The Lenten Journey: Repent And...Fast?

I probably should've written and published this piece about a week ago. Better late than never I guess, right?

Come to think of it, the phrase 'Better-Late-Than-Never' is what this entire message today is going to be about! How do you like that? The Lord works in mysterious ways indeed.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but this is the very first year of my young adult life that I've ever really, truly prayerfully considered the meaning of Lent, Ash Wednesday, and my response to such a holy time of the year.

For starters, what is Lent anyway? One Christian gives us a succinct answer...

Lent is as old-school as old-school gets. Doing it justice -- experiencing the real cleansing it implies, and the rejuvenation which is its culmination -- means tapping into some of the more, shall we say, fundamental aspects of Christianity.

If you’re a Christian, Lent is the time for feeling just how real that is, how deeply that goes. It means comprehending that being a Christian goes all the way to literally the very marrow of your bones.

It means getting down on your knees and praying for God to forgive how routinely you squander the gift of Jesus’ terrible and glorious sacrifice for you on the cross.

It means staying rooted in penitential mourning over what happened to Jesus.

It means sacrificing to God and others, and God sacrificed for you and the world.

It means breaking yourself, as Jesus allowed himself to be broken for you.

Old-school, baby!

Feel the hollow, riveting truth of all that God is, and all that you are not.

For forty days, and forty nights, live in the quiet, empty, cold darkness that must come before finally and gloriously the Son arises.

Yes, I know we're supposed to live by faith and not by feelings, but I wanted to share that perspective because I think it gets to the heart of things, and it captures the spirit of it all quite nicely too.

In addition, who can forget the children's nursery rhyme (albeit with dark connotations) that we all learned growing up?

“Ring around the rosy,
pocket full of poesy,
ashes, ashes,
we all fall down!”

Believe it or not, those words are true: "...ashes, ashes, we all fall down!" Hebrews 9:27 guarantees as much.

You will fall down, sooner or later -- if our Lord does not return first -- you will go back to the dust that the Lord used to create us all in the very beginning (Genesis 2:7; Genesis 3:19).

Death is simply the fact of our existence here in this life that we can try to ignore, hide from, and play games with, but, in the end, it’s no game, and there’s no hiding whatsoever. It tracks you down and squeezes the last bit of life from you. And then your breathless clay returns to the dust, the life in it burned to ashes.

It's quite something because while this has been the very first year that I've seriously contemplated all of this as a believer in Christ, such truths were hammered home emphatically for me over this past weekend.

Simply put, isn't it just like God to meet you right where you are? The past few days have proven to me, once again, just how utterly helpless I am, and how fully dependent I am on God for everything. More to the point, it emphasized to me the truth that we can't earn 'brownie points' or 'goodness' with God, but can only rest in the truth that it's what Jesus Christ did, who He really is (imparted to us), and our repentance and faith in Him, that makes us 'righteous' in God's eyes.

In any event, what Satan intended to be an opportunity to whisper his half-truths and lies into my ears, the Lord used to remind me of promises and truths about Him instead. Praise the Lord!

Back to Lent. Did you know that the Lenten season has been known since the Reformation with the word 'Fastenzeit', which means 'Fasting Time'? Ok, but why is fasting associated with Lent? Because this time of year invites us to the discipline of fasting as part of our 'return', or our repentance.

Actually, the word 'return' or 'repent' shows up 1,000+ times in the Old Testament! During this Lenten season, God is calling us to repent, to look at what we have done; to look at what we have done with the gifts that He gave us, to look at what we have done with the resources that He gave us; to look at what we have done with our lives, at what we have done in our relationships. God is calling us today to look at the ways we have despised His Word, and to look at the ways we have offended Him with our sinful thinking and our sinful deeds.

For me, it calls to mind all those 'secret sins' within the 'secret places' of my heart. Remember, He sees in secret, just as Jesus pointed out in the Sermon on the Mount. What will the Heavenly Father see in the secret places of your heart? Something that will make you run away? I know what He sees in mine and I know I need to repent of it immediately.

