WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.919 Well, good morning. It is a great time of year. This week is the week of Thanksgiving. 00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:19.640 Thanksgiving is a time in America, for many, to feast. You think of the classic Norman Rockwell 00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:23.640 painting, if you haven't seen it, it's out there, the family gathered around the table 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:32.700 with joy and gladness, with the table laden with food. It's a picture of richness, of abundance, 00:00:33.640 --> 00:00:43.320 of fullness, of satisfaction. Why are we drawn to something like this? Some of us are drawn to it 00:00:43.320 --> 00:00:49.260 with a sense of longing of something we haven't experienced in our lives. Some of us experience it 00:00:49.259 --> 00:00:59.119 as remembering what maybe that we have experienced as. But for all of us, we have a desire for what we 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:08.900 see in a picture like that, for the Thanksgiving dinner abundance. Why is that? Well, I think it's 00:01:08.900 --> 00:01:21.800 because God designed us to join Jesus at His table for a greater feast. We were made to know God. 00:01:22.140 --> 00:01:32.160 We were made to enjoy Him forever. And God gave us human appetites, not only for food, but for other 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:41.739 things for fullness, for abundance, for satisfaction, to point to a deeper and richer spiritual reality. 00:01:42.019 --> 00:01:51.340 Because we have an appetite to know God. And Jesus wants us to feast at this table. 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:59.519 And so that's why this morning, ironically, in a week of Thanksgiving, we are speaking about fasting. 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:06.379 We are in the series on the Sermon on the Mount. If you haven't been here, we're looking at Jesus' 00:02:06.579 --> 00:02:11.900 words to His disciples, teaching them about the kingdom that He's bringing and what it's going to 00:02:11.900 --> 00:02:17.199 look like to live in that kingdom. And in the section we're in, in chapter 6 in particular, 00:02:17.699 --> 00:02:25.579 Jesus is talking about three spiritual disciplines, giving, praying, and fasting. And each of these 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:32.860 has an overall umbrella verse in chapter 6 verse 1, where He says, 00:02:33.200 --> 00:02:40.620 don't do these things to be seen by others. Rather, do them in secret towards God, because there you 00:02:40.620 --> 00:02:48.900 will find a reward greater than you would otherwise. And Jesus is assuming that you do these things. He says, 00:02:48.900 --> 00:02:56.599 when you give, when you pray, when you fast. And He's telling us these things because these are 00:02:56.599 --> 00:03:05.580 gifts that God has given us, practices to train our hearts to live in the kingdom of God. Because when 00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:14.840 we live in the kingdom of God and do these things, we know God more. So in giving, we know more of God's 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:21.920 gracious, abundant provision towards us, His generosity and His kindness to us, and we grow 00:03:21.920 --> 00:03:28.520 in thankfulness and contentment and our own generosity because of that. When we pray, we know 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:35.719 more of God as our loving heavenly Father who knows what we need before we even ask. And we grow in our 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:44.780 expectant faith that God will provide the things that we most need, and to live in trust, 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:53.099 in His sovereign care. So what about fasting? Well, as we're going to see, fasting teaches us 00:03:53.099 --> 00:04:00.640 that we were made to be satisfied in God above all things in His richness and His fullness. 00:04:01.640 --> 00:04:08.319 So with that, if you want to turn with me, it's page 761 in your pew Bible, Matthew chapter 6. 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:16.680 We're going to be reading actually the whole section this morning because this is going to be our 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:23.600 last sermon in the Sermon on the Mount until the new year. We're going to start, if you're not aware, 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:30.740 next week is the first Sunday in Advent. So we'll have an Advent series in the book going through the 00:04:30.740 --> 00:04:39.139 book of Isaiah. So this is our last one. So we're going to look at chapter 6, and I'm going to read 00:04:39.139 --> 00:04:45.220 verses 1 through 21 to give you the big context of the verses we're going to be focusing on in verses 00:04:45.220 --> 00:04:51.259 16 through 18. So let's read God's Word together. Jesus says this, 00:04:51.259 --> 00:04:57.719 Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then 00:04:57.719 --> 00:05:06.659 you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, 00:05:07.019 --> 00:05:11.920 sound no trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:18.579 be praised by others. