The Lenten Fast

 “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. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 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.”

(Matthew 6:16-18 ESV)

 

Lent is a time of year when fasting is traditional. Most of us are familiar with the Catholic tradition of fasting from meat on the Fridays of Lent. And many of us do something similar.

 

We give up something that’s part of our everyday life. We give up something we will miss. We give up something that will truly be a sacrifice.

 

Many of us will give up something like chocolate or soda. We do so, recognizing that we like them too much. And we do so, recognizing how unhealthy they are.

 

In recent years, it’s become fashionable to fast from something related to technology. People have fasted from social media, recognizing how much of a time drain it’s become. And others have fasted from TV or video games for the same reason.

 

Perhaps, with Lent upon us, you’re considering such a fast. Or, perhaps you’ve already begun one. The question we need to consider, however, is the reason we’re doing so.

 

The gospel assures us that we’re saved only by Jesus. It assures us that we’re saved only by the grace of God. And it assures us that we receive this grace through faith in Christ alone.

 

We have no intrinsic quality that makes us deserving of salvation, nor can we do anything to earn it. Fasting, then, must not be looked at as something we do to merit the salvation of God. It must not be viewed as something that we do to make ourselves deserving of his mercy.

 

And not only do we seek to earn God’s approval through efforts like fasting. We seek also the applause of men. We seek the approval and the admiration of others.

 

We find in the passage above, however, that fasting is not to be publicly practiced. It’s not something that we’re to announce to others, or to make obvious to others. We’re not to do so because the obvious temptation of fasting is to make ourselves appear pious and righteous before others.

 

Jesus tells us that, if we do so, that’s all the reward we will get. And he instructs us to keep our fast between ourselves and God. He says that we’re to anoint our head and wash our face so that our fasting may be in secret.

 

What, then, is the purpose of fasting? If we cannot merit the salvation of God in this way, what’s the point? And if we’re not to seek the admiration of others in this way, why would we bother with it?

 

The purpose of fasting is to remind ourselves, in a tangible way, that the Lord is sufficient. It’s to remind ourselves that he alone is to be our focus. And it’s to remind ourselves that he alone is the source of life and salvation.

 

Our fast, then, points us to Christ. It drives us to the gospel. And it motivates us to trust in the Word and promise of God.

A Small Town Influence

 “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.”

(Romans 16:3–5 ESV)

In the day in which we live, we often strive to gain influence by means of fame. We believe that we have to establish a following. And we set out to do just that.

This is true not only in our day-to-day lives, where everyone wants to be Instagram famous. It’s true also in the church. It’s true of our ministries.

We believe that, if we’re to reach people for Christ, and if we’re to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth, we have to become well-known and establish a following. And we set out to do just that. We try to get a following on YouTube. We try to get a following on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and every other social media app in existence. We create podcasts and we write books.

Don’t misunderstand what I’m trying to say. There are legitimate uses of these avenues.  And they can certainly be used for ministry in a healthy way. But, quite often, it becomes more about us than it is about Christ.

However, we can also have a sizable influence outside of these avenues. We can faithfully carry out our ministry apart from them. And this becomes clear as we look at the above passage.

Honestly, this passage is one that we tend to read over as we come to it in our Bible. We look at it as irrelevant. After all, it’s simply a list of greetings.

But, as we look at it, we see something interesting. We see that Aquila and Priscilla, with whom Paul worked in Corinth, were involved in the church at Rome. In fact, they had a church meeting in their home. And we see that Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia, was also at Rome. 

If we read further in this passage, we see other interesting connections. Rufus, addressed in verse 13, obviously had a close, and even an intimate, connection to Paul. I say this because of his comment that Rufus’ mother had been a mother to him. And, at this point, Paul had never been to Rome.

We see from this that, as Paul ministered to various people in various places, not only did they come to faith in Christ. And not only did they grow in that faith. They also began to serve the Lord. We see that his ministry became their ministry.

And several of these people ended up in Rome. They were now associated with the church of Rome. Even though Paul had never set foot in that city, and although he hadn’t yet preached in that city, his ministry had a big influence on its church.

Although we rarely think about it, we can see the same thing if we look at our own congregations. We find that people who came to Christ in our congregations, and who grew in faith in our congregations, are now engaging in ministry in another area. Even if they aren’t pastors, they are involved in the ministry of a church in their new area.

Those who were once influenced by us are now influencing others. Those who received the gospel from us are sharing it with others. And those who learned the Word of God from us are now teaching it to others.

In this way, our congregation, and perhaps even we ourselves, have influenced the ministry in distant locations. In this way, we’ve influenced the ministry in another part of the country. We have done so, in fact, in distant parts of the world.

Our name may not be attached to it. But that doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that Christ’s name is proclaimed. The only thing that matters is that the gospel is proclaimed. The only thing that matters is that the ministry, entrusted to us by Christ, is carried out.