Joel 2:12-14 is commonly read this time of year. See, you and I are no different than the Israelites to whom the prophet Joel addressed these words. In Joel 1, he tells the people of God that there is an impending judgment that is going to hit the land. Punishment is on its way! Punishment for what they have done! My gosh, that is so relevant to the times we are living in today, isn't it?

It is within this context that the words of Joel are spoken.

Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.

God is calling us to return to Him, not to run away from Him.

It doesn’t matter what we have done. We cannot hide anything from Him because He knows exactly what is in the secret places of our heart. It is for this reason that God expects us to rend our hearts. Yes, that will hurt, but it's worth it.

On the flip side, it doesn’t hurt us when we rend our garments because garments are just stuff. Our hearts, on the other hand, are precious. Our garments cannot hide any of our secrets before God. Besides, Jesus died to mend our hearts, not our garments.

The words from Joel that follow make this call from God look more like an invitation.

Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful.

Why run away from a God that is gracious and merciful? Can you see how God, after saying, "Look what you have done!" invites you generously, "Come, because I am 'slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love'"?

When God calls us to look deeply inside us, it is because He wants us to see how much we need Him. He also calls us to look at Him to see how much He cares for us. The season of Lent calls us also to "Look what God has done!" for us. He has done everything for us! He didn’t spare even His only Son in order to bring us back to Him! He is not just a vengeful God, but a merciful God.

There are no better blessings than God’s Son Jesus Christ and His Word. Sometimes we count as blessings the Christian friends that we have close to us, or our families, or the congregations we are part of, or our jobs, or our good health, but when all these are gone, we are still blessed by God because we have the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life.

If I may, I want us to return to Joel 2 for just a moment. "Return to me...with fasting" is what the Scripture says. That was an odd 'discovery' for me because even though I have read this before, even though I have come across the subject of fasting numerous times in other studies, I never actually fasted a single time in my entire life!

Like I said, I'm ashamed to admit that publicly, but that's the truth. Needless to say, I wanted to spend a little time exploring the Biblical description of fasting particularly since it's tied to Joel 2 and Lent.

While 'Giving-Up-Something-For-Lent' has become a popular substitute for fasting, let’s be sure we are clear on what fasting is and what it isn't.

Fasting means not to eat as much. To forego a meal, or a portion of a meal, and to do so with intentionality, and to let that time of hunger pain remind us to watch and pray, to remind us that our hunger should not be for bread alone, but every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Fasting is simply to be an aid for our devotional life in the Word and prayer.

But how does one fast? As Christians, we know that there can be no laws about HOW to fast in the Church for the simple reason that neither our Lord nor the Apostles have given us any. There have always been divergent practices on fasting in the Church. Not without reason did St. Irenaeus confess "differences in fasting do not destroy the unity of faith."

One Pastor even put it as follows...

Further, we know that fasting is not pleasing to God when it is offered in any way as a propitiation for sin; then, in fact, it becomes an abomination. There is but one propitiation for the sin of the world and that was offered once and for all by the Lamb of God upon the cross.

So why should we fast? We have to think no further than our Catechism: fasting is "a fine outward training." Now, that was spoken in regard to the Eucharistic fast, but it applies to fasting as a whole. On Septuagesima we heard St. Paul speak of how he disciplined his body, kept it under control, lest he end up being "disqualified" after preaching to others.

Well, if we can admit that fasting is a "fine outward training" the question still arises of what to do?

Many people confuse fasting and abstinence. To fast is to be hungry; to abstain is forego certain kinds of food. The traditional fast of the Western Church was 1/4 meal for breakfast and lunch, with a simple dinner. In other words, for breakfast maybe half a slice of toast, for lunch an orange. Then a regular dinner - but nothing fancy. Something like that was observed throughout the days of Lent. Further, Western Christians have traditionally abstained from meat and wine on the Fridays (and sometimes the Saturdays, and some would say the Wednesdays - all depend on whom you ask) of Lent.

