“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly (Matthew 6:16-18).
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent; this is the 40 day period preceding Easter. It is a season of fasting and penitential reflection.[1] Just as we Christians have been instructed to prepare ourselves to receive our Risen Lord in the bread and wine of Holy Communion by self-examination and confession,[2] so on the macro-scale, does Christ’s Church prepare to receive Him on Easter in a similar way. The Church has recognized the benefit of such preparation since ancient times. Though the length of the season varied initially, the fast of Lent was, early on, set at 40 days. The analogy with the 40 day temptation of Our Lord in the wilderness, following His baptism by John, is evident.[3] Ash Wednesday has marked the beginning of the Lenten fast since at least the late 5th century.[4]
American Christianity, however, seems to have discarded the fast of Lent; it was lost to Rome when they affirmed the corrupt medieval version of fasting in the 16th century, in response to the Reformation. If fasting shows up in American Evangelicalism at all, it generally manifests as a tool by which the individual Christian, or group of Christians, hope to manipulate the Lord into doing something they want. We see this in events like the National Day of Prayer, the United Day of Fasting and Prayer, and the National Day of Mourning. This is different than, by prayer and supplication, bringing everything to God, and trusting in Him no matter what might come our way. It is the idea that, if we pray hard enough, sincerely enough, boldly enough, or with a great multitude of people, we can convince God to give us what we are praying for. That is not praying according to God’s will. It is a symptom of American Evangelicalism’s corruption by the prosperity gospel. American Evangelicalism lost such things as Lent when they lost the lectionary and stopped worshipping according to the rhythms of the church year, whenever that was. Mainline liberal Protestants may have preserved the liturgical forms such as the lectionary and liturgical worship, but they threw out their belief in Christ, the very thing to which the fast was intended to direct them, in exchange for the deception of Higher Criticism and cultural relevance. To be certain, in the theological desert of American Evangelicalism, liturgical worshipers with black smudges of ash on their foreheads appear as a peculiar minority. The Lenten fast is seen as an attempt by men to earn God’s favor by their own good work.
So, should Christians fast? Should they put ashes on their heads and “give up things for Lent”? Jesus and His disciples didn’t fast; John the Baptist’s disciples questioned Jesus about this: Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?[5] Earlier in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus condemns the hypocritical public prayers of the Pharisees, which they perform as a way of showing how pious they are; [6] He condemns public charity done for the same reason.[7] Jesus is consistent when it comes to fasting. Fasting done publicly to show what a good person you are is to be condemned: Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites…[8]
Jesus said, however, when you fast; He did not say, “Do not fast.” In fact, it isn’t quite accurate to say that Jesus and His disciples didn’t fast. Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness: Then [after His baptism] Jesus was led up by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.[9] It is true that Jesus did not command His disciples to fast, but there are instances when they did so. One such instance was when Barnabas and Saul were called by the Holy Spirit: Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.[10] Another time was after Barnabas and Saul preached in Derbe: And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.[11]
Fasting is not a way for people to earn God’s favor, or to “work off” or “make up for” sin. This is what Roman Catholicism teaches.[12] No, through faith in Christ we have a new and clean heart, and God does account us entirely righteous for the sake of Christ, our Mediator.[13] Fasting and prayer are also not tools by which we can manipulate God and get Him to do what we want. God hears our prayers for the sake of Christ, and answers them in His own way, and in His own time.
Fasting can be good for us, just like physical exercises can be good for us.[14] Fasting can move our focus from ourselves and our sinful desires, and help us develop self-control. The time we spend denying the desires of the flesh, that is, our Old Man, we can use to pray, and to study God’s Word, and to cultivate the fruits of the Spirit, things in which our New Man delights.[15]
It has always been the practice of Confessional Lutheranism to get rid of the traditions which are harmful, but to retain those which are helpful. The imposition of ashes and the Lenten fast fall into the second category. Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return. We hear God’s Word calling us to repentance. We see the literal stain of ashes on our heads, which by itself is an outward mark of repentance throughout the Bible, reminding us that we are stained by sin. When the pastor puts those ashes on our heads, however, he draws them in the sign of the cross. This isn’t meant to be some mystical, magical symbol to ward off evil; by it we are to call to mind our baptism. The guilt of our sin has been paid for by Christ’s blood, shed on the cross. We can cling to His promise that, by His death and resurrection, Christ has set us free from sin, death, and the devil. We have a High Priest over the house of God. Our hearts have been sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies have been washed with the pure waters of baptism, which binds us to Christ, His death, and His resurrection.[16] In our baptism, that stain of sin has been washed away.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.[17]
Go, get your ashes. Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return. Know that the stain of your sin corrupts your very nature, and that you are unable to make it better. Repent, and believe the Gospel. Remember your baptism. Remember that Jesus has washed away the stain of your sin. Remember that we were fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners, and perhaps many other things;
But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God.[18]
[1] Lueker, Erwin Louis., ed. Lutheran Cyclopedia: A Concise In-Home Reference for the Christian Family. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1984. See p. 179
[2] 1 Corinthians 11:27-34
[3] Lueker, Erwin Louis., ed. Lutheran Cyclopedia: A Concise In-Home Reference for the Christian Family. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publ. House, 1984. See p. 179
[4] Ibid., p. 179, 292
[5] Matthew 9:14
[6] Matthew 6:5
[7] Matthew 6:1-4
[8] Matthew 6:16
[9] Matthew 4:1-2
[10] Acts 13:1-3
[11] Acts 14:21-23
[12] Fasting is a form of penance, and penance is a way of making satisfaction for sins. Catechism of the Catholic Church. New Hope, KY: Urbi Et Orbi Communications, 1994. See p. 360, paragraph 1434.
[13] McCain, Paul Timothy., ed. Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions: A Readers Edition of the Book of Concord. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005. SA III, 1
[14] 1 Timothy 4:8
[15] Galatians 5:22; Romans 7:21-25
[16] Hebrews 10:19-25
[17] 1 Peter 3:18-22
[18] 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
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