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the 00:05:18.579 --> 00:05:23.620 needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in 00:05:23.620 --> 00:05:31.599 secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like 00:05:31.599 --> 00:05:37.560 the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogue and at the street corner, that they 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:45.539 may be seen by others. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into 00:05:45.540 --> 00:05:52.360 your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret 00:05:52.360 --> 00:06:01.220 will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think 00:06:01.220 --> 00:06:06.939 they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need 00:06:06.939 --> 00:06:14.620 before you ask Him. Pray then like this, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, 00:06:14.620 --> 00:06:21.800 your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:27.879 debts, as we have also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:34.620 from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 00:06:35.019 --> 00:06:41.079 But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:50.279 And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces like—they 00:06:50.279 --> 00:06:56.719 disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly I say to you, they have received 00:06:56.719 --> 00:07:03.560 their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face that your fasting may not be seen 00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:09.639 by others, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:16.800 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:22.699 in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, 00:07:23.159 --> 00:07:29.759 and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:38.039 also. Please pray with me. Lord, thank you for your word. We pray this morning that you would be our help 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:47.319 by your Spirit. May we have your help to understand what it is that you are saying to us. Lord, I pray 00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:54.320 for your help that I might speak the words that you would have me speak, and Lord, that together we 00:07:54.320 --> 00:08:00.640 would not only understand, but that we would receive and submit to your word this morning. Lord, finding 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:09.919 that your word is, Lord, a lamp unto our feet to guide our way to show us how to live, how to know you 00:08:09.919 --> 00:08:15.099 more. Lord, be with us, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. 00:08:15.100 --> 00:08:27.340 Amen. So the big idea this morning that I want you to take home is that Jesus calls us to fast 00:08:27.340 --> 00:08:37.120 so that we will know greater satisfaction and joy in God himself. Jesus wants us to rediscover this 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:43.259 practice of fasting from this passage, and he wants us to know more of God through fasting. 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:50.120 Sermon's going to be a little more topical than usual because I want to talk more broadly about 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:56.960 what fasting is to try to clarify and understand fasting in a Christian context and what it means. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:02.500 So we'll be coming back to this passage, but I want to start by simply asking the question, 00:09:02.500 --> 00:09:09.659 what is fasting? Some of you may have not really thought about this. Fasting is basically abstaining 00:09:09.659 --> 00:09:14.600 from food or from some other thing for a period of time. That's the most basic definition. But 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:21.100 fasting is not per se Christian. Lots of religions practice fasting during Ramadan. In Islam, they practice, 00:09:21.340 --> 00:09:26.700 they fast all day during the day until sundown. There are lots of other religions that fast in 00:09:26.700 --> 00:09:32.320 different… and fasting has different purposes. Some of them may be more religious purposes. 