Now, fasting was never meant to live by itself. It is joined to the other two Lenten disciplines: almsgiving and prayer. An increased giving to the poor and an increased time of prayer can go hand in hand with fasting: by not eating so much, you actually have more money to give to others who have less than you, and by not fixing elaborate meals, you also have more time to spend in the Word and prayer. Further, by going hungry each day you experience solidarity with those many members of the human race who also go hungry each day. Above all, we teach ourselves that the hunger behind all hungers is the hunger for God Himself.

In the freedom of the Gospel, we can discipline our wayward flesh by not letting it dictate to us what and when to eat. Give it some thought and prayer and then rejoice in the truth that "man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Wishing one and all a joyful time of renewal during the upcoming Fastenzeit!

That certainly helps to clarify things I hope.

Here's something else that may shock you because it shocked me and stopped me dead in my tracks: Did you know that our Lord Jesus Christ assumed that His disciples would fast, just as He assumed they would pray?

If you're anything like me, then I bet you suffer from 'Fastphobia' too. Fastphobia is when you constantly downplay the spiritual merits (and Biblical commands) associated with fasting. It's characterized by different phrases about how everyone else is fasting wrong, and especially for the wrong reasons. While that might be true, it doesn't negate the importance of fasting in the Christian life.

This was an excellent commentary from Cyberbrethren that I found on the subject...

Jesus commended fasting as a private act of humility and devotion to God (see Matthew 6:16-18). Note particularly that he says, “When you fast…” not “If you fast…” Take a look at Matthew 9:14-15. The first Christians fasted (Acts 13:2-3; 14:23). Why shouldn’t a 21st Century Christian do likewise? Why?

Because we are, as a culture and society, gluttons. After all, we are a “consumer” society. We consume, consume and consume some more. We eat to the point that our bellies are too large, we weigh too much, and we inflict chronic illness on ourselves brought on by poor diet and exercise habits. I’m as guilty as anyone in this regard. We do not fast to earn brownie points with God, but that fact has become our excuse for not fasting, for not attending to self-disipline and self-mortification. We excuse our laziness and gluttony by appealing to our freedom in Christ as forgiven children. We let ourselves off the hook all the while comforting ourselves that we are free not to get caught up in “legalistic” requirements such as fasting. We look at the required fasts in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy and rightly criticize the imposition of such rules as contrary to the Gospel freedom we have, but then we again use this an excuse not to fast. We’ll show those legalists, as we continue stuffing our faces and filling our bellies with the food that perishes.

As we now approach the beginning of Lent, it is good to recall that Lent has been, historically, throughout the Church’s history, a time that involves fasting.

If you're inclined to go deeper with this study, then there's The Lutheran Study Bible that has a fantastic article on fasting. You might want to read through it as you prayerfully consider how you will be observing Lent this year.

Afflicting One’s Soul

The modern Jewish calendar has 28 fasting days, but in the Old Testament, God commanded only one annual fast. In Lv 16:29–31, Moses gave God’s dictum to “afflict [deny] yourselves” on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). In response to the atonement for Israel’s corporate sin, devout Israelites would fast from morning until evening on the tenth day of the seventh month. Before the exile to Babylon, Israelites fasted during times of impending danger, mourning, sickness, threat of war, distress, and sorrow. For example, Hannah did not eat because of the great stress brought about by her barrenness (1Sm 1:7), and David fasted after learning of Abner’s death (2Sm 3:35). Religious leaders also mandated periods of fasting at times of great national crisis (cf Jgs 20:26; 2Ch 20:3; Jer 36:9). These examples show that fasting was an expression of sorrow and, most important, an expression of repentance.

