within the scope of the broad highway. The ultimate destination of this road is easy to arrive at too, since on reaching the destination, the highway leads through a wide gate.

The second road is rather different. This route could be seen as a single track that offers little opportunity for choice; if you follow this road, there is only one option available to pursue, and that is straight on. The only alternative would be to veer off the track and lurch into the undergrowth which surrounds it. The small gate at the end of this road would probably prove tricky to manoeuvre through; if you’re following this road the driver would need to ensure that the vehicle is perfectly aligned, or else risk crashing into the gate posts and veering off wildly.

Of course, Jesus is here talking about the routes that we opt to take through life. As far as he is concerned there are only two possibilities; we pursue the simple, wide road, or the trickier narrow road. Whilst the broad route is more straightforward, ultimately it leads to destruction. The narrow route leads to life.

The two options open to us are to follow Jesus, and allow him to act as our shepherd and guide along the narrow road. Ultimately if we pursue this route we will find eternal life in God’s new creation. This is the route that he urges us to take when he tells us to “enter through the narrow gate.”

The other option is to follow our own route, to turn the sat-nav off, and pigheadedly assume that we know where we are going and how to get there. This broad route gives us the freedom to make our own path along the broad road, but ultimately leads to destruction, death and despair.

The narrow route is undeniably a harder route to pursue, and Jesus himself said that few will find this route. But the rewards for finding, and successfully following, this route are great, and ultimately, the only sensible course to pursue. The Christian life is not always easy, and along the way the person who chooses this route will inevitably experience bumps, holes and sections that seem impossible to navigate. Yet Jesus is always with us as we pursue a Christian life, supporting us, loving us, and guiding us with the Holy Spirit.

Which route have you chosen? Do you trust in your own knowledge and understanding of life and the universe and therefore follow the broad road? Or do you accept that you need guidance, that you need a shepherd to lead you through life, and therefore stick firmly to the narrow road? Are you on the road to life, or the road to destruction?

Do to others what you would have them do to you

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“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 7:12

I’m a History teacher, but since I am also a Christian, I have also found myself teaching some RE. Whilst teaching RE, it is always very interesting to hear what twelve and thirteen year old children think Christianity is about. Some children nail it straight away, stating that Christianity is a personal belief that a just but loving God sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins, and that all those who believe in him have eternal life. Others take a completely opposite viewpoint, arguing that it is a made up story and that Jesus Christ never even existed. Most, though, will take a middle road, saying something along the lines of how Jesus was a good man who taught that if we are all nice to each other then we go to heaven. I suspect that these viewpoints are similar to those held by most people.

Many people who take a middle-of-the-road viewpoint of the Christian faith would point to today’s verse as solid reasoning for their understanding of Christianity. After all, here we see Jesus delivering the classic ‘do as you would be done by’ commandment.

Those who say that this is the central message of the Christian faith have a point. After all, Jesus said that one of the greatest commandments is to love our neighbour as ourself. If we want to live according to Jesus’ teaching then we need to ensure that we are loving to all those whom we encounter, friends and enemies alike, and treat them in a way that we would like them to treat us. If everyone lived according to this teaching, we would live in a peaceful world. Each person would treat everyone else, and their property, with respect, fully expecting that they, in return would be treated the same way. There would be no murder, no theft, no fighting, and no wars.

So why, then, do we live in a world in which all of these things exist? Why do we live in a world afflicted by the horrors of ISIS, global terrorism, violence and death? Why do we live in a country which still requires law courts to deal with those who fight, or wound, or kill, or steal from their neighbours?

This is the key point. Whilst Jesus commands us to do to others what we would have them do to us, we fail on a daily, indeed, hourly, basis to live according to this seemingly simple commandment. We cannot help ourselves. That’s why we still need laws and courts, to outline how we are expected to live and to bring justice when we fall short of the standards expected of society.

This is why Christianity is not simply about doing to others as we would have them do to us.

Jesus continues in today’s verse by telling us that this simple commandment sums up the Law and the Prophets – that is, all the teaching that we find in the Old Testament.

