Matthew 6:16-18 – Feeding on Christ: Fasting (Part 2)

The series

We are continuing in our series in Tree Spirituality, where today we will take a practical look at fasting using Matthew 6:16-18.

Introduction

We all understand delayed gratification. We know that a college education can pay big dividends or an apprenticeship in the trades can lead to a good job. Sometimes we do hard things to receive rewards that are unseen even if they are a struggle. Think about it…if you weren’t starving, would you wait an extra 20 minutes to get a perfectly grilled steak?

Fasting is a little like this. Jesus promises that if we fast for God alone, we will be rewarded by him. So, why don’t we fast?

Background

The passage we are looking at today is found in the Sermon on the Mount. This section of Scripture is not an instruction manual for how to win favor with God, by doing certain things, but rather, it describes God’s requirement of inward and moral righteousness, i.e. heart righteousness, rather than outward and ceremonial righteousness, i.e. external righteousness. It reveals God’s holiness and his perfect requirements. It is here where Jesus said we must be “perfect”.

Those who understand God’s holiness and their own failure know that they need his mercy because they aren’t perfect. Essentially, the Sermon on the Mount is for those who are “poor in spirit”. It is for those who know that they are sinners and do not have what it takes to carry out God’s requirements.

In short, the Sermon on the Mount is a call for us to run to Christ and feed upon him. It is a call to repent of our self-righteousness and rely upon Christ for not only our forgiveness but our righteousness too.

Exposition

In Jesus’ day, many would advertise their fasting by not combing their hair and/or beard and by smearing ashes on their face. This was simply playacting, putting on a mask to be seen by others.

Jesus’ point is that true fasting is between you and God. It isn't something you show off. It is living before God, not the world.

 Jesus’ challenge to this corrupted practice is not that his disciples shouldn’t fast, but rather that their fasting should be completely different than the current practice. It should be about God, not them.

Jesus uses the word, “whenever” which is really saying, “…every time you fast…” In other words, Jesus expects that we will fast.

So, what is fasting? It is abstaining from food and/or drink for a multitude of reasons for the purpose of drawing closer to God or honoring him. It is to be done for God’s glory, not for our selfishness.

The first thing we see in our text is a worthless fast

Jesus says that any fasting where people intentionally make themselves look gloomy or sullen won’t be recognized by God. People aren’t supposed to dress up and act like they are in a funeral so people notice them when they fast. They shouldn’t look one way every other day, kept, but when they fast, change their appearance and distort their faces so they can be recognized by others as pious and honoring God.

In other words, when we fast, we shouldn’t try to look pale and disheveled, so people ask us what is wrong, and then tell them we are fasting. This would get us honor from people, but not from God.

A worthless fast is recognized by others

There were various types of fasts that were practiced by believers. Jesus could have been thinking about the fast of humiliation to express sorrow for one’s sins from the tradition of the Day of Atonement, or one of the other types of fasts.

Regardless, of the type of fast, these people would apparently put ashes on their faces so everyone could see how pious they were. They tried to be unrecognizable so that they could be recognized by others. They were trying to act upon others, trying to get others to see and acknowledge them for what they were doing. They wanted everyone who came along their path to see and recognize them for their piety.

A worthless fast is rewarded by the wrong person

Jesus says, with finality, that by being recognized by others, they are receiving the payment in full of what they want: they are being recognized or affirmed by others. In other words, this is like getting a trophy or a medal for doing a good job.

Jesus says that this is all wrong. It is worthless toward God, and the only thing it might get you is honor before people.

Second, we see a valuable fast

He says that when we fast, we should do the equivalent of getting ourselves ready to go out on the town. Take a shower, put on some cologne or perfume, clean yourself up, and make sure you look nice. Try to keep people from knowing that you are fasting.

A valuable fast is unrecognizable by others

Why? So that only God knows we are fasting. It is to honor God with our hearts, minds, and bodies So, we should keep others from knowing what we are doing. Our fasting is a private act between us and God.

The idea here is that fasting should be done out of a sincere act of devotion to God alone. We are not doing it to benefit ourselves, so, it should be done as inconspicuously as possible.

God cannot be seen by people, he does not look at external appearances, but rather he looks at our hearts. Thus, doing a bunch of stuff for physical appearance does no good. It’s all about the heart.

Note just like we see in the Lord's prayer, our Father is in relationship with us. He is the one we should care about because he is the one we are fasting to or for. We are not fasting to humans; they can do nothing for us. They can't forgive us, they don't care about our sorrow, they can't change the world, only God can. This is why we fast to him alone.

A valuable fast is rewarded by God

God sees us when no one else does. If we are fasting to honor him, then he will honor us. The point is not an "I do this, and you do that", but that God cares about our hearts and God rewards those who diligently seek him. Fasting is another way to diligently seek God.

Finally, Jesus tells us that God will reward us. This is in the future tense. It is sure. As we fast for God's glory and honor and not our own, God will see us, and he will reward us appropriately. What is this reward? Quite frankly Jesus doesn’t tell us. We will just have to trust God that it will be amazing.

