“Growing in Christ: Fasting” Luke 18: 9-14

When I was in college, I took a three week summer course that focused on spiritual disciplines. Overall, I enjoyed the class until we get to today’s topic - fasting. There was just something inside of me that had a negative reaction when I heard the word “fasting”. This poor attitude spilled over to the rest of the class when my professor shared his personal practice with fasting - how he skipped dinner with his family once a week to fast. The idea of not being with your family in order to grow spiritually made me feel even more distant from the concept of fasting.

But the truth is that we need to fast. In Western culture we are obsessed with the idea of being better than we are. The idea of presenting to others that we are better - more wealthy, more righteous, more successful - then we feel on the inside.  So we cling to the latest fad to make us “better”, seeking outer glory instead of inner transformation. We want all the glory with little work and cost. And that’s the problem with fasting - it allows us to explore the depth of our own spirits and doesn’t let us settle for the half-truths that we tell others about being better than we actually are. In fact, through surrendering to God we start to discover new truths - about who we are, who God is, and the world around us. Truths that aren’t always comfortable. As we allow God to work in and through us, stripping away our layers of self-deceit and self-righteousness, we find that it is our heart that matters to God, not moral or spiritual achievements. 

The Pharisee in this morning’s scripture missed out on the heart being the center of our connection with God. The Pharisee sets his status before God and proclaims boldly, loudly, his own actions for his salvation - including praying, fasting, and tithing. In contrast there is the tax collector, who cannot bring himself to boast, and instead prayers for God to have mercy on him for the awful things that he has done, the things that bring him deep shame. 

We cannot hear today’s scripture without trying to insert ourselves in to it. Who do we each identify with more - the tax collector or the Pharisee? Before answering too quickly, think back. Has there ever been a time when you have thanked God that you aren’t like your neighbor who refuses to go to church or not like someone in a different political party who you feel isn’t following God’s leading or law? The Pharisee’s prayer is filled with arrogance and pride as he exalts himself before God - tries to prove to God his worth. Have you ever tried to tell God why you deserve something or how good you have been?

The Pharisees problem is that he practiced the discipline, not for transformation, but to check it off his to-do list. For true fasting breaks our hard hearts and makes us humble before our Creator. Instead of having true humility, he had the false form of humility that often beckons us to find our identity in our accomplishments instead of in God alone. 

The Pharisee often gets a bad reputation in this parable, but truth be told, we have probably all been the pharisee in one way or another. Just like we have probably all been the tax collector at one time or another. We live in the continuum between the two figures, seeking out a way to trust God with our deliverance and transformation.

Enter fasting. Fasting is difficult in today’s society, where we are bombarded with restaurants and advertising for food every where we turn. We also have bought into the propaganda that tells us that if we do not have three large meals and several snacks in between, we aren’t healthy. Further, fasting, like most disciples, has gotten a bad reputation over the years because of Christians who have absurd it for their own purposes. Here are some simple truths about fasting: Fasting is not a guarantee, we cannot force God to do what we desire simply because we fast. In fact, if you don’t live as God intends then chances are fasting will not form you into a faithful disciple. Second, fasting is not about outward appearances. We do not fast so we can loudly proclaim that we fast, instead it is a private matter between the person and God.  Further, fasting is different from dieting which has people abstain from food for physical reasons, not spiritual purposes. Lastly, fasting is not a rule. In Matthew 6 Jesus says, when you fast, but he doesn’t command people to fast or give them an excuse or an out not to. Instead, fasting is a way of life, that draws us into trusting God more fully. 

So what does fasting look like? When we hear the word fasting the first thing we think of is giving up is food. But fasting is really about giving up something, anything so that we can seek out God more deeply. Some people abstain from the internet, TV, shopping, or use of comfort devices, like an elevator, for a set period of time. Some people fast one day a week, and others fast for weeks at a time. The key to fasting is to examine your heart and see what you are craving, the thing you turn to for comfort, and to intentionally give that up for a time in order to more fully depend on God. When we let go of something in order to seek God out more deeply in prayer. 

Most often people fast alone, but there are also set time when people fast as a group. The one advantage to fasting with other people is to have a support network to remind us that we are not fasting in order to force God to give us what we want. A group to seek out God’s sustaining presence together. 

Back to the story of my professor. Part of the class requirements included trying each of the disciplines we were exploring. So ever so reluctantly I had to at least give fasting a try. For physical reasons I could not fast, so instead I gave up media for a day. As simple as it sounds, I began to realize just how much control the media had in my life - from watching TV in the morning when I got ready for class, to relaxing in front of a movie each evening, and listening to music while walking to class. I grasped how much the media was blocking out my ability to hear and respond to God, filling up space in my life and acting as a numbing agent. So this reluctant fast-er saw the necessity and power of the discipline, when practiced properly.

What proper fasting looks like in each of our lives will be different. Some of us cannot fast from food for physical purposes. In fact, if you have any doubt, please do not start fasting without talking to your physician. For others of us, food isn’t the thing that controls us, so we will need to fast from something else. And others may not even be at the stage of practicing a fast yet, instead we need to look into the depths of our heart and see what controls us.

Reading today’s parable, my guess is that the Pharisee was controlled by his need to have people accept him. Controlled by his need to be needed. But I’m not so sure that he even realized it. Instead of fasting to give God control and regain balance in his life, he fasted because it was what he thought he had to do in order to please God. But fasting is about looking to God to sustain us more than seeking God’s pleasure. Which brings us back to the question from the beginning of the sermon - who do you identify more with at this time in your life - the Pharisee or the tax collector? What do you need to let go of in order to more fully rely on God’s sustaining grace? What is blocking your relationship with God? What do you need to fast from? Amen.