00:09:32.500 --> 00:09:39.740 Some religions practice fasting in order to subdue our human appetites, to pursue a death to those 00:09:39.740 --> 00:09:45.620 hungers and those desires so that we don't desire anything at all. Some religions seem to fast in order 00:09:45.620 --> 00:09:52.259 to earn God's favor, showing in some way that you're really serious about your religion by fasting 00:09:52.259 --> 00:09:58.820 regularly. Of course, we live in a society where there's fasting outside of any religious intent at all. 00:09:58.820 --> 00:10:06.200 Some people use hunger fasts as a political statement to try to get leverage to move society in a more 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:14.360 righteous way. Sometimes we fast from something simply to explore a new interest by putting aside 00:10:14.360 --> 00:10:22.100 an old one. So we might fast from a hobby. And as I'm sure all of you know, because it's very popular 00:10:22.100 --> 00:10:29.060 these days, intermittent fasting is one of the most recommended new diets in the world. How do we 00:10:29.060 --> 00:10:36.820 control our weight, right? And these are all… there is nothing per se good or bad about these things per 00:10:36.820 --> 00:10:44.019 se. But what we do want to say is that Christian fasting is distinct from these. We need to look more 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:52.500 carefully to think about what Christian fasting is. So here are a few things Christian fasting is not. 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:57.579 I'm going to start with that, and then I'm going to get to what it is. First, Christian fasting is not 00:10:57.579 --> 00:11:05.720 ceasing from sin. If you are watching pornography regularly, you cannot fast from doing that and think, 00:11:05.939 --> 00:11:12.259 oh, look at me, I'm fasting. That's not fasting. That's just fighting against sin, and you should stop, 00:11:12.259 --> 00:11:18.200 and that's good. And in the same way, you might do that for other things. Gluttony, clearly, if you are 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:25.799 overeating and just feeding your face all the time, you're not fasting by cutting back your eating. You're 00:11:25.799 --> 00:11:36.019 stopping sinning by cutting back what you're eating, okay? So I want to be clear that fasting is not simply 00:11:36.019 --> 00:11:43.919 ceasing to sin. Another thing is fasting is not a super spiritual lever to get God to do something 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:50.159 that He wouldn't do otherwise. Some of us might have the idea, and, you know, there are times in the Bible 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:56.360 when it seems like maybe this is what is being said, but I don't think it's actually true, where, okay, 00:11:56.460 --> 00:12:02.000 so I'm going to pray about something because it's important, but if it's really important, then I'm going 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:08.340 to fast, too. Or if there's something that I really want for Christmas, I'm going to fast for it because 00:12:08.340 --> 00:12:15.440 then God's going to have to give it to me, right? This is not the God of the Bible. God is a loving 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:22.519 Heavenly Father. He knows what we need. Our fasting is not leverage that we gain so that God will do 00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:29.480 something for us that we want Him to do, right? Third thing about fasting is fasting is not a denial 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:36.460 of the goodness of the goodness of the thing that we are fasting from. God created food. He gave it to 00:12:36.460 --> 00:12:43.480 us to sustain us, to enjoy. It's not merely just a pill so that we have the energy to live the day, 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:52.399 but He made it with flavors and, you know, cumin and wonderful things for us to enjoy, right? Sorry, 00:12:52.539 --> 00:12:58.899 I was, you know, pick your spice of flavor, but whatever it is, God gave us something that we need, 00:12:58.899 --> 00:13:04.679 but also to enjoy. And so we don't want to deny its goodness or to think that fasting is somehow 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:15.259 saying these things are bad in and of themselves, right? So what is Christian fasting, if this is 00:13:15.259 --> 00:13:21.840 true? Well, here's the definition. Abstaining partially or fully from something good, often food, 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:30.240 for a determined period of time for the spiritual purposes of seeking God. So fasting is saying, 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:38.920 I'm going to set something that is normally good. I'm going to set it aside for a period of time so 00:13:38.920 --> 00:13:47.920 that I can do something else, have more focus on seeking God in a particular way, right? It's not a 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:57.539 forever