What Does Jesus Say About Fasting?

“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”  Matt 6:16-18     

          Often when the topic of fasting comes up in Christian circles, the question is asked or the statement made that we are never commanded in the New Testament to fast.  You know what?  They are right.  Jesus never commands that we fast.  Paul doesn’t tell us to fast.  The other lesser-known writers of the NT such as Jude or James tell us to fast.  But here is another truth the NT assumes that we will fast.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “whenever you fast”.  Jesus thinks that fasting is apart of discipleship, that it is essential to following him. 

          What Jesus does say about fasting is that we shouldn’t shout from the rooftops that we are fasting.  He warns us to not advertise to others by our clothes or hygiene that we are fasting for the purpose of receiving praise and honor from our peers.  Rather, we fast for the purpose of glorifying God.  Jesus gets at the heart of the matter and asks us to look at our motives.  Unfortunately, there are many other reasons to fast that are kept secret from others.  We may fast for weight loss purposes or for our own self-gratification but under the guise of giving glory to God.  These reasons are unhealthy for the body and soul.  This is when fasting has become harmful and not helpful.  In the case of weight loss, it is better to stop fasting all together and focus upon finding ways to affirm your worth and value.  In some cases, it would be good to seek advice from a trust friend or pastor. 

          May the God who loves us purify our motives.  May God help you to gently examine your motives and free you from impure motives.    

 

-Rev. Matt Seaton

Becoming Light

“For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.” John 3:20

        

Ever notice that people don’t look happy when you tell them you’re fasting?  My friend Mike was telling me the other day of how when he told his friend Joe about fasting from movies during Lent, his friend treated him as if he was crazy!  Joe was acting as if he was taking Mike’s decision to fast from movies as a personal assault.  Mike and Joe are still good friends but Joe just couldn’t understand Mike. We don’t know what exactly caused Joe to act the way he did.  But it makes you wonder if Joe, a good Christian, has doubts about his consumption of movies.  Fasting causes others to wonder about you.  It may even challenge them and their practices and cause them to become upset. 

Fasting or other spiritual disciplines can act as a mirror both to others and us.  It can mirror back to us where the light of Jesus hasn’t been shown.  It may cause us some serious distress as we consider stopping some deed that has taken priority in our life.  Fasting can also act as a mirror to others as it challenges them too.  Mike never told Joe he had to fast from movies too but Joe acted like it.  When the light shines, the darkness takes notice.  After Mike and Joe parted that day, Joe prayed about his decision to give up movies.  He did decide that movies had taken front and center in his life.  They had crowded out Jesus, so that he could not hear Jesus.  So he too decided to give movies up for Lent. 

          May the light of Christ shine through you to the world.  May Christ’s light illuminate your life and dispel the darkness.   

-Rev. Matt Seaton

The Habit of Fasting

^“And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.”  John 3:19

       

We are creatures of habit.  Often our habits continue despite our spiritual transformation in Christ.  Yet, that doesn’t put these habits outside of the redeeming work of Christ.  They need to be redeemed, changed, and transformed but only in God’s good time.  Perhaps, when you came to Christ you were not ready or able to handle a change of habit so God let that habit remain.  The light of Jesus hadn’t shown into the deeper recesses of your soul, yet.  But now is the time that God has called you to fast from that habit.  Jesus has shown his light upon it.  God has not asked you to entirely erase it from your life but to fast from it.  Yet, you still love it.  The habit continues to carry with it the darkness from which you were saved.  It still holds sway over you but now you are ready, able, and capable to give it up – even for a short amount of time. 

When we fast, especially through Lent, we discover new habits that can replace the old ones.  If we fast from TV or Netflix, we may discover a new habit!  It could be daily bible readings, prayer, painting, drawing, gardening, or volunteering.  The list is nearly endless.  Fasting gives us opportunity for creativity, most life giving practices do.  People who live in darkness tend to stick to patterns they have always lived in and resort to what’s easiest.  But we are people of the light; people called by God to follow Jesus into his creative kingdom. 

Take some time today to think about what creative ways you can show your love for God.  Pick one of those and begin to plan on adding it to your life today! 

 

 

~ Rev. Matt Seaton

How to Succeed at Fasting

“…so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” –John 3:16b    

            We are a success-oriented culture.  We like to see numbers at the bottom line grow.  We like to see the number on the scale shrink week by week.  We check our retirement savings to see if our shrewd investment strategies have worked.  We look at reports cards to see how well our children have improved.  We love to see our team win each week (Go Duke!).  Let’s face it we love, not just like or hope for but LOVE, to succeed. 

            But how do you know if you are succeeding at fasting?  One religious group, who lived around Jesus’ time, the Pharisees had many ways to measure and quantify the quality of a person’s fast.  If you asked a person, who knew the most about fasting, they would answer the Pharisees.  But Jesus didn’t agree.  In fact he challenged them often on their views of fasting and religious observances.  They had become so concerned with measurable results they lost themselves along the way.  Their practicing of fasting brought death but Jesus came to give us life. 

What are the signs of life?  Paul, in the letter to the Galatians, writes about the fruits of the Spirit.  These signs of life are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Fasting helps us to see where we are deficient in these areas but it also helps us to grow in these areas.  Paul also tells us some great news about fasting.  The Holy Spirit is with you!  She tends to your budding spiritual fruits and helps cultivate them while you fast. 

Fruit takes along time to grow and ripen.  It won’t happen over night.  So fasting won’t be a quick fix to an impatient life.  But fasting becomes the means by which the Holy Spirit can help us where we need to grow and gives us life.  Which comes back to the question, how do you know you’re succeeding at fasting?  I answer with a question; do people know you for your fasts or for your fruits?  Are you known as a person who is generous, kind, and loving or cranky, miserly, and uncaring?  Which way of living gives life to relationships? 

