Breaking Free


04/03/2011 - Leaving Addiction for Freedom



The week I received an email from a Christian organization called Sojourners, which wasn't unusual because I receive their emails every week. They help keep me informed and sensitive to what's going on politically both in our country and around the world. They also reveal how some Christians are choosing to respond to issues of war and poverty and social injustice.

So it wasn't unusual that I received the email, what was unusual was that it was all about the discipline of fasting which is my topic for today. I thought that was kind of cool! And the issue that has prompted Jim Wallis and many Christ followers to fast right now is what they view to be immoral cuts that are being proposed for the federal budget.

For the past month Sojourners has spoken out against a budget plan in Congress that would hurt the most vulnerable people in society while increasing funding for military projects and continuing corporate subsidies and tax loopholes.

The emails says, "In addition to cuts to many critical programs that directly impact the lives, and even survival, of the poorest people - in the U.S. and around the world - there are now plans to single out the programs that help low-income people andcut them the most.

As Congress continues the budget debate into April, they are moving from the neglect of the poor to the targeting of the poor. Theologically, this is an assault against the very people whom God specifically instructs us to protect, and whose well-being is the biblical test of a nation's righteousness."

And so because of that they're calling on people everywhere to join them in a month-long campaign of prayer, fasting, and action. And they're pointing to the book of Esther in the Old Testament as an example of what can happen politically when God's people fast, pray, and petition their government to change actions that are unjust. "We believe," they say, "that the God who can change the hearts of kings can also change the hearts of Congress."

So they're asking their constituents to abstain from lunch every Monday during the month of April and to use that time to pray and to take action like writing their representatives or spreading the word to their friends or donating their lunch money to further the campaign. You might want to join them. But whether you agree with their political position or not you have to admire their faith and their willingness to act and stand up for what they believe is an unjust use of government money.

But what's with the fasting? What's up with that? Why are they calling on Christians to abstain from eating? Can that really help?

This morning we continue our series called Breaking Free: Leaving the Old Self for the New with a teaching I've called "Leaving Addiction for Healing." This is a series that parallels the sacred season of Lent that we're in right now. Lent started on Ash Wednesday and lasts forty days right up until Easter Sunday.

It's a season for reflection and repentance and response to the death of our Savior Jesus Christ and his miraculous resurrection. As far as we can tell the tomb is empty. Jesus is alive and that makes all the difference!

But you can't have a resurrection unless you have a death. And so the question we've been asking during this Lenten season is what needs to die in us so that we can live, really live the kind of life that Jesus came to give us?

And the metaphor we've been using is that of leaving Egypt because the story of the Exodus is the dominate story that runs all through Scripture as an example of God's power and ability to liberate us, to redeem us, to rescue us from whatever it is that enslaves us. So what is it that God's calling you to leave behind? What are the chains that you need to break free from? All of us have them to one degree or another.

The first week we said that deliverance begins with a cry, sa'aq is the Hebrew word that means "ouch!" There can be no healing until we cry "ouch!"

Then last week we jumped over into the New Testament and saw that because of the death and resurrection of Jesus in some mysterious, mystical way we have already died with Christ and have been raised with Christ so that we don't need to serve sin anymore. Our old life has been nailed to the cross. So now we need to put off the old self with its practices and put on the new self, like taking off an old shirt and putting on a new one.

And fasting is one way we can do that because fasting is intended to remind us that our bodily appetites were always meant to be our servant and not to be our master. We typically think of fasting as it relates to food, and often it does, but fasting can relate to anything that threatens to control our lives.

We can fast from noise and choose to turn off the television and the radio and unplug the Ipod. We can fast from alcohol if we find ourselves drinking too much. We can fast from sex in order to pray more with our spouse or build verbal communication back into our marriages. We can fast from shopping and the accumulation of stuff if we find ourselves hoarding. We can fast from exercise if it's starting to become an obsession and take over our lives.

We fast from good things so that we're not enslaved by any of them because at the core of fasting is control, breaking free from anything that threatens to control our lives apart from God and his Holy Spirit.

