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Jan 28, 2018

Go S.L.O.W. to Fast

Matthew 6:16-18

Are there any foodies at Trinity this morning?

If you look up the word foodie on dictionary dot com, you’ll see it’s classified as slang and means someone keenly interested in food, especially in eating or cooking.[1]

          I suppose in one way we’re all foodies, right? When hungry enough we become interested in eating. But foodies, according to the definition, are something different. Foodies aren’t folks who just eat because we’re wired to get hungry and eat. Foodies enjoy the entire experience of eating. Maybe that’s why if you continue reading the entry on dictionary dot com you find that the origin of the word foodies comes from the word junkie.[2] I must admit that is probably true of me—I am a food junkie.

          I love the experience of food. I love it at home and I love it at restaurants. If you’re familiar with the Food Network show, Iron Chef America, I’ve had the pleasure of eating at two restaurants owned by iron chefs from the show. They were both outstanding, but I walked away from one of them and told Krista I didn’t know food could taste so good!

          Now that I’ve got you thinking about lunch before I’m finished with the introduction to this message, I’m going to pull you away from the table for awhile and issue a challenge.

          Last week, I challenged you to pray each day since last Sunday. I want to renew that challenge this morning and I want to add something to it. This week, I am asking you to fast one meal.

          We’re going to unpack this challenge by answering three questions:

#1 – What is fasting?

#2 – Why should I fast?

#3 – How do I fast?

          Though we typically turn to the Bible right after the introduction, today we’ll do so when we get to the third question.

What is fasting?

          Simply put, fasting is abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Some folks cannot abstain from food for medical reasons, so fasting can include any other regularly enjoyed activity.

Why should I fast?

          This question takes more time to answer. We need to look at the spiritual purposes of fasting and we need to look at the benefits of fasting.

Spiritual purposes of fasting

In Scripture, we can find at least nine purposes for fasting. These are descriptions of why people fasted, not commands to fast for these reasons. This is not an exhaustive list, there are other valid reasons to fast.

  1. Fasting to focus in prayer
  2. Fasting to seek God’s guidance
  3. Fasting to express grief
  4. Fasting for deliverance or protection
  5. Fasting to repent and return to God
  6. Fasting to humble yourself before God
  7. Fasting to minister to the needs of others
  8. Fasting to overcome temptation
  9. Fasting as an expression of love and worship to God

Again, this is not an exhaustive list, there are many valid reasons to fast. And, there are benefits to fasting. We are only concerned with spiritual benefits here.

Benefits of Fasting 

          To explore those benefits, which may be quite different than what you expect, I want to quote three different writers.

          The first writer is Thomas Wilson, Bishop of the Isle of Man from 1697 to 1755. He wrote those who deny themselves will be sure to find their strength increased, their affections raised, and their inward peace continually augmented.[3]

He identifies three benefits of fasting:

  1. Increased strength
  2. Increased love, care, and concern
  3. Inward peace

The second writer is Dallas Willard who was a professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California from 1965 until his death in 2013. His words are much deeper: Fasting teaches us a lot about ourselves very quickly. It will certainly prove humiliating to us, as it reveals how much our peace depends upon the pleasures of eating. It may also bring to mind how we are using food…to ease the discomforts caused in our bodies by faithless and unwise living and attitudes such as a lack of self-worth, meaningless work, purposeless existence, or a lack of rest or exercise. If nothing else, though, it will certainly demonstrate how powerful and clever our body is in getting its own way against our strongest resolves.[4]

He identifies these two benefits of fasting:

  1. A realization that we often depend on food for more than sustenance and nourishment. He used the phrase, “how much our peace depends on the pleasure of eating.”
  2. An understanding of how our bodies fight against our resolve.

          The third writer is Donald Whitney, Professor of Biblical Spirituality at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He writes, Christians in a gluttonous, denial-less, self-indulgent society may struggle to accept and begin the practice of fasting. Few Disciplines go so radically against the flesh and the mainstream of culture as this one. Nevertheless, we dare not overlook its biblical significance…. No Christian should ignore fasting’s benefits in the disciplined pursuit of a Christlike life.[5]

He identifies these two benefits of fasting:

  1. The self-denial of fasting helps guard us against the influence of a self-indulgent culture.
  2. Fasting helps us become more like Christ.

 Let me run down those benefits again:

  1. Increased strength
  2. Increased love, care, and concern
  3. Inward peace
  4. A realization that we often depend on food for more than sustenance and nourishment.
  5. An understanding of how our bodies fight against our resolve.
  6. An understanding that self-denial helps guard us against the influence of a self-indulgent culture.
  7. Fasting helps us become more like Christ.

          No doubt there are many other benefits we might list, but we’ll leave it there for now.

          I think there is an important point to make about the nature of fasting—or praying or giving, or all spiritual disciplines. God’s ways are not our ways. His ways are typically counter-intuitive and fly in the face of accepted conventional wisdom. This should not surprise us!

