Spiritual Disciplines: Fasting

Here is my message from Sunday. The text was Mark 1:9-15:

On this first Sunday of Lent, we are beginning a new worship series looking at some of the spiritual disciplines. And we are doing so because the season of Lent is a time of the year in which people often take on one of the disciplines, or at least have greater interest in them than at other times. That is especially true with the first spiritual discipline that we are going to discuss, and that is fasting. Now just a little background, normally when we hear the word discipline today, we think of punishment for someone who has done something wrong, especially for children. But that is not the only definition of that word. Another definition is that of a rule, or series of rules, that govern conduct or activity or operation, which is why the United Methodist Church has a book of discipline. But the definition that better applies here is training that molds, corrects or perfects. And so athletes, for example, have certain disciplines that they undergo in order to work to get better or maintain themselves. This can be found in other areas as well, including in academic disciplines, another meaning of the word, but for us as Christians it is the word that comes before that describes our disciplines and that is that they are spiritual.

There is not a set list of the spiritual disciplines, or maybe a better way to say that is there is not an exhaustive list. Any activity that helps you focus your life in Christ, that helps you become more Christ-centered as our core values call for, or that helps you deepen your faith or relationship with God, could be a spiritual discipline. But there are some disciplines that most people talk about. Some of them include prayer and service, which we are not going to talk about in this series because we just talked about them in our series on our core values. But, in what is probably the best book on the spiritual disciplines, called Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, who is a Quaker and was born in New Mexico, he lists 12 disciplines, four of which we are going to discuss, fasting, confession, scripture reading and worship and then we’re going to look at another that he doesn’t cover, but which is also crucial to a deepened spiritual life and that is giving, which I know you are all looking forward to. But, again, the purpose of all of the activities is to help us grow in our faith and our relationship with God by being intentional, by disciplining ourselves to a certain activity. We do not do these so we can check off some box, or so that we can brag about it, so that it becomes a rote law, which can lead to spiritual death. We practice the disciplines so we can grow and become freer in our faith and relationship with God.

And so we then begin with the spiritual discipline most closely associated with lent and that is fasting. Although most people think of fasting in lent as being about giving up chocolate or tv or something else, because, you know, that gets us closer to the suffering of Christ on the cross. But, while technically there is an aspect of fasting in that, it’s not fasting in the classical sense of that word. I should also note that while fasting has a long and deep history in the church, it had largely been abandoned in many circles for a long-time. Foster says that there was actually a time from the mid-19thh to the mid-20th century in which there was not a single book written, in English at least, on the Christian practice of fasting. That has changed in more recent decades, but this was not really anything new. John Wesley, who called for fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays, which he also practiced, and refused to ordain anyone who wouldn’t follow the same practice, said “some have exalted religious fasting beyond all scripture and reason; and others have utterly disregarded it.  In studiously avoiding the one, let us watch against the other.”  That is that there are two sorts of extremes when it comes to fasting.

The first is to just ignore it all together, and the second is to practice it but to a degree to which it loses all meaning or purpose and only take the form of fasting without any of the attendant benefits.  And so what we see is the gospels is that Jesus clearly expects that people will fast, as says “when you do fast…” but he does not command us to fast. And that is crucial, because that means we have the freedom to do them. There is an opportunity for us to fast, and to do it in a way that works for us, or more importantly, for which God is calling for us to participate.

Now there were many reasons why people were called to fast in scripture, and let me just say that typically now when we think of fasting now it’s about hunger strikes, to make a political point, or to lose weight. Those are fasting, but they are not spiritual fasting, and there is a big difference. One of the reasons for fasting was as an act of repentance. We see this in the story of Jonah. After he says God will destroy Nineveh, the city fasts and does other acts of repentance, and God relents the judgment. That is why fasting is a part of lent because lent is a season of repentance. Another reason was for national calamity or emergency. There were several calls for fasts when Israel is in trouble, which sometimes also takes the role of repentance, but a better example is probably Esther who tells Mordecai to tell the people to fast, as she does, after it is announced that all the Jews will be killed. It sort of serves as a call for God’s assistance. And a third reason was to prepare for a mission for God, to receive the strength and grace of God, which is what Jesus is doing in today’s passage, but this was also done by Moses and Elijah. There was also a need for fasting for healing, as after one of the healings in Mark Jesus says it could only be done with prayer and fasting. More recent reasons for fasting, and recent means last 2-3000 years, are to assist in finding spiritual breakthroughs that don’t happen without fasting, and finally to learn to center ourselves in God and to remember that we don’t live by bread alone, but by the very word that comes from the mouth of the Lord, as Jesus said, quoting from Deuteronomy.

