The Pulpiteer

This is the second sermon in our Lenten series on spiritual disciplines, “Shaped.”This week we take a look at the spiritual discipline of fasting.  I use Philippians 3:17-4:1, but the principle behind fasting, of humbling ourselves so that God would lift us up, is a theme throughout scripture.  We look at different kinds of fasting as well as why we do fasting.  Finally, we remember that we fast with our eyes on the feast.  It is Lent, but Easter is coming.  I’ll put a link at the bottom of the post to Richard Foster’s book on spiritual disciplines.  It is a great help, not only with fasting, but also with several other spiritual disciplines.

Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth
Price: USD 16.31

167 used & new available from USD 6.20

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I meant to blog yesterday, it’s been awhile, sorry.  But I did mean to blog yesterday because something cool happened.  I had communion.  Now don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a surprise communion.  I was at a training for a Christian retreat that I am a part of, and communion is a regular part of those sessions.  It was a busy morning though, getting things around and trying to tie up a few loose ends prior to entering the devotion time that we had before worship.  The pastor leading the communion time did a nice meditation and then all of a sudden it was time to head up for communion, and it hit me.  You see, I hadn’t eaten in 6 days by that point.  That’s the longest I’ve gone fasting, and going that long without food is strange in and of itself, but this chunk of communion bread dipped in juice would be the only thing I was going to eat in over 6 days.  The flavors burst in my mouth, the grape juice actually stung a little, and I made my way back to my pew to pray.  As I got there I was overwhelmed by gratitude towards God for the ways he’s provided for me.  I know that may sound weird, to eat one morsel and be overcome by gratitude for what’s been provided, but that was the distinctly strong feeling I had.  And so I prayed, “Thank you.”  There have been a few of these sorts of “surprises” during this fast so far.  Lest you think I’m super spiritual, I’ve really enjoyed eating today (Sunday) and I still miss food.  But this experience is quite a journey so far.  I’ll leave you with the prayer for the week from “The Divine Hours” last week.  It was of great comfort for me.

Most loving Father, whose will it is for us to give thanks for all things, to fear nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on you who cares for us: Preserve me from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from me the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested to us in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

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The past three days have been days that the church has traditionally remembered 2 important people in our history. Yesterday was the day that Polycarp of Smyrna was martyred. He was given the choice of denying Christ or being burned at the stake. His reply was “86 years I have served him, and he has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?” So they burned him. Either today by the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, or Monday, according to The Divine Hours, we remember Matthais. Matthais was the follower of Christ who was selected to fill the spot among the 12 vacated by Judas Iscariot.

One of the things these remembrances have done for me during my Lenten journey is to help me remember the generations of faithful spiritual mothers and fathers we have as Christians. Many times the feast day for a “Saint” occurs on the day of his or her martyrdom. This is the case for Polycarp and St. Valentine, both of whose feast days we have recently celebrated.

If you are fasting in some form this Lenten season – and by that I mean setting aside some fleshly desire in order to focus your desire more upon Christ, then you are joining in some way, ranks of faithful who have given up everything for Christ, because he has given up all for us. We are single and unique voices located within a timeless chorus. What a beautiful song it is.

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This is the first Sunday of Lent, and for the season of Lent I am going to be focusing on spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, and scripture reading. For this Sunday we are focusing on prayer. The scripture reading is from Luke 4:1-13, and it is the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. I also spend a bit of time in Matthew 6 around Jesus’ thoughts on praying. My hope is that this sermon can give some help for those of us who have difficulty praying. I’ve posted the poem I read during the beginning of the sermon in an earlier post last year. You can find it here. I’m also putting up a link for one of the books I mentioned – the Phyllis Tickle book of daily prayers.

The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime (Tickle, Phyllis)
Price: USD 13.57

44 used & new available from USD 12.69

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I’m about 72 hours into this, and it’s been 2 days since I blogged last on my Lenten journey.  I’m still wrestling with what to share and how to do it.  My goal has been to encourage others to enter into some spiritual disciplines for Lent.  The experience of fasting feels too personal to write too much about, and I am not wanting to draw attention to myself for it.  Instead, I think as I blog through Lent I’ll write about prayer and that sort of thing.  I will say this, there are many ways to go about fasting, whether from food, or tv, or the internet.  The goal is to make space to allow God to shape you. Continue Reading »

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