God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is
entitled Fast Time, and my focus is on our Gospel (Matthew 6:1-6,
16-21). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced
when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now
that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we
listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply
as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
What do Sean Penn, Forest Whittaker, Moon Zappa and Ray
Walston have in common? They all acted in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
The only reason to mention a 40-year-old movie about the lives of students in a
San Fernando Valley high school is because when I typed in the traditional Lutheran
phrase for Lent – Fastenzeit – or Fast time, the movie populated my
screen. Fastenzeit is what Luther and Lutherans traditionally called
Lent, the time from Ash Wednesday through Easter. With that in mind, my focus
today will be on fasting, not fast times.
In the
continuation of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of almsgiving, prayer and
fasting. When Jesus taught about fasting, he meant what we mean today: a period
of time when you eat no food. The English word, fast, came to us from the
German which meant a voluntary abstinence from food and drink or from certain
kinds of food. It also meant to make firm or get ahold of yourself.
In the ancient
world, abstaining from food for spiritual purposes was part of the fabric of the
culture. While the Bible introduces particular theological emphases on
dependence on God presented in messianic, corporate, and individual ascetic
themes, that is, man does not live on bread alone (Deuteronomy
8:3), it also critiques the erroneous teachings of other ancient cultures that
practiced fasting.[1]
The Hebrew term
for fasting occurs many times in the Old Testament. Fasting was practiced
primarily by individuals and the community when mourning the dead or when preparing
for worship. In Exodus, we read of Moses fasting for 40 days and nights while
with the Lord (24:28-34:38). As a people, Israel mourned and fasted before the
Lord after the loss to Benjamin (Judges 20:26). We read of individual fasts by
Hannah, Saul, Jonathan, David, Elijah, Esther and others; and of corporate
fasting by David’s men after hearing about the death of Saul and Jonathan (2
Sam 1:12). Ezra called for a fast to seek God’s protection for those leaving
Babylon for Israel (Ezra 8:21-23). In the Book of Esther, Purim was established
for the Jews with instructions for fasting and lamentations (9:31).[2]
These examples
show us how people afflicted themselves or humbled themselves when they fasted
individually or joined others who denied themselves food or drink. In the books
of the prophets, we see that fasting was practiced not only when one grieved or
mourned, but also when one showed himself to be repentant while seeking forgiveness
of sins from an offended God. For the prophets and the Jewish people, fasting was
also an aid in prayer, an experience of the presence of God that resulted in
the endorsement of God’s prophets, as well as an act of ceremonial public
worship.
Since the Fall,
God’s people knew that they were sinful creatures, and they fasted to atone for
their sins. Now, there were many Jewish dietary laws because fasting, like
eating, was an important part of life, and as we reflect on these laws, we understand
why they were important. If you want to read more about them, you can search
the links in the footnotes. Suffice it to say that fasting from food when it is
readily available makes us more aware of the meaning of the Ash Wednesday
phrase, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
In our culture, we
really don’t get what the fuller Genesis passage means until we clear our own land
and grow our own food. The fuller passage that reminds us of our own inevitable
death reads, “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat
of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for
you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face, you
shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (3:17-19)
Even though God
commanded only one fast (Leviticus 16:29-31) in which the Israelites would deny
themselves food on the Day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur, they began
fasting during times of impending danger, war, distress and sorrow. Isaiah’s
call for repentance helped them see that the true character of fasting was an
expression of sorrow over their sins and an opportunity to be merciful to the
hungry (58:3-8). Fasting reminded the people to be sorrowful for neglecting
God’s Word, however, over time, this fasting morphed into a necessary
resolution of the legal code. By the time Jesus was born, Pharisees mandated
fasting twice a week (Luke 18:9-12).
As we move into
the New Testament, we read in Matthew and Luke that after his Baptism, Jesus
fasted in the wilderness. Why would he not? Fasting was common practice for
observant Jews. All three Synoptic Gospels report that Jesus told John’s
disciples that his followers do not fast because the bridegroom is present, but
when He is taken away, they would. Jesus assumed his followers would fast, and
the practice is mentioned throughout Acts and Paul’s Letters to the
Corinthians.[3]
In today’s passage, Jesus teaches that fasting should be done privately for
God, not for the purpose of being seen to be fasting, like the hypocrites.
Since hypocrites
fasted to be rewarded, they received all that they had hoped for. We should,
however, be careful to think that all fasting in Judaism was done
hypocritically.[4]
Jesus wanted his disciples to face their heavenly Father when they fasted, not
other people. Outwardly, Christians were expected to appear normal to people
around them. The command to “anoint your head and wash your face” referred to
grooming practices. In other words, Jesus told people that no one should be
able to tell that anything different is happening in your life.