The ultimate culmination of the teaching of the Old Testament is, of course, Jesus Christ. It is to him that the whole of scripture points. He was sent into the world as the one and only dearly beloved son of God, free from all blame and all guilt. He is the only person who on his own has managed to live according to God’s teaching. And he is the one who took our punishment for failing to follow this oft-quoted commandment.

Jesus, in this verse, gives us a truly wonderful commandment, a rule which is recognised by most of the world as a fundamental guide for living. Yet it is also a rule that we break on a daily basis. A faith based solely on this rule, without recognition that we cannot possibly live up to the standards it requires, would be a hollow and empty faith. For without Christ, we are truly lost.

The next time someone suggests to you that Christianity is simply about doing to others as you would have them do to you, ask them if they manage to follow this rule, every day, without fail. And ask them what happens when they break this fundamental commandment. Remind them that it is only through Christ that we can find forgiveness, and only by placing our trust in him that we can find eternal peace with God.

Ask and it will be given to you

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Ask and it will be given to you

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Matthew 7:7-8

I recently spent a week in Shropshire with 60 twelve year olds. It wasn’t some kind of bizarre punishment for wrongdoing but a school trip. Actually, it was quite enjoyable. We saw lots of interesting sights and, for the most part, the children were not just well behaved but a pleasure to spend time with. They were a little irritating when it came to the vending machine, however. They had all been instructed that they were not to buy sweets or drinks from the vending machine, but that didn’t stop a stream of children approaching me every day asking if it would be alright for them to visit the machines. The answer, of course, was always no. We were provided with ample excellent food and the sugary snacks would not only be bad for their health but would probably result in hyperactivity.

I find today’s verses from Matthew’s Gospel really exciting. If we ask God for something, it will be given to us, Jesus says! Of course, Jesus is not saying here that if I ask God for an Aston Martin (which I would quite like) or a Golf GTI (which I would settle for), I will wake up one morning to find one parked on my driveway. Jesus expects that when people decide to follow him, they will be transformed by the renewing of their minds (as Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans). The process of being transformed by the renewing of our minds will enable us to raise our thoughts to more heavenly matters, seeking first God’s kingdom rather than personal wealth and material possessions. If we have genuinely been transformed by wholeheartedly following Christ, then we will no longer want fast cars or big houses; rather, our priority will be to build God’s kingdom here on earth, living according to his teachings, loving him and our neighbours, and telling all we encounter about God’s love for us. If our priorities are in line with God’s, if our desires match his, anything that we ask him for in prayer will be given to us.

Not only are today’s verses an enormous encouragement, but there’s also a challenge lurking there in Jesus’ words. Do we genuinely seek his kingdom? Are our priorities matched with God’s? And do we immerse ourselves in prayer, asking constantly for his kingdom to come, and for the tools we need to play our part in its arrival?

Do not give dogs what is sacred

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Do not give dogs what is sacred

‘Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Matthew 7:6

Here in the UK, we’re in the midst of an election campaign. It could be quite an interesting election as no one party looks set to gain a majority. There was a time when my feet would scarcely touch the ground during an election. For a couple of elections I played a significant role at the heart of a local campaign, striving to get a good man elected to the House of Commons. I spoke to a great many people about the virtues of my friend and the political party he represented. Some people would listen carefully and say that they would be supporting my friend. Others said that they would be supporting one of the other candidates. A few people got really very angry when I told them who I was representing, ranting and raving about how ‘my lot’ had let them down, exclaiming that there was no way they would vote for us. Sometimes such people even ripped up our campaign leaflets right in front of me. I knew that when I encountered such a reaction, there was little point me trying to gain their support; there was clearly no way that they would ever vote for my friend!

Today’s verse, taken from Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount is potentially very confusing. Why, after his teaching on judging other people, does Jesus suddenly begin talking about dogs and pigs? What do these animals represent?

Neither dogs nor pigs would have been particularly well regarded at the time. Dogs were frequently wild, roaming the streets of towns and villages looking for food, and probably not afraid to give anyone who stood between them and their supper a bit of a nip. Pigs, meanwhile, were regarded as dirty and unclean; a good Jew would not have wanted to be in the vicinity of a pig.

