25th October 2024

25th October 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 6:16-18)


Message (Alan Burke)


Have you broken your fast yet? Breakfast is the meal that you eat which enables you to break the fast lasting from the previous day, it is breaking the fast, breakfast. I’m sure you all knew that is why breakfast is called breakfast. What though about fasting as a spiritual practice? I’d say that it has become lost to a large extent in the church today, for the original hearers of Jesus they would have known and understood the importance of fasting, it was a sign of ones piety, it showed that you were a faithful Jew. 


There were corporate fasts and individual fasts. Corporate meaning something that we do together, this is corporate worship, we do it together. For the likes of a corporate fast then we would do it together. The Kirk Session as the spiritual leadership of the congregation could say next Lord’s day we are going to encourage you all to fast from your lunch, to devote the time to prayer. Likewise individually you could choose to fast on a day a week and devote your time to prayer. The Old Testament gives examples of when fasting was not only suggested as a good idea but required and the fasting, self denial covered not only eating, but drinking, intimacy within marriage, washing, anointing, putting on sandals. There were also fast days for tragedies in the history of the people as well as when there was a national crisis. If there was famine or war people would fast as a sing of repentance and seek God’s guidance in prayer. 


If you wanted to be technical about it, there was only one day per year that the people of God were expected to fast. That was on the day of atonement they would practice self denial (Lev 23:37). In Jesus day there were those who fasted twice a week (Lk 18:12) and it was a sign of ones piety, ones righteousness and you often did it to be seen. 


When someone was fasting they would make it clear to others that they were fasting by going about looking dishevelled, they were trying to look awful. It wasn't the case that they were trying to hide it by getting the makeup out and put in the face on. No they wanted people to see just how spiritual they were. Some of them even went as far as dirtying themselves to make a big show of how they were making such a sacrifice for God by. 


They were looking somber, disfigured their faces, effectively they were making it look by their facial expression that they were were fasting, they were preforming for others to see, they were saying to the outside world, “look at me”, they were blowing their trumpets, they were pretenders. In contrast, the followers of Jesus, when they fast they are to put oil on our head and wash our face. That might seem unusual to us but this was the typical grooming pattern. Like today you’d say to many men, and I consulted with men just to make sure; “wake up, shave the face, put the aftershave on fix what you have of the hair and try to look presentable”, for the ladies well you all look radiant without having to make any effort so just be yourselves, do your normal thing, don’t be making a big song and dance about it. In doing this our Father who is unseen and sees what is done in secret will reward us. 


In giving to the needy, prayer and fasting it comes down to what motivates us. Are we looking for the acclaim of others or are we wanting to please our heavenly father in what we do? Giving, praying and fasting, shouldn’t be a show, it should be done to please our heavenly Father. Fasting has fallen out of favour in the church but it is still virtuous. It might be something you should practice, maybe a fast from dare I say it, Facebook. Many of you read these devotions on Facebook but how much time do you waste during the day on your phone, fast from it, read the scriptures, pray it will benefit you much more than most of the drivel we often spend our time on. There are many other things we can fast from, food, golf, TV the list is endless and spent time with the Lord your God, fasting is a spiritual practice that we have lost. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
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