Application

Now that we see how to make sure our fast has value, how do we actually do it? Let’s think about how Christians in the past did it.

The when: often they would fast twice a week: Wednesday and Friday.

The why: to draw close to God by being supremely committed to him. They showed their commitment by fasting to express grief, sorrow for sin, to secure guidance to do what he wanted them to do, to get help, or a hearing from God, and/or to humble themselves before him.

The watchout: first, be careful that you don’t trick yourself into thinking you are a rockstar Christians because of your fasting;  second, don’t do it to just get stuff. Third, don’t do it to be noticed by others. In all these things, you can be drawn away from God instead of to him.

The what kind: there are four types of fasting that seem to have biblical support. First, normal fasting where you abstain from all food, whether solid or liquid, but not from water. It was usually done to prepare for a significant event, like Jesus for his ministry.

Second, partial fasting where you have a partial restriction of diet, where you might not eat meat or drink wine, like Daniel for three-weeks of mourning.

Third, absolute fasting where, for a very short, urgent period of time, you abstain from all food and water to determine God's leading, like Esther and Paul did.

Fourth, private and corporate where God’s people, usually privately, but at times corporately, keep themselves from food, like on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:37), in times of national emergency (2 Chron. 20:1-4), or for seeking God's guidance in prayer (Ezra 8:21-23).

The how: Jesus makes it clear that when we fast, we should do what we normally do to look our best. Take a shower, wash and clean ourselves up, and make sure we look nice. As God's disciples fasted, they went about their life semi-normal, living before an audience of one, God.

It is a matter of the heart. It is between God and you. It must be done for God’s sake and to God and not for selfish gain. The real point of fasting is to get our eyes fixed on God, to feed on Christ. To get our eyes off ourselves. Our heart is the heart of the matter.

The heart of the matter

Jesus is concerned about the motive behind obedience to regulations and other duties, not simply some form of external compliance. So, fasting is a question of where our heart is at…what are our motives? Are we doing these things because we are grateful for Jesus' work in calling us into his kingdom, or because of the reward he offers us?

Giving, praying, and fasting are very valuable in developing personal righteousness, and God will reward them…if they are not done as playacting for the recognition of people, approval of the religious establishment, and the heaping up of riches in this life. Otherwise, the reward is the recognition and things we receive in this life.

Do we and will we have mixed motives? Yes. But, the issue is really this…are we intentionally acting out of mixed motives? You see, true disciples of Christ operate out of gratitude for the salvation given to us by Christ who rescued us. So, if we want to fast, and we should, we should make sure our why is solid and is pleasing to the Lord.

Motives

Let’s think about four good motives. But before we do, we must remember that the ultimate motive should be to please God wholeheartedly in gratitude for what he has done for us in Christ. We show gratitude for God’s grace in sending Jesus to be our ransom. This motive is directed away from self toward Jesus. When we do this we are feeding upon Christ. You see, when Jesus fasted he quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 which says, “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” You see, our hunger is supposed to show us that God alone will satisfy us…we must feed upon him and his word, which Jesus made clear was himself when he said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. …I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” When we fast properly, we are feeding upon Christ.

Now, let’s look at the four motives. First, love in response to God's love for us. Since we have experienced true love, it moves us to love him and love others. Second, to emulate Jesus so that we are like our master. Third, to avoid the loss of joy. How? When we seek God, we have his presence with us. This is our greatest source of joy. Fourth, future reward. Those who give, pray, and fast in secrecy will be rewarded. Rewards are a by-product of a God-centered and other-concerned life. If we focus on these, then we center on self, and this is hypocrisy.

Final point

We do not fast to earn entrance into the kingdom of heaven or to gain some advanced standing with the Father. We do it to conform our external expression to our inward reality, that which God has worked in our hearts through Christ and to experience the life of Christ in us. Acts of righteousness simply bring congruence between the inner righteousness we have in Christ and the development of experiential righteousness in this life which Christ displayed at all times. You see, fasting allows us to detach from this world and see that our citizenship is not in this earth, but in heaven, and when we do, we are feeding upon Christ.

So, what next?

If you are like me, you have probably fasted before. And maybe you have become discouraged because it is difficult and can seem to be too much like works righteousness. This is no reason not to fast.

Jesus makes it clear that fasting is all about having a heart that longs for God and is aware of him. It is having a heart that is not living for self, but a heart that is beating for God and cares about others.

Might I suggest that this coming week we start out by trying a simple fast (if your health allows it). Simply forego one meal once a week for one month. Before we do, let’s ask God to help us do it for the right motives, to feed upon Christ. When we are hungry during this time, use the hunger to drive us to prayer and thankfulness.

If you can’t fast for health reasons, then try to do something different with your meal. Try to eat just the bare necessities, something simple.

And when you do this, take the money that would normally be used (groceries or restaurant money) and save it up to give to those who are in need. It doesn’t have to be a lot of money, but the money that you normally would have spent on that meal, calculate it.

Remember…fasting is not about getting stuff, it is about feeding upon Christ. It is about having Christ as the center of all that you are and all that you do. It gets your focus off yourself and turns it back toward the one whom you love and worship for all that he is.