Jesus clearly did not want his followers throwing stuff of value to these disreputable animals, but what could these sacred items, these pearls, be? Elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a pearl, so I suspect that this is what he has in mind here. The ‘sacred’ object he refers to is clearly related to the pearl, and many have surmised that Jesus could have the gospel in mind here.

The question remains – who do the dogs and the pigs represent? Just as I confronted people who responded in a surprisingly violent way to my political campaigning, there are no doubt people who will respond in a similar fashion to the good news of Christ. They have decided that the gospel is a load of bunkum and they have closed themselves off from the good news totally. Such people may metaphorically (and perhaps literally!) trample scripture under their feet and react violently to even a mention of the name Jesus. There comes a time when we should leave these people to their own devices, and move on.

Sharing the gospel with others can be quite tricky at times, but thankfully, evangelism is seldom greeted with such hostility as Jesus describes above. We should clearly continue to tell our friends about Jesus, and not be dissuaded from evangelism should be encounter such a negative response. Whatever response we receive, it is always useful and worthwhile praying that those whom we love who do not know Christ for themselves might have their hearts and minds opened to the good news of Christ.

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Do not give dogs what is sacred
Do not give dogs what is sacred
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Do not judge, or you too will be judged

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Do not judge, or you too will be judged

‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3 ‘Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:1-5

Earlier this week I went back to my day job, teaching History, after a glorious three week holiday. I usually find the summer term to be pleasant, but busy. A great deal of my time during this term will be spent preparing my pupils for the end of year exams that they will face in just a matter of weeks. Some of my pupils will have exams that are marked by external examiners. It is important, therefore, that their work is not just of a good standard, but is legible. I find it hard to criticise my pupil’s handwriting, however. You see my handwriting is pretty poor. That is to say that it is not messy, per se, but it is small and can be difficult to read. Quite often my pupils have to come and ask me to read the comments I have put on their work because they can’t read my writing. It would feel a little odd under these circumstances if the comment I had written, that they were unable to read, was ‘watch the legibility of your handwriting’! Really I need to address my own weaknesses in this area before I can make comment on their poor writing!

Once again, in today’s passage from the Sermon on the Mount, we find Jesus warning against hypocrisy, this time in terms of judging other people. Straight away, he warns, ‘do not judge, or you too will be judged’. The prerogative of judgement is assigned to Jesus himself; he has been entrusted with the ultimate judgement of all people. He is, of course, in an ideal moral position to judge, since he himself lived a perfect life, free from any sin or wrongdoing. We, on the other hand, have not lived sin free lives. There are plenty of wrongdoings in all of our lives.

The problem we encounter when we seek to judge others is that we are not blame-free ourselves. Often, when we judge others, what we are really doing is denigrating them purely to elevate our own position, to portray ourselves as holier than the person whom we are judging. Jesus issues a clear warning here. If we should seek to judge others,we will be judged in the same way. If we judge another person when we know that actually we are guilty of the same, or perhaps an even worse sin, then we are hypocrites and can expect to feel Christ’s anger when we face him at our own judgement. As Jesus puts it, we must first remove the log from our own eye before seeking to remove the sawdust from our brother’s eye.

Of course, we are not forbidden from holding each other to account. Nor are we told that we should not seek to correct the failings of our brothers and sisters within the church. If we see behaviour that is inappropriate, or someone stumbling in some other way we are not simply to ignore it and to leave our neighbours to their failings. We should help them to ‘remove the speck’ from their eye. We are to do so having first ensured that we are in a position to do so, and that we do not have any logs of our own that first need to be addressed. We are to do so remembering that we are all brothers and sisters, having been united as God’s children through the death and resurrection of Christ. And we must ensure that our correction is intended to encourage our brother or sister, to spur them on, and not simply because we are judging in order to portray ourselves as better than they are. We must not stoop to the practice of belittling others simply to elevate our own position.

