Fasting and Self-Denial

Some of the lenten disciplines focus on opening and building communication with our heavenly Father: Bible study, meditation and prayer. Others help us live out the life of service to others. We are used to talking about the Christian life in these ways - we hear the word of God, we use meditation and prayer to reflect on it, and to put ourselves in tune with God's will, then we live out our faith in the world. But there is also another set of disciplines that we will be focusing on this week and next, that provide a step between the hearing and doing of God's Word. They are disciplines that help us to focus our life - fasting, self-denial and almsgiving.

Bettering our spiritual life is a lot like painting a house. When you decide to put a fresh coat of paint on the place, there are a couple of ways to do it. You can simply decide on the colors, go down to the store and get your pain, and slap a coat on. Of course, if you do that, it won't last too long - in a year or two the paint will start peeling, and you'll have to do it all over again. Or you can take your time to prepare the wood to receive the new paint. You first scrape off all of the old paint, fix any damage, perhaps put on an undercoat, then finally put on a coat or two of fresh paint.

Some folks just jazz up their spiritual life by putting a fresh coat on unprepared wood. They'll decide to start reading the Bible more often, to pray every day, or do more good deeds for their neighbor. They'll do o.k. for a while, but it doesn't last too long - like the seed that Jesus talked about, that is sown among weeds, and gets choked out by the cares of the world. So, every lent - or every time they are reminded of it - they begin all over again, never really achieving what they desired - a deeper spiritual life. They are always starting, it seems, and never finishing.

That's the purpose of these disciplines - fasting, self-denial and almsgiving. They help to prepare the wood, first by stripping it, then repairing what needs to be fixed, and putting on an undercoat to help the good news stick to our life. The stripping they do is of those things that tend to accumulate to our life, the baggage that keeps us from getting from listing to God's Word, to the doing of the word.

You know what that's like. Our lives are full of, "if only...." "If only I didn't have this or that, if only I had made this decision or that one - then I would be free to be a better Christian, to be more spiritual." Fasting gets right to the heart of the problem. There is no need greater for a person that that of food. Most of us are used to at least three square meals a day - with snacks in-between. Food is the center of almost any gathering. Garrison Keillor says that you can always tell a Lutheran - they are the ones who come to church with a set of plastic eating utensils sticking out of their jacket pocket - "just in case" there may be food after the service.

Yet Jesus reminds us that he is the true bread of life. After Jesus had fasted for forty days, he was tempted by the devil to turn rocks into bread, but he replied, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Fasting reminds us that we have a greater need than bread - there is something more important than physical life. One day, after all, this physical life will end - yet life will go on. We will pass from physical life, into a different kind of life - a life in God which dimensions we can only guess at now. Fasting and self-denial helps us to understand and get in contact with that life. It begins by stripping off the old paint, the old Adam or Eve in us, who keeps insisting that this life is the only thing that matters, that we have to look after our needs and comfort first. It strips that away, so that we can see what is underneath that pretty little coat of paint - to see what wood is there that is rotten that needs to be repaired, if the whole structure is to remain sound.

I had a windowsill that looked pretty good, until I went over it with a scraper. I really didn't think it even needed painted - except there was a small crack, and I kept seeing small ants going back and forth to the crack. I started digging at it, and ended up replacing a very large piece of wood. Underneath the nice-looking coat of paint, the whole board was rotting away.

That can happen to us as well. Jesus called the Pharisees "white-washed tombs;" they looked nice outside, but were rotten and stank on the inside. Our life may look good to others - maybe it doesn't look so bad to ourselves either. But we feel that there is something wrong - perhaps there are small signs of a deep rottenness. We haven't done bad - we just haven't done much; we haven't done what we know God wants us to do, and we've been making a lot of excuses to God. Fasting is the practice of removing food from our diet, to remind us that there is something more important even than food. Self-denial is the stripping away of those things that come in the place of God in our life, that have become more important to us than him and his will; those things where we tend to say, "if only ...." It removes the "if only....," so that we are free to respond to his call.

When fasting, Jesus says that we should otherwise take care of ourselves. "Wash you face, and don't look like you are mourning," Jesus says. You are doing it for yourself - not for others. In other words - don't make a "bid deal" out of it. Perhaps you are giving up some things that make you healthier - candy and sweets, of coffee, or alcohol. If you are able to, physically, one or two days a week simply don't eat, but be sure to take enough liquids, especially juices. However you do it, do it for the right reasons - that is what Jesus is telling us. Don't be surprised when you feel hungry - as if a really "spiritual" person shouldn't feel hunger. Remember that the temptation account says that, "Jesus was famished." Fasting and self-denial tend to bring things to a head - they bring us face-to-face with our greatest needs and desires - they bring us into the heat of the battle, so to speak. In fact, if that doesn't happen, it probably means that we've picked the wrong fight - that the war we need to wage with ourselves is somewhere else.

And, of course - that is the key. These disciplines are about spiritual warfare. If food is our nemesis, then our battle is with the belly. If it is television, then that is where we engage the battle. If it is with unhealthy relationships, then that is where we go. If it is with over consumption, the tendency to fill our life with too many trinkets, then that is what we must let go of. Wherever the battle is, that is where we go to fight it. You don't fight the battle against too many things by giving up chocolate for lent. Save that battle for the chocoholics!

One other thing that needs to be said about this discipline - as any time we do spiritual battle, we need to marshal every force available to us - prayer, meditation and Bible study - so we can stay focused and win the battle. Without these other disciplines, the disciplines of fasting and self-denial become merely a futile exercise in self-abuse: like the guy who decides to drop some weight - he diets, fighting himself the whole way - all the while still craving the things he had to give up. If he does finally get the pounds off, it doesn't last, because he hasn't really changed anything - he is still the same person, eating the same things, living the same lifestyle. To get the weight off and keep it off, he has to change his lifestyle - he has to change himself.

That is what these disciplines are about - changing us from the inside out. They are tools to help us do spiritual battle with our own desires and needs. With Bible study, meditation and prayer, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can win the battle, become more faithful Christians, and deepen our spiritual life. And in the process, we will discover that, where we are weak - he is strong, and he is faithful. May he strengthen and help you as you engage in your spiritual struggle.