Lent: A Season of Fasting
Refocusing on What Matters
This Sunday is the last Sunday before we begin the season called “Lent.” It is a well-known season in Catholic circles, but many Protestants are unfamiliar. It is unfamiliar because many holidays did not make the cut during the Reformation.
One particular holiday may surprise you. During the English Interregnum, when England was ruled by a Puritan Parliament, this holiday was outlawed. It was called “a popish festival with no biblical justification” ("Why Did Cromwell Abolish Christmas?". Oliver Cromwell. The Cromwell Association. 2001. Retrieved 28 December 2006). When the Pilgrims came to America, they continued to ignore this famous holiday. It was not until after the American Revolution that festivities began to circulate, but even then, it would not be until the late 1800s that Americans widely celebrated this holiday. What is that holiday? Christmas.
Much of what the Puritans said about Christmas is exactly what many Baptists say about Mardi Gras, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. It is a raucous time, filled with drinking, card playing, and all manner of debauchery. And they aren’t wrong. Christmas developed a reputation in Merry Ol’ England that was on par with a New Orleans Mardi Gras. But just as Christmas does not have to be a celebration of debauchery, but rather a celebration of Christ, so too can Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday and Lent.
Holidays are “holy days.” That’s where the name of the day derives. Wherever the emphasis for the holiday is, that is where we find its worth. If we emphasize the celebration, then it will lead to over-indulgence. But, if we emphasis the reason for the celebration, it can lead to greater faithfulness.
Holidays are established to remind us of what God has done for us in the past.
In the Old Testament, the Lord tells Israel to establish a series of holidays to honor the times of His salvation.
Shabbat, or Sabbath, is the 7th day of the week set aside for worship.
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year which begins the 10 day period leading to Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, which in the Old Testament is the day when the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies to offer atonement for Israel’s sins.
Sukkot is the Feast of Tabernacles commemorating the 40-year wandering.
Purim is the celebration of the events in Esther, the story of Esther ending a Persian plot to destroy the Hebrew people.
Passover commemorates their deliverance from Egypt.
Shavuot, or Feast of Weeks, marks the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.
The last Jewish holiday we don’t find in our Protestant Bibles, but if you pick up a copy of the Apocrypha, you can find the roots of Hanukkah in the Maccabees.
Each of these holidays is tied inextricably to the work of the Lord.
In the New Testament, we don’t see new holidays established, but it was not very long after the New Testament was written that Christians began observing Christian holidays. Christmas or “Christ’s Mass” began at some point in the second century, but was popularized by the third and fourth. Easter is a bit murkier because it appears Christians held some kind of Resurrection Sunday event very early. It was unorganized, though, so the Nicene Council attempted to unify its celebration across the Roman Empire. They were unsuccessful, which is one reason we have “Easter” and “Orthodox Easter.”
Lent also began relatively early, but it appears it developed in response to how the early Christians viewed baptism and their changing attitudes over fasting. Before
For those of you curious, Ash Wednesday did not emerge until the 11th century, and Mardi Gras was in direct response to it. The French (among others) wanted to have a day of celebration before beginning the 40 days of Lent.
These days, most baptists do not have to be convinced the merits of Christmas and Easter (though some hard-nosed baptists prefer “Resurrection Day”). However, we have yet to embrace the merits of Lent. If nothing else, we should probably look to our Icelandic brothers and sisters for inspiration. Their Lent, called Öskudagur, is similar to Halloween in the U.S. Kids dress up in costumes and tour their neighborhoods singing songs in exchange for candy. The holiday even makes room for mischief—in one fading tradition, kids will sometimes pin "ash bags" (often filled with grains instead of ash) to the backs of their peers when they aren't looking. Just think, we could have two Halloweens.
But for today, I would like to examine the Scriptures to see if there is merit for this season.
A Holiday for Fasting
Before we dig into our first passage, it is worth noting Lent is a time of fasting. Its name, “Lent,” comes from the Old English lencten which is simply the word for spring. There are similar words found in Old Saxon, Middle Dutch, and German which all refer to the “lengthening of days” during the spring. It is a time of fasting that leads up to Easter.
