When You Fast

Day 18

When You Fast

(Guest Post By David Campbell)

‘When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.’

Matthew 6:16-18

 

“When you” … not “if” … but “when”.

Jesus repeats the words “when you …” for the third time, and this time His subject is fasting.

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:16-18

What is it about fasting, the choice to forgo food for a time, that is so important that Jesus includes it right here among the central three practices of devotion to God, alongside giving to the poor and prayer?

Before answering that question, we need to remember that Jesus was speaking to people who would have thought devotion to God was a good thing, and that generosity to the poor, prayer and fasting were sure signs of a person’s devotion.

Our family has spent 20 years (for me) and all of our children’s lives, in a Caribbean culture where devotion to God is still thought of (by the majority of people) as being a good thing. It has been quite an adjustment to Western (British) culture in the 2020’s, where devotion to God is thought of (by a significant number of people) as being strange, unusual, even untrustworthy.

In the first few months our son, Oliver, was playing with some children at his cousin’s house, and one of the boys from the neighbourhood asked…

“What does your Dad do?”

Oliver answered; “He’s a missionary.”

“What is that?!” came the reply.

“Someone who serves and tells people about God.”

“What if they don’t want to be told about God?!”

Awkward silence.

In Jamaica, if we said that we were Christian missionaries serving vulnerable young people and their families in Trench Town, the most common response was something like; “God bless you”, because most people were afraid even to go into those communities.

Different audiences hear things very differently.

Particularly in the modern western world, the words “when you fast” can fall on ears that are not so inclined to hear. Fasting is not comfortable. It’s true that fasting has become a bit of a trend among the healthy lifestyle crowd, the ones who are already a bit ‘gung ho’ about discomfort. There are many health benefits that come with giving your body some time to detox (especially with the quantity of toxins in modern food). But, although that is good to know, it is not the reason Jesus says “when you fast”.

He is urging us to make the consistent and uncomfortable choice to fast as an act of worship and love for the Father. There is something strengthening to the spirit about choosing against the flesh.

Every time we make a private commitment to the Father to forgo food (or any other a comforting distraction) as a simple act of devotion to Him … and keep that commitment … our spirit is strengthened. Our relationship with the Father is strengthened.

Like everything else in this Sermon, we only know that strengthening experience if we do it.

Like everything else in this sermon, Jesus knew it … because he did it.

To look at these verses with the three-part-pattern of these teachings;

The traditional righteousness is to fast as an act of devotion to God.

The vicious cycle (in a culture that prizes devotion to God) is our human tendency to pretend to be more devoted than we really are. Jesus repeats the word “hypocrites” in all three of these teachings, where our ‘devotion’ is nothing more than a show. If we are in a culture that is more likely to praise devotion to self than devotion to God, we also need to be aware of the hypocrisy of pretending to be less devoted to God than we really are; just fitting in with the crowd to avoid awkward moments.

The transforming initiative that Jesus commands to break out of this cycle is for our fasting to be genuine, an act of devotion for the audience of the Father alone.

Jesus finishes this teaching with His third repetition of; “and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Whether we are in a culture that views devotion to God with praise, or with suspicion … Jesus wants us to know that the Father sees the heart, and will reward, strengthen, and meet with us, when we offer genuine worship.

 

 

 

Explore Further

Journaling The Journey 

Reflect on the nuanced difference between when Jesus said earlier ‘In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven’ and here and previously when he says ‘not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father’.

How is doing things ‘to be seen by others’ (6:5) or to be ‘obvious to others’ different from the command to ‘let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven’?

Why is the practice of prayer, fasting and giving not described as a light to ‘shine before others’, but rather as a secret act to be seen only by God?

How does this speak to you?

 

Today’s Mountainside Photograph was taken near Cradle Mountain in Tasmania, Australia