Fasting.

Steve Gentry

[0:06] Welcome to Village Church. [0:08] If this is your first time here, my name is Steve. [0:09] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:11] And as always, I’m thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you because it [0:15] would be awkward to talk to an empty room. [0:18] But if you have a Bible, go ahead and open it to Matthew chapter six.

[0:20] We’re going to be starting in verse 16 this morning. [0:24] And we’re going to be talking about the issue of fasting from the viewpoint of Jesus this [0:29] morning. [0:30] And so as we do that, we’re entering into a section of the Sermon on the Mount where [0:35] he’s necessarily going to talk about and challenge our concept of what our hunger for the things [0:44] of this world teaches us.

[0:46] And so in a couple of different ways, he’s going to talk about your relationship with [0:51] just the issues and things of earth, speaking very much so about material things. [0:57] And so this week he’s going to talk about kind of fasting from things of this world. [1:03] Next week, he’s going to talk about where we actually finding our treasure. [1:06] And then the two weeks after that, we’re going to be dealing with the issue of having anxiety [1:11] over the things of this world and what that actually teaches us about our relationship

[1:16] with Jesus. [1:17] But when we talk about fasting, we talk about something that is completely unnatural. [1:21] If prayer is unnatural for people, fasting is basically pushing unnatural the throttle [1:28] all the way to the floor because in fasting, you’re doing something that is against what [1:34] you’ve been trained to do your entire life. [1:37] You’ve been trained quite literally from birth to eat multiple times a day.

[1:43] And so that forms a rhythm in your life. [1:45] And fasting is this activity in which we relent from a natural rhythm in our lives that we [1:52] have built a habit that we have formed in order to form a different habit, in order [1:57] to feed a different type of hunger. [2:01] And so for the past few weeks, we’ve been dealing with the issue of prayer and fasting [2:06] comes in between the issue of prayer and the issue of our relationship with the things

[2:11] of this world. [2:12] And I think for a very important reason, because for the most part, most of us spend [2:17] our lives investing in the things of this world. [2:21] And so prayer is difficult. [2:24] And Jesus has talked to us about two things. [2:26] He’s talked to us about our posture in prayer, feeding into the content of prayer, ensuring

[2:31] that the content of our prayer isn’t phony, but then also talking to us about here’s [2:35] what the content of your prayer should look like, and that should form your worldview. [2:41] But then now he begins to talk about the things that are going to challenge our relationship [2:47] with God and fasting is stepping away from what is a natural and good activity that you [2:56] would have in this world to replace it by feeding on the presence of Christ. [3:02] And so you’re necessarily going to be teaching yourself a different type of hunger.

[3:08] Now, I want to give a couple of qualifications before I go into it so that I don’t have [3:13] to deal with it later on, even though some of you may forget. [3:17] The first thing is talking about fasting, part of fasting and an overarching theme of [3:22] fasting is going to be doing without food. [3:24] That’s a type, if not the main type of fasting that we’re going to deal with. [3:28] But if your doctor has told you not to skip meals, don’t skip meals, then tell your

[3:33] doctor I told you to. [3:35] All right. [3:36] So if you have some type of medical condition and they do exist where you can’t fast, you’re [3:44] going to need to listen a little bit later on in the sermon when I talk about different [3:47] types of fasting, because for many people, food isn’t what you need to fast from. [3:52] You need to fast from something else.

[3:53] And for some of you, fasting from food would be antithetical because you have a destructive [3:57] relationship with food anyway. [3:59] The way that you view food is wrong. [4:01] And so you’re on such a diet binge that fasting is just going to feed into your unhealthy [4:06] view of self. [4:08] And so I want to deal with that.

[4:10] But then number two, some of you are also alpha dog, just type a personality. [4:16] And tomorrow, you’ve never fasted before, you’ve never skipped a meal in your life. [4:20] And tomorrow, you’re going to embark on a five day fast. [4:22] All right. [4:23] Don’t do that either. [4:25] All right, because on the end of day five, they may have to put you in the hospital because

[4:28] you’re so unhealthy. [4:29] So don’t do these extreme types of fasting and be like, well, Jesus fasted before today, [4:35] so that’s where I’m going to start. [4:36] No, that’s probably where you’re going to die. [4:39] Start with a meal, not all the meals. [4:42] All right, just start with fasting from lunch and by four o’clock, you’ll probably be shaking

[4:46] up as it is. [4:47] So start with that. [4:49] All right. [4:49] And so qualifications aside, I want to deal with what it looks like to build a healthy [4:56] view of fasting the way that Jesus had a view of fasting. [5:00] And so in Matthew chapter six, starting in verse 16, here’s what our Savior said.