A more modern reason for fasting, that comes when food is plentiful, is to help our bodies understand that it does not control us. We are not the slaves of our stomachs; we control our bodies. I mean we now have an entire marketing campaign from snickers about being hangry, because we’re hungry. But that’s not actual hunger, it’s that our stomach has been so conditioned to have three meals a day, and snacks in between, that it expects it. And when it doesn’t get it it acts like a two-year-old throwing a tantrum, and I know because I have one of those. But those tantrums are not solved when you give in, they actually get worse. And so one thing that fasting can do is to help quell the expectations of our stomachs, to try and discipline it, to set up boundaries and barriers, which are good things. Building upon that, fasting can also reveal what controls us, first because if we can’t get rid of it, or stop it, then it’s a master to us. But, also because what will happen when we fast is that underlying issues will come to the fore. As Foster says, “If anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, fear are in us, they will surface during our time of fasting.  We may rationalize anger to say we are hungry, then we realize that the spirit of anger is within us.” Fasting can make those prevalent for us so that we can work to bring them under control so that they are not controlling us. And remembering that food is a gift from God, we can more effectively turn our lives over to God, because fasting needs to be about spiritually centering in God.

And the one other thing to keep in mind is that while you can pray without fasting, you cannot fast without prayer. Fasting has to be centered and focused and bathed in prayer. And while there are lots of ways to fast, for today’s purpose we are going to be talking about the different ways to fast from food, and very briefly. If you need more information or want to talk in more detail, I would love to have that conversation with you. The other thing to keep in mind is that there are some people who should not undertake fasting, which includes pregnant women, those who heart issues, diabetics, and those who are sick, and so if you have any questions, please consult your doctor before beginning a time of fasting, especially more rigorous forms.

The first fast is a partial fast, which can be eliminating certain items from your diet, as Daniel does when he said that for a three week period “I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all” (Dan 10:3) A partial fast is what most people do during the season of lent.

The second type is a full fast, which is what we find most often in scripture and that is going without food but not without water. And what we now know medically about a full fast is the same as what we see in scripture, it can last up to 40 days. As you start this type of fast, the first few days are the hardest, and will have the must hunger pangs, but then they will go away. In the second week you’ll begin to have more energy, although you shouldn’t exercise in a long fast, and then around 21-40 days the hunger pangs return and that’s when this type of fast should stop. What these pangs mean is that your body has used up your reserves and it is now beginning to consume body tissue, your body is eating itself and continuing to fast becomes dangerous at this period. What those who have done long fasts also often report is visions and hallucinations, and that can be spiritually rewarding. But, do not jump into a long term fast. You need to start slow with just a few meals missed, which is what Wesley was doing, then build up to fasting for a whole day, then to several days, and then attempt longer. Most people find that a 5-7 day fast can accomplish the same thing that a much longer fast does. And so listen to what God is calling for you to do.

The final type of fast is an absolute fast which is fasting from food and water. We find this several times in scripture, again what Esther calls for, and Paul also had a 3 day absolute fast after encountering the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. We can do without food for long periods of time, again up to 40 days, but we need water, and so this cannot be done beyond three days without significant damage to the body, including death. So if you are ever to think of an absolute fast, never do it longer than 3 days, and my recommendation would be not to ever take an absolute fast unless you have received clear, and I mean very, very, very clear, instruction from God that that is what you are supposed to do and again never do it for more than 2-3 days and talk with your doctor, not consult the internet, but actually talk with your doctor before your begin.

And here is my final caveat again. Fasting needs to be spiritual; it needs to be focused and centered on God, and so ask if fasting is something you should be doing? Is God calling you to this, and don’t say no just because you can’t imagine it. Ask what you want to get out of it and ask what God wants you to get out of it, and be intentional. I have fasted before and I can say I failed miserably, because rather than taking that time that I would have been cooking or eating to be in prayer, or doing something to connect with God, it gave me more time in the day to do work. That is not the purpose of fasting. So, as I said, prayer and fasting go together, and it should serve to help us grow in faith, not just to work more, or do something else more, unless that something us is spiritual in nature.

Fasting has been practiced within Christianity and Judaism and Islam and indeed most major religions for millennia, and it is a practice that we too are called to participate, not so that we can check off a box or follow some hard set of rules, but to grow in our faith. Fasting is about aligning our lives and our will with God’s will for our lives, about freeing ourselves from worrying about what we are going to eat, not as a mere outward form, but in a deep, moving, transforming and spiritual way so that by our fasts we are never the same people again because it turns out, just as Jesus said, that we are not sustained by food alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.  I pray that it will be so my brothers and sisters.  Amen.