A number of years
ago, when my father died on Wednesday of Holy Week, I intentionally withheld information
about his death from the congregation until after Easter. Why? Because inwardly
I was mourning, but outwardly I wanted people to see that I was filled with the
joy of Easter and the Risen Christ. It was difficult to do, but my point is
that every person does not need to know that you are mourning, rejoicing,
praying or fasting at every moment. Your Heavenly Father is aware of your
private activities. Let that suffice.
Any reader of the
Bible should know that Jesus wanted his followers to fast by choosing to say,
“When you fast,” and not “if you fast.” Matthew included this because he saw it
as a regular part of Christians’ spiritual lives.[5]
Christ scolded his
disciples for failing to cast out a demon, answering their question, “Why
could we not cast it out?” with “This kind is able to be expelled
by nothing other than prayer and fasting.”[6]Perhaps the disciples
thought that since they had spent so much time with Jesus that companionship itself
qualified them to expel demons. Perhaps they believed that they were beyond
fasting as a spiritual discipline since time with Jesus made them
self-sufficient.
As we move from
Scripture to our Lutheran tradition, we turn to Martin Luther who wrote in his
Small Catechism that “fasting and bodily preparation are in fact a fine
external discipline” prior to receiving the Lord’s Supper.”[7] Yet, many modern Lutherans
act as if Luther wrote, “Fasting and bodily preparation are in fact a worthless
and irrelevant external discipline.”[8] Luther condemned the
misuse of fasting when one thought it would somehow make you more pleasing to
God, which prompted him to write, “If you want to fast right, see to it
first that you are a pious man, one who both believes and loves correctly; for
this work deals not with God or neighbor, but with our own body.”[9]
He agreed with St.
Paul that Christians should practice bodily training, as we read in 1st
Corinthians 9:24-27; 1st Timothy 4:8; and Hebrews 12:1, because it
urges self-control over our bodies. In the words of the Good Doctor, “True
fasting consists in the disciplining and restraining of your body, which
pertains not only to eating, drinking and sleeping, but also to your leisure,
your pleasure, and to everything that may delight your body or that you do to
provide for it and take care of it.”[10]
Our Lutheran
Confessions teach that right fasting is a fruit of repentance commanded by God
in the same way as right praying and right alms-giving; that fasting is useful
for keeping the flesh in check; and that it is a fine external training in
preparation for receiving Holy Communion.[11]
Reminding readers
of this, the late Pastor Paul McCain, once publisher and executive editor of
Concordia Publishing House, wrote these words, “The spiritual discipline of
fasting was always part of historic Lutheranism, but as in so many areas of our
church life, the desire to ‘fit in’ with the rest of American Protestantism,
led this practice to fall into disuse among us.” [12] My point in all of this
is that proper fasting is as important as proper prayer and almsgiving,
according to the Lutheran Church and Jesus, but as McCain wrote, it has fallen
into disuse because we want to fit in.
Lest you disagree,
here is one more quote from McCain’s article that I could not resist: “We
look at the required fasts in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy and
rightly criticize the imposition of such rules as contrary to the Gospel
freedom we have, but then we again use this as an excuse not to fast. We’ll
show those legalists, as we continue stuffing our faces and filling our bellies
with the food that perishes.”[13]
Friends in Christ,
as we leave marked with the sign of the cross through the imposition of ashes,
which remind us that we are dust redeemed by Christ’s blood on that cross, may
we leave inspired by the unimaginable love Jesus has for us today. Our love for
Christ should influence how we spend our time and money. We can spend those on
frivolous activities or in prayer and almsgiving. Our love for Jesus should be
visible not only to Christian brothers and sisters through outward acts of
love, but also to our Heavenly Father through proper fasting of food, drink,
time and money. My friends, may our Heavenly Father reward you and yours
immensely through this Great Fast – Fastenzeit – and may the peace of
God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus. Amen.
[1]
Kent Berghuis, Christian Fasting: A Theological Approach. Doctoral Dissertation
on https://bible.org/series/christian-fasting-theological-approach.
[2]
More citations of fasting at https://bible.org/seriespage/appendix-2-fasting-scripture.
[3] 1
Corinthians 7:5: most translations omit fasting, while others, including
the King James versions mention fasting. 2 Cor 6:5; 11:27: Paul mentions hunger
as one of the hardships he endured.
[4] Jeffrey A. Gibbs, Matthew 1:1-11:1. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing
House (2006), p. 349.
[5]
Ibid.
[6] Mark
9:13-28. See King James, ISV and other versions for this translation.
[7] Concordia:
The Lutheran Confessions. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House (2005), p. 369.
[8]
Gibbs, p. 349.
[9] AE
21: 161 – cite
[10]
Martin Luther, Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, American Edition 21:60.
[11]
“Fasting,” https://cyclopedia.lcms.org
[12]
Paul T. McCain, “When You Fast …”, First Things, February 11, 2010.
[13] Ibid.
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