One author I read said, "Fasting is cleansing. It cleans out our bodies. It lays bare our souls. It leads us into the arms of that One for whom we hunger. In the Divine arms we become less demanding and more like the One who holds us. Then we experience new hungers. We hunger and thirst for justice, for goodness and holiness. We hunger for what is right. We hunger to be saints.

Most of us are not nearly hungry enough for the things that really matter. That's why it is so good for us to feel a gnawing in our guts. Then we remember why we are fasting. We remember all the peoples of the world who have no choice but to go to bed hungry. We remember how we waste and squander the goods of this world. We remember what poor stewards of the earth we have been. We remember that each of us is called to be bread for the world. Our lives are meant to nourish. Fasting can lead us to the core of our being and make us more nourishing for others."

For almost two thousand years Christ followers all over the world have practiced fasting during the season of Lent. Many of them fast from meat during these forty days. The example was set by Jesus who fasted for forty days in the wilderness prior to his confrontation with the evil one.

We read about it in Matthew 4:1-3,Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

Look at that number FORTY. That number is significant. The number forty meant something to the Jewish mind. Lent lasts for forty days. And the forty days comes from this event in the life of Jesus. But this forty day event in the Jesus' life comes from a forty year event that occurred in the history of Israeland it has a lot to do with food and the things that threaten to control us.

In recording this story of Jesus fasting in the wilderness, Matthew wants us to see how it fits into the bigger story of Scripture and then how it fits into your life and mine.

Let's start at the very beginning. In Genesis 1, God creates the heavens and the earth and everything in them. And as part of his creation he makes male and female together in the image of God. And God blesses Adam and Eve with his love and his favor and his goodness. And for awhile everything is okay. There is shalom in the garden, peace and wholeness.

God gives the first man and the first woman a mission and that mission is to rule over everything that God had created. They were to steward and care for God's good creation. They were free to work with God or work against him. And the tree that God placed in the middle of the garden represented that freedom. And they were told not to eat of it. That wasn't a mean thing to do. It was a way of protecting them. They could eat of every other tree in the garden, but not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

But they didn't listen to God. They wanted to become their own gods. So they exercised their freedom to rebel and it took the form of eating. They ate from the forbidden tree. They caved in to their appetites instead of following God's command.

Fast forward to Exodus 15. God delivers his people out of bondage in Egypt. They cross the Red Seaand celebrate with a song. God wants to make them a people that would reflect his image to the world. He wants them to be a light to the nations of his love and goodness. But before long they're complaining and wishing they were back in Egypt where life was hard, but at least they had food to eat. Food again becomes the issue.

And so the Israelites grumble against Moses and Aaron inExodus 16:3, "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."

They miss the point of what God wants to do with them and it all settles around food. They're pulled off track by their appetites and their cravings. Do you see a pattern here? There is bent in all of us gong all the way back to Adam and Eve to cave in to our appetites and our cravings and our lusts and our addictions that can pull us away from the people that God created us to be.

Fast forward again to Deuteronomy 8:1-3,Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your ancestors. 2Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that people do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Forty years wandering where? In the wilderness. Why? To test God's people and to teach them that life is not just about getting our cravings met and satisfying our appetites. Life is much more than that. People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes form the mouth of the Lord. We were not created just to be physical beings driven by our physical desires, we are also spiritual beings meant to be driven by the word of God.

And so Jesus quotes this very passage after being tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread. In Matthew 4:4, Jesus answered, "It is written: People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

Deuteronomy 8 and Israel's failure to pass the test is on Jesus' mind the whole time he's wandering in the wilderness. Matthew 4 is not just about Jesus confronting the devil. It is that, but it's more than that. It's about Jesus succeeding where Israelfailed. They gave in to their cravings and their appetites and got off track, but Jesus won't. He'll fulfill his God given mission to do and be what Israelfailed to do and be, a light to the world.

Right before the Israelites were tempted by food in the wilderness they came through the waters of the Red Sea. So now Jesus is coming through the waters of his baptism in Matthew 3 to be tempted by food in Matthew 4 just like Israelwas. This is the Exodus story all over again only Jesus will succeed where Israel failed and hear the words, "This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased." Jesus is the son that succeeded. Israel was the son that failed.