[5:05] And when you fast, again, he doesn’t say if. [5:10] That’s an important grammatical point. [5:13] Jesus doesn’t say this is an option. [5:15] Jesus doesn’t say this is something that you can do. [5:18] Jesus doesn’t say if you ever decide this is right for you. [5:22] Now, Jesus assumes, just like with generosity and just like with prayer, that this is something

[5:27] that those who are following him are going to partake in in one way or the other. [5:33] He says, and when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their [5:38] faces that their fact that their fasting may be seen by others. [5:42] Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. [5:45] But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face that your fasting may not be seen [5:51] by others, but by your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you.

[6:01] So Jesus gives us a concept. [6:06] Of what fasting should be like when we partake in it, not if and how we should apply these [6:14] principles of the secret places that you enter into these environments where it’s just you [6:20] and God and no one else. [6:22] No one knows about it. [6:23] No one needs to know about it because you have a trust in your life that there are ways

[6:28] that the father rewards you because your faith is not in the applause of man. [6:32] Your faith is in the presence of God and there will be rewards in that. [6:38] And so there are practices as a Christian that you need to enter into that you never [6:42] tell another living soul about because your father has promised to reward you. [6:48] And that requires a lot of faith because we kind of have built lives in which recognition [6:53] from other people is how we know we’re doing the right thing.

[6:56] Well, the father says through Jesus Christ here that when you enter into fasting, you’re [7:01] entering into a season where you’re seeking the reward and the attention of God and God [7:05] alone so no one else should be involved. [7:07] We have to build an ethic for that. [7:09] And the issue with fasting is, is I can actually safely enter into this and assume that 99 [7:15] percent of you have never done it.

[7:17] I can usually pretty safely assume based on statistics and everything that we know that [7:22] for the most part, fasting is not an activity that most people have ever entered into. [7:26] And it’s actually also an activity that most people will either, A, avoid their whole lives [7:30] or B, not understand for their whole lives. [7:33] All right. [7:33] So number one, fasting.

[7:34] Here’s what it’s all about ultimately, that you need to build a hunger for Christ. [7:39] You need to build a hunger for Christ. [7:43] This challenges the assumption that you have one. [7:46] This challenges the assumption that there is a default mode in you where you just naturally [7:50] have a hunger for Christ. [7:51] And I’m going to challenge that.

[7:51] I’m going to tell you, you don’t. [7:54] There’s a false assumption that many people assume, and that is that these two phrases [7:58] are synonymous. [7:59] Most people would actually say, I am a Christian is synonymous with I have a hunger for Christ. [8:07] I don’t think that’s necessarily true. [8:09] But don’t get me wrong.

[8:11] It should be true. [8:13] And probably must be true. [8:16] But just because you have professed faith in Jesus Christ, just because you have labeled [8:24] yourself a Christian, just because you say you’re going to take on an identity as a [8:29] follower of Christ doesn’t mean that you have a hunger for Christ. [8:34] And I actually do think that there is a, if not large percentage, there is a percentage

[8:40] of people in here that you don’t have a natural hunger for Christ. [8:46] And that’s why you need to build one. [8:47] But here’s the key. [8:49] That’s why Jesus gave us fasting.

[8:53] Fasting is to build what isn’t naturally already going to be there. [8:59] It is training yourself to find sustenance and find satisfaction and something other [9:07] than what the material world can offer you. [9:09] That’s why the words of Jesus in Matthew four are so prominent in a section like this, [9:14] when he looked to the devil and he said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by what [9:19] every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

[9:22] And so you have to understand that part of growing in your faith in Christ is developing [9:28] hungers and establishing rhythms that are not naturally there unless you intentionally [9:34] begin to form them. [9:36] So do not assume that you have a hunger for Christ. [9:39] So how do you know? [9:42] Well, if you can spend long periods.

[9:47] Without being in the word, I’m talking about the Bible. [9:51] Without entering into a pattern of prayer where it’s just you and God conversing, where [10:00] you are practicing what we talked about the last two Sundays. [10:04] If you can go long periods without experiencing community with other believers, if the local [10:09] church and the practices of the local church are just optional, they’re not mandatory [10:13] in your life.

[10:14] And if you spend weeks, months, even years apart from those activities that the scripture [10:21] has made clear are the normal Christian life and you don’t yearn and long and miss and [10:29] a hunger for the Bible and feel a hunger for prayer and feel a hunger for the people [10:34] of God and a hunger for discipleship, then you don’t have a hunger for Christ. [10:39] Those are not separate things because God has given us good gifts through the word, [10:45] good gifts through prayer, good gifts through the people of God.

[10:49] And we are actually as followers of Jesus to build rhythms and patterns in which they [10:54] are meeting a need in our lives that the natural world will not meet. [11:00] That your bowling club will not meet, that your shopping circle will not meet, [11:07] that whatever you do, it doesn’t meet the same needs that the spiritual disciplines [11:12] that God has shown us that we need to partake in through his word meet. [11:17] The apostle Paul is fascinating through some of the more out, I don’t say worldly speaking,

[11:22] they’re outlandish things to say. [11:24] Here’s how he described his hunger for Christ. [11:26] Philippians chapter one, verse twenty three, he says that it would be far better to depart [11:33] from the world and be in the presence of Christ. [11:37] You see what he’s saying? [11:38] He’s saying if I die, I get a gift that life just can’t give me and I want that more.

