Luke 5:33-39
To Feast or Fast
Woodlawn Baptist Church
June 11, 2006
Introduction
Why do you attend church? What is all this about to you? What does Christ mean to you, and why do you keep coming back to Him? These are only a few of many such important questions I think we fail to ponder frequently enough, or long enough. But they are questions worthy of your time and effort. I do not suggest that they can be answered in a few moments. Anyone who can give quick and simple answers has in my opinion not wrestled with them the way they deserve – both to the detriment of the faith and to their own faith.
As Jesus walked the earth, many people walked with Him. We are aware of the disciples, but there were also always others. Some got it and some did not. Some grew to understand what Jesus offered, others did not. Some were changed, others were not, but still they walked on.
Jesus addressed the reason why some got it and others didn’t in today’s text. I want you to listen carefully because God wants us all to “get it,” to understand what Jesus offers and to be changed through what He wants us to understand.
The other day I was speaking with someone about the condition of one of our sister churches. Where it had once been a thriving, energetic body of believers who were spreading the gospel and ministering to families today it struggles to keep going. Once it was packed out; today it is pitifully empty. In the conversation I was asked this question: “So is that what lies in store for Woodlawn?” You should know that I have been asked that question several times in the last couple of years, only once by someone outside our church. It is a question that is asked because these people see something they fear others do not see or do not want to see.
What is my answer to the question? Is that what lies in store for Woodlawn? I’ll tell you in a moment. For now I want you to read with me Luke 5:33, where we find the scribes and Pharisees at odds with Jesus.
“And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?”
Their question, this conflict the Pharisees have sets up everything Jesus is about to say. But keep in mind that this episode began when Jesus healed the man with palsy and forgave his sins. He then called Levi and was the guest of honor at the feast that followed.
So put it all together. “Why do you eat with sinful people who are socially and morally unacceptable? And why is it that while everyone else is fasting and praying your disciples are feasting and not praying? Let’s read what Jesus says in verses 34-39.
“And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.”
The Old Problem
The Pharisees and scribes were at odds with Jesus because of two problems they had.
First, they were fasting when they should have been feasting. These were very pious men. Luke 18 tells us of at least one Pharisee who fasted twice each week, which may have been the normal practice. Twice each week the Pharisees would mark themselves and their dress with evidence of mourning and sorrow while they abstained from food. It isn’t hard to see why. They had once been among the mightiest and wealthiest nations on earth. Now they were under Roman rule, the fourth of four empires to rule over them in many years: Babylon, Medo-Persians, Greeks and now the Romans.
Had God forsaken them? After all, they hadn’t had a word from the Lord for 400 years. To put that in perspective, remember that our own nation gained its independence only 230 years ago. For 400 years God was silent, so the people fasted and prayed, pleading for His intercession.
But they had missed God’s intervention! Here He was in front of them, but they could not see it. They could not accept that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. They could not accept Him, so they missed His freedom, His joy, His blessings, His acceptance, so when they could have been celebrating His presence: feasting, they were mourning God’s absence by fasting.
So Jesus asked them, How can you make the children of the bridegroom fast when he’s in the room? Why should my disciples mourn when I am right here with them? Why should they pray when they can just talk to me? This is a time to feast! This is a time of celebration! But the Pharisees who were so religious trying to follow God were in fact far from Him because of their rejection of Christ.
Now only were they fasting when they should have been feasting, but their form of religion was incompatible with the relationship Christ offered. Jesus used two examples to point this out. If you take a new patch of clothing and try to sew it to an old garment, both pieces will be ruined in the process. The new patch will shrink and tear the old cloth. At the very least, the old cloth offers little to hold to. A year or so ago I asked mom to take some old kakis I had torn the knees out on and sew them back together. So she did. The first time I put them on they just ripped out again. The old cloth and new material were incompatible.
The second example Jesus used was that of putting new wine into old wine bottles. As the new wine would ferment it would expand. The old wineskins couldn’t handle the pressure, which would cause them then to burst.
I think too often people get caught up with whether Jesus was condemning the old because He was ushering in something new or if He was condemning the new because He was really preserving that which was ancient. I don’t think it matters – it’s not an issue of old or new. The real issue at stake here is that Jesus had an agenda and a way of doing things that was far different from the agenda of the Pharisees and their way of doing things.
The Pharisees had long forgotten why they were what they were. They had long forgotten to wrestle with God over the issues, so that when Jesus came on the scene offering a relationship, inviting them to follow Him, offering liberty for the captives, they only saw a quack who was messing up their religion.