But this story is even more than that. It's about Jesus succeeding where Adam and Eve failed. They gave in to their cravings and their appetites and got the whole human race off track, but Jesus will rescue the human race because he won't give in to his. He will succeed where the rest of humanity failed. This story is about the bent in all of us to cave into our appetites and desires and fail to be everything that God made us to be.

So we come back to us again. God is inviting all of us to live a life that goes beyond satisfying the cravings of our appetites because people do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Living life to the full happens when we get on board with what God is up to. We now have the mission of being salt and light in this world. And fasting is one way to help us stay focused on that.

In his excellent chapter on "Fasting" in his bookCelebration of Discipline Richard Foster writes, "More than any other spiritual discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us. This is a wonderful benefit to the true disciple who longs to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. We cover up what is inside us with food and other good things, but in fasting these things surface.

"If pride controls us, it will be revealed almost immediately. Anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, fear - if they are within us, they will surface during fasting. At first we will rationalize that our anger is due to our hunger, then we will realize that we are angry because the spirit of anger is within us. We can rejoice in this knowledge because we know that healing is available through the power of Christ.

"Fasting reminds us that we are sustained 'by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' Food does not sustain us. God sustains us. Therefore, in experiences of fasting we are not so much abstaining from food as we are feasting on the word of God. Fasting is feasting!"

No where in the Scriptures does Jesus command us to fast from food. Instead, he talks as if he assumes that we will. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says inMatthew 6:16-18,When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting ...17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so 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 is secret, will reward you.

Fasting, like giving, is a spiritual discipline meant to be done in secret. It's meant to be between you and the Lord.

There are actually three kinds of fasts that we see practiced in Scripture. There's the normal fast that Jesus observed in Matthew 4 where we abstain from food, but not water. There's the partial fast found in the book of Daniel, where we eliminate certain foods and drinks from our diet. And then there's the absolute fast found in the book of Esther where people abstained from food and drink for a limited amount of time.

Fasting is another way to create space in our lives for God to act, but it's not for every body. If you have health issues you want check with your doctor before attempting any kind of sustained fast. If your role in life right now involves a lot of food preparation you're probably not in the season of fasting. If you're the mother of young kids preparing three meals a day, don't put yourself under the pressure to fast. God understands where you're at.

But if you can and the Spirit prompts you to fast then let me suggest that you start slowly. Start by skipping one meal a week, or maybe two until it becomes routine. Some people start by fasting from dinner to dinner, skipping breakfast and lunch in between. If you're looking for a way to slow down and spend more time with Jesus fasting can help you do that. And if you do make sure you use breath mints to help keep it a secret!

Maybe you want to skip lunch on Monday's like the Sojourners is suggesting, to pray and fast for the needs of our nation. I think a good day to fast during this Lenten season would be on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. Let the grumbling in your stomach that day remind you of the pain and sacrifice Jesus made for you on the cross.

Fasting is an invitation to remember that we are God's children. He is well pleased with us. And as his children we don't live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. We have a mission in life to extend God's kingdom.

Foster concludes his chapter on fasting with these words, "Fasting helps us keep balance in our life. How easily we begin to allow nonessentials to take precedence in our lives. How quickly we crave things we do not need until we are enslaved by them. Our human cravings and desires are like rivers that tend to overflow their banks. Fasting helps keep them in their proper channels.

"Fasting can bring breakthroughs in the spiritual realm that will never happen in any other way. It is a means of God's grace and blessing that should not be neglected any longer. Now is the time for all who hear the voice of Christ to obey it."


Questions of the Week

  • Have you ever practiced the discipline of fasting? What about it did you find challenging? What did you find beneficial?
  • Why do you think that scripture encourages the discipline of fasting? What role do you think it plays in the life of a person of faith? How do you think we can practice it as a community?
  • What are some of the things in our lives that can control us? How can fasting be a part of breaking those chains in our lives? Why do you think fasting is effective in this way?
  • What does the example of Jesus in the wilderness tell us about fasting? Why do you think it was important for the Messiah to fast? How can this encourage us in our faith?