Overindulgence

Where faith is strongest, Satan works hardest. While God esteems those who are “humble and contrite in spirit” (Is 66:2), Satan vigorously attacks them with temptations to overindulge. Thankfully, God did not leave His people powerless in their sin. In answer to prayer, God sent Isaiah to call passionately for their repentance and help them understand the true character of fasting as an expression of sorrow over sin and an opportunity to have mercy on the hungry (Is 58:3–8). Unfortunately, instead of heeding God’s call, the people continued in their self-centeredness and thus brought about the Babylonian exile. For God’s people, the Babylonian exile and the destruction of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar (587 BC) was a turning point in history rivaled only by the Roman destruction of Herod’s temple (AD 70). As a result of the exile, four new fasts were added to the Jewish calendar, each marking key historical dates leading up to and including the exile (Zec 8:18–19). For instance, a fast in the fourth month laments the breach of Jerusalem’s outer wall by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 52:6–7). A fast in the fifth month commemorates the burning of God’s holy temple and other buildings (2Ki 25:8–9), while a fast in the seventh month marks the assassination of Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had placed as governor over Judah (Zec 7:5). Finally, a fast during the tenth month is held in memory of Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem (2Ki 25:1). These fasts served a holy purpose: they reminded the Israelites of the sorrows brought by neglecting God’s Word. However, over time fasting became another way the Israelites abused God’s Word. In the hope of preventing any further captivity, Jewish scholars pored over the writings of Moses, frantically searching for a reason why God exiled them. They determined to apply the Law more vigorously. What followed was a fundamental shift in their belief system. To this day, many Jewish people still believe that if they keep all the laws perfectly, they will gain salvation. Fasting changed from an expression of repentance to compulsory appeasement of a legalistic code. This deception led many astray to spend eternity apart from the Lord, who desires to save all people (1Tm 2:3–4).

The Appearing of Christ

Before the birth of Jesus, the Pharisees mandated twice-weekly fasting (Lk 18:9–12). The Essenes, a splinter group that may have lived at Qumran, centered much of their lives on fasting. For the unfaithful, fasting was something done to curry God’s favor—a duty, a work, a law. But for the faithful, fasting continued as an expression of repentance and reverence for the Lord, who created them and promised to redeem them. After Jesus’ Baptism, He went into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days and 40 nights (Mt 4:2). This recalled the devotion of Moses (Ex 24:18), the great prophet Elijah (1Ki 19:8), and the 40 years of wilderness wandering for Israel. During this fast, Satan repeatedly tempted Jesus, but He used God’s precious Word to defend Himself.

Fasting for You

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke against fasting as a means of salvation. Instead, He commended fasting as a private, voluntary act of humility before God (Mt 6:16–18). Take a few moments now to read His words and reflect on your own devotion. If you are like most people, you have thought more about dieting than fasting. It is hard to imagine a daylong fast. No doubt fasting for 40 days like Jesus did after His Baptism is out of the question. Yet our Lord’s words clearly reveal that fasting should be part of a Christian’s life: He said, “When you fast” (Mt 6:16), not “If you fast” (cf Mt 9:14–15). The early Christians fasted (Ac 13:2–3; 14:23). Why shouldn’t a twenty-first-century Christian do likewise? As you fast, let the feelings of hunger you experience remind you to pray. Spend the time you would normally spend eating by reading God’s Word and meditating on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Through His Word, the Lord will bless and nourish you. “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am’ ” (Is 58:8–9).

How You Might Fast

Consider fasting for a meal or two before partaking of the Lord’s Supper. Spend your extra time studying God’s Word and singing Communion hymns. Fasting during Lent can be a wonderful way to remember the perfect obedience of Christ and His sacrifice for your salvation. Money not spent on food may be donated for the poor. You might follow this routine for a daylong fast: (1) rise before dawn and eat breakfast; (2) examine yourself as you would prior to partaking of the Lord’s Supper; (3) offer your life to God in penitent prayer; (4) go about your day, breaking your fast at evening. If you are diabetic, fasting could be hazardous. Check with your doctor. Do not consider fasting as a dieting program. If abstaining from food is not possible, consider abstaining from something else. For example, turn off your television and spend time in prayer and study of God’s Word.

Source: The Lutheran Study Bible, page 189.

Ok, so let's quickly recap. Bottom line, fasting is Biblical. For the best directions ever on the kind of fasting that God wants, be sure to read Isaiah 58.