Fasting has a long history in Judaism and Christianity, but for the topic at hand, it is worth noting the earliest Christians chose two days out of the week to fast, Wednesday and Friday. Just for some random trivia, the Jewish tradition of fasting was on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but as Christians began pulling away from their Jewish roots, church bishops argued Christians should choose different days in order to not be confused with their Jewish neighbors.
Candidates for baptism were also instructed to fast for 40 days prior to their baptism. Since many wanted to be baptized at Easter (or in some cases, that’s just when the church would perform baptisms), it became popular for many new Christians to all fast at the same time. Because fasting is a discipline for all Christians, not just newbies, Lent developed as a particular holiday season.
Now, we will not find any Scriptures on Lent, but when we look at the spiritual discipline of fasting, we find quite a bit. And that is what I would like us to look at today. So, let’s take a look at the reasons for fasting as Christians.
1) Fasting reminds us what is most important.
This world is filled with distractions, and though they may not be wrong inherently, the accumulation of distractions can keep us from living as we should. At the end of Jesus’ 40 day fast, Satan comes to Jesus to tempt Him. Now, Jesus hasn’t eaten for 40 days, so when Satan tells Jesus to prove His Divinity by turning stones to bread, it isn’t just a jab at Jesus’ pride. It’s also teasing a hungry man. But Jesus responds with,
But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:4
This statement is a direct reference to Deuteronomy 8:3 in which Moses is readying the people to renew their covenant with God and enter the Promise Land. Let’s read it in context, so that we can see the importance of this statement.
“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 8:1-3
Do you remember the story of the Israelites wandering in the desert? They were fed with manna from heaven. Moses tells the people God allowed them to hunger and be fed with only manna so that they would know “man does not live by bread alone.” We live because the Lord makes it so. It is by His command that we live, and by His command we can cease to live.
Our modern world is no different from the ancient world. Sometimes people have a measure of success, and they forget their blessings come from God. We owe our life, our blessings, and every ounce of success we can muster in life to Him. Fasting reminds us that we are dependent on Him.
The Israelites could have hunted for food. They could have built gardens. They could have gone straight into the Promised Land if they had had the faith to. But, because of their fear, they were sent wandering. They needed to learn their existence, and their continued existence, depended on the Lord, not themselves.
For us today, we must remind ourselves every once in awhile that our life, and especially our eternal life, is not dependent on us. We do not live by bread, but by God.
Fasting, whether it be from food or some other activity, reminds us to focus our hearts and dependency on God.
2) Fasting is a means of intercession.
There are a few examples in Scripture when someone wants to entreat God for action. Now, we should not look at fasting as a means of making God do something…we don’t make God do anything. He’s God. He does what He pleases. But, we can fast as means of gaining clarity for what we are asking God to do, and what He may be asking us to do in return.
I mentioned Purim earlier, and I think this is a prime example of what we are talking about. Turn with me to Esther 4. Esther is about to make the decision to intercede on behalf of her people. A wicked and jealous leader named Haman has conjured a plan to exterminate the Jewish people. Mordecai informed Esther who, through essentially a beauty contest, has become queen. Esther would like to help, but she has not actually seen the king for about 30 days. So, what are they to do?
And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.
Esther 4:12-17
Everyone knows what needs to be done. Esther must go to the king and expose Haman, but the law does not allow someone to just go to the king. They must be summoned. Esther tells Mordecai to call a fast on her behalf so that God will soften the king’s heart and to steel her resolve.
3) Fasting is a renewal for holiness.
Nehemiah 9 is the turning point in Nehemiah’s story. The people have been brought back to Jerusalem. They have finished repairing the wall that surrounds the city. They assemble together and Ezra reads the Law to the people. We read in 9:1,
Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.
