Ash Wednesday

Sermon

Feb. 25, 2009

Ash Wednesday – Year B

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

“Keep the Fast”

This passage is about giving alms, praying, and fasting in a way that others don’t know you are doing it. It is to be done privately in order to gain greater reward from God. It is done privately because there is no place for vanity and pride from showing one’s piety out in the open, to be seen and praised by others. If you are doing your piety with the intention that it be seen and emulated by others, then perhaps that is good for the edification and inspiration of others. But the danger for us is vanity and pride.

However, just because you do your piety in secret does not exempt you from the temptation of pride. You can be prideful of your efforts and look down on others who you perceive (perhaps mistakenly) as not being as pious as you. So, doing your piety in secret, in order to remain beneficial and not a source of spiritual pride, should be done with an attitude of matter-of-factness or disinterest. Perhaps it could be understood as basic as brushing your teeth. This is not a fair equivalent, but the point is not to make yourself all puffed up by your pious accomplishments.

Another point to make is that Jesus assumes that we will give alms, pray, and fast. It is not a requirement, but it is an assumption. We should attempt to do these things regularly and faithfully. Any excuse or reason we come up with not to do these things should be labeled as a spiritual attack and resisted. Satan, who is always trying to get us off track, will place all kinds of thoughts and feeling and obstacles in our way from doing what we feel led to do in our piety. They must be acknowledged as such and overcome, by God’s help. Nor should we feel guilty and despair when we are unable to maintain the level of piety we feel led to attempt. The important thing is to be faithful and try the best you can. It should be hard and setbacks are to be expected. This is, after all, spiritual exercise, which is necessary to run the race in order to obtain the prize. (1 Cor. 9:24-27)

I will focus on fasting. I will talk about the reasons for fasting, the benefits for fasting, and the spiritual aspect that must be paired with the physical aspect for fasting to work.

How many know of the wonderful feeling of a hot shower after being deprived of one for awhile? How about a hamburger after you have recovered from surgery and your diet restriction has come to an end? How about finally being able to get outside without a coat to take a walk, with a warm wind and the smell of warming earth in the air?

Whenever we have been deprived of something, and then finally get to enjoy it again, our senses are increasingly heightened. The hot water is extra tingly. The hamburger is especially juicy. The spring air is intoxicating. The enjoyment of these simple pleasures is dramatically increased as a result of being deprived of them for a significant period of time.

This common experience lies at the heart of the timeless spiritual practice of fasting. Fasting has been done by many cultures and religions for ages. It is globally recognized as an effective tool for spiritual growth and renewal, and an appropriate response to times of great need and concern.

Fasting is a method of suppressing appetites that are always screaming to be fulfilled so that we can focus on other matters, in particular, prayer. Fasting is a period of time where we master our appetites, exercise self-control, so that we can be more focused and intentional about relating to God and serving others. It is a practice that has always been done by the church and that Jesus assumed we would do.

There are a few misconceptions about fasting that I want to address.

One is that fasting is only for monks and nuns and other super-spiritual people, not for average Christians. This is not true. Although the scriptures do not command that we fast, it is assumed by Jesus that his followers would fast. And the church has always commonly practiced fasting. In the earliest days, Wednesday and Friday were days of fasting and there have been set periods of fasting in preparation for major days in the church, for example, the days leading up to Easter. Although some people have the grace and zeal to fast more rigorously than most of us, that doesn’t mean the rest of us are off the hook.

Others are concerned about fasting by thinking it is not healthy to deprive yourself of food, that our bodies require three meals a day. This is not true. Most of us eat much more than what is necessary for our health. On the other hand, there are legitimate reasons not to fast from food, or to be more selective in what you refrain from eating. If anyone does have health issues, it’s best to talk to a doctor before fasting.

Further, abstaining from certain foods for awhile, especially hard to digest foods like meat, is a good thing for your body. It allows your digestive system to rest for a bit and be able to catch up with all the impurities that need to be flushed from your system. So, if done appropriately, occasional fasting actually can improve your health.

Others consider fasting an example of a negative attitude toward the body, that the appetites of the body are inherently bad and have to be beaten into submission so that our spirit can be strengthened. It reflects a false attitude that flesh is bad and spirit is good. Sometimes fasting gets lumped in with sleep deprivation or other extreme measures of self-abuse.