[11:46] In second Corinthians chapter five, he describes it this way. [11:48] He says that there is a physical reality that I will experience with Christ after my death, [11:55] I’m not experiencing this war. [11:57] That’s how we know he’s not just talking about some metaphysical, spiritual, [12:01] nirvanic feeling while still on this earth because he says I will be away from the body. [12:06] He’s saying physically I’ll be dead and what a gift.

[12:11] The fascinating thing about second Corinthians is that the context of second Corinthians [12:14] and what the apostle Paul is dealing with is actually threats to his life. [12:19] He writes frequently throughout the whole book of second Corinthians that people are trying [12:24] to kill him and he says, well, if they succeed, I’m not going to be that upset about it. [12:33] I’ll be with Jesus.

[12:36] That’s not normal, friends. [12:39] See, the greatest fear that most people ultimately have is a fear of death. [12:45] There’s nothing worse than dying. [12:48] The apostle Paul through his life had developed such a hunger for Christ. [12:54] The world did not have that type of hold on him until he was hungry for the presence of Christ. [13:00] Here’s what you need to understand.

[13:03] The goal of the Christian life is to develop that hunger where you are hungrier for the presence [13:12] of Christ than you are anything this world has to offer you, even oxygen, [13:19] because you long for the presence of Jesus Christ. [13:22] The apostle Paul is at that reward and fasting is the strategy that God gives us to reach [13:29] that place. [13:30] Fasting rewires the affections towards a desire and feasting on Christ.

[13:37] You can fast for all types of things, spiritual breakthrough. [13:40] You can fast for spiritual need. [13:43] You can fast for physical need. [13:45] You can fast for all types of things, but the root of fasting is the feasting on Christ. [13:51] It is to develop that hunger for Christ. [13:54] Just a few weeks ago, I could just feel in my spirit that I needed to fast.

[13:59] And so I thought I had a physical need and that God wanted me to fast for a physical [14:04] need that I had at that point. [14:07] And when I got into the fast, it was woefully apparent to me that I was not fasting for a [14:12] physical need. [14:12] God drew me into that season because I needed something spiritually from him. [14:17] That I needed a rootedness that was not happening in my life in the Holy Spirit in my life.

[14:25] See, fasting is all about rewiring your affections towards Christ. [14:30] But fasting reveals what is controlling you. [14:34] Do you ever notice that if you skip a meal, that your stomach growls and sometimes it [14:39] growls in really inopportune times? [14:42] See, about one o’clock, I’m going to experience some stomach growling because I’ve preached [14:48] three services.

[14:49] My day started really early this morning. [14:51] I haven’t really eaten much since last night. [14:53] And so about one o’clock, my stomach can tell my brain, hey, what’s your problem? [14:58] We’re hungry. [14:59] You’ve been expelling a lot of energy. [15:00] You haven’t been taking anything in.

[15:02] Well, the key with fasting is that natural tendency that our body has to tell us that [15:08] we have not fed on food in quite a while. [15:12] Fasting develops a rhythm in which you develop hunger pains for God. [15:18] In which I can, I’m just hungry for it. [15:21] I got to enter into that because I’ve got to feast on all that Christ is for me. [15:26] The fasting also brings attention.

[15:27] And that’s what Jesus is talking about specifically in this passage. [15:31] There is unchristian fasting. [15:34] Every religion that I know of, and I’m sure there are some that I do not know of, but [15:39] every religion that I know of has some version of fasting. [15:43] It has some version of self-denial specifically from food. [15:47] And so every religion that practices fasting other than Christianity practices it for

[15:52] unchristian reasons. [15:54] There’s even fasting for a secular nation. [15:57] The better things that we understand is there’s a fasting for political strategy, for political [16:02] gain. [16:02] Gandhi practiced that. [16:04] Prisoners practice it when they go on a hunger strike.

[16:07] That is a unchristian form of fasting. [16:10] So it will not teach you to build a hunger for God. [16:14] There is nowadays, this is really popular, fasting as a health regimen. [16:18] And if you fast for a health regimen, I would challenge you to find something other than [16:23] food to fast from because you’re going to have an unhealthy view of fasting when you [16:28] enter into spiritual fasting.

[16:30] And as any of your friends, as an adult, you experience peer pressure where diets are [16:35] concerned. [16:36] And everybody has a new diet. [16:38] And of course, intermittent fasting is the big deal right now because Navy SEALs do it [16:42] or something. [16:43] I don’t know.

[16:44] And so what they’ll say is if you just find this two hour window in your day and you just [16:49] in that two hours, eat whatever you want and the other 22 don’t eat and you’ll lose 72 [16:55] pounds in two weeks. [16:56] Right. [16:57] And here’s the deal. [16:58] If you do intermittent fasting, good for you.