Today, why not reflect on your own journey of faith. Are you aware of any stumblings in your own life, any planks that need to be removed from your own eye? Pray today that God will help you to see clearly any issues that you need to address in your walk with him. And remember, it is not forbidden to judge the behaviour of others. Any critique of others, though, must be handled in a loving manner, with the realisation that any judgement that we impose will also be applied to us.

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Do not judge, or you too will be judged
Do not judge, or you too will be judged
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Do not worry about your life

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25 ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28 ‘And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith?31 So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

Worrying seems to be a bit of a trait within my family. I remember my dearly loved Granny being something of a worrier – and indeed, she often used to worry about being a worrier. I think I’ve inherited this from her. I often find myself worrying, about all kinds of different things. I worry about small things, like whether my train will arrive on time, whether I’ll drop my wallet whilst out shopping, and if I’ll leave my phone somewhere. I worry about big things such as what will happen if I lose my job, or get arthritis in my fingers, or develop a brain tumour. Of course, ultimately I know it is silly to worry about these things. I have no control over most of these things, and most haven’t happened to me so far. What is even more silly is that I know ultimately, even if these eventualities come about, I’ll probably be okay. I have lost a job through redundancy, and actually, with hindsight it was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. So the question is, why worry at all?

That’s the lesson that Jesus brings us in today’s passage. ‘Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink,’ he says. Don’t worry ‘about your body, what you will wear’. We are not to worry about these things because our God is faithful and will meet our needs. Jesus talks about the birds, which don’t engage in complicated agricultural practices or stockpile food, yet are diligently provided for by the creator God who brings about the berries and seeds that they need to survive to grow. As for clothes, look at the flowers, Jesus says. They are discarded, thrown into the fire, yet God provides them with magnificent clothing that betters anything that even the richest princes might wear. Jesus also tells his followers to look to the pagans – to those who don’t follow Christ. They have no faith in God as faithful provider, and yet they have food to eat, drink to drink and clothes to wear. God knows that we need these things, and he will provide them for us.

That is not to say that we will not face difficulties during our lives. Birds face predators, harsh winters and the loss of habitats due to human encroachment. Flowers are cut down and easily destroyed. Jesus even says that ‘each day has enough trouble of its own’. Jesus knew when he was teaching this message that every day potentially brings challenges. We are to focus more on these daily occurrences than worrying about the future, the ‘what ifs’ that can so easily plague our idle minds. Most of these will never come to pass, and if they do, God will faithfully help us to cope with all that we might encounter in our lives.

Ultimately, if we worry about what our future might hold, we are questioning God’s faithfulness to us. Rather than emulating non-believers and running after fancy food, extravagant drink and posh clothes, we should run after the kingdom of God and the righteousness that living as citizens of the kingdom of heaven entails. We should make the establishment of God’s kingdom our primary concern. This, of course, means living as Christ as described in the Sermon on the Mount; making our focus loving God and loving our neighbour as ourselves, and striving to spreads Christ’s message of love, hope and forgiveness throughout the world. If we consciously put Christ first in all that we do, then we will have no reason to doubt that God will meet our needs. Furthermore, our humanistic tendency to find food, drink and clothes will become secondary considerations, brought in check by our primary focus on serving God.

Of course, knowing all of this in theory is one thing, but actually living a life that is free from worry is incredibly difficult. In the coming weeks I will be praying to God to help me be more trusting of his provision for me, and to lift all of my worries about future difficulties – that may, and indeed probably will not happen – away from me. I will be praying that God will help me as I strive to ‘seek first his kingdom and his righteousness’. I wonder if you will join me?

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Do not worry about your life
Do not worry about your life
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Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth

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19 ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 ‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Matthew 6:19-24

A couple of weeks ago, my wife, Claire, and I went to speak to a financial advisor. Our lives are about to change significantly; in about two weeks we will welcome our first child into the world. As a consequence, we thought that it would be a good idea for us to ensure that our finances are in order, and to make sure that we can provide not just for ourselves, but our new son. I don’t particularly like talking about money; I always feel uncomfortable since, on a global and a historical scale we (and by that I mean all of us in the western world) are comparatively wealthy, and I always have at the back of my mind Christian teaching on wealth. Yet confront these issues Claire and I must as we think about our family’s future.