This is clearly a bad attitude toward fasting. First of all, as Christians, we do not hold that the flesh is bad and the spirit is good. Our bodies are good because God made our bodies. Our body and soul are to be in harmony. Fasting is not about beating the body into submission as it is an exercise in self-control, so that we place our appetites under submission to our greater aim of seeking the kingdom of God. As Jesus tells us in Matthew 6, God knows we need food and clothing. If we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, then all these other things will be given to us as well. Fasting is not about an either/or. It is about not letting our appetites control us in our pursuit of righteousness. We need our bodies to be as healthy as they can so that we can serve God and others. Fasting, when done properly, is affirming of our bodies, not punitive.

Another voiced concern is that fasting is too hard, too unrealistic in our day and age, so why even try. Well, fasting has always been hard. And that’s the point. Also, just like anything else, one shouldn’t give up on something just because it wasn’t easy or successful the first time. You don’t learn how to swim by jumping into the deep end. Fasting, if it’s new to you, can be eased in to. When fasting, it’s important to be reasonable and don’t set expectations that are impossible to meet. You should stretch yourself so that you have to give some effort. But don’t make it so hard that you get discouraged quickly and give up. Keep in mind that fasting is not an end in itself. Nobody gets brownie points for fasting. The purpose of fasting is to assist us in growing closer to God. If a person makes fasting into an end in itself, they lose the value of it, and might has well not have fasted at all.

Why food? Restricting the kind and amount of food one eats has always been part of fasting because our physical hunger is ongoing and insatiable. No one ever stops being hungry again. It is relentless. So, hunger, our need to eat, should be controlled. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. We often think of self control along the line of keeping your cool or not partaking of certain vices. But our appetite should also be included. We should not allow our stomachs to control our lives. Of course, we need to eat. But we also need to pray. And let’s be honest, our physical hunger often gets our attention much more than our spiritual hunger. You know the old saying that the squeakiest wheel gets the grease. Sometimes that squeaky wheel needs to be left alone so that others who have needs can be attended to. Sometimes we need to say to our physical hunger, “Not right now, instead I’m going to pray, I’m going to serve someone, I’m going to take the money I would have spent to buy lunch and instead give it to the church or to someone in need.”

Of course, hunger is not our only appetite. We hunger for all kinds of things. We hunger for attention. We hunger for comfort. We hunger for information. We hunger for intimacy. We hunger for power. We hunger for control. All of our hungers, not just our physical hunger, need to be placed under the authority and lordship of Jesus Christ. When we say Jesus is our Lord, that means Lord of our whole being, including our hungers. And Jesus knows what we need. Jesus knows our hungers. And he desires that our hungers be satisfied. He came that we might have life, and that more abundantly.

Yet, it is our tendency to strive with all our effort to fulfill all our hungers by ourselves, on our own terms. We get to decide when and what we eat. We position ourselves so we can get in the spotlight. We do whatever we can to make sure no one threatens our status quo. We spend countless hours filling our heads with information. We struggle to be close to other people on our own terms, without getting vulnerable ourselves and risking the possibility of being hurt. We contemplate ways and manipulate people so that our preferred outcomes and personal agendas and preferences are achieved. And all through such self-centered living, some of us, me included, ask God to bless our efforts rather than submitting our own wills, desires, and hungers, and trusting God to take care of everything.

So, why fasting? So we balance our physical needs with our spiritual needs. And so that we can reaffirm that we ultimately depend on God for all that we have and need. We fast so that we can grow spiritually, to mature in Christ. We fast so that we can become more humble, more grateful for what we do have, and more intentional about our life in Christ. We fast because Jesus fasted and assumed that we would too. That in itself is good enough reason for me, aside from the fact that the church has always fasted from the beginning.

So, I invite you to join me, and consider fasting in the weeks ahead. If it is new to you and you need more information, please let me know and I can help guide you. Whatever you do, don’t allow it to be a source of guilt. If you set out on it and you just can’t keep it up, then just either try to start it up again or let it go. Don’t allow fasting to be a burden. Remember, fasting is all about helping us tend to other matters, such as praying, reading the scriptures, helping others, and spending our money on other things besides food. Fasting is not an end in itself, simply a means to a greater end. And I can tell you from experience that times of fasting can be very powerful. I have found my spirit re-energized. I have felt more alert and sensitive to my surroundings. And when the fast ended, boy did that hamburger taste so good!