It's not about the food
This week is on Isaiah 58:3-6, and Matthew 6:16-18:
An alternate title for this week's study would have been "fasting blunders," but I didn't want to make it negative. Some people fast for Lent, so it's useful to see the warnings the Bible gives about it. People look at the outside of fasting, and think it's all about the calories and the self-torment, but that's not the point at all.
The first set of verses are God speaking through Isaiah to the Israelites in exile in Babylon. They've decided out that fasting is what you do when you want to manipulate God into doing something you want from him that he isn't doing on his own. It's a bit like how kids pout. They're not eating, so they figure God has to notice and come to their aid, right? They did "the things" and now it's payday! Except they're still misbehaving.
If your kid is not supposed to go outside until he cleans his room, and he hasn't cleaned his room, does pouting mean he gets to go outside? No! And yet the Israelites were not doing what God wanted them to do, but thought that if they made a spectacle of how much they were humbling themselves, they would then get what they wanted. God was not having it.
You would think the lesson would be learned, but 700 years later, what do you think the leading religious figures of the day were doing? The same thing! The second set of verses are Jesus telling his disciples not to keep doing what people have always been doing.
To a hypocrite, fasting is all about the food and suffering. They use their flesh to go through the motions of mortifying their flesh, so that they can convince God (and anyone else watching) how serious they are. They even convince themselves. Nowadays they would just tweet about it, or share it as a "testimony" in church. To a hypocrite, fasting, like all things, is about the performance.
Believe it or not, I've actually seen people take these verses legalistically. How many times have you heard this conversation with Christians?
"Hey let's get some lunch!"
"I can't. I'm not eating today."
"What's wrong? Are you ill?"
"No, I'm just not eating."
"Why not?"
"I'm not supposed to say."
They're missing the point! What both sets of verses are confronting are the attitudes towards fasting, not the outer spectacle of it. In both cases, the people fasting are approaching it from a legalistic hypocritical perspective. They treat it as a duty to be performed for a reward, and as a performance to be done before an audience. But fasting isn't about what you're doing, but about what you're not doing. And the reason you're not doing something is because you're doing something else that's better.
To take the conversation away from food, let's say you're fasting from Netflix during Lent. If you're a hypocrite, you're doing it for the same reasons as you might give up desserts to lose weight. You're hoping to earn a reward by pushing yourself in your own strength to reach a goal. By giving up Netflix, you expect that God will see how hard you tried, and will reward you for being such an extra good Christian.
If you were fasting from Netflix, and were a hypocrite, you would probably tell everyone you spoke with that you weren't watching any of the shows on there because you had given it up for Lent. It would be your favorite topic of conversation. You might mention how bored you are, or talk about how hard it is, or how your spouse or lover respects you so much for the decision you're making. But ultimately you'd be missing the point.
You don't fast Netflix because Netflix is evil. You fast because Netflix is less interesting to you than God is, and by changing your environment a bit you hope to free up some more space or shake up your routine so that you become more available to him. The people who fast for the right reasons are people you never would guess, because they aren't focused on what they've given up. They're focused on seeking God.
If the Israelites had fasted for those same reasons, would they have been able to treat each other so badly? If they were giving up food, it would have been to focus more resources towards being better believers. How then would they have been able to focus on getting in fights and cheating the weak? Surely in seeking God they would have realized those things were not what he wants for us.
Have you ever missed a meal because you were too busy having fun? It's not a fleshy thing at all, is it? It doesn't feel at all like dieting. You just realize that it's dinner time and you've not had lunch yet. You're not punishing yourself or forcing yourself to achieve something. You're just busy with other things.
If you're fasting this year for Lent, make sure it's not just about the food. Ask yourself "am I relating, or am I just performing?" A fast that offends God is just a miserable time for you both.
They lament, ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast?
Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’
Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires,
you oppress your workers.
Look, your fasting is accompanied by arguments, brawls,
and fistfights.
Do not fast as you do today,
trying to make your voice heard in heaven.
