Fasting Can Be Useful, But . . .

This past week marked the beginning of the annual 40-day journey we Christians make with our Lord to the cross of Calvary. It is a most serious time for all of us, because it reminds us how much we rely upon His grace and mercy. Unfortunately it was a rocky start for me this year. I found myself confined to my home, unable to lead in worship or even to join in worship with my fellow believers. For reasons best known to my Lord, He allowed me to be afflicted with strep throat. Not only did this infection bring great pain to my throat, it also affected my eyes and caused a cough in my lungs. The doctors I consulted told me they needed to know if it could be best treated with antibiotic drugs or not. They made me wait—in misery—for four days before assigning any meds. They tell me they have no way to fight viral infections like colds and had to wait to be certain the drugs would work against the strep throat.

So I suffered through (and that included Ash Weds.) at home, unable to read or write on my computer, forced to stay away from the fellowship of the saints (other than my wife). Finally the meds arrived and with their help I am now on the mend, writing again as you can tell. And as I return to writing I am reminded of something I wrote about earlier in my studies of the book of Hebrews.

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. - Hebrews 12:4-8 ESV

This is a very difficult lesson for any of us to learn. And learn it we must for sin continues both in this world and in our hearts, even after Christ's Spirit has entered to grant us new life in Christ. So we return to the value and importance of the Lenten season. In our catechisms we are reminded that setting aside times like the 40-day Lenten season to deny ourselves can be good training in the exercise of will power, but it does not gain us any good will before God. We are ever at His mercy.

At the same time the Lord Himself will put us to the test by removing something from our lives. In my own case this past week He removed my good health for a time. And I thank Him for it, because it reminds me very strongly that I am a grave sinner and yet also a beloved son. As His son He continues to train and discipline me so that I may become an even better servant of His. And how grateful I am for this, for sin continues to attack and trouble me daily. And I have much to learn about prayer, patience, long-suffering, moderation and many other things of that sort.

If you are choosing this Lenten season as a time to fast and deny yourself I can only encourage you to continue, as the Apostle does when he says,

. . . for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. - 1Ti 4:8 ESV

The godliness Paul refers to is faith in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and all the teaching that derives from and is in accord with that teaching (1 Tim. 6:3-6). Not only must our physical bodies be trained, but also our spirits. Using this analogy, the Apostle further writes,

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. - 1 Cor 9:24-27 ESV

 We are ever a whole person, body, mind and heart. So use this season to train yourself in all ways. Deny some bodily pleasure if you will. And joyfully accept any discipline that the Lord Himself places upon you. Then do not fail to spend time with the Word of our Lord and in prayer, praise and thanksgiving. This is why we set aside special times of worship during the Lenten season.

All this is so that you may rejoice when you come to His Table to receive His Body and His Blood, knowing that your sins are indeed forgiven. At the end of these 40 days you will be better prepared to rejoice in the great Sign of forgiveness He has given to us.

When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. - Luk 11:29-30 ESV

As Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and nights, so the Son of Man was in the embrace of the grave (Matt.12:40-41). But now is He risen and we know for certain we have forgiveness for all our sins. This is why we continue to celebrate His resurrection each Sunday, also during Lent. We do not include the Sundays as part of the 40 days for they are ever our reminder that Christ is risen. The Father has accepted His sacrifice and in Him we have full and complete forgiveness. Praise be to Him forever!

The Ashes of Ash Wednesday

Today Christians around the world begin the 40 days journey leading to Holy Week, Good Friday and on to Easter and the celebration of Christ's resurrection. This day has a very strange name, Ash Wednesday. It is a day when many worshippers gather to have their foreheads marked with the sign of the cross by ashes. The ashes are from burning the palms of the previous year's Palm Sunday celebration.

When and how did this strange practice begin? The Bible refers to the use of ashes as a sign of repentance or despair. The LORD commanded Jeremiah to call the people of his day to repent lest they suffer disaster and ruin for their idolatry and greed. Inevitable judgment is coming, he says. Then you will truly feel sorrow and pain.

O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us. - Jer 6:26 ESV

The best example of true repentance is found in the book of Jonah. After he had been vomited from the belly of the great fish who swallowed him during a storm at sea, Jonah finally went to Nineveh to command the people to repent. Word of his preaching reached the king of Nineveh . . .

. . . and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish." - Jon 3:6-9 ESV

In the New Testament we hear Jesus proclaim sackcloth and ashes as signs of repentance.

