Highways to Zion
a journey towards a radical Gospel
HOW? - part 2: Fasting
Posted on 02/02/2008 ::: 2 Comments, Leave Some More
Have you ever had one of those moments when you kick yourself because you forgot your camera? A couple of years ago Sarah and I were visiting family and we were in Bristol, TN where Sarah went to college and we drove past one of Bristol’s fine dining establishments – Ryan’s Steakhouse. The place of every kids dreams because you automatically get desert with anything. I am pretty sure you could go and just get a glass of water and still get desert. Ryan’s is not a good place for a diabetic. But as we were driving past Ryan’s and I had that “where is my camera” moment. The sign in front of Ryan’s said, “Join us for Lent”. I can’t even try to explain that one. Join us at our super all you can eat buffet during your season of fasting. Needless to say our culture does not quite understand the discipline of fasting. 
I was able to find this more disturbing buffet sign online however. We live in a culture of excess. It is this excess that wrecks us. We over-eat, we over-work, we over-spend, we watch too much TV and spend too little time in the things that would shape us into followers of Christ. Don’t be fooled, we are being shaped by something, but many times it isn’t things that are making us look more and more like the selfless King we hail on Sunday mornings yet forget about during the week. Tonight we are focusing on the spiritual discipline of fasting. Now while there are many things we can fast or abstain from I would like to deal with one we have all together forgotten in our modern Christian culture – that is fasting from food. Even in John Wesley’s day the discipline of fasting was losing ground, as he states that, while some have made it into something extremely legalistic, others have completely disregarded it. Beloved if we were to be honest with ourselves, our church, and our culture we would have to admit that we fall into the latter category. We have essentially taken a century long fast from fasting itself. Richard Foster describes his efforts to find any sort of research or writings on the practice of fasting as he was writing the book we are using for this study and he found that there was not one book about fasting published between 1861 and 1954.
One possible reason we have such a deficiency of fasting in our culture is that there are no specific commands in the Bible to fast. I am sure if Jesus had said somewhere, “Fast once a week” then we would have all sorts of Bible studies and conferences and even songs about it. We do have references to people in the Scriptures fasting, yet there is no ongoing commandment to fast. So the first question we need to ask ourselves is this: do we need to fast?
Did you know that John Wesley required all the Methodist preachers to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays? Can you imagine if we still required that of our Methodist pastors. I believe our number of pastors would be a lot slimmer – no pun intedended.
In the sermon on the mount Jesus gives us some instruction regarding fasting that will help us understand our call to it. In Matthew 5-7 Jesus is shaking up the religious tradition. You remember he said those controversial things like, “you have heard it said…. but I say to you….” And in 6:16 Jesus gives a clear distinction about how fasting should be done and how it shouldn’t. He says:
“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
An important word we must not overlook in this passage is the word ‘when’. Jesus did not command the disciples to fast – it was assumed they would be fasting. Jesus did not say ‘if you fast’ but rather, ‘when you fast’. The world of 1st Century Jerusalem and 21st century America are two completely different worlds. In their culture fasting was a common occurrence. People knew how to fast in those days. They knew what you should eat before and after a fast so that you didn’t get constipated or the opposite. They knew that you a few days into a longer fast you need rest. However, people in our culture think that if they skip breakfast and lunch they are going to die.
The Jewish day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, was the most common fast in ancient Jewish culture. It was prescribed for the Jewish people as a part of their ritual of atonement in Leviticus 23. It was a time when the people were to ‘afflict their souls’. This word that we translate ‘afflict your souls’ carries with it the idea of disciplining and humbling ourselves before God. It was with this attitude that the people of God were to come to the Day of Atonement, in a spirit of repentance and submission to God. As we approach the Lenten season we too should begin to reflect on the great price Christ paid for us. As we approach our glorious Day of Atonement that is not recreated every year, but rather remembered and celebrated let us jump into the ongoing story of God and let Him mold us in this season.
The Christian calendar used to be one of those things that I snubbed my nose at and said it was just an archaic ritual, but after really embracing the spirit of Lent as a community in seminary I realized what fertile soil the Christian year is for producing the fruit of a life drenched in the narrative of God. Did you know that some churches have stopped celebrating Easter and emphasizing the fact that every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection? Of course we never want to lose sight of the life-giving resurrection of Christ, but we will never know the glory and wander of Easter morning if we have not waited and fasted through lent.