The Same Old Problem
Now, think about this. Why were the Pharisees at odds with Jesus? Because they had no idea who He was or what He offered. Had they known who He was they could have joined in the celebration and they would have been on board with Him. But they were not, and the result was constant struggle.
I want to suggest to you this morning that we have resumed that struggle, and that we have resumed it because of two problems we have. The Pharisees’ first problem was that they were fasting when they should have been feasting. Jesus said to them,
“Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.”
They were fasting when they should have been feasting, but that is not our problem today. Now we’re feasting when we ought to be fasting. In the 24th chapter of Matthew, Jesus told His disciples some of the things that would occur before He returned: wars and famines and terrible diseases and natural disasters and more. But then He said this,
“…when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
The feasting and celebrating speak of times that are trouble free and happy. Eat, drink and be merry is the spirit of the age, but I fear that we as the Lord’s people have caught the spirit of the age. We are feasting and celebrating when we ought to be fasting and mourning over the spiritual condition of the age in which we live. Instead of laughing at the heretics on television we ought to be weeping at the lies being spread.
Sin is rampant! Hearts have grown cold. Love for God and the things of God are missing. Church has become optional. Evangelism is left to the “professionals” and ministry relegated to the paid staff. God have mercy on us! The Lord Jesus looked out over the cities of His day and wept because they wouldn’t repent. Where are the brokenness and weeping and sorrow today? Where is the agonizing over our lost friends and family members? Where is the agonizing over a people who have lost sight of the holiness and righteousness of God? I’ll tell you – we have replaced fasting with feasting.
Not only are we feasting when we ought to be fasting, but our form of religion is all too often incompatible with the relationships Christ offers. The Pharisees’ religion made them wonder why Jesus didn’t follow this rule or that rule. Why do you heal on the Sabbath? Why don’t you wash your hands? Why do you eat with sinners? Why do you break the traditions of the elders? Their religion was so structured, so rigid, they could never enjoy the freedom Christ offered. They could never experience the spontaneity and freshness that came with the relationships Christ offered.
What about us? Is our form of religion compatible with the relationship Jesus Christ offers? Have we become the people Paul wrote of in 2 Timothy 3? Do we have a form of godliness that is powerless and empty? Don’t answer that by your own experiences. Answer it according to the power and potential that we possess by the Spirit of the living God!
Here is what Jesus wants from us: authentic relationships with others that encourage and foster a life of discipleship to Jesus Christ. And He wants us to follow Him as well. The only way we can follow Him is to lay our agendas, our preconceptions, our personal ambitions and sinful pride aside. The only way to follow Jesus Christ is to “deny yourself and take up your cross daily.”
Conclusion
What is in store for Woodlawn Baptist Church? I wish I could say, but I’m not a prophet. I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I do know this much: some churches thrive and most churches are short lived. The success and future of this church depends on four things.
Number One: Our willingness to be honest and admit that we are not guaranteed anything. Just because we’ve enjoyed some success in the past and we’re enjoying the present doesn’t mean anything. We corporately need to acknowledge that it is only by the grace of God we are anything in this world. We need to acknowledge that we are not what God wants us to be and we are not what God knows we could be. We need to acknowledge that we will never be that kind of church until we are those kinds of people. So we must be honest with ourselves.
Number Two: Our willingness to wake up and redeem the time God has given us. Paul said to “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead…redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” We need to wake up and realize that we’ve been feasting when this is a time for fasting. We’ve been celebrating as though everything is great when we ought to be mourning because things are not great. I don’t mean that nothing is good. I don’t mean that we can’t celebrate our successes or that God doesn’t want us to be happy. But folk we’re living in a dream world! While the world is going to hell in a hand basket we’re living and behaving as though everything is okay when it is not.
Number Three: Our willingness to align our church with the principles of Scripture, even when it means giving up what is comfortable and safe to us. If our religion is incompatible with the relationship Christ offers, then our religion must go.
Number Four: Our willingness today to repent and let God’s work begin in us. Perhaps today you have been asleep spiritually. Have you been feasting when this is a time for fasting? Have your rules and traditions and schedules squeezed Christ right out of any hopes of leading you? Changing you? Transforming you? Is your heart broken over the condition of the lost? Does the Spirit within you mourn over the sin in your life?
The beatitudes take on a whole new meaning to me in light of this message.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit…blessed are they that mourn…blessed are the meek…blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness…blessed are the merciful…blessed are the pure in heart…blessed are the peacemakers…blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake…blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven.”
May God have mercy on us, and may He help us resolve the conflicts we have with Him today as we approach Him in this invitation. Give yourselves to Christ!
