What About Fasting for Lent?

 

hat is this practice of fasting that we hear about this time of year?  Fasting is denying ourselves something for a certain period of time.  On Sunday, February 21^st, I preached about Jesus’ fasting for 40 days, before He began His public ministry.  Forty days is a Biblical number that we use as a basis for the period of Lent we began on February 17^th, 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter (excluding Sundays).             

Although we don’t place a great emphasis on fasting from our faith heritage, there is some value in this spiritual discipline.  Jesus talks about this practice, as well as other spiritual practices, in His Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 6.  In verse one of Matthew 6, Jesus says we shouldn’t do our ‘acts of righteousness’ publicly.  What He means is that we shouldn’t do things so that others will see how ‘righteous’ we are.  We don’t do these things to show off.  We shouldn’t draw attention to ourselves during this season of Lent trying to get people to think that we are super-spiritual.           

In His sermon, Jesus is confronting the religious leaders of His time, namely the Pharisees, for their pretense at being ‘super-spiritual’.  As He describes their practice of fasting, it appears that they put on a show, looking emaciated and miserable when they were fasting.   

When I was in college, a group of us students did a 24-hour fast to raise money for a hunger program and those of us who took part in this fast called way too much attention to ourselves.  We made it seem horrible when it really wasn’t.  We may have had good intentions, but our behavior took away some of God’s blessings on us because we were showing off. 

With regard to fasting, here is what I believe Jesus is teaching us.  Jesus says don’t tell anyone you are fasting.  Fasting isn’t about what people see you do or don’t do.  It is about being devoted to God.  By denying yourself something you can better focus on God.  The important thing is not just to deny yourself something, but to put prayer or Bible reading or thoughts of God in place of what you are fasting from.  People have come up with lots of things to fast from during the period of Lent.  You can fast from certain kinds of food, from dessert (or certain kinds of dessert), coffee, chocolate, or something like TV or movies or other kinds of entertainment you enjoy.  The instruction from Jesus is only that when you do this, it is between you and God, so no one else needs to know, except maybe people in your household so they can be supportive of your expression of devotion to God.             

One other important caution about our approach to fasting that I was reminded of by Dr. Michael Rydelnick, a professor at Moody Bible Institute.  He cautioned that we should not fast thinking that we are somehow paying for our sins by a level of suffering.  We could never do enough suffering to pay for our sins.  Jesus suffered and died for our sins and His suffering and death was enough.   

We don’t fast as a way to: 

• Earn our salvation.
• To pay for our sins. 

Instead, we exercise this spiritual discipline as a way to: 

• Show our devotion to God.
• Be drawn closer to Him.
• To spend more time with Him.
• Be less distracted by the things of this world. 

I invite you to consider fasting for the 40 days of Lent in order to spend more time with God – and to do this secretly.   

                                                                                                                     

 Pastor Dave

 

Church of the Good Shepherd Evangelical Covenant
Vision Statement (2008)

To be an open community and caring family that moves outside the church building and actively ministers to all people, bringing the good news of God’s grace and love.

This is what is stirring among us, as the Holy Spirit helps us move outside of ourselves, seeing the people outside of our building as God sees them, people in need of His grace and love, and in need of the resources and abilities and love in action with which God has blessed us.