[17:01] Stop telling me about it. [17:03] I’m never going to do it because I think it’s stupid.

[17:07] All right. [17:08] And can you just be as offended about what I just said as I am about you fat shaming [17:13] me? [17:13] OK, we’ll just we’ll just have that relationship going on. [17:16] We’re just equally offended at each other’s presence. [17:19] The key with me and intermittent fasting isn’t that I think I don’t think I could do

[17:23] it. [17:23] I don’t want to do it. [17:24] I mean, just I like three squares a day or four or six. [17:28] I like the people that tell me just eat every two hours. [17:31] You don’t promise what I’ll eat every two hours. [17:34] But during the two hour window of fasting, I would literally schedule my day to be at

[17:41] Golden Corral those two hours and the damage I would do. [17:46] See, you tell me you can eat whatever you want. [17:49] I will eat whatever is in front of me. [17:51] And so I’ll make sure I’m a golden crown. [17:53] The damage I do in those two hours would totally undo the other 22 of not eating. [17:57] But intermittent fasting is not Christian fasting.

[18:02] There’s fasting as a display of willpower. [18:04] And this is why mostly alpha male personalities in are into intermittent fasting because [18:10] they have something to prove that their daddy didn’t applaud them for. [18:14] And so they practice this fasting as a display of their willpower. [18:19] But when you practice fasting as a display of willpower, here’s the problem. [18:22] You then begin to practice fasting as a display of your superiority.

[18:26] And you see how destructive these patterns can be. [18:30] And so because of our restlessness, because of our sinfulness, we can take something that [18:36] Jesus prescribed like fasting and we can actually accomplish the opposite of what [18:42] Jesus wants us to accomplish. [18:44] That’s the tendency that we have. [18:45] And so even with things like fasting, we have to be very comfortable because you can use

[18:51] fasting as a way to be more impressed with yourself than you are with Jesus. [18:57] And that can be very dangerous. [19:00] See, even with religious forms of fasting, Jesus warns us through the apostle Paul in [19:04] Colossians 2 about things like fasting. [19:06] Here’s what he says starting in verse 20. [19:07] He says, if with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why as if you were still

[19:12] alive in the world, do you submit to regulations like don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch, [19:18] referring to things that all parishes, they are used according to human precepts and teachings. [19:23] These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism [19:29] and severity to the body. [19:31] But they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. [19:35] See, if you enter into it for the wrong reasons, you can accomplish the opposite of what you

[19:39] need to accomplish. [19:40] So that’s why legalism is very easy on things like this because there will be people and I’ve [19:46] known them that will basically have authority of you. [19:49] And they’ll say, well, if you want to be as spiritual as I am, you won’t eat this, that [19:54] or the other thing. [19:55] If you want to be as spiritual as I am, you’ll fast every Thursday.

[20:01] And see, when it becomes like that, then it ceases to be about the enjoyment of the grace [20:07] that God has afforded us through his son, Jesus. [20:10] And it begins to be about earning our keep and proving our value. [20:16] That is not healthy. [20:18] And that’s why the apostle is warning us. [20:20] Fasting can very quickly become about the asceticism.

[20:25] And asceticism is just the denial of pleasure. [20:29] It’s like I’m going to be so spiritual that I’m not going to enjoy anything. [20:32] You’ve ever met anybody like that? [20:34] That’s not Christian. [20:36] That’s not what a follower of Jesus Christ engages in. [20:39] And so the self-denial can go to a place where God does not want it to go to into

[20:46] our lives. [20:47] When we reduce faith in Jesus to little regulations about food and try to prove how [20:54] spiritual we are through those, it destroys our faith in Jesus Christ and builds faith [21:00] in self. [21:01] But what do you need fasting for? [21:03] Number two, this morning, there is something you need that this world cannot offer.

[21:07] And fasting builds a pathway towards that. [21:10] You see, it takes faith to believe that Christ is better. [21:14] God did a really good job when he made the world. [21:17] He did a great job. [21:18] That’s why he steps back and everything he makes. [21:19] He says it was good.

[21:21] Because God has given us many, many wonderful gifts in this world. [21:27] And his beauty is seen so much through so many wonderful things in this world that we [21:32] have a temptation to find more pleasure in his gifts than we find in his being. [21:37] And so sometimes when we’re living in this world, we can enjoy the things this world [21:41] so much. [21:42] And I want you to be able to be this honest with yourself.

[21:45] It takes faith to believe that God is better than the gifts that God gives. [21:51] Because sometimes the fear of the spiritual disciplines and the fear of, you know, saying [21:56] no to something that I might be enjoying so that I can embrace a greater reality and finding [22:01] a hunger in Jesus is that I’m like, but this thing’s really good. [22:03] I don’t know if Jesus is better. [22:06] That’s why faith is required.