Nehemiah 9:1-3
For a quarter of a day, the Israelites hold a Bible Study and Worship service. They are fasting and in sackcloth, because they are in mourning. These particular Israelites are the descendants of a nation that failed to live according to their covenant with God, and they were sent into exile for it. They have spent the last 70 years in Exile only to return to a demolished city. The people who returned began working on their houses, but failed to restore the Temple and the city walls. The book of Ezra recounts the story of the Temple’s rebuilding, and if you read Haggai, you find his prophecy against the people for neglecting the Temple. Nehemiah continues the story with the rebuilding of the wall. It is at this point in Nehemiah 9 when the city is finally restored to some semblance of its past. Instead of holding an enormous celebration first, Nehemiah tells the people to hold off their celebrations. It is not time to celebrate, it is time to mourn and repent. It is time for a fast.
If the Israelites are to prosper as God promised them, they must renew their faith and their holiness.
Fasting is a way of restoring this holiness. Again, it is not a magical act in itself, it is a way to turn our hearts and minds toward God. It removes the distractions of the world, and turns our hearts to God thereby renewing holiness in our life.
4) Fasting calls us to action.
Next, fasting calls us to action. This point can be broken in two different ways. First, turn with me to Isaiah 58.
Isaiah prophesies against the people because they are ritually fasting, but they are not actually seeking God’s attention or heart. Verses 1-2 describe the problem. The people do the rituals, but they turn around and sin afterward. They ask in verse 3 why God isn’t responding to their fasts. Look at 3-5.
‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers
Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?
Isaiah 58:3-5
God calls out their hypocritical fast. They spend a day spreading sackcloth and ashes on themselves only to go about the rest of the week oppressing the poor and fighting amongst themselves. If they had truly been seeking God’s will, they would not be doing the very things God hates. Instead, they should use this time of fasting to “loose the bonds of wickedness, undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke.” They are to bring freedom and prosperity to others just as they have enjoyed for themselves.
If they do this, and they worship with their hearts, then God promises in verse 13,
“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Isaiah 58:13-14
There is a great renewal awaiting those who seek the Lord. Fasting is a means of seeking the Lord, but it only works when it is combined with a heart that wants to seek the Lord. The reason fasting calls us to action is because God will use this time to show us what our next faith steps should be.
Second, fasting calls us to action when we are about to start a new chapter in our life. Turn with me to Acts 13. Here, the disciples are about to continue their missionary journey. The church at Antioch has been established, and they are ready to send out their own missionaries to continue sharing the Gospel with cities around them. Read with me beginning in verse 2.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Acts 13:2-3
They knew what action was needed next. They were going to send out missionaries. They just wanted to be sure who they should send. In their fasting and prayers, they hear the Holy Spirit tell them to call out Barnabas and Saul. Then, they fast and pray some more, lay hands on them, and send them off.
Whenever we are about to begin a new chapter in our life, or when we as a church are beginning a new endeavor. It is good practice to fast while we pray. Again, it is not that fasting has some magical power. It is simply a means of drawing our hearts and minds closer to God so that we can hear what the Holy Spirit has to say.
So what is our response to Lent? Should we disregard it as a “popish holiday with no biblical justification?” I would say ‘no.’
Consider that it leads to the most holy holiday or our year—Easter. As we begin to think about the Easter season and the fact of the Resurrection, I think it would be very beneficial for us to fast as part of our preparation. What should we fast? That’s really between you and God, but the traditional route is food. This may be fasting like Daniel who chose to fast from choice foods, or it may be like the desert monks who fasted from all food. The Catholics have developed a series of laws and traditions so maybe they can help you or not. Personally, I still haven’t figured out how fish isn’t meat, so there you go.
A new development has been to “give up something.” Social media has become the go-to for many, along with the typical vices of alcohol or gambling. To help us decide, I think these questions are in order.
What typically distracts me from meeting with God daily?
What vices do I allow in my life that draw me away from God?
What activities are really unnecessary?
The answers to these questions will help you determine what to fast. I would encourage a food fast. There is something to be said about taking a break from American gluttony. However, giving up an activity will help you free up time to focus on the Lord. After all, that’s what this time is all about. We can avoid the sin of Israel and the Pharisees if we use this time to truly turn our hearts to God and not let this be “just something we do.”