May this season of fasting bring forth new life in your spiritual journey and cause others too share in that life. 

~ Rev. Matt Seaton

What is "Fasting/"

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” John 3:16a

Fasting isn’t something we like to talk about these days.  Perhaps, it’s something no one has ever really liked to talk about.  And yet, we will fast from delicious carbs like ice cream and donuts to lose weight, fast from sleeping in for a run or a bike ride or a sale at our favorite retailer, we fast from sleep to finish a project for work or school, or we even fast from lunch hour to protest at the capital.  So maybe fasting isn’t so strange?   Okay, you’re right.  We don’t usually use the word “fast” or “fasting” when talking about weight loss or exercise or work but the idea is the same but only makes sense in religious terms.  When we fast we give up a certain need or pleasure for a set amount of time but what separates fasting from all of the above is the reason. 

What is that reason?  If you answered Jesus, you’re correct!  We fast out of a response to what God has already done for us in Jesus.  The verse at the beginning sums it up well, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” God gave up or maybe another way to state it; God fasted from the presence of his son because he loves us.  God loves us that much!  Fasting doesn’t begin by contemplating how horrible we are and how we need to do something about it.  Rather, fasting begins by contemplating how wonderful God’s love for us truly is. 

If you are thinking about fasting from something, take time to think about and wonder about how truly God does love you.  Let John 3:16 be your mantra as you begin your fasting journey. 

 

~ Matt Seaton

Father, forgive them...

When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One."…

  

                                                                        Luke 23:33-35

 

 
When I was getting my Associate’s degree at a local community college my English professors gave me the best writing (and ultimately preaching) advice I’ve ever received. She wrote at the bottom of my paper, “Heidi, Life is too short. You should only write the words you cannot stop yourself from writing.” Since my professor wrote that to me over five years ago, I’ve tried to devote myself to writing the difficult words that I cannot stop myself from writing—the words that I want to sugarcoat or altogether sensor myself from writing. It’s like what the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah asserts, “If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot” (Jeremiah 20:9).

In yesterday’s blog post I wrote and used the example of the corporate sin of the American church. I think this is a major example of corporate sin, but obviously it is by no means the only guilty community. The point is that we are all complicit in a violent, God-denying, exclusive, love-crucifying world. Owning the dark pieces of the church’s story helps us own the dark pieces of our own stories so we can keep our hearts humble and honest before God and open for true repentance. Repentance means to turn around, to reorient oneself, to return home. Repentance leads us to redemption, which leads us to new life.

At the end of the day, corporate and individual confession is about admitting we are blind and cannot see the world the way Jesus does. God opens our eyes through the humble posture of Confession, and we are awakened to see Jesus hanging from the cross only to discover the bloodied hammer in our own hands. There is an old hymn that states the question, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” The haunting and terrible answer to that hymn’s question is: Yes. We were there. We ARE there. Jesus is still being crucified in our world today. Yet, too often we live our lives blinded to this reality. However, if we are awakened to this unsettling reality, in that moment of drowning guilt, shame, and despair—Jesus, in struggling breaths from the cross speaks out, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

The Divine forgiveness that comes after Confession isn’t a self-justification, it doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences, it doesn’t mean that the wounds we have left on the world will disappear, especially because every healed (“forgiven”) wound leaves a scar. However, the Good News is that Divine forgiveness means that Jesus hasn’t given up on us yet. Jesus believes that you and me, the Church and our world, is still worth saving. Somehow, despite our bloodied hands, maybe we can still find new life in a desperately hopeless place. Can new life possibly come from an Empire’s cross? Or within the stone sealed grave of religious protocol? Can new life be found in the broken, illegitimate, and improper body of Mary’s son?

“If I were to define Christian perfection, I should not say that it is a perfection of striving but specifically that it is the deep recognition of the imperfection of one’s striving, and precisely because of this a deeper and deeper consciousness of the need for grace, not grace for this or that, but the infinite need infinitely for grace…”(Kierkegaard; Journal II, page 1482—written in 1851)

 

~ Heidi Johnson

Corporate Confession

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Most merciful God,

We confess that we have sinned against you

In thought, word, and deed,

By what we have done,

And by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart;

We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves

We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

Have mercy on us and forgive us;

That we may delight in your will

And walk in your ways,

To the glory of your name.

Amen

(Prayers of Confession, Assurance, and Pardon. The United Methodist Hymnal #890)

Often when we speak these radical and countercultural words proclaiming corporate confession, we still internalize these words as individualistic confession. In light of our liturgy of corporate confession, an understanding of original sin, insofar as it is defined as the sin, error, and shortcomings that we inherit as a community is crucial.  How does, for example, the American church seem to make the same errors over and over again?

I have been asking that question daily since I started attending Duke Divinity School. Part of our curriculum as seminary students is to process and respond to the horrors and atrocities that stain the church’s history in America. Plausibly, part of the endless cycle of repeated sins, a type of disturbing resurrection, is rooted with the American church’s individualistic confessional imagination. A church that only responds to the symptoms of sins will never have to face or deal with the communal sinful heart that creates the symptoms in the world.

The absence in imagination for corporate confession reveals the church’s cultural captivity to American triumphalism and exceptionalism.  There is no tolerance in the spiritual discipline of Confession for a posture of communal or individualistic triumphalism and exceptionalism.  Both of these are postures that must be confessed, rejected, and relinquished if we truly want to follow Jesus.

 

~ Heidi Johnson