[22:08] You need to trust that God is telling you the truth in his word when he says that he [22:12] is better, because fasting gives you this ethic that rather than finding what we would [22:18] call fullness in the things of the world, we are filled by the presence and hope of [22:23] all that God is for us in Christ. [22:25] Have you ever eaten? [22:26] You’ve enjoyed food to the extent where you’ve almost eaten yourself sick.

[22:31] You too. [22:32] And I’ve been there many, many times. [22:34] And you just you eat and you’re just full and you’re like, oh, my goodness, I just [22:39] wish I could eat more. [22:41] You know, you’ve never been there. [22:43] Yes, you have.

[22:44] Liars. [22:44] All right. [22:45] You’re like eyeballing the dish, whether it be like a dish of enchiladas in my house [22:51] or or because my wife, oh, man, it’s my favorite meal. [22:53] My wife makes me or whether it be, you know, blackberry cobbler or that pecan pie, you [22:59] know, you just think in your mind, can I take it all down?

[23:04] And then you realize your limits eventually. [23:07] And you’re like, the answer is no, I cannot. [23:10] Well, fasting is a way in which you seek that fullness, but not in food, but in Jesus. [23:17] It’s like you want to experience what would it be like if I had a fullness of Christ [23:22] in my life and Leviticus, chapter twenty three. [23:26] We see the origins of Christian fasting in the practices of Israel.

[23:30] So in Leviticus twenty three, the the Jews on the day of atonement would practice [23:37] physical fasting from food. [23:38] And the reason that they did this in the Hebrew, the word literally translate [23:42] afflict yourself or they would afflict themselves. [23:46] And what that literally meant was that they were doing without food. [23:49] And the hunger pains is a self affliction.

[23:51] But what they would do on the day of atonement when the high priest was offering a sacrifice [23:55] for communal sins for the whole year is that they would fast from food in order to show [24:01] their contrition from sin and in order to feel the emptiness of sin by their empty stomach. [24:09] And so this is a practice that then extended and the Pharisees would [24:13] usually fast about twice a week. [24:15] But when Jesus came, he led his disciples to totally break tradition.

[24:20] And so everybody was questioning him. [24:22] And that’s why Matthew nine’s teaching on fasting is extremely helpful to understand [24:27] what Christian fasting is. [24:29] See, the disciples of John’s John the Baptist, he’s talking about came to Jesus and said, [24:34] why do we in the Pharisees fast? [24:36] But your disciples don’t fast.

[24:38] See, the disciples were obviously eating all the time, never fasting. [24:43] And it confused people. [24:45] And Jesus said to them, can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? [24:50] You see, the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast. [24:57] You see, what Jesus is doing there is he’s saying you don’t go to a wedding. [25:02] And I’m not talking about a wedding where they have dry chicken.

[25:05] All right. [25:06] I’m talking about a wedding where they actually gave you the good stuff. [25:09] See, I miss the weddings I went to growing up. [25:12] See, I went to an old school church and it would just be ham biscuits in the fellowship hall. [25:15] And so so I developed a yearning for ham biscuits. [25:19] And if I go to something and they got that little and I love the way they will build

[25:23] the pyramid of the ham biscuits, all right, and it’ll be on those you crops White House rolls. [25:27] And there’ll be there’ll be that Virginia sugar cured ham in between it. [25:31] And I would say this is a wedding feast. [25:35] All right. [25:36] Jesus is saying you don’t go to a wedding feast and mourn. [25:41] You don’t go to a wedding reception and have the audacity to look at the bride and groom

[25:47] who spent tons of money. [25:49] The relatives have been spent tons of time preparing this meal for you. [25:53] And you say, I’m just not going to eat today. [25:56] All right. [25:56] If you’ve ever done that, don’t do it again. [25:58] I’ve been to a lot of weddings.

[25:59] I officially that’s rude. [26:01] All right. [26:01] You’re there to celebrate. [26:03] You’re not there to abstain. [26:05] And so you go there and you celebrate. [26:07] Jesus is saying, hey, I’m here.

[26:09] I’m in their presence. [26:12] Jesus, the son of God is on earth. [26:14] And so as long as I’m with them, it’s a wedding feast. [26:18] They’re enjoying my presence. [26:20] They’re having a great time. [26:21] But then he says, I’m going to leave.

[26:25] That tells us two things. [26:27] First thing it tells us is that Jesus believed that the presence of him, [26:31] the son of God in their lives was a feast. [26:35] It was something that they could celebrate and enjoy. [26:37] But then the second thing that he let them know is there’s coming a new practice of fasting [26:43] for all of my people.

[26:45] And that new practice is what he described starting in verse 16. [26:48] He says, no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment for the patch tears away from the [26:54] garment and a worst tear is made. [26:56] Neither is new wine put in old wine skins. [26:58] If it is the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. [27:03] But new wine is put into fresh wine, wine skins.

