"New Wineskins": What does the Bible say about fasting?

REACH – “What Does the Bible Say About Fasting?”
1/23/2011

Tonight at REACH there was a flyer on each chair. On the back of the flyer was a black box with this “Points to Ponder” section written in it:

C.S. Lewis answers a question from St. Augustine on the topic of faith or obedience to God

St. Augustine [speaking of the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac]: “If God is omniscient He must have known what Abraham would do, without any experiment; why then this needless torture?”

C.S. Lewis: “But as St. Augustine points out, whatever God knew, Abraham at any rate did not know that his obedience would endure such a command until the event taught him, and the obedience which he did not know that he would choose, he cannot be said to have chosen. The reality of Abraham’s obedience was the act itself; and what God knew in knowing that Abraham “would obey” was Abraham’s actual obedience on that mountain top at that moment. To say that God “need not have tried the experiment” is to say that because God knows, the thing known by God need not exist.”

This is where our discussion for the night began. So, what is Lewis saying here?
God tests us not because He doesn’t know how it’ll turn out. It’s for our own good! How? We need to a) see that we can do it & gain confidence, and more importantly b) have that testimony of actually choosing God through faith. Sometimes we undergo “trying events” not because God needs us to prove ourselves, but so we can see for ourselves… it’s like WE’RE testing ourselves, not God testing us. Because He already knows!

Next, Brian shared a series of Scripture passages with us:

Romans 11:36 – “For from him [Jesus] and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.”
Keep in mind that “context is king” (Brian’s new little catchphrase :-) ). This is talking about Jesus. Everything is through him, and also TO him—to his glory. Everything. Every object. Every act. Keep this in mind.

Colossians 1:16 – “For by him [Jesus] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”
Again, all things (objects, people, acts, etc.) created by him and FOR him. Even food can glorify him… both in how we USE it (eating it, taking care of ourselves with it, being thankful for it, giving it to those in need) and DON’T use it (forfeiting that right to eat to God, in a way that expresses that he is more important to us than food… more on that coming up…)

Now, a question emerges: is the concept of “fasting” solely a Christian one?
Well, think about the Muslims and Ramadan. Or health fasting? Michael is basically “fasting” from drinking soda. So is the “fast” only Christian? No, we can see that it’s not really.
--the ACT of fasting is not solely Christian, per se, but the ATTITUDE is…

Romans 13:3-6 – “Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.”
As long as you’re giving God the glory… it doesn’t matter what you do (in a sense, of course :-) ). This passage was about things that were deemed as “bad” in the church by association – particularly here, eating meat offered to idols (idols = BAD. So idol meat = bad by association, not bad in itself). Today, things we have the freedom to do that may be deemed as “bad by association” include going to the theater, dancing, drinking (ooh, we hit a hot button here!), rock and roll music, etc.
But what’s the point here? You can do whatever, as long as it’s glorifying God and you’re doing it for him! Obviously, this automatically rules a host of things out… but then there are the “grey things” that you may feel you can and cannot do, but that another person may feel differently about. The point is, you can go to a theater and someone else can abstain from theaters, and you can both be okay as long as you’re both doing it in honor of the Lord!

Colossians 2:16 – “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.”
SO, with the previous in mind (doing all things to God’s honor), don’t let people judge you for what you DO eat and drink and do. Don’t let them judge you for not being at church whenever the doors are open (ahem, ahem, CBC? Yeah…) or for eating pork if it’s “not kosher”. Just make sure you’re right.

1 Corinthians 8:8 – “Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.”
Have you noticed that there’s still no explicit mention of the term “fasting” in this discussion? Now we’re getting to food, which is most commonly discussed when discussing the topic of fasting. But still, it’s about a focus on motives here – ‘eating or not eating doesn’t affect your standing with God’.
See a theme yet? Yeah, I thought you might… ^_^


Here’s the next one, and it’s a BIGGIE!!! 1 Corinthians 6:12 – “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.

