Our Worldly Obsession on food..
We live in a world where food drives a lot of what we do for both good and bad.
I. What is Fasting
We all come in with some preconceived notions of fasting but what is Biblical fasting. What is the practice that Jesus here is instructing the people:
First: fasting can be seen as Communal: it is first commanded in Leviticus 16:29 ““And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.”
-Afflict yourself is also translated fast
-This is surrounding the day of atonement a day of communal repentance for the nation for the sin of the whole year.
Also seen as a part of corporate worship after the Jews return from Babylon:
Zechariah 8:19 ““Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore, love truth and peace.”
In the Case of Esther, we see a communal pleading for the Lord to bring salvation and deliverance:
Esther 4:15–16 “Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.””
The church would fast together:
Acts 13:2–3 “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”
Acts 14:23 “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”
Second: Fasting can be seen as connected to personal
Fasting in the case shows David in both a spirit of humility, sorrow and petition with God
Overview David story of repentance and crying out for the mercy of God
Specific Verse: 2 Samuel 12:16 “David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.”
2 Samuel 12:23 “But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.””
Anna the prophetess is held as a paragon of spiritual life
Luke 2:36–37 “And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.”
So, in scripture we do have both a communal and personal use of fasting displayed as a form of worship
It became a common practice for people to individually fast when seeking the Lord for a specific need or as a periodic reminder of their need for the Lord. It became a mark of humility and faith in the early church, but as we can tell by Jesus commands her for us it is meant to be done in a right manner and for the right reasons.
And Jesus in the wilderness
Matthew 4:2 “And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”
So, first Jesus tackles Hypocritical fasting:
II. Hypocritical Fasting (16)
Matthew 6:16 ““And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
The Fasting critique that the Lord gives to his listeners hear is very similar to God’s rebuke of the people’s fasting in Isaiah 58:1-5
Isaiah 58:1–5 ESV
“Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?
In both cases the focus we see that God condemns in regard to Fasting is one that only seeks to make much of oneself while clearly negating the actual meaning of the fast:
Between both of these texts we can see three things that are clear marks of hypocritical fasting:
- Self Indulgent & Self Serving
-While the hypocrite make’s themselves look gloomy and weary, in its very nature it cares the opposite approach.
It is self-indulging in that it goes out of the way to make much of themselves.
-Highlight is on them and wanting people to look at them
-So rather than truly “Afflicting” themselves they are indulging their sinful appetites for others praise
Again the practical mirror was seen in Isiah the people become angry that God doesn’t honor their fasting while the whole time their fasting is purely performative it has not effect on their hearts or actions, The want the blessings of God for going through the motions as if he is a god manipulated by human performance..
Illustration: Think of a time when you I did all the “right things” even if you had no heart in the matter and expected to be owed a reward.
Think of David when his fasting ended, he did not get what he prayed for, but he was not angry with God.
He knew his sin, and knew God was merciful, but also knew God was not beholden to him and his acts of worship and prayer
- Temporal
-The aim of these fast is for one’s own immediate needs without care for Gods bigger picture or what is best for us.
-Hypocritical fasting seeks only what is right in front of us and only for our own reward here and now,
-The hypocrites are given the reward of earth while missing the reward of heaven, but don’t seem to see that they missed out on the greater and eternal reward:
Ill: We live in a right now, temporal age.
-We don’t seek the long term: Everyday people are seeking how to get the most for themselves and only themselves
-They live for the moment and unfortunately the closes thing to heaven they will experience is the joys they have here on earth
-We collect the temporal while ignoring the eternal
-Not only do we not think long-term we often don’t think about much more than this passing moment, but we also desire immediate satisfaction and reward.
For the Hypocrite their fasting and acts of worship are purely external, ultimately self-severing, and of no eternal value.
There is a great warning in this for how we worship and devote ourselves to God.
-What is the motivation behind the actions you take in regard to your spiritual life:
-Do you fast because you are supposed to (Insert sing, give, pray, read, etc.…. or are you seeking to worship God in those actions)
-Do you look at what others do and make judgment calls on their spiritual health or life based on comparing them to yourself?