[27:05] And so both are preserved. [27:08] Here’s the deal with the wine. [27:09] All right. [27:10] What they would do is they didn’t have the glasses that we have now, you know, not in abundance [27:14] like we do. [27:16] So they would actually use leather sacks for wine.

[27:19] And what would happen is when you poured that wine in that leather sack, once you sealed it, [27:24] once you close it off, there is a chemical reaction that goes on and the gas begins to [27:30] form and expand inside of that wine skin. [27:33] So they were to pour new wine into an old wine skin. [27:38] That old wine skin would already be stretched out to capacity. [27:43] And so if you filled the old wine skin with new wine, it would burst because it would

[27:49] expand beyond its capacity. [27:50] It would burst and you would lose all the wine. [27:52] So every fresh batch of wine demanded a new wine skin so that it could expand inside [28:01] of the leather pouches. [28:04] And so Jesus is telling us if you try to take the same ethics from Leviticus and apply [28:12] it to the fasting my people are going to have, then you are going to be putting the new

[28:19] wine of Jesus into the old wine skin of the old covenant. [28:22] Jesus is saying new covenant, new fasting. [28:27] Why? [28:29] Because the day of atonement was about to go away. [28:32] The day of atonement was about to be unnecessary because what they once had to do every year [28:37] to atone for the sins of the community of Israel, Jesus was going to do for all of

[28:42] eternity. [28:43] Jesus was about to give the perfect atonement, the eternal atonement, the atonement of his [28:49] own life and blood. [28:51] And so fasting now is not looking at our day of contrition because the atonement is being [28:58] made right now and we better make sure we are really sorry. [29:02] Instead, our fasting is in light that the sins have been paid for once and for all.

[29:08] Forgiveness is mine because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and in [29:12] the resurrection and so my feasting and fasting is to feast on the presence of Jesus that [29:20] I am longing for in the future when he returns for his people some day. [29:27] That’s also why, and this is more controversial for younger people because social media, [29:32] but I don’t practice Lent. [29:36] Lent is not a Christian practice.

[29:38] Lent is old covenant. [29:40] That’s why Catholics do it. [29:41] They don’t have the new covenant. [29:43] They are still trying to work off their sin. [29:45] See the practice of Lent comes from a season of debauchery and they abstain from something [29:51] so they can atone through contrition for the debauchery they experienced in the previous

[29:57] season. [29:58] As a Christian, I don’t believe in that. [29:59] I don’t believe in the practice of Lent because my sin has been atoned for once and [30:03] for all and so I am not looking to go into debauchery. [30:05] I am looking to go into a feast and a feast on the presence of Jesus Christ. [30:09] So Lent, I have literally told people and it’s half joking but it’s true, I will fast

[30:14] any season but Lent because I am a Protestant. [30:18] I believe that my sin has been paid for once and for all. [30:22] But see the issue that we run into most of the time as Christians is because we are [30:26] used to the ethic that you abstain from wickedness so that you can pursue holiness and so we [30:35] can get it twisted sometimes and we can think well that’s what fasting is. [30:38] That’s not what fasting is.

[30:41] Fasting is abstaining from a good thing so you can have a better thing. [30:45] See fasting is when you look at all the good things in your life and say which one of [30:49] those is beginning to have a hold over me. [30:52] It’s a fasting is looking at a good thing so that it doesn’t become a God thing because [30:56] a good thing can become a God thing then it becomes a sinful thing. [31:01] See good things aren’t sinful until they’re sinful and what that means is there’s a lot

[31:04] of good practices that you have in your life. [31:07] There’s a lot of good commitments that you start with and then those good commitments [31:10] become commitments that are more important to you than your commitment to Jesus and your [31:15] commitment to the spiritual disciplines and your commitment to the people of God. [31:19] And when that begins to happen that is when you know you need to enter into a season of [31:23] fasting from that specific thing.

[31:25] As John Piper puts it he says fasting at its root is the hunger of a homesickness for God. [31:32] See I think for some young people the thing that fasting is supposed to build in your life [31:38] is what social media has habitually caused in your life and this isn’t going to fit for [31:43] everybody. [31:44] Some of you still live on a compound somewhere with no phone lines but for some of you and [31:51] especially the younger crowd you understand this.

[31:54] See you have developed habitual muscle memory. [31:57] I’ve seen it happen. [31:59] You’ll be actually engaging in a conversation with each other and if there is any lull [32:05] for two and a half seconds.

[32:13] And sometimes you don’t even know you’re doing it. [32:15] You’ll just be in the middle of something and you’ll actually be engaging in something [32:19] that muscle memory will take over. [32:21] And it’s not a bad thing it’s just a habitual thing that you form because I don’t even [32:24] think many of you know what’s going on and you’re all of a sudden and then out of the [32:29] world.

