“When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6: 16-18
In Jesus’ day fasting was one of four ways you worshipped God. Fasting originally came from the Old Testament with one of the best examples of fasting occurring with King David. He fasted in grief after his sin of adultery and murder in 2 Samuel Chapter 12. This experience gave birth to Psalm 51. He cried out to God in repentance, refusing to eat, sitting in sack cloth and ashes.
It’s all about our heart attitude towards God and it’s akin to a sacrifice, cutting deep into the spiritual heart of a man or women. To go without food showed God you were prepared to undergo discomfort and hunger pains, expressing sorrow for offenses. By the time of Isaiah the prophet fasting had become a religious practise rather than a heartfelt cry to God. We can see this in Isaiah Chapter 58 with the introduction of institutionalised religious fasting which down played heartfelt repentance. The prophet writes about the true fast attitude:
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wander with shelter- when you see the naked to clothe him, and not turn away from your flesh and blood?” (Isaiah 58:6-7)
Fasting as an act of worship must show grief for sin, especially for sins of omission in neglecting social justice matters. Fasting is about our heart attitude; it shows God our grief for not loving our fellow man. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees made a fast into a show to get praise from others, by looking sombre. They walked around like death warmed up, seeking admiration for their religious piety, but they wanted the praises of the mob. They were simply self- worshipping and they neglected to repent of their sins of omission and their lack of social justice.
God accepts fasting as worship, when we are grieved for neglecting to love and do social justice to others. However fasting can stop the grace of God in our lives and make us into hypocrites when it’s done to seek praise from others.
If your heart is hard and you care little for the poor, the oppressed and the broken then you need to do a social justice fast, Don’t make a big deal of it, in fact hide the fact you are fasting and express your grief to God in prayer and as the hunger pains bite, think of those who hunger on a daily basis.
Bless the poor and oppressed with God’s grace today.