My point in this is that, as we faithfully carry out our ministries, as we do so in a small church in a small town, in a sparsely populated state, we have a greater impact than we could ever realize. We don’t have to be famous to reach people outside of our area. All we have to do is be faithful in what the Lord has assigned to us.

Loving the Weak

 

“We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”

(Romans 15:1 ESV)

 

Our tendency, as human beings, is to look first and foremost to our own interests. Our tendency is to satisfy our own desires. Our tendency is to put our own welfare and our own wants ahead of all else.

 

This is true of us not only as people. It’s true of us also as Christians. It’s true of us because we continue to bear our sinful nature.

 

Paul, however, turns this on its head. He tells us, in the passage above, that those who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak. And they have an obligation not to please themselves.

 

As we break this down, we first have to identify the strong and the weak. And this isn’t always as easy as it seems. Those who seem to be strong are often the weakest among us.

 

The strong are those who know the freedom they have in Christ and who are able to live in it. The weak are those who struggle with this freedom. They are those who are bound by their conscience to laws and regulations that are unnecessary.

 

Yet, even though the strong know the freedom they have in Christ, and even though they are able to live in it without guilt, their freedom is not to be their primary concern. Maintaining their freedom is not to be their primary concern. Their focus is to be upon the weak.

 

They are to bear with the failings of the weak. In fact, they are obligated to do so. Their primary concern is to be their brother in Christ.

 

Paul goes on to explain that we’re each to please our neighbor for his good. We’re to please our neighbor to build him up. And he points us to Christ as the ultimate example of this.

 

Christ, he says, did not please himself. Instead, he took upon himself our sin. He took upon himself our guilt and shame.

 

In this way, he reminds us of what Jesus did upon the cross. He didn’t come into this world for his sake, but for ours. And he died upon the cross not for any guilt of his own, but for that we have incurred.

 

In the same way, then, we must consider our brother in our midst. We must do nothing that will harm him in terms of his faith or salvation. We must put no stumbling block before him. We’re, rather, to do all that we can to build him up. And we’re to do so even if it means sacrificing for a time the freedom we enjoy.

Freedom in Christ

 

“For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

(Romans 14:23 ESV)

 

As believers, our morality, our practices, and our lifestyle are derived from the Word of God. They’re derived from Scripture, as it reveals to us the nature and character of God. And we find in Scripture, of course, what God has declared to be sinful and what he has declared righteous.

 

God gives to us clear boundaries. We’re not to steal, trusting that God will provide for our needs and remaining content with that he’s given. We’re not to murder, or otherwise bring harm to our neighbor. And we’re not to bear false witness about our neighbor, choosing instead to protect his reputation.

 

As we, then, behave in ways that violate these truths, we confess our sin and repent. As we discover tendencies within ourselves that contradict these truths, we confess them and repent. And as we discover mindsets, attitudes, and feelings that contradict these truths, we confess them and repent.

 

We seek the forgiveness of God. We seek the salvation of God. And we seek the strength of God, that we might serve and glorify him in all that we do.

 

However, we yet find differences in the church when it comes to the lifestyle that we live. We find some differences in the church when it comes to the practices in which we engage. And these differences relate to the freedoms we have in Christ.

 

As we seek to live in the faith we confess, there are believers who struggle with the freedoms we have in Christ. For whatever reason, they can’t bring themselves to accept them.  And, at the same time, others in the church are able to enjoy them.

 

 The cases I’m referring to are those where neither party is sinning. Neither party is violating the Law of God. And neither party is ignoring or dismissing the Word of God.

 

There are those, for example, who abstain entirely from alcohol while others use it in moderation. There are those who will only worship and nap on Sunday, while others feel free to engage in activities for which they’ve had little time throughout the week. And there are those who are compelled to fast at various times while others are not.

 

However, no matter our conviction, we must be fully persuaded. We must be fully convinced in our own heart. And we must live according to our conviction.

 

We must do so because, as we see in the above passage, whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. If we then engage in a practice, lacking the conviction that we have the freedom to do so, we are sinning. And, in that case, we are guilty.

 

We are guilty not because that practice is condemned by God. We’re guilty because we are convicted in doing so. We’re guilty because we are not acting in faith.

 

If our conscience is not clear before God, when it comes to a certain practice, we must not engage in it. If having a glass of wine with dinner violates our conscience, we dare not do so. If weeding the garden on Sunday afternoon violates our conscience, we dare not do so. And if eating meat during Lent violates our conscience, we dare not do so.

 

But if, on the other hand, our conscience is clear, we can go ahead with it. We can have that glass of wine, we can go out and weed the garden, or we can enjoy that steak. We can do so without sin.

 

Our actions are to proceed from our faith. They’re to flow from our faith. They’re to result from the faith that we believe and confess.