change. It's for a period of time, and it has a particular purpose, to seek God so that we 00:13:57.539 --> 00:14:03.599 might be more satisfied in Him. If you're not aware of Richard Foster, Richard Foster wrote a book, 00:14:03.959 --> 00:14:09.219 I don't know, 40 years ago now, The Celebration of Discipline. It's a great read. It will challenge 00:14:09.219 --> 00:14:13.799 you to think about a number of things in your life. But one of the things that he says in that book is 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:23.939 that fasting is actually feasting. What we do is we fast from food or from something else so that we 00:14:23.939 --> 00:14:33.799 can feast more on the person and the presence and the riches of God Himself. Do you remember Jesus in 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:43.659 John 6? He's fed the people, fed 5,000 people food from, miraculously. He's given them bread. 00:14:43.799 --> 00:14:49.899 But then he says, don't seek for this bread. Seek for the bread that comes from heaven. And then he says, 00:14:50.199 --> 00:14:59.319 I am the bread of life. Whoever believes in me will feast on me and be satisfied and know. 00:15:00.819 --> 00:15:08.839 This is the picture that the Bible is giving us about feasting and fasting. And this is what 00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:16.040 the heart of Christian fasting is. To set aside something good so that we might get something 00:15:16.040 --> 00:15:26.240 even greater in Jesus Himself. So, that's your introduction. Now, how are we to fast? What does 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:31.480 the Bible tell us? First, this passage in Matthew 6 is really helpful. Let's look at it again. 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:32.700 Jesus says, 00:15:32.700 --> 00:15:37.399 And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces, 00:15:37.659 --> 00:15:43.180 that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But 00:15:43.180 --> 00:15:48.139 when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others, 00:15:48.200 --> 00:15:54.180 but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 00:15:54.860 --> 00:16:00.180 So, the first thing Jesus says about fasting, how are we to do this? First of all, we're not meant to do 00:16:00.179 --> 00:16:05.319 it so that other people see us and are impressed by us. They're not impressed by a spirituality. How 00:16:05.319 --> 00:16:12.399 do we do that? Well, don't look gloomy, right? Jesus particularly says, anoint your head and wash 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:19.979 your face. This is because often fasting could be accompanied in the first century by people would 00:16:19.979 --> 00:16:25.000 put ashes on their face. They would not anoint their hair with oil, which means their hair would 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.639 actually look like they slept in it, like some of you grad students preparing for exams. 00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:34.039 You know, where you're getting up and it's just, it's all over the place, right? So, Jesus says, 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:41.460 don't look like that. Take care of yourself. And when you go out, look like you're living a normal 00:16:41.460 --> 00:16:46.840 life, right? It actually says in this passage, right, they disfigure themselves, literally look 00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:53.840 like so much so that they look different from the way they normally do. And what Jesus is doing is 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:59.080 revealing our hearts. Because when we do that kind of fasting, what we're really saying is, 00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:05.299 look at me, look at how much I'm suffering for God. Look at the great sacrifice that I'm doing by 00:17:05.299 --> 00:17:11.279 fasting. Don't you think I'm a great spiritual person? And Jesus says, if you have that, you have 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:17.160 your reward. The praise in the moment is what you get. But is that what you really want? No. 00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:23.680 No, you want God. And so do it in secret and wash your face. 00:17:26.560 --> 00:17:33.800 And seek God and know that He will meet you in secret with His goodness. 00:17:36.460 --> 00:17:44.000 Practically, what does it look like to fast? Here's a collection of thoughts. If you're looking 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:49.700 for application, looking for a list of to-dos and not to-dos, Richard Foster, by the way, has a great 00:17:49.700 --> 00:17:55.839 chapter on this. It has some really good practical stuff. There's also good stuff on the internet. If 00:17:55.839 --> 00:18:02.119 you want more resources, I can give you more resources on how to manage this. But here, seven. 