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.