There is
a story about a young monk who was very excited about the coming
season of Lent and his practice of fasting this year. As he got more
excited, he began to consider how little food he was going to need.
He began making plans for maintaining his fast and for he was going
to “out-fast” the other monks. In his meeting with the abbot
before Lent, he began to share all his plans and his excitement about
how pure he would become from the experience. The abbot listened
quietly, pondering the words of the young monk for some time.
Finally, he spoke and said, “my young brother, fasting is not about
what you will achieve nor about your pride. This Lent I want you to
eat all of your regular meals. Oh, and in addition to that, you
should eat one chocolate bar a day!”
As we
come to a close, I think this is an excellent story to end on not
merely because I am going to speak on fasting but because in speaking on fasting, we address the
nature, the temptation of the human being to turn and twist that
which is good for us into that which can rot our souls.
Those
of you that have had to undergo treatments and surgeries, blood
testing and the like may have discovered what I have found so
helpful. Rather than watching the nurse or doctor stick the needle
or IV in, I look to the face of the care giver. It doesn’t seem to
hurt so bad. Rather than focus on the relationship, we focus on
goals (because that is what we are taught, right?). Rather than
focus on the healer, we focus on the wound. In spiritual practices, we often focus on the practice, the act rather than on the One we seek to relate to through these methods.
The
methods of spiritual maturity are not to gain “the spiritual
world.” They are to bring us to a place where we become people
perfect in love. Jane Vennard writes points this out so clearly,
“Jesus
commanded his disciples to “love one another as I have loved you”
(John 15:12). And so he commanded us. To love as Jesus loved is to
love without aim. In all relationships, human and divine, in prayer
and in physical contact, we simply attend with love. We pray to
pray. We love to love. And we wait for God’s grace to find us
(42).”
Jane’s
words clarify the goal of love - all. The prayers we pray, are not
to further our power or authority in the Kingdom but so we might know
God, be available to God. Many of those to whom God revealed
himself, weren’t even praying at all! To Moses, God came when Moses
was tending sheep. To Samuel, he came while Samuel was laying down
to sleep. To Paul, he came when Paul was on the road.
How
engaged they were in “spiritual practices," we don’t know
but they were at places where God was confident they would get the
message He wanted to be with them. It wasn’t required that they
being doing holy things but that they were available. Our methods,
our practices, our spiritual habits make move us toward this
availability.
As I’ve
already noted, John Wesley was well studied in Scripture, placing the
Bible as the central authority for the Christians in England striving
to follow Jesus. Wesley was not interested in a new church - he was
interested in new Christians becoming mature Christians. His sermon
on, The Means Of Grace, outlined primarily the practices of studying
scripture and prayer. He preached that, “The chief of these means
are prayer, whether in secret or with the great congregation;
searching the Scriptures; (which implies reading, hearing and
meditating thereon);… (from Sermon on The Means of Grace). But by
know means was this all that Wesley saw in Scripture and encouraged
of the people.
The
third practice of importance not to be missed by Wesley (and also,
Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards to name a few
others) is the practice of fasting which I want to touch on for a
moment because fasting represents the third of the private/personal
methods of spiritual maturity. Jesus is fairly clear that fasting
was and was intended to remain a practice of his followers when he
said,
"Whenever
you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they
neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when
they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
"But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so
that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who
is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will
reward you. (Mat 6:16-18 NASB)
There is
some good material, even more new material out regarding fasting and
with it all, a lot of misunderstandings. I referred often to Richard
Foster’s, Celebration of Discipline as one of the foremost
resources. Marjorie Thompson’s, Soul Feast, is another. I really
appreciate though, Jane Vennard’s concise and Biblical
understanding of fasting and it’s purpose, namely, “...to create
space in your life to attend to God (pg 22).”
Fasting
is not a punishment. In the Bible it is practiced in times of sorrow
and defeat (2 Samuel 12:6-16 and Judges 20:26). It was done in time
of preparation for events (Exodus 34:28 and Matthew 4:2). In the
early church, it became part of worship (Acts 13:2). Because of the
nature of our society and it’s view of bodies and food, talking of
fasting is difficult. For those whose health would be in jeapordy,
certainly a food fast would not be what God is asking of you.
