NOTE: Our insights are important so remember to respect each other s thoughts/reflections. DISCUSSION: If people fasted and prayed for each other last week, share how this went for the one who fasted and for the person being prayed for. Fasting is when your hunger for God, exceeds your hunger for the food God made you to live on! Fr Dan finished the sermon with an encouragement to think about whether there s something you hunger to see God s hand move upon, to a greater degree, than your hunger for food. Share what you could be/are passionate about to such a degree that you could be/are willing to fast and pray for God to act. What would you hope to see happen in you? What would you hope to see God do? The spiritual discipline to be discussed this Sunday is Simplicity. READ: 1 Timothy 6:17-19 & Luke 12.27-34 DISCUSSION: Feel free to discuss all of the following questions or just a couple of questions. What do you feel living simply might look like and what might be the spiritual value of this? What kind of people do you feel the reading from 1 Timothy is speaking to? Do you feel there is any conflict between the readings? 1 Timothy seems to say keep your riches but do good things yet Jesus seems to say give it all away. Discuss. Reading the verses around this passage, what is the message Jesus is trying to teach to the people listening? How would he be asking you to apply this? ACTION: What needs to change in your attitude to help Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out and help focus the treasure of your heart towards heaven? What stuff could you remove from your home/work/etc. that you feel might make for simpler living? PRAYER: Pray for any needs (personal, family, church, etc.) or things you can thank God for. COMMUNAL PRAYER (optional) Compassionate and loving God, create in us a desire to: Live simply, so our lives may reflect your generosity and live sustainably, So those who follow in our footsteps may enjoy the fruits of your creation. Amen.
FASTING - Isaiah 58.3-7 & Luke 4.1-4 As we discussed this week at our LIFE group, discipline can be interpreted various ways Depending on your experience, discipline can be seen as being punished like a naughty child Perhaps you ve used it to talk about it in terms of someone s work a specialised field Athletes require a certain discipline to compete at such high levels Naomi s Tuesday morning group discussed the root word of disciple In the Latin dis(k)cipulus means a "pupil, student, follower," it comes from dis(k)cere "to learn", "to accept." It s related the meaning "to grasp intellectually or analyze thoroughly," The concept of learning from another and applying their teachings to our lives is much older than this and goes across many cultures. To the degree we grasp, accept and take on the life and practices of another reveals the extent to which we decide to walk as a disciple or student of that person. Children are disciplined (or discipled) by parents. Students by teachers, athletes by coaches, colleagues by bosses, Christians by each other, scripture, prayer and spiritual disciplines. As a disciple of Jesus I ask to what extent does my life reveal I am a Disciple of Christ? Yet I can feel like Paul For what I want to do, I do not do - but what I hate, I do. There are things I want to do or think I have to do but I struggle to do them In the book Pursuing holiness, forsaking legalism, a writer named Nia writes about: How to avoid a one sided pursuit of holiness by actively partnering with God in Spiritual Growth. This is true of our walk with Jesus in learning spiritual disciplines they are not a one sided pursuit - but a partnership with God for spiritual growth Paul talks to the Corinthians about the discipline required he foregoes physical things that lead him from Jesus so he may dig spiritually deeper into his relationship with Jesus Some feel Paul is saying - an un-disciplined life disqualifies us for heaven this isn t true. Paul is trying to show he runs in such a way that reveals what kind of disciple mimics Jesus the One who disciplined his physical body, to nurture his spiritual body. We don t seek to be disciplined to become righteous or holy before God through Jesus we are already God is pleased with us because of Jesus disciplined life and his sacrifice. We pursue spiritual disciplines so our actions, attitude and heart may reveal Jesus example of how to actively partner with God for spiritual growth - today we look at fasting. Fasting in many orthodox traditions is part of a group of disciplines that fall under the word AS-KEE-SIS a term used today in Modern Greek for exercise like in a gym.