-Do you set your heart and mind in the things of God ultimately on yourself and your desires and goals or making much of Him in humility
Jesus challenges the hypocrisy that had taken place in the regards to fasting and encourages the people to see the heart that is at the center of fasting not the external representations:
III. Righteous Fasting (17-18)
Matthew 6:17–18 ESV
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Again, Isaiah has a counter to the false fasting with the correct spirit:
Isaiah 58:6–9 ESV
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
Both our text focus on the fact that it is not the external act of fasting that the Lord is seeking, but the heart behind those actions.
-Isaiah challenges the people to live out the faith they claim while fasting, and here Jesus challenges them to fast in such a way that God is your only audience
- Humble
-There is a sense from the text that when it comes to fasting in a manner of personal worship it should be just that humble and personal.
-It here is an action taken between you and God and not meant for public consumption.
-We come to a holy God not to make much of ourselves but to make much of Him and
- God Honoring
-Here rather than a base oneself for others there is a sense that the fasting done here should be a seen as joyful as reflected in the manner of anointing one’s head and making oneself look revived rather than down caste.
-The only one we here are seeking to make much of is God
-So how we present ourselves matters, it just doesn’t matter to those around us. If God is the center of our worship, then even in deprivation there is joy, for we are pleading to the one who brings eternal life and hope in all things.
- Eternally Focused
And so, our fasting is not for some temporal reward or momentary aim, but that God would be honored and glorified in us and through us as we trust in him,
Fasting as any spiritual discipline must have the glory of God as our aim and not our own momentary desires.
There is a reason the Lord’s prayer seems to break up our passage and I believe it is because from this prayer we see the heart of Fasting. In fasting we seek the reality of that prayer:
Matthew 6:9–13 ESV
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
This isn’t just the model for the words we pray but the heart of our fasting it seeks the eternal and as we fast our aim is for these things to come alive in us all the more
So, as we think about this reality would your take up fasting, whether it be from food or from some other endeavor that has the same value and drive in your life.
Are there some good things in your life that you can put aside for a moment a day and series of days and focus that extra time on the lord
-reading, playing video games, a hobby, the phone (when not necessary), media, etc.….
-Can you put these things aside and make much of God in those moments
Jesus on Fasting
Andrew / General Adult
Intro:
Our Worldly Obsession on food.
Matthew 6:16–18 ESV
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
I. What is Fasting
We all come in with some preconceived notions of fasting but what is Biblical fasting. What is the practice that Jesus here is instructing the people:
First: fasting can be seen as Communal: it is first commanded in Leviticus 16:29 ““And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.”
-Afflict yourself is also translated fast
-This is surrounding the day of atonement a day of communal repentance for the nation for the sin of the whole year.
Also seen as a part of corporate worship after the Jews return from Babylon:
Zechariah 8:19 ““Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore, love truth and peace.”
In the Case of Esther, we see a communal pleading for the Lord to bring salvation and deliverance:
Esther 4:15–16 “Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.””
The church would fast together:
Acts 13:2–3 “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”
Acts 14:23 “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”
Second: Fasting can be seen as connected to personal
Fasting in the case shows David in both a spirit of humility, sorrow and petition with God
Overview David story of repentance and crying out for the mercy of God
Specific Verse: 2 Samuel 12:16 “David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.”
2 Samuel 12:23 “But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.””
Anna the prophetess is held as a paragon of spiritual life
Luke 2:36–37 “And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.”
So, in scripture we do have both a communal and personal use of fasting displayed as a form of worship
It became a common practice for people to individually fast when seeking the Lord for a specific need or as a periodic reminder of their need for the Lord. It became a mark of humility and faith in the early church, but as we can tell by Jesus commands her for us it is meant to be done in a right manner and for the right reasons.
And Jesus in the wilderness
Matthew 4:2 “And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”
So, first Jesus tackles Hypocritical fasting:
II. Hypocritical Fasting (16)
Matthew 6:16 ““And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
The Fasting critique that the Lord gives to his listeners hear is very similar to God’s rebuke of the people’s fasting in Isaiah 58:1-5
Isaiah 58:1–5 ESV
“Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?
In both cases the focus we see that God condemns in regard to Fasting is one that only seeks to make much of one’s self while clearly negating the actual meaning of the fast:
Between both of these text we can see three things that are clear marks of hypocritical fasting:
- Self Indulgent & Self Serving
-While the hypocrite make’s themselves look gloomy and weary, in its very nature it cares the opposite approach.