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. - Mat 11:21-22 ESV

More about the actual history of this practice is found in the American Catholic website.

Despite all these references in Scripture, the use of ashes in the Church left only a few records in the first millennium of Church history. Thomas Talley, an expert on the history of the liturgical year, says that the first clearly datable liturgy for Ash Wednesday that provides for sprinkling ashes is in the Romano-Germanic pontifical of 960. Before that time, ashes had been used as a sign of admission to the Order of Penitents. As early as the sixth century, the Spanish Mozarabic rite calls for signing the forehead with ashes when admitting a gravely ill person to the Order of Penitents. At the beginning of the 11th century, Abbot Aelfric notes that it was customary for all the faithful to take part in a ceremony on the Wednesday before Lent that included the imposition of ashes. Near the end of that century, Pope Urban II called for the general use of ashes on that day. Only later did this day come to be called Ash Wednesday.

At first, clerics and men had ashes sprinkled on their heads, while women had the sign of the cross made with ashes on their foreheads. Eventually, of course, the ritual used with women came to be used for men as well.

In the 12th century the rule developed that the ashes were to be created by burning palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday. Many parishes today invite parishioners to bring such palms to church before Lent begins and have a ritual burning of the palms after Mass.

Lutherans accept this history as their own and so many parishes follow the same practice.

Mankind Is Unique—We Are Not Animals

During Lent we Christians urge one another to take a long, hard look at ourselves in the light of God's revealed Word. That Word, of course, is divided into the Law of God that serves primarily to reveal our sins and the Gospel, the gracious Word of forgiveness won for us by the life and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. The recent edition of The Lutheran Witness has a fine article on "Natural Law, Lutheranism and the Public Good," only partly reproduced by this link.

My friend and fellow-pastor, Rick, writes me again, this time about the above article:

What do you think of the article in Lutheran Witness concerning the Natural Law?  He has a point, but I think he goes too far with the very last statement "whom our Lord has created in His own image." The fact is the natural law in conscience in our culture has been "seared as with a hot iron." I Tim 4:2. and the "image of God" has been broken in the human heart and can only be restored in Christ "to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."  Eph. 4:24.. Question for you, "Is the moral law and conscience part of the "broken image of God" in natural man?"

 I gather that Rick wants to discuss the original image of God as it was in Adam and the image being restored in the hearts of those of us called to faith in the Second Adam, Jesus Christ. Beyond that, it seems from the referenced article that the answer to Rick's question is at least alluded to by the comment, ". . . appeals to natural law may be perceived as elevations of pagan philosophy over Christian theology, reason over revelation and Law over Gospel."

Best place to start is to review again what the image of God is—or was. Our source is Genesis 1:27:

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

This image persists even after Adam's fall into disobedience and sin:

"This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God." - Gen 5:1 ESV

"Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." - Gen 9:6 ESV

The Hebrew word for likeness in Genesis 5 is demuwth. The prophet Isaiah says you cannot create a likeness of God. He is incomparable, unique, one of a kind. There is nothing in all creation like Him. He is the Creator and Ruler over all things created. No idol of stone or metal can be made like Him. He is above and beyond all creation. "To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One" (Isaiah 40:25). How then can Adam and the sinful children of Adam be considered to be "made in God's own image"? Hold that question in your mind.

The other Hebrew word is tselem which we translate as image (Genesis 1:27; 9:6). The pagans made images of Baal (2 Kings 11:18). Images of men were portrayed on walls (Ezekiel 23:14). The forms and people we see in our dreams are called tselem (Psalm 73:20). When we awake we realize these are not real. They are but dreams (chalowm). 

And yet Adam's son Seth was brought forth in Adam's image (Genesis 5:3). Did that mean he looked like Adam? I suppose he did, but is that all Moses wants to say? Obviously not, because he starts the chapter by saying that man was originally created (Hebrew bara) in God's likeness (demuwth), both male and female.  Then he goes on the tell us that Seth was brought forth in Adam's likeness (demuwth), after his image (tselem).

Confused? Let's review where we are.

1. Adam and Eve were originally created in the image and likeness of God. No other creature was created in God's image and likeness. In that sense, mankind is unique. We are not animals. 
2. God cannot be portrayed by any creation of man, i.e. image, likeness, idol, painting, etc. 
3. Even after the fall into sin the image and likeness of God remains in mankind. 
4. This image and likeness of God is God's continued creation in the hearts and lives of mankind. This, above all else, is what distinguishes us from all other creatures. Like God, we are unique.
5. Yet, Adam's son Seth—and all of us children of Adam—are brought forth in Adam's image and likeness.
6. Conclusion: we children of Adam and Eve bear both the image or likeness of God and the image or likeness of Adam. 