00:18:02.619 --> 00:18:07.960 This is going to go really fast, hopefully. Seven practical tips on how to actually fast. And I'm going 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:15.100 to focus on fasting from food, but I'll talk about some other ideas along the way. First of all, 00:18:16.180 --> 00:18:22.440 if you think about starting to fast, just like when you're starting to exercise, don't try to start by 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:29.180 running a marathon, right? Start by running a half mile. So start by fasting a little bit and then 00:18:29.180 --> 00:18:35.660 develop the habit more. So you might want to start by skipping a meal and spending that time in prayer 00:18:35.660 --> 00:18:41.900 and reading the Bible. Or you might want to start by taking two meals. So I'm going to eat breakfast, 00:18:42.040 --> 00:18:46.820 I'm going to eat lunch, and then I'll wait until the next lunch to eat my next meal. And take those 00:18:46.820 --> 00:18:58.940 times and fast for… that's basically like a day-long fast. So take it slowly and don't forget to drink 00:18:58.940 --> 00:19:05.400 when you fast because nobody… nobody fasts without water for a long time. It's really unhealthy. 00:19:05.740 --> 00:19:13.180 It's really dangerous. And Jesus didn't do it. God didn't do it. So don't… don't… so keep drinking. 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:18.960 And then you can progress. There are people… when I was on staff with crew, there was a movement among 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:26.299 crew. It was an encouragement for us to do 40-day fasts. And I did not do a full 40-day fast, 00:19:26.299 --> 00:19:35.500 but some of my staff team did. And it was a very rich experience for them. So there can be longer 00:19:35.500 --> 00:19:41.859 long fasts that you might build up to. So think about progression if you're going to start doing 00:19:41.859 --> 00:19:46.460 this and you haven't been doing it. Second thing is recognize that when you fast, you know what's 00:19:46.460 --> 00:19:54.759 going to happen? You'll feel hungry. This is normal. And in fact, this is the very point. When you feel 00:19:54.759 --> 00:20:02.240 those hunger pangs, this is the opportunity to say, oh, my body is hungry for food, but my soul is more 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:09.400 hungry for God. And to take that moment of feeling that hunger and to take it… whether it's sitting 00:20:09.400 --> 00:20:14.259 down and praying or actually studying Scripture or doing something like that, or whether it's just 00:20:14.259 --> 00:20:19.480 thinking in a moment while you're at work and you feel that hunger pang, just remembering, oh, 00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:26.819 I want God more than this. And simply reminding yourself of that. Third thing about fasting is be 00:20:26.819 --> 00:20:33.440 intentional about your time with God. As much as you can, take some extra time, maybe the time you 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:39.319 spend to prepare your food or to buy your food or to eat your food. Take that time and set it aside 00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:45.740 for basic time for communion with God, whether it be worship, whether it be reading Scripture, 00:20:45.740 --> 00:20:53.500 whether it be prayer or journaling. Take the extra time to do that. Having said that, it's also true 00:20:53.500 --> 00:21:00.859 that you need to think about how do you fast in the overall commitments of your life. Some of you 00:21:00.859 --> 00:21:06.960 will be able to take days and just fast and go on retreat, and that's wonderful when you can do that. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:11.740 But a lot of you won't be able to do that. You'll be fasting in the middle of parenting and 00:21:11.740 --> 00:21:20.059 jobs and teaching and studying and whatever it is that takes up your day. If that's true, 00:21:21.059 --> 00:21:28.859 even meal times, right? If that's true, do what Jesus says. Wash your face, comb your hair, 00:21:29.380 --> 00:21:33.740 shake your bottle of water at dinner, and enjoy fellowship with other people while they're eating. 00:21:33.740 --> 00:21:41.960 It's sometimes hard because you're watching other people eat and you're hungry. But you don't want, 00:21:42.059 --> 00:21:48.980 again, Jesus says, let your fasting be a part of your life, not this grand show where you're upending 00:21:48.980 --> 00:21:57.900 every responsibility. So recognize that you will have some commitments that you will need to follow 00:21:57.900 --> 00:22:03.519 through on and think about how do you navigate that. Fifth one, be aware of your health. 