Eating and exercise are two of my favourite things I think the Lord had me marry Kerry as the Southern culture love both they love exercise - but they can t stop eating. In Louisiana even when they eat one meal they re talking about the next one. Richard Foster in his book, Celebration of discipline, lists fasting as an inward discipline as opposed to an outward or corporate discipline In our Tuesday night LIFE group, we used our phones to google or bible concordances to look up scriptures on fasting here are four I found: Moses fasted for 40 days - just as Jesus did at the beginning of his ministry Daniel had a limited fast in chapter 10 when God gave him prophetic visions Jesus said when not if when you fast don t let it be obvious to others The early church, fasted and prayed, before sending people out to share the gospel When Isaiah 58.3-7 was written, the Israelites are near the end of their captivity in Babylon. God is challenging them whether their ritual of fasting is due to a desire to draw close to him - or to get something from him? God knows the difference and the fasting he approves of is marked by inner transformation which overflows to helping others. Luke 4.1-4 tells us Jesus went out to the wilderness, fasting for 40 days. He s met by the devil and tempted with food. His response to the devil comes from Deuteronomy 8:3 This chapter in Deuteronomy was telling the people that, as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD God disciplines them therefore, if they observe his commands, walk in obedience and revere him - God will provide all they need to enjoy life. Fasting that: transforms the way we view the world digs into God s word draws us close to God helps us express God s love to others This is the fast I want to encourage you to think about implementing in your lives today Growing up I wasn t taught about fasting and when I did hear, I wasn t interested A couple of years ago, a friend challenged me when I needed to know what God was saying he said; if you re not fasting, you don t really want to know what God wants to say. I thought this was quite judgy at first but I had to face the fact that my desire for God s guidance came secondary to my desire for food I needed to understand why. We feel fasting in our bodies - it s countercultural as we expect to always be full.
Fasting raises emotions sadness, frustration, anger Anyone heard that term HANGRY hungry / angry - I d kill someone for a burger. Anyone done the 40 hour famine - fasting can be seen like something we are to endure stomachs growling - it s was often a miserable, self-centred, waiting game. Yet fullness isn t always good, and emptiness isn t always bad. We know a constant need for pleasure can be detrimental - occasional discomfort can be beneficial. As parents we advocate this all the time get of the ipad, get outside, wait for dinner, etc. we know the benefits of foregoing comfort in the short term, if there s a long term purpose. Choosing to be disciplined and forego fuzzy good feelings in the moment is a rare quality in a world that bombards us with the message - you should have instant gratification. So fasting for me was (is) uncomfortable - it held a deeper issue around lack of provision. However I enjoy exercising I know how to sacrifice to gain the benefits I m learning to apply this to fasting the benefits outweigh the discomfort of the sacrifice. Willingly choosing to be deprived of food (outside the 40 hour famine or a blood test) can be scary - people convince themselves they can t do it so they never try. Not trying is like saying I won t try to exercise as I could never become an Olympic athlete. We know some exercise is better than none - this goes for fasting. Even fasting for the discipline it teaches is much better than none at all. Some say hey, I ll give it a go this is good - but be wary of treating it like a PT session. Here are some funny things people have supposedly said to personal trainers: Can you find a way to burn the fat off my chin? I need to look good in a bikini in two weeks. Can you make that happen? Sorry I m late, I was just eating a burrito. Can we stop now, I hate exercise I don t do weights, I don t want to put on muscle Wouldn t it just be faster if I got liposuction? We won t see the benefits if we expect inner transformation after one go we can t burn spiritual fat in two weeks to look good or get spiritual lipo fasting = commitment. So like physical goals, fasting requires spiritual goals to let the work impact our souls. Here are some of the benefits of fasting Father Anastasios Gounaris, wrote of:
1. Redirect our time, thought, and exertion to prepare and eat spiritual food such as prayer, confession, worship, study, and service to others. Fasting let s Christ s words that We shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4) permeate our inner selves. 2. Helps us gain a discipline and confidence over our physical connection with food In fasting we feel physical hunger, but disregarding the pull, we teach ourselves that we re the master of our appetites and not a slave to them 3. Revaluate the importance we place on material things that led us to forget the simplicity of happiness. I was out for a walk during a time I was fasting - my feeling of hunger turned me to prayer in that moment I found myself contemplating the simple things in life and I felt a joy. The joy of walking - enjoying the weather the freedom of life for where I live knowing I ll be able to have a meal where many others will not I have more than I need. 4. Can train us to have a greater spiritual hunger and less focus on physical hunger. Fr Thomas Ryan says: We manipulate the physical to gain access to the spiritual ; fasting provides physical sensations that point to spiritual realities. The hunger of stomach is designed to put us in touch with the hunger of soul. 5. Helps us search out a deeper part of ourselves which we are often unaware is present. Feeling physical hunger can amplify many things - yet your sense of accomplishment and inner peace in resisting the temptation to quit will be amplified also. As one writer said: Fasting is when your hunger for God exceeds your hunger for the food God made you to live on. God wants you to hunger for him - so how do we begin? The amount of time isn t as important as the purpose. What purpose is worth more than food to you a person, situation, need if unsure find one get passionate about life! When our stomach growls, this reminds us we re fasting for that purpose - it prompts us to pray for that purpose. The result is we train our bodies to serve a spiritual purpose. Fasting is not about enduring hunger it s training us to be passionate in wanting to see God s hand move in the midst of greater purposes. As we partner with God for spiritual growth, let s pray: that the spiritual purpose we are passionate about outweighs any physical sacrifice that becoming more spiritually disciplined will continue to transform our inner beings that those around us would have no doubt as to whose disciples we are