In all this discussion of how we’re allowed to do whatever we want as long as it’s in God’s honor, you MUST keep in mind that just because we can do it doesn’t mean it’s “lawful” – a good idea. Do not be mastered by anything! Even a good thing can master you if you find yourself “needing” to have it (when you get home from work, do you think “I NEED to ___”? I know that for myself the very first thing I always have to do is check my facebook. It’s ridiculous! That definitely owns me sometimes.). Don’t be mastered by ANYTHING; even a good gift from God can master you. Even…Facebook! Whatever it is that masters you, you may have to put that aside to focus on God. It may be lawful, but is it profitable?

Believe it or not, we’re actually starting to get closer to the heart of fasting. It was right around here that things started to fall in place for me, and I could see where it was going. It’s about attitude, not just giving up food…


Then another BIG passage: Matthew 9:14-17 – “Then the disciples of John came to him [Jesus], saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The day will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

Now think about this. Of all people, why were JESUS’S disciples not fasting? Seriously?
What does Jesus say? He says that the bridegroom is still with them… He is still with them. This is a time for celebration! They didn’t need to fast.
But what else did Jesus say? Yeah. That the day is coming when He WOULDN’T be with them. Like, yah, today. Nowadays we DO need to fast…
“New wineskins” – back in the Old Testament, there was a rule that the people were to fast twice a week (sunrise to sundown). It basically turned in to a ritual. But now, with Jesus’s atoning sacrifice tearing the veil and making us free from the law, we’re not under those constraints. Just as the other New Testament verses show us, we are free to do anything in honor of God. But we can’t try to stick this new freedom in the old constraints – we can’t “put new wine in old wineskins”!
Our “new wineskin” is not ritualistic. God wants a pure heart, not a ritualistic motion. And this is true for fasting just as much as any other act. He wants us to fast – to forego something – because we yearn for God! Not because it’s a “spiritual thing to do”.

AHA! Are you seeing this pull together now? Does fasting just have to be food? Why should we fast? I’m not explaining it all yet… keep reading… keep putting the pieces together yourself… keep thinking about these things… :-)

Luke 7:33-35 – [Jesus speaking] “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”
They knocked John for fasting, and they knocked Jesus for eating! What mattered was their attitudes to God. Again, you’re not more spiritual if you fast.

New wine (No rituals)
Celebration of Christ.
Not self-discipline that tries to earn more listening from God. No. Fasting does not get God to pay more attention to your prayers; you don’t just give up food for a week when you’re in a tough spot so that God knows you’re really serious about this problem you’re in.
Fasting is a longing for God that displaces things which are in your way of fully loving Jesus. Even good things, if they master you, can get in your way. And if you long for God… you’ll want to move those things out of the #1 spot in your life. That’s the attitude of fasting.


James 1:17 – “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
—and—
1 Timothy 4:3-5 – “who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”

Again, all good things come from God. So when we fast, we’re not denying food (for example) because it’s a bad thing. It IS a good gift from above! (especially cookies, haha) Rather, fasting says that we love God OVER his gifts. Fasting tests US. God knows our hearts already; we don’t. Hence, we test ourselves by fasting. We forego something that we like (perhaps something that’s mastering or hindering us) to show God that he is supreme and we love him more than what he gives us.

1 Corinthians 9:27 – “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”
Colossians 1:23 – “if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
Ephesians 4:22 – “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires”
Obviously, sometimes our desires can hinder us from God. So we need to be watchful. Fasting is a way you can do this!

SO…

Fast. Fast for his glory. Give it up so you can hunger for God more. Use the time to grow hungry for God by spending time with him.

-->How can we fast? What are some ways? What can we fast from?
TV. Facebook. Starbucks. Rising early? Praying when it’s hard. Choosing God over flesh.

Matthew 6:16-18 – “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for the disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18that 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.”
Don’t be like the hypocrites and showcase your fasting piously. Their talk and walk weren’t matching. Wrong heart. Wrong root of their joy. And think about this: What’s the point of telling others of your sacrifice in fasting? Really? Who gets the glory then?

Piper: “Doing right just because it is right is not the Christian ideal. Doing right to enlarge our delight in God is.” From A Hunger for God, by John Piper.

Either way you choose, fasting or not (you can do either!), DO IT FOR HIS GLORY.