But when
what we own begins to owns us or what we consume creeps over us and
consumes us, then it isn’t hard to see where fasting plays a role
for us spiritually. We are to have no other gods before God and
fasting whether from food, from the internet, from e-mail, from
football, from whatever it maybe, is a vital practice.
In its
simplest form, fasting is going without food, only drinking water,
for a 24 hour period. Breakfast to breakfast or another meal is the
most common. I have often chosen to do 1 meal a day, usually lunch.
Or I have chosen to do a juice fast, drinking only water and juice to
help soften or eliminate headaches when it has been a while since I
have fasted. What must be considered at all times, is why you are
fasting.
Dr.
Allan Coppedge, who has been a leading scholar and teacher in
Wesleyan-Methodist Theology, outlines 3 Essential Elements for the
early Methodists. However, their application is not just for then as
we have been discovering in the growth of churches across
denominations that have discovered the importance of these.
For the
Methodists, these Elements, I think, formed in Wesley’s time a
“Rule of Life,” a set of practices that ordered one’s life.
This ‘Rule of Life’ comes from the St. Benedict and his practice
of helping order the life of monks. Within our Christian tradition a
“rule of life” has come to refer to “the kind of structure that
supports spiritual growth (pg 145, Soul Feast).
As
you’ll see from Dr. Coppedge’s outline, for Wesley, the Methods
of Spiritual Maturity consisted of:
I.
Use of the Means of Grace
A.
Private
1. Bible
Reading
2. Prayer
3. Fasting
B.
Corporate
1.
Public preaching/teaching of the Word
2.
Family devotions
3.
Prayer in the societies and classes
4.
Sacrament of Lord's Supper
5.
Small group meetings: classes and bands
6.
Love Feasts; Watch Nights; Covenant Service
II.
USE OF THE PRINCIPLE OF ACCOUNTABILITY
The
classes, bands, select bands and personal interviews were the chief
means used by the early Methodists to give a regular account of their
spiritual state and progress in the Christian life.
III.
USE OF THE PRINCIPLE OF LIFE TRANSFERENCE
John
and Charles Wesley, the Methodist preachers and the class leaders
became spiritual directors and models for the application of Biblical
principles to everyday life. Wesley's collection of sermons, letters
and tracts, and similar works of other Methodist leaders, catalogs
and demonstrates this practice.
We’ve been
discussing the three, primary, private Means of Grace from Wesley's model while at the same time, joining together in a class meeting format. The principle
of life transference has long been neglected yet it is much needed
for the church. A growing number of both clergy and laity are
seeking to understand and practice this within the Church through
spiritual direction, which is what I’m currently working on over
the next few years.
But without
a structure, an understanding of how we grow, the means by which we
grow and help in the growth, then it becomes more clear, I think, why
we’re not maturing, why we’re not experiencing. And so I want to leave you consider one more quote of Mr. Wesley's, one which goes right to the point behind these methods and the effects of a rule of life...
Settle
this in your heart, that the opus operatum, the mere work done,
profiteth nothing; that there is no power to save, but in the Spirit
of God, no merit, but in the blood of Christ; that, consequently,
even what God ordains, conveys no grace to the soul, if you trust not
in Him alone. On the other hand, he that does truly trust in Him,
cannot fall short of the grace of God, even though he were cut off
from every outward ordinance, though he were shut up in the centre of
the earth.
How
you will grow is up to you, but it is my place to help guide and
offer some direction on the journey. And today I’d like to offer
you some time to consider your own Rule Of Life - how you will grow
in grace.
Download the MP3 of Methods of Spiritual Maturity part 4: Fasting and the Rule of Life at Mediafire!
This is the final part of this four part teaching series. The other entries are under "Methods" in the search feature or simply scroll down. I pray you found these helpful and encouraging. Please feel free to post any thoughts or questions you might have! Don't turn the dial too far, there is more to come in the future!
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