Fasting is assumed in the life of a follower of Christ. When asked why his disciples didn’t fast, Jesus responded that they shouldn’t fast while the bridegroom was with them, but there was going to be a time when the bridegroom was not going to be with them and then they would fast. We are in that time now when the bridegroom has left and we are eagerly awaiting His return. We are now called to fast.
And while we are definitely called to fast, we shouldn’t do it without reason. Before you begin fasting you should make sure that your body can handle it. If you have health issues related to diabetes, blood pressure, and other things you should check with a doctor before beginning a fast. Not everyone should practice a food fast for health reasons. If you can’t, then don’t feel guilty or less spiritual. The fact that Christ never commanded fasting allows us liberty to refrain from it if need be. There are also many other things to fast besides food. However, fasting can have numerous physical benefits including weight loss, lowering of blood pressure, arthritis relief, and lowering of cholesterol. Hippocrates used fasting as a means to prevent illnesses nearly 2400 years ago. Dr. Issac Jennings was awarded an honorary degree by Yale many years ago after prescribing a special colored pill, partial fasting, and water as a cure to many fever producing illnesses. Later he revealed that his pills and powders were simply stained fragments of bread.
However, while there are many physical benefits to fasting our fasting always focuses on spiritual purposes. And while there are even more spiritual benefits to fasting we must keep our focus primarily on God. If we come to the task of fasting with a heart tuned to glorifying God and desiring primarily to grow closer to him through the fast then we will guard our hearts from loving the blessing more than the blesser. Our eyes should be turned more towards the person and glory of God than the outcome of a fast. However we should not completely neglect the effects of a fast. There are many goals for which we would seek God through a fast:
I was able to find this more disturbing buffet sign online however. We live in a culture of excess. It is this excess that wrecks us. We over-eat, we over-work, we over-spend, we watch too much TV and spend too little time in the things that would shape us into followers of Christ. Don’t be fooled, we are being shaped by something, but many times it isn’t things that are making us look more and more like the selfless King we hail on Sunday mornings yet forget about during the week. Tonight we are focusing on the spiritual discipline of fasting. Now while there are many things we can fast or abstain from I would like to deal with one we have all together forgotten in our modern Christian culture – that is fasting from food. Even in John Wesley’s day the discipline of fasting was losing ground, as he states that, while some have made it into something extremely legalistic, others have completely disregarded it. Beloved if we were to be honest with ourselves, our church, and our culture we would have to admit that we fall into the latter category. We have essentially taken a century long fast from fasting itself. Richard Foster describes his efforts to find any sort of research or writings on the practice of fasting as he was writing the book we are using for this study and he found that there was not one book about fasting published between 1861 and 1954.
One possible reason we have such a deficiency of fasting in our culture is that there are no specific commands in the Bible to fast. I am sure if Jesus had said somewhere, “Fast once a week” then we would have all sorts of Bible studies and conferences and even songs about it. We do have references to people in the Scriptures fasting, yet there is no ongoing commandment to fast. So the first question we need to ask ourselves is this: do we need to fast?
Did you know that John Wesley required all the Methodist preachers to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays? Can you imagine if we still required that of our Methodist pastors. I believe our number of pastors would be a lot slimmer – no pun intedended.
In the sermon on the mount Jesus gives us some instruction regarding fasting that will help us understand our call to it. In Matthew 5-7 Jesus is shaking up the religious tradition. You remember he said those controversial things like, “you have heard it said…. but I say to you….” And in 6:16 Jesus gives a clear distinction about how fasting should be done and how it shouldn’t. He says:
“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
An important word we must not overlook in this passage is the word ‘when’. Jesus did not command the disciples to fast – it was assumed they would be fasting. Jesus did not say ‘if you fast’ but rather, ‘when you fast’. The world of 1st Century Jerusalem and 21st century America are two completely different worlds. In their culture fasting was a common occurrence. People knew how to fast in those days. They knew what you should eat before and after a fast so that you didn’t get constipated or the opposite. They knew that you a few days into a longer fast you need rest. However, people in our culture think that if they skip breakfast and lunch they are going to die.