[32:29] All right. [32:35] And what you need to understand is that’s not a bad thing until it becomes a God thing. [32:40] So you need to begin to take a look at what are the habits that you formed in your life. [32:44] What are the habitual patterns that you’re forming in your life are okay things or even [32:48] good things becoming God things. [32:50] That’s when they’re sinful things because the reality is the muscle memory and the itchy

[32:55] finger that you have for I don’t care if it’s Facebook Twitter Snapchat Instagram [32:59] Instacart I don’t know whatever it is the new ones I haven’t even heard of yet because [33:05] I’m aging out of all this myself. [33:07] But do you have the same muscle memory for prayer.

[33:12] Do you have the itchy trigger finger for the scriptures.

[33:17] Are you developing rhythms where gathering with the people of God are concerned the same [33:22] way that you’re gathering over social media is concerned. [33:27] See you need to form healthy habits so that you can undo some unhealthy habits and oftentimes [33:33] it is only fasting that is going to give you the spiritual breakthrough to realize how [33:38] unhealthy you actually are because oftentimes you don’t know what has control over you until [33:43] you put it out of your life for a season.

[33:46] So the key is number three this morning anything can stand in the way of true discipleship.

[33:53] Anything can stand in the way of true discipleship fasting poses the real question is Jesus [34:00] better and see our default is to say of course it isn’t better than Jesus. [34:07] Jesus is the best so if I ask you is Jesus better than this bad thing you just immediately [34:13] if you’re a follower of Jesus you’re not a follower of Jesus maybe not but if you’re [34:16] a follower of Jesus you’ll just immediately say of course Jesus is better than that bad thing [34:20] and even if I would talk about a good thing that you have going on in your life it’s even

[34:23] a gift from God into your life obviously and I would say is Jesus better than that gift. [34:28] Yes of course he’s better of course Jesus is better than that and so I think it’s a [34:33] futile question I think it’s actually unhelpful to ask those questions but we have to consider [34:38] what our lives are actually spelling out for us. [34:42] See you need to consider a good thing that you practice frequently see it might be [34:46] different for all of you and that’s where this becomes harder.

[34:50] Think about a good thing that you practice frequently think about food that you ingest [34:57] and enjoy frequently think about a hobby that you love think about a place that you go to [35:04] maybe you go there every day maybe you go there once a week or some other thing that [35:09] really enjoy now imagine for a meal a day a week or even a longer season than that [35:22] fasting from it and replacing it by seeking the presence of God. [35:26] Now here’s the question how difficult would that be?

[35:31] See it’s not difficult for me to fast from kale. [35:35] I just be honest safe place right I can’t even think of a time I’ve eaten it [35:41] so let me tell you it’s a long it’s a long season of fasting in my life it’s not hard [35:47] so don’t think about something that you don’t practice think about something that you do [35:52] practice let me be more specific for some of you maybe this will be easier if you’re a runner [35:58] right you just go and just you just run what if for a week that hour that you spend running

[36:08] you’re in the word and you’re in prayer how hard would that be [36:13] or let’s say you’re a p90x or t25 or you’re sweating the oldies with Richard Simmons I [36:19] don’t know what it is that you’re doing right for a week what if for a month [36:27] the time that you’ve been habitually doing that good thing you were in the word and in prayer [36:35] or if you bench pressing squatting dead lifting cross fitting I mean whatever it is because [36:40] those people among us who are really addicted to physical fitness that’s a that would be a tough

[36:46] thing and I know because I know what it does to your brain I know the conversation you’re having [36:49] your mind if I didn’t run for a month I would lose what matters I would be unhealthy if I [36:58] didn’t run for a month would you well how long are you able to go without the word [37:06] without prayer where you’re like I’m unhealthy

[37:12] and so when we begin to consider these things I mean what if you took

[37:19] a sports season off

[37:24] what if habitually you are taking 15 minutes and stopping at a coffee shop every day [37:30] and not accomplishing anything and instead of drinking coffee you spend that 15 minutes in [37:35] prayer I mean we can even go down to these small infinitesimal amounts of time and say what would [37:42] it be like to replace that amount of time with the word [37:48] because that’s why I said things like don’t start with three days start with lunch because [37:55] some of you lunch gets you through a miserable job doesn’t it what if you spend a week every lunch

[38:04] in the word in prayer now parents I do want to talk to you for a moment because I do think [38:12] parents are unintentionally giving their children good gifts that distract them [38:22] from a future hunger for Christ what if your child took a season away from travel soccer [38:33] and they only played on two teams

[38:37] so one of the most important two days of my life I’m 39 years old two of the most important [38:46] days of my life happened when I was 12 years old my parents sat me down and if you know me [38:51] you know that I love baseball and I played baseball almost religiously as a young man [38:58] my parents sat me down I was 12 years old and there was a tournament the following week [39:02] and my parents said our church has called us into a season of commitment and son [39:09] we want to teach you and these were the words that they use that Jesus is better than baseball

