With all of your strength…

On this past Sunday, I said – to cut a long story short – that loving God with all of our strength requires an effort of the will, a conscious decision to do things that, much of the time, we might not feel like doing. And I also said that Lent gives us a wonderful opportunity to do that.

But I also said in that sermon that we have to understand why we should do these things. There has to be a purpose to them otherwise we simply will not be very motivated. This is an observation made by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9: ‘Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable’.

This leads then to a discussion of the purposes of spiritual disciplines and specifically those of the Lenten season.

Approaching the Spiritual Disciplines

The lectionary this evening helpfully gives us Christ’s teaching from the Sermon on the Mount on the so-called three pillars of Lent: Almsgiving, Prayer, and Fasting. He says, roughly speaking, the same things about each one.

Take what he says about prayer as an example. Firstly, do not be like the hypocrites who make their prayer in public in order to be seen by others. Their reward is not spiritual but is whatever reaction they might produce in the people who observe their piety.

So, whatever you do in Lent, try to keep it a secret. This goes double for more strenuous spiritual disciplines like fasting from physical food. About that, Christ tells us to anoint our heads and wash our faces, so that our fasting may not be seen by others. Sometimes it is not always possible to hide what we are doing, but we ought to try to keep us from the temptation to spiritual pride.

Secondly, do what you do in secret. ‘Go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in heaven.’ This instruction goes with the first, but, in addition, shut out all temptations or distractions. This is particularly challenging in the modern age when we are rarely more than a foot away from a device that is connected to the internet, which is why we need to be even more intentional about switching our phones to silent and closing our laptops when we come to prayer. If you find this particularly difficult then Lent may be an excellent time to try fasting completely from social media.

Thirdly, ‘your Father who sees in secret will reward you’. We do what we do in order that our heavenly Father may see and may reward us. Consider God’s compassion which is like a wonderful father for the children he loves. This is the way that God loves us and this is the confidence that we have as we approach him.

The Benefits of the Three Pillars: Fasting

So what is the reward of which Christ speaks?

I will start with fasting. What is the point of it? To describe it first: Fasting is primarily about going without food or drink for a certain amount of time. It can involve other things such as giving up addictive certain types of food or drink, or giving up habits like scrolling through one’s social media feeds or watching TV. The practice varies significantly.

More generally Lent is a period of abstinence during which we are more abstemious: some people refrain from alcohol and sweet foods, some from meat, some reduce the amount of food they eat and have smaller portions at mealtimes. Some people fast on particular days of the week, the traditional days being Wednesdays and Fridays. This might involve missing a meal or two or even fasting for the whole day.

As I mentioned on Sunday, there are two obligatory fast days in the calendar of the Church of England: those are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. And, in general, Lent is a season in which we are encouraged to consider a more sustained type of fasting of some sort.

So what is the point of it? Many things have been written on fasting throughout the years, so I will mention only a few.

Fasting is a reminder that we are to hunger primarily for the bread that comes from heaven and not for that which comes from earth. Even a slight feeling of hunger can remind us of this. As we deny ourselves that meal or that second helping, we train ourselves to remember that we are cultivating a desire for God and not for earthly and material things. As Christ tells us, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Fasting shows us how addicted we are to the things of this earth. When people begin fasting from something they are dependent upon – lots of food, caffeine, TV, social media – they frequently find themselves depressed and lifeless. This tells us something about our dependencies and gives us self-knowledge.

Fasting trains the will. The will is like a muscle that gets stronger with exercise. Quite simply, fasting is an exercise of will that makes it stronger so that, when it must be exercised in less strenuous circumstances, it is that much easier.

Fasting is also a surrender of time. If we miss a meal then we have more time to devote ourselves to the things of God. This may involve prayer or charitable actions. So, if you miss a meal, don’t just miss it, but use at least some of that time to do something that will draw you to others or towards God.

Fasting can act as a sign of repentance, a way of saying sorry to God for egregious sin. There are many examples in Scripture: the people of Ninevah fast in repentance at the preaching of the prophet Jonah and God spares them from his wrath (Jonah 3:5-10). The teacher of Israel Ezra fasts when he comes to realise that the Israelites have broken God’s law. He seeks God’s mercy and his guidance (Ezra 10:6).

In the Scriptures, we also see holy men and women fasting so that God will answer their prayers. The prophet Daniel seeks God’s insights for the future of the people (Daniel 9:3-4, 20-21); Esther fasts before approaching King Xerxes, beseeching God’s help in the face of the potential destruction of her people (Esther 4:15-16); and the early church is said to have fasted and prayed for direction and help before sending Paul and Barnabas off on a missionary journey (Acts 13:2-3).

There is a great mystery here, but the pattern of fasting as a sign of sincere repentance and desire for God’s guidance and help is laid down clearly. Do you lament some particular sin? Perhaps you could use Lent as a time to fast as a sign of sincere repentance. Are you seeking God’s help for a particular crisis in your life or somebody else’s? Perhaps now is the time to fast and pray.

There are many more rewards of fasting. But with only these listed, we should be motivated to engage in this great spiritual practice.

Prayer

We now consider prayer. In a sense, this point has already been made to some extent: prayer draws us closer to God as we surrender our time, will, and attention to him. It is the foundation of the spiritual life and, at its highest, is a foretaste of the heavenly bliss that we will enjoy in the eternity of God’s presence. In that sense, the reward of prayer is simply God: his presence, our nearness to him, the fullness of joy, the end of our being, the purpose of our existence.

We have seen how prayer and fasting go together: as we give things up, we have more time and energy to focus our energy upon God. Again, there are many ways of approaching prayer during Lent. You could, for example, set aside just ten minutes at the beginning and end of each day to pray and to read Scripture or to say some form of morning and evening prayer. I do not have time to tell you how to do this now, but the information is out there for everyone to find.

Let me encourage you as a minimum: if you are able (and I understand that not everybody is) make every effort to come to Mass every Sunday during Lent, and to attend the Holy Week Triduum. The latter consists of the services on Maundy Thursday evening, Good Friday, and the Saturday evening Easter vigil. These three services recall to mind the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ and are truly special moments in the church calendar. As we live through them together, we enter in Christ’s suffering and death and joyfully rise from them with him in his resurrection as we celebrate his glorious resurrection at Easter. Again, if you have never observed these services before, please mark them in your calendar now and resolve to take advantage of what this church offers to you.

Almsgiving

Finally, almsgiving. Once again, this is a practice that may vary, but I make two suggestions: firstly, think about the people or causes that are needful that you could offer your help to. This may be an elderly relative or a worthy charitable cause. Lent is a time during which we can make a special effort, beyond what is ordinary. Is there someone you could help or something you could do? Make a plan.

Secondly, I would once again encourage you to engage with our book for Lent, The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn. This book challenges and informs us about the topic of Christian stewardship and generosity. The more I learn about this subject, the more I recognise that the way we use our money and material resources is a central part of the spiritual life. Perhaps you are wondering what you can do to take your spiritual life to the next level? Look no further: a life of generosity and real trust in the providential care of God is likely the answer.

Again, there is not further time to describe all the many blessings of material generosity, so perhaps I should finish simply by saying that all of these practices, in one way or another, train our hearts not to love the things of this earth so much and to love God more. It is, I think, reasonably obvious how this works when we consider food, drink, addictions, devotions, time, money, and material possessions. In essence, the answer to each is the same during Lent: give at least some of each away, and hunger for that which can truly satisfy your desire, God himself.

I hope that has given you enough to think about for the time-being. May I take this opportunity then to wish you a happy and holy Lent until the time comes when together we celebrate the joy of Easter morning.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.