Love Expressed in Fasting
Matthew 6:16-18
“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. 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.
1) Introduction:
i) My Stay in the hospital
(a) Fasting for testing
(b) Starving for over 24 hours
ii) Video Clip (FASTING)
Why would Jesus condemn fasters?
iii) History of Fasting
(1) Fasting on the Day of Atonement
(a) The fast lasts from dawn—when it is light enough to distinguish a white thread from a black thread—until sunset. Bathing, drinking, smoking, smelling perfumes, eating, every unnecessary indulgence is forbidden. Nurses and pregnant women are exempt. Soldiers and those on a journey are excused, but must at some other time fast for an equivalent number of days. If for health’s sake a man must have food, he must make good his breach of the law of fasting by giving alms to the poor.
(b) The Jewish days of fasting were Monday and Thursday.
(c) Sign of Repentance
(i) Ezekiel 18:30
30 “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel?
(d) Sit in ashes
(i) Job 42:6
Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
(e) Tear their clothes
(i) Job 1:20
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”
(f) Let their hair go messy
(g) Faster Stop bathing
(h) Fasters went barefoot
(i) Would not eat or drink
(j) Fasting was a deliberate attempt to draw the attention of God to the person who fasted.
(k) Fasting was a deliberate attempt to prove that repentance was real.
2) The Counterfeit Fast
i) Looking Somber.
ii) Disfiguring their faces.
iii) Sprinkle ashes on the head
iv) Not bath for days
3) The Real Deal
a) Oil on your hair.
b) The first oil treatment for hair
i) Perfumed oil on the hair
ii) Preparation for a party
(1) Psalm 23:5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil;
iii) At Fancy Dinners guest were anointed with oil
iv) Luke 5:45-47
45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
c) Bath
i)
4) We Forfeit Feasting for Fellowship with God.
a) Fasting provides Christ followers opportunities to truly seek God.
Psalm 42:1-2 (The Message)
“A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek; I want to drink God, deep draughts of God. I’m thirsty for God alive. I wonder, “Will I ever make it – arrive and drink in God’s presence?”
b) This is not a call to retreat from life, but a call to manifest the joy of fellowship with God as a witness to the world. As Tasker says, “The disciples must not hide themselves, but live and work in places where their influence can be felt.”.
c) 1 John 1:6-7
If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all a sin.
5) We forfeit satisfaction for self-denial.
a) Matthew 16:24-25
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life a will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
b) The Powerful Preacher/ Teachers Phillip Brooks said, “Men are captivated with the idea of self-denial, and then they invent ingenious ways to make self-denial comfortable and easy.”
6) We forfeit food for effectiveness.
a) Fasting, is like defragmenting a computer. It is a necessary process. Defragmenting the computer enhances performance. Fasting provides a similar effect to the spiritual life of a believer.
b) People called of God to go must prepare and present themselves. Preparations to send and support need to be set in order. The Holy Spirit, of necessity, will call the church to fasting and prayer, and call some to go forth in service to the nations.
7) Conclusion
a) Isaiah 58 Tells us what kind of fast God is looking for. God’s promises to those who fast the right way. We find these promises listed in Isaiah 58
1. Spiritual breakthrough – revelation-truth takes over darkness in our lives (v. 8a, 10b)
2. Wholeness and Strength (v. 8b,11b)
3. God-filled life!!! (v. 8c)
4. Answered Prayer (v. 9)
Isaiah 58:5-11
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness a will go
before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
b)
c) I heard recently a radio talk show host said the first word his son said was mommy and the second he hoped would be daddy but it was McDonalds. In a food filled world, fasting has lost it appeal. We would rather, have it our way at Burger King, than seek out Christ’s way through the discipline of fasting. But the promised of God await those who will fast the right way.
Amen.