Jesus, in the passage above, outlines how Christians should regard their ‘treasure’. He is very clear that we must not store up for ourselves treasures on earth. We must ensure that we do not fall into the easy (and compelling) trap of materialism. Acquisition of wealth and possessions for ourselves might seem attractive, but ultimately it is pointless, since it decays, degrades, devalues and can be stolen. Instead, we should aim to store up treasures for ourselves in heaven, since our treasure there is not subject to the same weaknesses of earthly wealth.

Focusing our attention on earthly wealth is harmful, both to God’s kingdom, and also to ourselves.

It is harmful to God’s kingdom since acquiring and storing wealth purely for ourselves does not enable us to support the poor, the needy, the sick and the starving. It is people like these that were right at the heart of Jesus’ ministry; he went out of his way to support those seen as outcasts from the rest of society. As Christians we have a duty and a responsibility to continue Christ’s work of supporting people such as these. Giving our money to charities that work to support them is a vital task of building God’s kingdom here on earth.

Storing up treasures for ourselves is harmful to ourselves, since it exposes the darkness of our hearts and brings into question the depth of our confidence in Christ. As Jesus says above, ‘where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’. If we place our focus on earthly treasure, then our heart is stuck in the sinful, earthly realms. But if instead we seek to store up treasures in heaven by following Christ, loving our neighbours and committing to always place the needs of others before ourselves, then our heart is lifted to the realms of the kingdom of God. We cannot serve both God and money; we must decide where our priorities lie.

Is it wrong, therefore, for me to be investigating life insurance, pension provision and mortgages as Claire and I prepare for the arrival of our son? Well, this is the difficult question to which I keep returning, and which I know different people will have different views on. My own view is that it is eminently sensible and desirable. I believe that we are commanded to provide for our families and to secure our financial future. Indeed, Paul writes to Timothy, ‘Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever’ (1 Timothy 5:8). Additionally, Proverbs states, ‘Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest’ (Proverbs 6:6-8). With this in mind it seems like a sensible idea to plan for our future. As for spending money on treasures that are solely about the instant gratification of a consumerist society – well that’s an entirely different matter.

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Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth
Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth
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When you fast, do not look sombre

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When you fast, do not look sombre

16 “When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:16-18

I work in an environment where men are significantly outnumbered by women. I’m aware that this may sound incredibly sexist, but when I sit down for lunch, one of the most common topics for discussion is dieting. It seems that at any given time at least a couple of my colleagues are on a diet. The current diet of choice seems to be the 5:2 diet, which I believe involves eating normally on five days of the week, whilst fasting (or semi-fasting at least) on the other two days. Fasting is something of an alien concept to me. Whilst at university I participated in something that could be described as a meal-fast; we skipped a meal and donated the money that we would have spent on food to a charity working in Africa, whilst also meeting for prayer time when we would have been eating. That’s as far my experience of fasting goes.

It’s interesting, therefore, that during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his followers how they should fast. Jesus takes it for granted that his followers will fast, saying not if you fast but when you fast. He identified fasting as part of the Christian experience. Fasting is not a common experience for Christians today, however. Perhaps, in the light of these verses it should be something that we do far more often. A quick flick through the Bible shows that in both the Old and New Testaments, fasting was a common feature of a Godly life. Fasting seems to have been particularly linked with prayer. We see in the book of Daniel that he records, ‘so I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes’ (Daniel 9:3). In Luke’s gospel, the prophet Anna ‘never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying’ (Luke 2:37). The prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch are recorded as praying and fasting: ‘So after they had fasted and prayed…’ (Acts 13:3). When Paul and Barnabas selected leaders for the churches in Acts, ‘with prayer and fasting, committed [them] to the Lord’ (Acts 14:23). Clearly there is precedent for fasting. No doubt it helps a prayer to focus their mind on their prayers, whilst also demonstrating personal self-discipline and commitment to seeking God’s will through prayer.

