Not So Fast--Sermon on the Mount Series

            Today, on this Sunday after Thanksgiving, we’re going to talk about something that we all might feel like doing right about now—fasting. Our study of the Sermon on the Mount has brought us to Jesus’ words about fasting at a rather ironic time since this is also a First Sunday, and we normally eat pretty well on these days, but I’ll give the Lord credit for this timing, and we’ll just “dig in” to this subject of fasting.

            I think its pretty interesting to look at the variety of opinions among Christians today on the subject of fasting. We can see a very diverse range of opinions on this subject. On the one hand, some Christians promote fasting as a virtual “cure-all” for the spiritual life. At christianbook.com, you’ll find books with titles like, “Fasting: Opening the Door to a Deeper, More Intimate, More Powerful Relationship with God,” and “The Power of Prayer and Fasting: God’s Gateway to Spiritual Breakthroughs.” Its also very interesting that you can’t “pigeonhole” this enthusiasm for fasting to any particular denomination or theological background.

            On the other side of the spectrum, there are Christians who only think about fasting on the day before a colonoscopy. Whether this is intentional or not, they just never really talk about fasting and don’t assign any particular value to it.

            So what should we think about fasting? Today, we’re going to begin with this passage from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:16-18, and then we’ll branch out to a more general discussion of fasting—because as we’ll see, the Lord’s warning about fasting here is the same warning that He has already given us about giving to the needy and prayer. Let’s read His words here in Matthew 6:16-18 [READ 6:16-18].

The Warning: Don’t use fasting as a tool to seek praise from others.

            As with giving and praying, Jesus warns his audience not to follow the example of those whom He calls “the hypocrites”—in other words, the actors or pretenders. We know from the context of this sermon that Jesus is talking about the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the Jewish people at that time. As part of their system of worship, the Pharisees fasted twice a week—on Mondays and Thursdays. That was not commanded by God, but apparently the Pharisees did it as a show of their great piety—and apparently they put on quite a show! Jesus said that they would disfigure their faces so that it would be obvious to everyone that they were fasting.

            And again, as with giving and praying, Jesus stated that any praise they received from others would be all the reward that they would receive. He then encouraged His audience to choose a different route when they fasted.

The Solution: Do your fasting privately.

            Jesus told the people that when they fasted, they should take all the normal steps of personal hygiene for that day so as to conceal the fact that they were fasting. Such actions would reveal that they weren’t trying to impress other people—they truly were fasting as an act of devotion to God. And for their sincere act of worship, God would reward them. And so we have another illustration of the Lord’s words in Matthew 6:1—“Beware of practicing your righteousness before others people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”

            Jesus mentioned fasting here—along with giving and praying—because it was a common part of Jewish religion at that time. It is not so common among Christians today, and that should cause us to ask some questions. Are we neglecting something that God wants us to do? Does Jesus expect His disciples to fast—perhaps even command us to in some way, shape, or form? I’d like to spend the rest of our time talking about these questions and discussing some potential dangers and potential benefits of fasting.

Does the Bible ever command us to fast?

            In the Old Testament law, God commanded the people of Israel to fast once a year on the day known as the Day of Atonement. That day was a very solemn and somber holiday on the Jewish calendar, a day in which special animal sacrifices were offered for the sins of the nation. The Lord told them in Leviticus 16:29 to “afflict themselves” on that day, and they—apparently correctly—interpreted that statement as a command to fast.

            And so they did, but that was the only commanded fast that the people had to observe. Over time, however, it became common for the people to fast more often—in fact, some of the prophets called the people to fast as a sign of repentance for certain sins. Fasting also became a common way to grieve the death of a loved one or to prepare for a particularly difficult or important task.

            Slowly, then, fasting became a part of Jewish worship, so much so that the Pharisees (as I mentioned earlier) fasted twice a week during the time of Christ. But in the New Testament, we do not find any commands to fast. Since we are no longer required to follow the Old Testament legal code, we don’t have to observe the annual fast that was mentioned there. In fact, fasting isn’t even mentioned in the New Testament after the Book of Acts. That would certainly explain why fasting is not a universal practice among Christians today.

So the Bible doesn’t contain a command for Christians to fast today. However, we should wrestle with the question…

Does Jesus simply assume that we will fast, so that we are violating His will for us if we don’t?

            As many Bible teachers have pointed out, Jesus does say “when you fast” in vv. 16-17 rather than “if you fast.” He used the same words earlier when He talked about giving and praying, so it seems that Jesus does assume that those who heard Him on that day would do all three of these activities—giving, praying, and fasting.

            But we are not the people who heard Jesus on that day, so we still have to sort this out a little bit. The people in Jesus’ audience that day already had regular habits of fasting as part of their culture, so it makes sense that He would speak to them with the assumption that they would continue to fast. But does Jesus still have that expectation of us today?

            I don’t think God has any expectation or requirement for us to fast today. We know that He wants us to continue giving to the needy and praying, but we know that because we have clear commands throughout the New Testament that tell us to keep doing that. We just don’t have a clear command or a clear expectation that Christians today should continue to fast.

