Word of Salvation – Vol. 47 No.9 – March 2002

 

Fasting – A Neglected Discipline

 

Sermon by Rev J Haverland on Matthew 6:16-18

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 58; Esther 4:1-5, 12-17; Jonah 3

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Probably many of you have never heard a sermon on fasting.  It isn’t part of many church traditions.  In fact, it has been widely neglected by most of the church in the western world for a few hundred years.

Initially that neglect was perhaps an over-reaction to the excesses and abuses of fasting in the Roman Catholic Church.  More recently the neglect of fasting is more because we live in a very self-indulgent and undisciplined society.  People are not used to denying themselves anything at all – so fasting goes against the grain in our present culture.  The closest people get to fasting today is the World Vision 40 hour famine, but as we’ll see, that isn’t really a fast for most people.

As we look at this we want to:

1.  Note some general comments on fasting;

2.  Then look at the negative command Jesus gives;

3.  Then look at the positive command;

4.  And then consider how this applies to us.

1.  We need to begin with some GENERAL COMMENTS ON FASTING, because this practice is so unfamiliar to us today.

The word ‘fast’ appears in our word “breakfast”; during the night you go without food and in the morning you “break-your-fast”.  In this case you fast because you were asleep!

People might go without food for other reasons as well: to be mentally alert, to lose weight, or to be healthy.  But biblical fasting is not the ultimate crash diet to lose weight!  A biblical fast must have a spiritual reason or purpose behind it.  This is why most who do the World Vision 40-hour famine are not fasting in a biblical sense – they are doing this to raise money for the poor – a good motive but not necessarily a spiritual one.

In the Bible fasting is the voluntary denial of food for a spiritual purpose.  It is to go without food to express a spiritual concern.

There are various types of fasts described in the Bible.

Sometimes people went without food and water (Ez.10:6, Acts 9:9), although in most cases people went without food but still drank water (Mat.4:2).  In other cases people restricted their diet in some way – they ate less than normal or they ate simple meals (Dan.10:3, cf.1:12).  People could fast by missing one meal; or by fasting for one day; or three days; or a week; or even forty days.  People could also fast on their own as individuals – a private fast, as is described here in Matthew 6; or they could fast as group of people – as a city, or a congregation, or a small group.

So, there were various types of fasts, and there were also different reasons why people fasted.

God’s people in the Bible fasted in times of great need.  We read of that in Esther Chapter 4.  All the Jews fasted and prayed for three days in a time of intense need when they were under great threat.  There is another example of this in Ezra where the Jewish exiles were about to travel home and they fasted and prayed for a safe journey (Ez.8:21-23).

Fasting in the Bible is often connected with a confession of sin.  People had such a strong sense of their sin before God that they repented with prayer and fasting.  We read a striking example of this in Jonah where the king and his nobles issued a decree calling the whole Assyrian city of Nineveh to fast and put on sackcloth (Jonah 3:5-9).

The people of Israel also fasted when they were seeking God’s guidance, or when they were fighting temptation, or when they wanted to express their worship and praise.

So, there were various types of fasts and people fasted for a variety of reasons.  But the common thread was an intense spiritual concern.  This is what was missing in much of Jewish fasting in Jesus’ day.

2.  So, let’s consider THE NEGATIVE COMMAND.

In verse 16 Jesus warns us against religious showmanship!  “When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting.”

This is another illustration of the main principle He has explained in verse 1a: “Do not do your acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them.”  An ‘act of righteousness’ is something God requires of us like attending worship or reading the Bible.  Jesus gives us three examples here: giving gifts to the poor, praying and fasting.

All of these are good things and you should do them, but you need to do them with a right motive – not to be noticed by other people, but rather out of obedience and gratitude.  You should not be thinking, “I hope other people will notice me doing this,” but rather you should be doing it out of love for God.  Jesus is warning us against spiritual pride, against showing off.

He warns us against this because the hypocrites fasted for show.  They wanted others to notice they were fasting.  They tried to look sombre.  The word can also mean sullen, sad or gloomy.  They would “disfigure” their faces by not combing their hair and beard and by colouring their face so as to look pale.  They tried to look hungry so as to appear to be holy!

Jesus condemns this.  Fasting was supposed to be an aid to personal devotion and an act of humility before God; but the Jews had turned it on its head and used it as a display of their righteousness.  Jesus says, “They have received their reward in full.”  They got what they wanted which was the praise of men.  That’s it.  That’s all they will get.

3.  This brings us to consider THE POSITIVE COMMAND.

Jesus says, “But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting” (vs 17-18a).

With these words Jesus is not suggesting you go to the other extreme.  Don’t go over the top and be extra happy and boisterous.  If you do that you are still drawing attention to yourself.

