The Work(s) of Fasting

Introduce the Text

Read the Text

Preach the Text

Introduce

This text comes from the Sermon on the Mount. From chapters 5-7 Jesus is laying out before those present his teachings regarding the law, marriage, how to conduct yourself in every relationship, prayer, and fasting. So, as we begin this first Sunday in Lent looking at a typical Lenten text, I want to remind you of something I said a couple of weeks ago and something I will say every week for the next month: prayer and fasting are two of the marks of a Christian life. They are not necessary for salvation, but they are necessary for the maturing of your faith and your love and knowledge of God.

Read

Matthew 6:16–18 ESV

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Preach

Outline

Introduction

Exegete

The Work(s) of Fasting

Testimonies and effectiveness of Prayer

Introduction

The first thing to remember is that two of the Marks of the Christian life are prayer and fasting. This is something we will see over the next five weeks ans we approach Easter. As you can tell from the title of the sermon we will be dealing with the work or works of fasting. The two points I mean by this is the effectiveness of fasting to lead us to God and also how fasting can become a works-based righteousness. Before we get there though I want to open the text up and look at what is happening in these three verses.

Exegete

Matthew 6:16 ESV

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

"When you fast" not "if you fast". Prayer alway accompanies fasting is not a simple thing to be done at Lent, rather the Christian life is marked by prayer and fasting. By these two disciplines we grow in love and knowledge of God. Fasting ultimately teaches us that Christ is all we need, it leads us to not be anxious about anything, but to pray to God (Phil. 4:6-7, Matt. 6:25) If God provided in the times of loss, emptiness, and despair, will he not also provide and every other situation. 

We see here that even self-pity becomes a sense of pride. "Look at how much I am bearing and suffering for God, I deserve something good". This pride is no more dangerous than the pride of those who boast in the "goodness" of themselves. The pride of boasting demands a reward by the merit of self. The pride of self-pity demands a reward for how much you've endured. 

What is their reward? Their reward is this: the glory and praise of the people that they have gathered as a result of their own self-righteousness. They have perverted God's Law, they have amassed wealth and power through the exploitation of others, they have the mercy and righteousness that God requires. As long as the people see them do these holy thing and living these holy lives, they'll continue to support them. 

Matthew 6:17 ESV

17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

To anoint your head and wash your face simply means to dress and conduct yourself in a normal manner. To act the opposite of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

Matthew 6:18 ESV

18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Fasting is not about you; at least in the sense of your pride, your strength, your ability, or your wisdom. Fasting is a form of worship. We deny ourselves food and other luxuries for the sake of drawing closer to Christ (Rom. 12:1). Any time we truly worship God and give him honor and glory he honors us. He gives us strength, peace, discernment, grace, humility, brokenness, and even answered prayers and miracles. God rewards us not with what this world can offer us, but with the very things that reminds us of his goodness, mercy, and love. In our fasting, God shows us that he is enough for everything. 

The Work(s) of Fasting

The effectiveness of prayer

Prayer becoming a work - Triumphantalism

Testimonies and Effectiveness of Prayer

“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”

- Martin Luther

John Wesley would rise up at 4 AM every day to seek God for the first four hours of the day. In his later years Wesley was known to spend up to 8 hours in prayer

John Wesley used to say that he thought very little of a man who did not pray four hours every day.