[39:15] and so you can’t play in the tournament next week and so instead of playing in the tournament I [39:20] mean I wasn’t I mean I wasn’t like great no I wasn’t happy about it don’t get me wrong [39:27] but I went did get our church commitments didn’t go to the tournament team lost because I wasn’t [39:33] there that’s how valuable it was that’s what I believe

[39:39] yeah everybody’s uncle Rico’s if you don’t get that you’ll get it later

[39:45] but the next week I rejoined the team and and they were like man you know where were you [39:50] and I said you know well this wasn’t you know upwards this was just a team and nobody was a [39:56] Christian but me and I said well you know we’re Christians and and I had I mean I was 12 years [40:01] old I had no idea what to say other than what my parents had told me and so last week I was with [40:06] my church and and because we believe that Jesus is better than baseball and I’ll never forget it at [40:12] 12 years old that un understood fast from the week before gave me the opportunity I shared the

[40:22] gospel as good as a 12 year old can share the gospel with my entire baseball team

[40:27] see parents some of the commitments that you are putting on top of your children are strangling [40:35] the potential for spiritual growth that 12 year olds are fully capable of having

[40:43] by what you are committing your children to do they believe Jesus is better they believe that [40:50] again sports are great sports are good things don’t hear what I’m not saying but when they [40:56] become god things they become sinful things and what if just for a week

[41:07] Jesus is better what would that teach see friends these are not this is not theoretical theology [41:16] this is Christianity on the ground Martin Lloyd-Jones the great preacher says it this way [41:23] fasting should include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake [41:32] of some special purpose of seeking the presence of God so Martin Lloyd-Jones had it he says this is [41:41] just about food this is about anything that could potentially replace the hunger that you need for [41:49] Jesus the apostle Paul in first Corinthians 6 verse 12 he says all things are lawful for me

[41:56] but not all things are helpful all things are lawful for me but I will not be dominated by [42:06] anything do you see the idea the apostle has because I know the response that I get sometimes [42:11] when I talk about some of these sacred cows in our culture like kids sports you say but it’s not a [42:17] sin and I would say I agree you’ll say I’m free in Christ and I would say yes you are all things [42:25] are lawful to you friend but is it helpful and then the other question Paul asked me I love that [42:32] he says this are you being dominated by something other than Jesus because if you are the reason

[42:41] Paul says this in this passage is because he’s talking about returning to being enslaved by the [42:48] desires of the flesh means I will not be dominated by the flesh any longer that’s what freedom in [42:55] Christ actually looks like friends fasting reveals the measure of foods control over us [43:03] or television or sports or social media or whatever it is that you submit to again and again [43:13] and again to conceal a weakness for a hunger for Christ see the things that dominate you the things [43:25] that you are investing in that take you away from Christ sometimes we like having them because

[43:31] they actually cover up the fact that we’re not hungry for Christ at all and so long as I can stay [43:38] busy there’s no time for me to realize that I’m not hungry for Jesus

[43:48] John Piper puts it this way and I think he’s so helpful where fasting is concerned [43:52] he says this is the essence of Christian fasting see here’s the reward Jesus promises reward [44:00] he says this is the essence of Christian fasting we ache and yearn and fast to know more and more [44:10] of all that God is for us in Jesus but only because he has already laid hold of us [44:22] see we don’t fast to gain God’s favor we fast to enjoy God’s favor because when you build these [44:34] rhythms you develop a hunger and you know what real satisfaction is and it’s something that

[44:42] can offer it’s only through faith in Jesus because Jesus is better do you believe that [44:53] every week we reflect on what’s called the Lord’s Supper you know if you’re new here I’d love to [44:59] explain that to you just for a moment if you’d let me but in the back and in the front there [45:05] tables with bread on the plates and juice in the cups and when we come forward to go to the back [45:13] we eat and drink and this is where why this analogy works so well it’s why Jesus gave it [45:18] to us because especially on a day when we talk about fasting it’s fitting because what it

[45:23] represents is that we go to the table empty we have nothing to offer but then when we eat and [45:31] we drink it represents the promise that Jesus made to us that he’d fill us that he would be [45:37] our all in all he will be our fullness and that’s also why if you’re a Christian these tables are [45:44] open but if you can’t say in honesty I’m a follower of Jesus Christ I’m actually going to ask you not [45:53] to partake of this meal not because there’s anything better about me not because there’s [46:01] something else I’m going to ask you to just take a step of faith and walk out into the foyer where

[46:08] you first came into the building there will be somebody there that can pray with you there will [46:13] be somebody there that could answer any questions about Christianity that you might have and if you [46:17] want they will even tell you this is how you become a Christian because today can be the day [46:22] where Jesus saves you forever but if you are a follower of Jesus Christ in just a moment come [46:30] eat and drink proclaim your fullness in Christ and then when you leave here go and build that hunger [46:38] when you’re ready come

[47:00] you