How can this be? What does this mean? Let's look at the process of birth through which Seth inherited the image or likeness of Adam. Here is what the Spirit reveals. 

"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."           —Psalm 51:5

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one." —Psalm 53:1-3 

"The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies."—Psalm 58:3

"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned?" — Romans 5:12

From this we gather that the likeness or image of Adam is sin and that we children of Adam and Eve are sinful and estranged from God from the moment of conception. This is why our Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. . . unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:3-7).

From this brief study we can conclude that Pastor Rick refers to the image of Adam when he speaks about the "broken image of God". We humans still retain the image of God in certain matters. We are able to reason and to have dominion over the creatures of land and sea. We still multiply and are about the task of subduing the earth and using the plants for food (Genesis 1:26-30). And in the hearts of men there is still some of the image of God that we call the natural law and conscience. But we are in rebellion. We are sinners who bear also the image of Adam. Our only hope is that we might be born again by the work of the Spirit in the Word and remade into the image of the Second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45-57). This process begins already in our baptism into Christ. It will be completed on the Day of the Great Resurrection.

These are weighty matters, well worth meditating upon during these 40 days of Lent.

 

 

 

The Blessed 40 Days of Lent

In this next week millions of Christians will begin their 40-day journey toward the celebration of the first and greatest of the Christian festivals, the Feast of the Resurrection. This Feast is so important because, as St. Paul wrote, "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." He goes on to point out that he is a false prophet if this is not so. If there is no such thing as a raising of our bodies from death and the grave, we are still guilty as sinners who must answer to God. And those who have died before us have most certainly perished and gone to hell. What pitiful wretches we are. Everything about life is therefore without meaning and the only thing left is to grab as much of life's treasures and pleasures as you can before you die. (1 Corinthians 15:14-19; Ecclesiastes 6:1-12).

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. That is both our faith and the most irrefutable fact of human history. We challenge anyone, any where to prove otherwise. And we look forward with great eagerness to that day when death, the final enemy, will be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:20-26).

In preparation for this celebration the Church has encouraged believers from the beginning of the Christian era to set aside 40 days to meditate upon God's Word, pray and fast. Why 40 days? 40 is the number closely connected with cleansing, penitence and preparation for new beginnings. Consider the following:

• When the Lord saw that all mankind had rejected Him, He determined to destroy them all with a great flood. Noah and his family and the animals floated safely upon the waters in the Ark as it rained upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 7:12). The flood continued for another 150 days before the Ark settled on the mountains of Ararat. On the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible. Noah then waited another 40 days before opening a window in the Ark (Genesis 8:6). 
• After Moses led the Children of Israel out of bondage and slavery in Egypt and across the Red Sea, they came to Mount Sinai. The LORD then called Moses up to the mountain and spoke with him for 40 days and nights, giving him instructions about the Tabernacle and its furnishings, the priests and the Sabbath (Exodus 24:12-18). 
• While on the mountain, large numbers of the Israelites gave up their trust in the LORD and in Moses. They forced Moses' brother Aaron to create a golden calf, most likely the Egyptian goddess Hathor, who was represented as a holy cow and considered the goddess of love, sex, fertility, beauty and motherhood. They worshipped this goddess with sacrifices, feasting, music and ribald lust. When Moses came down from the mountain he was filled with anger and called upon the Levites to slaughter the revelers. Some 3,000 died that day. Then Moses returned to the mountain for 40 days, to fast and to plead for the people, fearing especially that the LORD would destroy them all (Exodus 32:1-35). 
• Later Moses sent spies from all the tribes to scout out the promised land for 40 days. This was the land they all longed for. This was the land they hoped to possess (Numbers 13:17-25). 
• Because they rejected the opportunity given to them to take the promised land, the LORD sent the Israelites back into the wilderness for 40 years, one year for each of the 40 days they had explored the land (Numbers 14:33-34). 
• Many years later, the prophet Elijah fled to the wilderness of Sinai after challenging and slaughtering the prophets of the god Baal. Strengthened by an angelic meal, he went on for 40 days to Mount Horeb where he heard anew the voice of the LORD (1 Kings 19:1-18). 
• In perfect obedience to His Father and ours the LORD Jesus, led by the Spirit, went for 40 days into the wilderness to fast and pray. At the end of His fast He hungered and was tempted by Satan to disobey His Father (Matthew 4:1-11). 