When you fast just act normally: follow your usual routines; do your usual things – have a shave, shower, wash your hair.  Don’t act as if you are fasting.  Fasting is between you and the Lord and when you fast God will reward you.  “Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (vs.18b).

This doesn’t mean that God will automatically give us what we are asking for.  It is not a mechanical procedure: fasting and prayer goes in and the right answer from God comes out.  No, it doesn’t work like that.  Fasting is not a spiritual hunger strike that will force God to do what you want Him to do.  People do this to get their way.  But this isn’t the approach of the believer.  Fasting is an expression of your intense concern about something.  And God will answer that in His way and in His time.

4.  This is a new subject for most of us and so we need to think carefully about how this APPLIES TO US.

The first application we should note is that fasting is a Christian practice.

Now you might want to argue that this doesn’t apply to us at all – that fasting is an Old Testament regulation and practice.

There is only one fast commanded in the Old Testament and that is in connection with the Day of Atonement (Lev.23:26ff).  On that day the people were to “deny themselves”, that is, to fast.  That fast was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His sacrifice on the cross.  It was completed in Him and so we don’t have to keep that one.  This is part of our New Testament liberty in Christ.  We are free from many of the specific commands given to the Jews in the Old Testament law.

Yet, as we have seen from the examples already mentioned, the Jews fasted as on other occasions as well.  There are many examples of regular fasts as well as fasts called for special situations.

But fasting is mentioned in the New Testament as well.  There is no specific New Testament command to fast but again we have plenty of examples of Christians who did fast.  Altogether there are 77 references to fasting in the Bible.

In Verse 16 Jesus is not commanding His disciples to fast but He does assume that there will be times when they will do so: “When you fast…”.  It is put in the same category as giving to the needy (vs.2) and prayer (vs.5): “When you give to the needy…”; “When you pray…”.

So, fasting has been a long-standing practice in Old and New Testament times and in the history of the church.  So it is surprising that it has fallen into disuse.  Yet it’s not so surprising when you think that this is a spiritual discipline.

We live, as I said earlier, in self-indulgent and undisciplined times.  People in our western world are not used to doing without anything or waiting for anything.  We expect to have our desires immediately satisfied, our pains taken away, our illnesses cured, our injuries healed, our hunger satisfied.

From that point of view it’s hardly surprising that fasting has gone out of fashion because we are not used to self-control and discipline and waiting.  But this is a good reason to reintroduce this practice, because we need every encouragement and help to live disciplined lives.  Fasting teaches us to control our bodies.  It teaches us that our body should be ruled by our mind and will, and it helps us to practice this.

Fasting also encourages earnestness.  When we face a crisis or a problem in the church we form a committee or we hold extra meetings.  But in biblical times, when believers faced a crisis or a calamity, they fasted.  They fasted when they felt strongly about something – about their sin, their need for help or guidance or forgiveness or comfort.  It expressed their deep need and concern.  This is a biblical pattern.

You might want to fast when you are beginning a new job, or about to start university, or when you are struggling with temptation, or in preparation for the Lord’s Supper, or out of concern for your families and friends who do not know Christ, or when the church is facing a crisis, or when your marriage or family are in trouble.

Maybe you will decide to miss breakfast, or morning tea, or lunch, or all three.  You can use fasting to express the strength of your desire – that you are earnest about this.  Isn’t that part of our problem, that we aren’t earnest enough; that we don’t have the sense of urgency that we should; that we don’t grieve deeply over our sin?  All the more reason then to consider this practice.  Next time you feel strongly about some matter that you want to bring before God then you should consider prayer and fasting.

Finally, fasting keeps us focussed.  Most of us really love food!  And God wants us to enjoy the good things of His creation.  He even commanded the people of Israel to get together at times for a big feast – a great party!  There is a time to eat, drink and be merry!

But there is also a time to abstain from food.  The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us, “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven” (3:1).  There is a time to feast and a time to fast.  There is a time to eat and a time to refrain from eating.

Abstaining from food helps focus your mind and your attention.  God has made us so that our mind and body and spirit are all connected together.  One affects the other.  If you eat too much you will feel lazy and sleepy.  If you don’t eat anything you feel hungry.  But that hunger can help focus your mind and remind you to pray.

There are no New Testament commands to fast.  And so there are no instructions about how often you should fast or for how long.  This must never be turned into a legalistic or mechanical routine.  Nor must it be done for the wrong motive – for the praise of men or our own pride.  Nor should we judge one another – either for their fasting or their lack of it.  Nor should we fear that we are all going to turn into John-the-Baptist types, or become hollow-eyed fanatics.

But here Jesus assumes that we will not only be giving to the needy and praying, but that we will also be fasting; that you will fast as a spiritual discipline, according to you own conscience, in response to what is going on in your life and the church, as an aid in the life of being a disciple of Christ, and for the benefit of your relationship with God.

Amen.