Prelude
Does lent serve any purpose for a Protestant?
Purpose
Let’s look at several reasons for a Christian to fast and pray.
Plan
We’ll look at the topic of fasting in Joel 2, Psalm 51, 2 Corinthians 5-6 and Matthew 6.
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand:
In ancient times trumpets were blown as a warning that war was coming. This time the warning is of God’s judgment coming. For them it meant a day when God would punish a rebellious nation. For us it pictures the final judgment day.
Joel 2:2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations.
For them this signifies the approaching Chaldaean army. For us this pictures the final battle when Jesus returns.
Joel 2:12 “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
“Turn to me” is the positive side of repentance. A genuine change of heart is pictured here in fasting and genuine grief.
Joel 2:13 So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
Outward expressions such as ashes at Lent and the ancient custom of tearing the clothing are okay, but the most important thing is a positive change of heart. God’s great desire is to be kind to us, but like any loving parent, He will not do so in a manner that encourages continued harm to ourselves and others.
Joel 2:14 Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him—A grain offering and a drink offering For the Lord your God?
Of the five major classifications of offering (Deuteronomy 1-5), these were a communal meal shared by God and man, also pictured in Christian communion.
Joel 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly;
Another purpose of trumpets was to announce a holy day. Atonement was such a fast day, but this seems to be a special fast day, including a sacred assembly. The word “church” comes from a Greek community assembly, a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into a public place. For Christians it means that we are called out from the world to a heavenly assembly.
Joel 2:16 Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room.
This is an urgent assembly. Even weddings must be put on hold.
Joel 2:17 Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”
Today’s church is in the same position as ancient Israel. We have sinned against God and should likewise weep and repent.
Psalm 51:1-17
Psalm 51:1-2 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.
David mentions three aspects of sin: transgression, iniquity and sin itself or rebellion, guilt and wrong.
Psalm 51:3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.
To acknowledge our wrongs takes a big man. Notice how many in business and politics are just small men, claiming as some have, that they have nothing to repent of.
Psalm 51:4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight—That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.
There seem to be three steps involved: 1) change of heart, the meaning of repentance in Greek, 2) confession to God, and 3) proof/fruits of repentance, a changed life, sanctification, becoming holy.
Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
We are all born into a sinful environment. Whether or not we are born with a sin nature is a disputed topic.
Psalm 51:6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
God desires a change of heart more than a mere outward show like ashes and torn clothing.
Psalm 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Hyssop was an ancient plant used as an ingredient in antibacterial soaps.
Psalm 51:8 Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
The crushing weight of sin feels like it will break our bones and pictures the brokenness of spirit that is the only cure.
Psalm 51:9 Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities.
May God look away from our sins and forget that they ever existed.
Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
As in the beginning God created all things from nothing, David prays for a new heart using the same word, meaning created out of nothing.
Psalm 51:11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Living in God’s presence is our happy eternity. To be cast away is a description of hell.
Psalm 51:12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Salvation is true joy.
Psalm 51:13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.
A purpose of being saved is to save others.
Psalm 51:14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
David had been the cause of Uriah’s death and who knows how many others. But, how many die around the world today because of our use of poisonous chemicals, careless attitude towards goods manufactured by slaves in other nations, cancers caused by bad agricultural practices or other selfish indifference?
Psalm 51:15 O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
His mouth is shut with shame. His prayer is that of every faithful preacher or teacher, that God’s Word would fill his mouth and not his own.
Psalm 51:16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.
Offerings are not wrong, but they are not what really counts.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise.
A broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart are the exact opposite of what is commonplace in political, celebrity and industry bragging. At their root, the world’s problems are mostly spiritual in nature, and the solutions are spiritual, of the heart.
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
2 Corinthians 5:20b … we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
Even a Christian can go astray and needs to seek reconciliation with God.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
How do we become this righteousness? Not on our own, but in Him.
2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
Can we receive the grace of God in vain? Does this go against the idea of once saved always saved? Why begin in the Spirit and end in the flesh?
2 Corinthians 6:2 For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Now is entirely acceptable as the opportunity may never come again. This very day is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:3 We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed.
Giving “no offense” here means not cause or temptation for others to sin.
2 Corinthians 6:4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, 5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; 6 by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, 7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
True ministry is not an ego trip or a way to get rich, but a life of suffering. It requires a continual running to the comfort of God’s loving embrace.
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Matthew 6:1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Giving, prayer and fasting are to be done in secret, especially if we have a motive to show off. Jesus gave thanks in public when feeding the 5,000 and the 4,000. He even prayed from the cross for God the Father to forgive them. Yet, Jesus’ prayers even in public were not to show off or be seen by men but that the hearer might believe.
Matthew 6:16-18 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, 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 others 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.
One reason that fasting is such a secret in the Christian community is that we are encouraged to keep it a secret when we fast.
Postlude
You may wish to also look at Isaiah 58 for personal study at home. Fasting and prayer have been the habit of the faithful since the beginning. The purpose of this has always been to turn further from the ways of this world, and with a sincere heart turn to God.