Listen to Paul’s words from his first letter to the Corinthian church: So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish….  God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God (1 Corinthians 1:20, 27-29, NLT).

          How else do you explain not eating to gain strength? How else do you explain going hungry to experience more peace and grow in love? How else do you explain that inducing hunger helps to learn we don’t live on food alone but also God’s word?

          I’ll tell you how to explain it—God’s ways are not our ways!

          This brings us to our final question…

How do I fast?

          Let’s start answering this question by turning to the next portion of the Sermon on the Mount. It’s Matthew 6:16-18. 

Matthew 6:16–18 (NIV84

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

We’re getting used to Jesus using the word hypocrite to describe people who practice spiritual activities only to stroke their own egos by garnering attention from other people. Jesus said folks who do such things already have all the reward they're going to get. By winning people’s praise, they forfeit God’s blessing.[6]

Jesus told his followers not to give away the fact that they were fasting either by their demeanor or by their physical appearance. They were to trust that God saw what they were doing and would reward them accordingly.

What reward might Jesus be talking about? Let’s go back to the list of reasons someone might fast. Those who fast to focus in prayer will be able to more fully focus in prayer. Those who fast to seek God’s guidance will be rewarded with direction. Those who fast to express grief will be comforted. Those who fast for deliverance or protection will receive it. Those who fast to repent and return to God will find his welcome and assurance. Do you see what I mean? When there is a legitimate spiritual reason for fasting, God will respond.

Be careful, this doesn’t mean fasting is like rubbing the genie’s bottle. It doesn’t mean we’ll get whatever we want no matter what it is. It means God will respond in the proper way and at the proper time so that his name is glorified.

Those who played the role of “dedicated fast-ers” in Jesus’ day weren’t concerned about God getting the glory because they wanted the attention for themselves. Jesus said his followers aren’t supposed to be like that, they are to be different.

We don’t fast to get people’s attention. We fast to demonstrate to God that he has our attention. Let me say that again. We don’t fast to get people’s attention. We fast to demonstrate to God that he has our attention.

Let me give some basic suggestions that will help you accept the challenge to fast this week. You can remember these suggestions by thinking about this phrase” Go S.L.O.W. to fast.  Say it with me. Go S.L.O.W. to fast.

SLOW is an acronym for (1) Set a time (2) Lose the excuses (3) Outline a plan (4) Welcome the inconvenience.

Set a time.

  • If you don’t schedule your fast, it’s not going to happen.
  • I’d like you to pick one meal to fast this week. (Note: If you never eat breakfast, don’t pick breakfast. The same also goes for other meal times.)
  • This afternoon, choose the meal you’ll fast this week.

Lose the excuses.

  • When you decide to fast or practice most spiritual disciplines, a host of reasons will come to mind why you can’t or shouldn’t.
  • Step up, exercise self-control (it is a fruit of the Spirit) and lose the excuses.

Outline a plan.

  • Will you walk and pray?
  • Will you drive and pray?
  • Where will you go so that you’re not around food and tempted to eat?
  • When do you normally eat before that meal? Don’t plan to gorge yourself ahead of time so you can make it through the meal you’re skipping. Pray for strength but expect to feel hungry until your next meal.
  • When do you normally eat after that meal? Don’t plan to “make up” for what you missed as soon as that mealtime is over. Pray for strength but expect to feel hungry until your next meal time.
  • Listen to these words from Donald Whitney about feeling hungry: Although the physical discomfort is unpleasant—perhaps even painful—it is important to feel some degree of hunger during your fast. Your hunger helps you, serving as a continual reminder of your spiritual purpose.[7]

Welcome the inconvenience.

  • When you decide to fast, you will likely feel hungrier at that time than you usually do. Expect it. Plan for it.
  • Spiritual disciplines are a form of spiritual warfare and when you decide to step onto the battlefield your weak, sinful human nature, as well as the enemy of your soul, will spring into action to distract you and keep you on the sidelines.
  • Let your weakness remind you of these words from the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian church: When I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:10, NLT).

          Listen, you can do this! I have faith in you…and I know that there is a benefit in denying ourselves …but you’ll never know that for yourself until you accept the challenge.

          Two times in this passage about fasting Jesus said, “when you fast.” He didn’t say, “if you fast.” He assumed fasting would be par for the course for his followers. It’s time to get on board.

Let me pray for you before you leave.

  • On your way out, look at someone around you and say, “We can do this?”
  • Pick up a reminder card on your way out.

[1] Foodie. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/foodie (accessed: January 23, 2018).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Quoted in Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (New York: HarperCollins, 1988), p. 159.

[4] Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (New York: HarperCollins, 1988), p. 166.

[5] Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 192). NavPress. Kindle Edition.

[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 27). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[7] Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 200). NavPress. Kindle Edition.

Series Information

Over the course of three chapters in Matthew (5-7), we read some of Jesus' most challenging teaching. This series will exam this "Sermon on the Mount" section by section to see what we can learn.