It is self indulging in that it goes out of the way to make much of themselves.
-Highlight is on them and wanting people to look at them
-So rather thank truly “Afflicting” themselves they are indulging their sinful appetites for others praise
Again the practical mirror was seen in Isiah the people become angry that God doesn’t honor their fasting while the whole time their fasting is purely performative it has not effect on their hearts or actions, The want the blessings of God for going through the motions as if he is a god manipulated by human performance..
Illustration: Think of a time when you I did all the “right things” even if you had no heart in the matter and expected to be owed a reward.
Think of David when his fasting ended he did not get what he prayed for, but he was not angry with God.
He knew his sin, and knew God was merciful, but also knew God was not beholden to him and his acts of worship and prayer
- Temporal
-The aim of these fast is for ones own immediate needs without care for Gods bigger picture or what is best for us.
-Hypocritical fasting seeks only what is right in front of us and only for our won reward here and now,
-The hypocrites are given the reward of earth while missing the reward of heaven, but don’t seem to see that they missed out on the greater and eternal reward:
Ill: We live in a right now, temporal age.
-We don’t seek the long term: Everyday people are seeking how to get the most for themselves and only themselves
-They live for the moment and unfortunately the closes thing to heaven they will experience is the joys they have here on earth
-We collect the temporal while ignoring the eternal
-Not only do we not think long-term we often don’t think about much more than this passing moment, we desire immediate satisfaction and reward.
For the Hypocrite their fasting and acts of worship are purely external, ultimately self severing, and of no eternal value.
There is a great warning in this for how we worship and devote ourselves to God.
-What is the motivation behind the actions you take in regards to your spiritual life:
-Do you fast because you are suppose to (Insert sing, give, pray, read, etc.…. or are you seeking to worship god in those actions)
-Do you look at what others do and make judgment calls on their spiritual health or life based on comparing them to yourself?
-Do you set your heart and mind in the things of God ultimately on yourself and your desires and goals or making much of Him in humility
Jesus challenges the hypocrisy that had taken place in the regards to fasting and encourages the people to see the heart that is at the center of fasting not the external representations:
III. Righteous Fasting (17-18)
Matthew 6:17–18 ESV
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Again Isaiah has a counter to the false fasting with the correct spirit:
Isaiah 58:6–9 ESV
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
Both our text focus on the fact that it is not the external act of fasting that the Lord is seeking , but the heart behind those actions.
-Isaiah challenges the people to live out the faith they claim while fasting, and here Jesus challenges them to fast in such a way that God is your only audience
- Humble
-There is a sense from the text that when it comes to fasting in a manner of personal worship it should be just that humble and personal.
-It here is an action taken between you and god and not meant for public consumption.
-We come to a holy God not to make much of ourselves but to make much of Him and
- God Honoring
-Here rather than abase oneself for others there is a sense that the fasting done here should be a seen as joyful as reflected in the manner of anointing ones head and making oneself look revived rather than down caste.
-The only one we here are seeking to make much of is God
-So how we present ourselves matters, it just doesn’t matter to those around us. If God is the center of our worship then even in deprivation their is joy, for we are pleading to the one who brings eternal life and hope in all things.
- Eternally Focused
And so our fasting is not for some temporal reward or momentary aim, but that God would be honored and glorified in us and through us as we trust in him,
Fasting as any spiritual discipline must have the glory of God as our aim and not our own momentary desires.
There is a reason the Lord’s prayer seems to break up our passage and I believe it is because from this prayer we see the heart of Fasting. In fasting we seek the reality of that prayer:
Matthew 6:9–13 ESV
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
This isn’t just the model for the words we pray but the heart of our fasting it seeks the eternal and as we fast our aim is for these things to come alive in us all the more
So as we think about this reality would your take up fasting, whether it be from food or from some other endeavor that has the same value and drive in your life.
Are there some good things in your life that you can put aside for a moment a day and series of days and focus that extra time on the lord
-reading, playing video games, a hobby, the phone (when not necessary), media, etc.….
-Can you put these things aside and make much of God in those moments
