Jesus said to them, “If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourself; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they will set before you, and heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth it is that which will defile you.”
What does it mean that harm will come to you if you fast or pray or give charity? Surely, it makes you a good person if you engage in spiritual practice and do such things as these. Yet, indeed, if you are doing such things from self-cherishing or egotism, or to appear as a good and righteous person, then truly these things are harmful to your spirit because they are a lie! In truth, it does not matter how you appear to others but how you appear to the Lord, how you actually are. Regardless of what sort of activity you might outwardly engage in, unless your heart is good and bright and your mind is clear, there is no benefit for your soul and spirit. Yet equally true, if your heart is good, your mind clear, and you are centered inwardly in Christ, then all that you do will benefit your soul and spirit, and it will be as though God itself is doing it.
It is a question of living within, centered in the Christ-Spirit. If I live centered in the Christ-Spirit, then no longer am I the doer of any action. Rather, it is the Spirit of the Messiah in me, the Holy Spirit, that is the doer and that accomplishes everything that needs to be done. Whether it is the spiritual life in daily living, in prayer or meditation, in sacred ritual or spiritual study and contemplation, in active compassion and charity, or whatever activity I might engage in, that action is only as powerful and beneficial as the degree to which the Spirit of the Messiah is in it and accomplishes it. Only my Neshamah, my heavenly soul, and the Christ-self that indwells it, knows how to study and contemplate the secret wisdom, or how to fast and pray and meditate, or how to accomplish what is good. The outer person is but a shell, devoid of the Christ-self.
Also, it must be said that spiritual practice, however advanced and great the practice may be, has no true meaning or transforming power unless it is integrated into daily living and a spiritual life. Although I may practice a great deal and give freely to charity and appear to myself as a righteous and spiritual person, unless inwardly I live in the Spirit and Truth and I live according to the Truth and Light each day, my spiritual practice is worthless and perhaps even harmful to my spirit.
What I will tell you now may be shocking. It does not matter whether you eat meat or do not eat meat, whether you eat pork or do not eat pork, whether you drink alcohol or do not drink alcohol, whether you smoke or do not smoke. It does not matter to God whether you do or do not do any of these things. Moderation is the rule of health and happiness, but these things will not bring you closer to God or take you further away from God than you already are. You could dress in white, refrain from eating meat, drinking and smoking, yet inwardly, if you were far from God, you would remain in your exile. The opposite could equally be true, for one who lives conscious of the Sacred Unity could do all of these things and never be separate from the Lord. It is not any outward appearance or activity that brings you nearer to God. It is an inward state, the state of your mind and heart that matters.
This awareness is certainly not license for hedonism nor a suggestion that the aspirant should not engage in spiritual practice and spiritual living—rather it is quite the opposite. More to the point, however, it is the inward state and inner intention behind any action that determines the reality and value of the action itself. This is an essential realization every spiritual practitioner must come to as they mature in the Divine Life.
That the Master mentions healing the sick reflects the substantial spiritual power the disciple bears and the necessity that it is freely used to benefit others. It also indicates the holy Sefirah Tiferet, the Christ-center on the Tree of Life that represents the inner self and a balanced and harmonious inner and outer life.
The mention of food or offerings given and healings performed indicates the necessity of the desire to receive and desire to impart acting together to form a circuit of transmission. Unless we receive, we cannot give; unless we give, we cannot receive. This is a simple truth regarding the operation of Divine Grace that freely flows only when there is a desire to receive for the sake of sharing and giving to others. The holy Shekinah cannot rest upon a depressed person; equally, she cannot be the companion of a selfish person. One must be willing to give so that she might give through oneself. Give what you want to receive and you will find that, in giving it, you have received it. Receive freely and give freely and you will find a constant flow of Divine Grace.