However, fasting should be done as privately as possible and without calling attention to yourself; it has to be with the proper motives. Fast when and how you wish, and no, you never make a 'big deal' of it. Just do it!

Our Lord Christ tells us that when we fast we are to do so without making a show of it, or big deal about it, nor to disfigure our faces, nor to make sure others know we are fasting, but simply just to do it.

Matthew 6 tells us to make sure we don't disfigure our faces to show folks we're fasting, and don’t let our piety be outward stuff. Not showing off in either prayer, or in giving, or in fasting. Let it be secret, hidden, inner and real. It's not supposed to be a performance for others to admire how religious we are. Yet, the irony is that we then dare to go around smearing our foreheads with ashes and wandering out into the public. What gives with that?

The answer, as always, is found in the Word of God. The part of the holy Scriptures that goes with the ashes is the one from Genesis 3. Words from the Creator Himself who shaped us and gave us life. Words from the Lord who had spoken a word of warning about one fruit. Do we remember that?

Genesis 2:17 (ESV) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

Do we also remember the words that God spoke to a frightened Adam and a frightened Eve?

Genesis 3:19 (ESV) By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Remember. We need to remember all of these truths during this time of year.

Where's the hope in all that, you ask? The hope is where it's always been -- in the person of Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior!

Think of it! You are forgiven and free because HE owned your idolatry, cursing, disregarding of God’s Word, dishonoring of your parents and other authorities, every hateful word and deed that has left others cut and bleeding, all your sexual sins, your laziness and stealing, your hate-filled and hateful, lying words, your never being content with God’s gifts and always looking for happiness in what He never gave you...

Yes, all that ugliness that the Ten Commandments show as the content of your life and mine. Guess what? HE owned it. To death. It has no hold on you. Not now. Not anymore. You’ve been set free. By His blood. By His death. By His passion. Fear not! Fight fear with faith!

So, Lent starts then as the Lord’s gift of a return. A return to Him, to His embrace and love. You heard it in Joel, "Return to the Lord your God for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love...the Lord had pity on His people."

Aside from our remembrance so that we can repent, there's also this idea of fasting that goes along with the Lenten journey each year. What do we learn when we examine this aspect of Lent a little more closely?

For starters, the secular world says that fasting can help protect against brain diseases. Funny, because we just examined the Biblical perspective on fasting in relation to a time of the year that encourages us to remember some key truths that are foundational to our faith.

Remember, Christ assumes we do fast -- “when you fast”, he said, not “if you fast”, right? If this is so, then why did fasting fall out of favor? Probably, like most things like this, out of fear of Roman Catholic errors associated with it, and of course there are many such errors lurking and skulking about, but as the old saying goes, “Abuse does not negate use.”

I would like to wrap things up by suggesting you take some time to read Joel 2:12-19, 2 Peter 1:2-11, Matthew 6:1-6, and Matthew 6:16-21. The key point for us? We need to remember some key truths, and return to the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, and soul.

With Jesus, we set our face toward Jerusalem. We make our pilgrimage with Him by the way of repentance. Each day He summons you and me to return to Him with all of our heart, mind, and soul because He is "gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love" (Joel 2:13).

Let's do so in faith and confidence before Him, supplementing our faith with "virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love" (2 Peter 1:5–7).

During this Lenten season let's all set aside special times to pray to our Father in Heaven, give to the needy from a heart of love, and fast (in the proper sense, if are able, or at least with the right attitude and motive) for the sake of repentance (Matthew 6:3–4, 6, 17–18).

Almighty and everlasting God, You despise nothing You have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts that, lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, we may receive from You full pardon and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

"Better late than never..." Repent now! Death is a certainty and judgment is also coming. It doesn't matter what happened in the past, what situation you find yourself in today, but only that you recognize that you are a sinner, an enemy of God, and that only repenting of those sins and placing your faith in Jesus Christ and what He did on your behalf on the cross, having died and resurrected, is the only thing that will give you forgiveness, mercy, salvation, and eternal life.

Repent, and turn from your sins (John 8:11).

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