Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13
“Do Something to Prepare Yourself for Easter”
Today is the first Sunday of Lent. Lent is a forty day season leading up to Easter Sunday. It begins on Ash Wednesday and continues until Maundy Thursday – the Thursday before Easter Sunday. During Lent, it is customary to fast. Traditionally, Christians fast from meat and dairy products during Lent. You see, Lent was originally at time of spiritual preparation for people who were preparing for baptism and church membership. As time went on, the rest of the congregation joined these catechumens – that’s the official word for those preparing for baptism and church membership – in their spiritual preparation. Central in this preparation was acknowledging the human need for forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ. Yet, it was not just a matter of coming to that realization, it was also a move to draw one closer to God. In order to do this, Christians would focus more intently on the means of grace: Holy Communion, worship, prayer, hearing the Word proclaimed, studying scripture, and fasting. Although all of these means of grace were to be practiced weekly if not daily during the rest of the year, some were more intensely practiced during Lent. Fasting is the means of grace that Lent is often known for.
To fast is traditionally to abstain from food and drink, or at least particular foods and drink. In modern day protestant practice, things other than food can be fasted from, such as TV. But what does giving something up have to do with a deeper spiritual walk with Christ? There are a few ways to look at this. The first is viewing fasting as a form of giving to God. In our reading from Deuteronomy, we find the command to give of the first fruit of the land [Deuteronomy 26:2]. This passage clearly states that what we give to God, God first gives to us. In this case, fasting could be an acknowledgement that what we are fasting from is first and foremost God’s. By abstaining from it, we are saying that this is properly God’s and not ours. God has given it to us for our use, but it is not ours to use without giving thanks. What might this look like for us today? We may decide to fast from an entire meal and take the money that we would have spent on that meal and give it to the Church or to a charity whose ministry is to feed the hungry.
Another way in which fasting can help draw us closer to God is that it can force us to rely on God to help us persevere through temptation. I really like eating meat. Cathy can tell you that I could very easily be happy being a carnivore. During Lent, I observe the traditional fast from meat and essentially become a vegetarian. I have to admit that there are times during the week when I really want to break the fast and have a steak or even a cheeseburger. Not only am I forced to rely on God to help me overcome these temptations, I also use these desires to help remind me to pray. I pray not just for the strength to overcome the temptation to break the fast, but I also give thanks to God for being able to eat meat throughout the rest of the year. This is a form of remembrance. It’s not simply a reminder of prayer, but also a reminder of the blessings in our situations.
This understanding of giving and fasting being reminders is not a new concept. Our reading from Deuteronomy explains that the gifts of first fruits are to be given to the priests and a ritual speech is to be made – a speech of remembrance – commemorating God leading the Israelites out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land [Deuteronomy 26:4-9]. The blessings the first fruits represent are remembered in the act of giving.
The neat thing about looking at fasting in this way is that we get to look at ourselves in the process. When we fast, we offer to God something of value to us. Since it has value to us, we must know ourselves well enough to know what to fast from. In our reading from the Gospel of Saint Luke, we hear the story of Jesus fasting for 40 days in the wilderness. While there, Jesus is visited by the devil three times. Each time the devil tempts Jesus. The first with food, the second with power, the third with the desire to be noticed – if you jump from the top of the temple and angels appear and gently set you on the ground, you’re going to be noticed and be quite the celebrity.
Jesus over
comes these temptations with knowledge of who he is, what his mission is, and
what God’s will for mankind is. Jesus
knew he was fully man as well as fully divine.
Yes, he could turn stones into bread because he was fully divine. He also knew that humans do “not live by
bread alone” [Luke 4:4]. The devil was
tempting Jesus with something small in the grand scheme of things. It’s as if he was trying to get Jesus to
focus on the little things of life and to forget why Jesus was in the
wilderness in the first place. Next, the
devil tried to bribe Jesus with the kingdoms of the world. But Jesus knew why he had come to earth. Sure, the world might have been a much more
peaceful place with Jesus in charge of all the kingdoms, but the scope of
Jesus’ mission was much larger than simply the kingdoms of the world at that
time. His would be the
I encourage us all to fast this Lent. Fasting is probably the least practiced of the means of grace. John Wesley once said, “The man that never fasts is no more on the way to heaven than the man that never prays” [Wesley’s sermon, Causes of the Inefficacy of Christianity].
We must never make the mistake that fasting means simply giving something up. We must remember that it’s not simply what you fast from; it’s also about what you fill that void with. Remembering God’s blessings in our lives is one way to fill that void. Remembering who we are as a part of the fallen creation and in need of Jesus Christ is also important. Yet, there are also other ways of fasting and filling the void that fasting creates. For instance, I mentioned fasting from TV – or at least some TV, like limiting your TV time to only an hour a day. What you do with the time you usually spend watching TV becomes very important. Take that time and spend it in prayer or in scripture study. You may even want to take that time to visit with someone who you haven’t seen in awhile. You may take some of that time and engage in a ministry, like serving in a soup kitchen, or another service ministry. You may take some of that time to read a Lenten devotional – I’ve got some great resources if you’re interested. I would also suggest taking some time for quite meditation and reflect on who Jesus Christ is and how your life reflects that belief.
Remember that Lent is not simply about fasting. It’s primarily about spiritual preparation. Fasting from something may not be the best preparation for you this Lent. Maybe adding something would be better. Take time to intentionally pray about an issue. Take time to read scripture. Take up a Lenten devotional. Start a prayer journal where you not only write your prayers, but you also reflect on your feelings for the issues you’re praying about. The bottom line is to do something to prepare yourself spiritually for Easter.
As I was preparing today’s sermon, I reflected a little bit on our reading from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul said, “’The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” [Romans 10:8b-9]. I asked myself, “What does it mean to truly “believe in your heart? What does that look like?” Then I realized that to “confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead” are the very truths that those preparing for baptism and church membership are to deal with. These are also the truths that make Easter more than just a Hallmark Holiday for Christians. These are the Truths that the entire Church must reflect on during Lent in order to prepare for the most important High Holy Day in the Christian year – Easter Sunday.
SDG