Should we choose to adopt fasting in our own faith life, Jesus offers some clear guidance in the verses above. Just as we must ensure that our giving and our prayer are focused on God and not intended to be outward signs of piety, intended to encourage people to look our us and our religiosity in awe, so we should not seek to draw attention towards ourselves as we fast. We should not be dramatically somber or disfigure our faces, to make it plain that we are fasting. People who fast in this way are hypocrites who have received their reward in full. Instead, we should keep our outward appearance exactly the same as usual and avoid making our fasting obvious to those around us. If we fast in this discrete fashion, our Father in heaven will see us and reward us.

I wonder if, like me, you’ve been challenged by these verses? I wonder if you will consider fasting from time to time? If we aspire to be like Christ, we could do far worse, since he, after all, fasted from time to time. If we wish to deepen our prayer life, fasting could be beneficial. We must ensure, however, that our fasting is not intended to draw attention to ourselves, but purely to deepen our relationship with God.

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When you fast, do not look sombre
When you fast, do not look sombre
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Forgive other people

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For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Matthew 6:14-15

I went through a pretty harrowing experience at work a few years ago. As I have sought to move on from this dark time, I have struggled time and time again with forgiveness; how can I forgive the person at whose hands I suffered when he has shown no remorse for his actions, and indeed, seemed at the time to greatly enjoy seeing me suffer. Forgiveness, I have learnt, is incredibly difficult.

One person who stands out for me as I have struggled with forgiveness is a man called Gordon Wilson. He and his daughter were in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland when the Provisional IRA let off a bomb. Wilson was injured and his daughter, Marie, was fatally injured. Writer William Ury wrote about Wilson as follows:

In an interview with the BBC, Wilson described with anguish his last conversation with his daughter and his feelings toward her killers: “She held my hand tightly, and gripped me as hard as she could. She said, ‘Daddy, I love you very much.’ Those were her exact words to me, and those were the last words I ever heard her say.” To the astonishment of listeners, Wilson went on to add, “But I bear no ill will. I bear no grudge. Dirty sort of talk is not going to bring her back to life. She was a great wee lassie. She loved her profession. She was a pet. She’s dead. She’s in heaven and we shall meet again. I will pray for these men tonight and every night.” As historian Jonathan Bardon recounts, “No words in more than twenty-five years of violence in Northern Ireland had such a powerful, emotional impact.” (Quote from Wikipedia).

My experiences pale into insignificance when compared with those of Gordon Wilson, and yet he found in himself the ability to forgive those who had not just injured him, but who killed his beloved daughter, Marie.

Forgiveness is difficult, but in the two verses above, which immediately follow Jesus’ teaching of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus makes it clear that we are expected to forgive those who wrong us. We are not to bear grudges, to return wrong doing with wrong doing, or to withhold forgiveness from others. No, we are called instead to forgive others. This can be not only difficult, but upsetting and costly. It requires us to face up to difficult circumstances, to reflect on painful times, and to love people whom we might ordinarily despise, people who could well have made our lives into a living nightmare.

Jesus is clear, though. If we do not forgive others, God will not forgive our sins. If we cannot bring ourselves to forgive then it is questionable just how much we have the true Spirit of Christ within us, how much we have allowed our lives to be transformed by our faith. God does not say this out of spite. Far from it. Our Father in heaven knows just how costly forgiveness is; he gave up his only son to death in order that we might be forgiven. Jesus has the scars of the nails that fixed him to the cross in his hands and feet that demonstrate the costliness of forgiveness. Yet at no time did God falter in his plan, at no point did Jesus falter in following his Father’s mission. It was his death and resurrection that enabled us to be forgiven, to be made right with God, and to gain new life in God’s perfect kingdom.

Think today whether there is anyone in your life whom you need to forgive. It might be someone who is in your life at the present moment, or it could be someone who wronged you in your past. Ask God for his help as you strive to forgive them for the pain, the hurt and the suffering that they caused you. And be at peace knowing that if you forgive those who have wronged you, God will forgive you too.

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Forgive other people
Forgive other people
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