Is this really the kind of fasting I want?
Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves,
bowing their heads like a reed
and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this really what you call a fast,
a day that is pleasing to the Lord?
No, this is the kind of fast I want:
I want you to remove the sinful chains,
to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,
to set free the oppressed,
and to break every burdensome yoke.
When you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, they have their reward! When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
An alternate title for this week's study would have been "fasting blunders," but I didn't want to make it negative. Some people fast for Lent, so it's useful to see the warnings the Bible gives about it. People look at the outside of fasting, and think it's all about the calories and the self-torment, but that's not the point at all.
The first set of verses are God speaking through Isaiah to the Israelites in exile in Babylon. They've decided out that fasting is what you do when you want to manipulate God into doing something you want from him that he isn't doing on his own. It's a bit like how kids pout. They're not eating, so they figure God has to notice and come to their aid, right? They did "the things" and now it's payday! Except they're still misbehaving.
If your kid is not supposed to go outside until he cleans his room, and he hasn't cleaned his room, does pouting mean he gets to go outside? No! And yet the Israelites were not doing what God wanted them to do, but thought that if they made a spectacle of how much they were humbling themselves, they would then get what they wanted. God was not having it.
You would think the lesson would be learned, but 700 years later, what do you think the leading religious figures of the day were doing? The same thing! The second set of verses are Jesus telling his disciples not to keep doing what people have always been doing.
To a hypocrite, fasting is all about the food and suffering. They use their flesh to go through the motions of mortifying their flesh, so that they can convince God (and anyone else watching) how serious they are. They even convince themselves. Nowadays they would just tweet about it, or share it as a "testimony" in church. To a hypocrite, fasting, like all things, is about the performance.
Believe it or not, I've actually seen people take these verses legalistically. How many times have you heard this conversation with Christians?
"Hey let's get some lunch!"
"I can't. I'm not eating today."
"What's wrong? Are you ill?"
"No, I'm just not eating."
"Why not?"
"I'm not supposed to say."
They're missing the point! What both sets of verses are confronting are the attitudes towards fasting, not the outer spectacle of it. In both cases, the people fasting are approaching it from a legalistic hypocritical perspective. They treat it as a duty to be performed for a reward, and as a performance to be done before an audience. But fasting isn't about what you're doing, but about what you're not doing. And the reason you're not doing something is because you're doing something else that's better.
To take the conversation away from food, let's say you're fasting from Netflix during Lent. If you're a hypocrite, you're doing it for the same reasons as you might give up desserts to lose weight. You're hoping to earn a reward by pushing yourself in your own strength to reach a goal. By giving up Netflix, you expect that God will see how hard you tried, and will reward you for being such an extra good Christian.
If you were fasting from Netflix, and were a hypocrite, you would probably tell everyone you spoke with that you weren't watching any of the shows on there because you had given it up for Lent. It would be your favorite topic of conversation. You might mention how bored you are, or talk about how hard it is, or how your spouse or lover respects you so much for the decision you're making. But ultimately you'd be missing the point.
You don't fast Netflix because Netflix is evil. You fast because Netflix is less interesting to you than God is, and by changing your environment a bit you hope to free up some more space or shake up your routine so that you become more available to him. The people who fast for the right reasons are people you never would guess, because they aren't focused on what they've given up. They're focused on seeking God.
If the Israelites had fasted for those same reasons, would they have been able to treat each other so badly? If they were giving up food, it would have been to focus more resources towards being better believers. How then would they have been able to focus on getting in fights and cheating the weak? Surely in seeking God they would have realized those things were not what he wants for us.
Have you ever missed a meal because you were too busy having fun? It's not a fleshy thing at all, is it? It doesn't feel at all like dieting. You just realize that it's dinner time and you've not had lunch yet. You're not punishing yourself or forcing yourself to achieve something. You're just busy with other things.
If you're fasting this year for Lent, make sure it's not just about the food. Ask yourself "am I relating, or am I just performing?" A fast that offends God is just a miserable time for you both.
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