00:22:05.040 --> 00:22:14.000 Jesus says when you fast, but general wisdom is not everybody should fast, right? There are, 00:22:14.840 --> 00:22:21.600 don't necessarily need, but are able to enjoy. Think about slimming down your diet to very basic 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:27.000 for a season if you're one of those people who shouldn't fast from food completely. 00:22:28.139 --> 00:22:35.899 Another thing to do is to consider fasting. So recognize that if your health is an issue, 00:22:36.619 --> 00:22:40.959 fasting may look different for you. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater and just say, 00:22:41.059 --> 00:22:46.679 oh, well, then I can't fast. Find the way that's going to be meaningful for you to enter into this 00:22:46.680 --> 00:22:53.840 practice of fasting that Jesus requires us to. One last thought about thing. Recognize if you are a 00:22:53.840 --> 00:23:00.960 crazy exerciser and you stop eating, that will be an effect. You'll want to think and read more than 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:05.460 I can give you advice on this morning about how you do that. Don't run a marathon while you're fasting. 00:23:05.640 --> 00:23:13.680 That's one of my, that's my one thing I can say pretty confidently. So, okay. Third, or no, sixth. 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:21.340 We're now to sixth. Find the fine line between discipline and legalism. Fasting is a gift that 00:23:21.340 --> 00:23:26.680 you would break the fast because this isn't, this isn't a law and this isn't some structure that, 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:32.960 that God wants to impose upon you and make you a really difficult person to live with, right? 00:23:33.080 --> 00:23:38.900 This is a gift that God has given you. Now, having said that, we're all lazy. And as we start fasting, 00:23:38.900 --> 00:23:44.420 you'll find, do I really need to fast? Okay. So that's my laundry list of practical. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:51.820 What are the benefits? What is it spiritually? What is God doing? You know, 00:23:52.940 --> 00:24:01.140 as with all of these spiritual disciplines, giving and prayer and fasting now, the purpose is heart 00:24:01.140 --> 00:24:09.540 orientation, not free at people, or I'm greedy, or I'm covetous of certain things, or I'm proud, 00:24:09.940 --> 00:24:19.880 or I'm struggling with unbelief, or I'm despairing and doubting. Fasting just takes away a layer of comfort 00:24:19.880 --> 00:24:26.460 that we throw on top of our lives and allows us to see our hearts. And when we invite God to do it, 00:24:26.460 --> 00:24:39.680 He does this for us. He shows us what the prophet Jeremiah says to Israel in Jeremiah chapter 2, 00:24:40.120 --> 00:24:46.079 where God comes to His people and He says, this I have against you, with so many things to try to 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:54.720 satisfy our soul when we were made for God. And this is what God is doing in fasting. 00:24:56.460 --> 00:25:04.620 He reveals the idols of our hearts. In Acts 13, it says that the church in Antioch fasted and prayed 00:25:04.620 --> 00:25:09.340 for discernment as they were looking to see who to anoint to send out on the mission 00:25:09.340 --> 00:25:16.100 where they picked Saul and Barnabas. So there are other places where fasting has some other roles, 00:25:16.100 --> 00:25:24.340 but I think at its core, it's for fellowship and communion and the fullness of the celebration 00:25:24.339 --> 00:25:32.019 while He's here. But Jesus is saying, my disciples don't fast because I'm here. And when I go away, 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:37.859 and I believe that means after His death and His resurrection, as He goes to heaven, as we wait for 00:25:37.859 --> 00:25:46.259 His return, what do our hearts really hunger for? We don't hunger for Cheetos and for ice cream and for 00:25:46.259 --> 00:25:53.559 whatever it is that you, jambalaya, whatever, you know, you really, what our hearts really hunger for 00:25:53.559 --> 00:26:01.220 is for forgiveness of our sin and relief from guilt. Our hearts hunger for peace with God, 00:26:01.779 --> 00:26:11.759 with one another, and even within our own selves. We hunger for hope. Never want to go back to this world. 00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:30.720 Lord, that we do not long for you the way we ought to. Lord, how full we are of the junk food of this 00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:39.240 life that we don't know the richness and the fullness of what you have prepared for us in Christ. 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:47.380 Lord, I pray today that, Lord, in this coming week and in the coming month, as we feast and as we fast, 00:26:48.120 --> 00:26:53.180 Lord, that we would know you more and more. We pray this in Jesus' name.