The Jewish day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, was the most common fast in ancient Jewish culture. It was prescribed for the Jewish people as a part of their ritual of atonement in Leviticus 23. It was a time when the people were to ‘afflict their souls’. This word that we translate ‘afflict your souls’ carries with it the idea of disciplining and humbling ourselves before God. It was with this attitude that the people of God were to come to the Day of Atonement, in a spirit of repentance and submission to God. As we approach the Lenten season we too should begin to reflect on the great price Christ paid for us. As we approach our glorious Day of Atonement that is not recreated every year, but rather remembered and celebrated let us jump into the ongoing story of God and let Him mold us in this season.
The Christian calendar used to be one of those things that I snubbed my nose at and said it was just an archaic ritual, but after really embracing the spirit of Lent as a community in seminary I realized what fertile soil the Christian year is for producing the fruit of a life drenched in the narrative of God. Did you know that some churches have stopped celebrating Easter and emphasizing the fact that every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection? Of course we never want to lose sight of the life-giving resurrection of Christ, but we will never know the glory and wander of Easter morning if we have not waited and fasted through lent.
Fasting is assumed in the life of a follower of Christ. When asked why his disciples didn’t fast, Jesus responded that they shouldn’t fast while the bridegroom was with them, but there was going to be a time when the bridegroom was not going to be with them and then they would fast. We are in that time now when the bridegroom has left and we are eagerly awaiting His return. We are now called to fast.
And while we are definitely called to fast, we shouldn’t do it without reason. Before you begin fasting you should make sure that your body can handle it. If you have health issues related to diabetes, blood pressure, and other things you should check with a doctor before beginning a fast. Not everyone should practice a food fast for health reasons. If you can’t, then don’t feel guilty or less spiritual. The fact that Christ never commanded fasting allows us liberty to refrain from it if need be. There are also many other things to fast besides food. However, fasting can have numerous physical benefits including weight loss, lowering of blood pressure, arthritis relief, and lowering of cholesterol. Hippocrates used fasting as a means to prevent illnesses nearly 2400 years ago. Dr. Issac Jennings was awarded an honorary degree by Yale many years ago after prescribing a special colored pill, partial fasting, and water as a cure to many fever producing illnesses. Later he revealed that his pills and powders were simply stained fragments of bread.
However, while there are many physical benefits to fasting our fasting always focuses on spiritual purposes. And while there are even more spiritual benefits to fasting we must keep our focus primarily on God. If we come to the task of fasting with a heart tuned to glorifying God and desiring primarily to grow closer to him through the fast then we will guard our hearts from loving the blessing more than the blesser. Our eyes should be turned more towards the person and glory of God than the outcome of a fast. However we should not completely neglect the effects of a fast. There are many goals for which we would seek God through a fast:
- To overcome sin
- To seek direction
- For intercession
- For preparation for spiritual warfare
- Transformation/Closer walk with God
- Partial Fasts are fasts that forego certain foods (ie. Chocolate or caffeine or meat). Eating is still allowed, however it is limited. A good example of this is Daniel’s commitment to eat only vegetables and water while King Nebuchadnezzar had the other captives eating delicacies (Daniel 1).
- Normal Fasts are fasts that forego eating, but still allow liquids (water and juices). Normal fasts can be as long as 40 days before actual starvation begins to set in. After the first day or two one will experience weakness and tire easily. The best remedy for this is resting. After the third or fourth day your body will adjust to the situation. Normal fasts should be broken with fresh fruits and vegetables. Before starting a normal fast many try to overeat the day before. This is how we come to get Fat Tuesday, the day before the start of Lent when people gorge themselves. However, this is not wise as it does not properly prepare the body for the extreme change in diet it is about to experience.
- Absolutes Fasts are fasts that forego both water and food. An absolute fast should only be undertaken with clear direction from God and then only for 3 days at the most, any longer carries the risk of death. In the Bible Moses held an absolute fast for 40 days, but there was clear supernatural intervention to sustain him through it.
- Seeking the LORD (2 Chronicles 20:3-4; Nehemiah 9:1-3)
- Repentance (Jonah 3:5-9; Joel 2:15; 1 Samuel 7:6)
- Intercession (Matt 17:21; Daniel 9:3; 2 Samuel 12:16)
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#1 On February 4, 2008, brian wrote:
With your permission I would like to use part of your above sermon for my Ash Wednesday service….thanks dude