 So we follow these great examples and set aside 40 days to ponder our lives here upon this earth, to remember that we also are disobedient sinners and deserve nothing less than the eternal judgment of God. But we also rejoice that our LORD Jesus endured all this for us and lived for us that perfect life of obedience, finally offering up that most precious life for us all and rising again on the third day.

I'll say more about the temptations our LORD endured for us while in the wilderness in the days ahead.

Sackcloth and Ashes

We entered the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday this week. Tomorrow we gather for worship under the banner of the First Sunday in Lent. I found the following lyrics on First Things for 2008 and again in their Blog this year. The author, Nathaniel Peters, only says that it was written by a friend of his. Whoever that person is, he holds forth some interesting irony for the rest of us to contemplate.

The lyrics can be sung to the tune of “These Are a Few of My Favorite Things.”

Sackcloth and ashes and days without eating,
Mortification and wailing and weeping,
A hair shirt that scratches, a nettle that stings—
These are a few of my favorite things!

Penitence, flagellants, memento mori,
Spending nights sleeping on rocks in a quarry,
The sound of a cloaked solemn cantor who sings—
These are still more of my favorite things!

Tossing and turning and yearning, I’m spurning!
Passions aflame like an ember-day burning,
Corpus and carnis and wild drunken flings—
Forsaken are they for my favorite things!

When it’s Christmas,
When the tree’s lit,
When the cards are sent . . .
I simply remember my favorite things—
And then I can’t waaaaaaaaait ’til Lent!

Biblical Fasting: What It Is and How to Do It

We are currently deep into the season of Lent (the word means springtime, the time when days lengthen). One of the ancient customs among Christians during this season is fasting. Lutherans, following their catechism, have taught that "fasting and bodily preparation are indeed a fine, outward training." However, very few of us--myself included--have ever done much of it. 

In searching the Internet I found a balanced and helpful website you may want to look at in that connection: Biblical Fasting: What It Is and How to Do It. Dennis Rupert, the author writes, "...I don't want you to feel overwhelmed by the thought of going without food for days and days. There are types of fasting that don't involve such a radical commitment. The Bible gives examples of many different kinds of fasting. " He goes on to tell about three types of fasts: 

1. The Normal Fast - One 24 hr. day, from sunset to sunset, based upon the Old Covenant's Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29;23:32). Other than not eating, no details are provided. Drinking water is not forbidden. 

2. The Partial Fast practiced by the famous "three men in the fiery furnace," Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, together with Daniel (Daniel 1:15). They ate only vegetables and water, a healthy diet promoted by many in our day. You may even be a vegetarian yourself and not consider this to be a fast at all. However, for those of us who are not vegetarians, this may indeed be the place to start. 

3. The Radical Fast during which you go without food for an extended period of time. The 40 days of Lent are built around our Lord's 40 day fast at the beginning of his public ministry (Matthew 4:1-11). This was also a re-enactment of the 40 years during which the Children of Israel were tested in the wilderness--and failed (1 Corinthians 10).

Following up on that history, the Apostle Paul wrote that everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial or constructive. That's why Lutherans have not been big on fasting, I suppose. It really isn't the matter of denying yourself food. The issue is that of training yourself to trust the Lord and His Word completely and radically. Interesting is the fact that the Word of God nowhere commands New Testament Christians to fast. Two Bible passages come to mind. 

1 Timothy 4:8 - "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." The Apostle's point is that godliness and reverence do not come from something you do, including fasting. They are what God does in and through His Word. The Word is the means used by the Holy Spirit to renew the image of God within. 

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 - In this passage the Apostle speaks about how he disciplines his body as athletes do in preparation for the various contests. He follows this comment with a discussion about Israel's wilderness journey in which they fell deep into temptation and lost any rights to the promised land. He ends that discussion with a Gospel promise. You can depend upon God, he says, because he will never allow a temptation greater than you can bear. He will always show a way out. 

If you fast during this Lenten season or at any other time, be aware that the whole discipline can be useful, but it is not a means of grace, a means through which the Holy Spirit works to strengthen and nourish faith and trust. That He always does through His Word and through the visible Words of the Lord's Supper and Holy Baptism.