However, that certainly does not mean that we cannot choose to fast as a spiritual exercise, and there could be some very real benefits to doing so.

What are some possible benefits of fasting?

            As we consider this question, I’m going to expand the concept of fasting just a bit beyond the thought of merely going without food. I think other forms of self-denial can work in much the same way as going without food, and thus can have very similar benefits.

1. It may foster humility

            Humility is the character trait that is most closely associated with fasting in the Bible. When we choose to fast out of proper motivations, it is a way to express humility before God and foster greater humility in our lives. It becomes a very tangible reminder of what Jesus said in Matthew 4:4—“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

            But how can an act like denying yourself food build a spiritual trait like humility? Its because of the connection between body and soul. We all know that spiritual issues can take a toll on our physical health. If a person deals with extreme guilt, stress, or anxiety for instance, those spiritual issues can create physical problems like ulcers or high blood pressure.

            That same connection between body and soul can work the other way as well. What we do with and to our bodies can shape our soul. Just think about all the things we do at times to our environment to change our frame of mind. Perhaps we put on some quiet music when we want to relax—or we put on some loud, upbeat music when we’re getting ready for a game. Maybe we turn on some mood lighting or light a particular candle to have a certain fragrance in the house. Perhaps we dress up for a special occasion. All of these actions can put us in a certain frame of mind and express or reinforce certain attitudes.

            Likewise, when we choose to go without something like food, we’re quickly reminded of our physical weakness. We remember again how frail we truly are, which drives us back to God as the source of our strength in all things—even our physical energy for the day at hand.

2. It may build self-discipline

            Choosing to say “no” for a time to a physical craving like eating can help you learn the self-control that you need to properly handle all of your physical urges. For example, sometimes our emotions may feel uncontrollable. We can get into such a rage from anger that we feel like we just have to scream or throw something. But self-discipline in one area tends to spread into other areas. Fasting can then become like something of a practice session for dealing with all of your physical urges and keeping them under control.

            Self-control is certainly a virtue in God’s eyes. In 1 Corinthians 9, the Apostle Paul wrote about the way that he sought to control himself so as not to cause offense to anyone else or to fall into sin against God [READ 1 Cor. 9:24-27]. It is quite possible that Paul’s efforts to maintain self-control included fasting; he was formerly a Pharisee after all, so fasting certainly had been a common part of life for him, and he may have continued that habit to some degree after he became a Christian. So for this benefit, fasting could be a worthwhile practice for us to consider as well.

3. It may help us avoid or battle addictions

            As we go over and over through the daily routine, its not always obvious to us when we’ve actually become addicted to something—whether it’s a certain food, a medication, a hobby, or some form of entertainment. So if we take a step such as fasting from these things to intentionally change up our routine, it can alert us to something that has actually become an unhealthy addiction.

            We’ve probably all had the experience of discovering an addiction after something that we didn’t anticipate threw our schedule out of whack. Perhaps something prevents us from having a favorite food or drink or we’re kept from pursuing our hobby for a while and we start to feel that irrational attraction to that object or activity. When that happens, we find ourselves thinking, “Wow! I didn’t realize how bad this was,” and then we choose to make some positive changes.

            Well, why don’t we just choose to mix things up from time to time? Why not intentionally fast from certain foods, or fast from the TV or the Internet or all kinds of other things? Such changes may alert us to a problem we didn’t know we had.

And following closely with this benefit is another benefit…

4. It may help us re-gain perspective in our lives

            Denying ourselves various things can help us truly sort out needs from wants. We’ve probably all had that experience where circumstances have deprived us of something, and we’ve come to think, “You know, that wasn’t so bad! I thought it would be terrible to go without that certain thing, but it turns out that I really don’t miss it.”

            Unexpected events can teach us those kinds of lessons, but once again, why do we have to wait for unexpected events? We can choose to go without all kinds of things almost any time we want, so why not do that every so often and see what you discover?

So there are some definite benefits that we might gain from the practice of fasting. We should also be aware, however, of some potential dangers that we must avoid.

What are some possible dangers of fasting?

1. The physical danger of going without food

            Before you might choose to fast, you should have a good understanding of your own health to ensure that you’re not making a decision that could actually be dangerous for you. Certain health conditions can be aggravated if you don’t eat regularly, and that could lead to complications, so you want to make sure that fasting would be okay for you.

2. Using the practice as a tool to manipulate God

            It is so easy for us to fall into that pagan mindset of thinking that certain rituals we perform or certain words we say will influence God to answer our prayers, and we can slip into that mindset when we think about fasting. Fasting feels like a rather extreme step to us, so we might think that by fasting, we’ll show God how serious we are about something and He’ll be more inclined to answer our prayers. When we think along those lines, we’ve simply turned fasting into a tool to manipulate God, which is improper.

            But as we learned today from Matthew 6:16-18, we can fast with proper motives, and that kind of fasting will be rewarded by God. I think we embrace the proper motives when we fast in order to devote ourselves to God, not to manipulate Him. If we are fasting to devote extra time to prayer or to cultivate humility and self-control or a renewed perspective, I believe those are desires that God will honor and which will thus receive His reward.