23rd November 2025 - Brendan Hurley

Well, we're looking at fasting today, and that

means we've had to cancel morning tea. Sorry

about that. I'm only joking if you are worried.

That's okay. But one of the things I love about

Northern Hope and a lot of the churches I've

worked in over the years is that they practice

expository preaching. What is expository preaching,

you ask? Thanks for asking. Expository preaching

is where you work through a book of the Bible

bit by bit, chunk by chunk. And, you know, we

still do topical preaching sometimes and then

we repent quickly and go back to expository preaching.

But what I love about it is that it forces you

to look at your blind spots. It forces you to

talk on things that you'd never think to talk

on and not just follow your hobby horses. And

that's what we're doing today. We're looking

at fasting. I never would have thought to preach

on fasting, but it's... been a really eye -opening

thing to look at this week so let's pray let's

ask god for help as we dig into his word now

heavenly father we thank you that you're a speaking

god we thank you that you love us that you care

for us and we ask father that you would help

us to listen carefully to what you were saying

to us today and we ask this in jesus name amen

Well, it's amazing what we can do in our modern

age on a Friday night. Have you ever thought

about how good a Friday night's in our day and

age? You can sit on the couch, a very comfy couch

hopefully, and stream thousands of TV shows all

to your TV. Now, there's still nothing on, but

you can sit there and you can stream thousands

of TV shows to your TV. It's amazing. And let's

say you're there and you're watching, you know,

your favourite TV show and you're hungry. What

can you do? Well, you Uber eat some food to your

door, can't you? And not just, you know, like

toast. You can get almost anything, can't you?

You can get the most amazing cuisine brought

to your door. Ding dong, they drop it off. It's

pretty awesome. And then as you're sitting there

and you're eating your Uber Eats and you're watching

your favourite TV show, you're thinking, oh man,

you know, there's that thing I wanted to buy.

Maybe there's a few Christmas presents you want

to do. So you do your Christmas shopping while

you're watching the show and eating your food.

You're scrolling away on Amazon trying to work

out what presents to get for people. We live

in a day and an age where the world is our oyster.

Everything is at our fingertips, isn't it? And

yet there's a dark side to all of this. So often

all these conveniences and novelties that come

from modern technology, we use them to anaesthetise

and numb ourselves from real life. We overdo

using them to avoid the hard things in our life

and escape reality. And sadly we also use them...

to give ourselves quick and easy delight when

there's a better delight out there that we often

neglect to look for. We've become accustomed

to distraction and instant gratification rather

than feasting on God and the riches of his grace.

Now, if that's you, no judgment. I struggle with

this too. But that is where the spiritual discipline

of fasting can be a great help to us yet it's

been a neglected discipline in the church circles

i've been for years and years and years i don't

know if it's the same for you i've never heard

a sermon on fasting before i had to dig through

my library and i found like one book on fasting

and i went there you go so today i want to ask

what is fasting what benefits what traps are

there with fasting We're going to do something

a little different to what we've been doing.

We're going to do a bit of an overview of what

fasting is because it's a bit of a neglected

discipline. And then we're going to come back

to Matthew 6 and look at that passage to sort

of finish it off, where Jesus is teaching us

about righteousness and how he's warning about

false righteousness there. And as we've been

seeing each week, the main thing in that passage

is this, who you are in secret is who you really

are, isn't it? Who you are in secret is who you

really are. And we will look at that, but let's

start with this overview first. And there's three

things today we need to see about fasting. Firstly,

fasting grows our hunger for God. Secondly, fasting

means denying yourself. And thirdly, fasting

must not be a performance. fasting grows our

hunger for god fasting means denying yourself

and fasting must not be a performance now as

i said i've been trying to dig into this topic

of fasting all week so to save you an hour and

a half sermon i've cut lots out but i'd encourage

you join a bible study get into it where you

can ask more questions and throw things around

that's a really important thing to do but let's

Start with the first thing. What's the purpose?

What's the aim, the goal of fasting? And it's

this. Fasting grows our hunger for God. Fasting

grows our hunger for God. There's lots of benefits

to fasting. It helps with self -discipline. It

frees our resources up so that we can give them

away to others. But the big one in the Bible,

the one that I think overarches everything and

keeps coming up again and again, is fasting is

humbling hunger. It's humbling hunger. Remember

Nineveh repenting. They fasted, didn't they?

They were humbling themselves before God. David

and Ezra were mourning sins, their own sin or

the sin of Israel. They were humbling themselves

and having a hunger for God. The early church

commissioning their leaders. They were fasting

and they were going, we're going to humble ourselves

before God by fasting and express our hunger

for God as we do it. That's why we should fast.

It weans us off our distractions in this world.

It helps us face our own frailty and weaknesses.

And it refocuses us on God and how he is better

than anything else we have in this life. I mean,

in verse 18 of Matthew 6, Jesus says the Father

will reward you if you're fasting in secret.

So there's a spiritual benefit. to fasting now

it's not asceticism you know god's not a sadist

he's not there in heaven sitting on the edge

of his throne going yes i want to see my people

suffer our pain doesn't please him he's not more

likely to answer your prayer if you've been fasting

he's a good father he wants to do what's best

for us but sometimes Giving up things to refocus

on God is what's best for us. The benefit of

fasting is that giving things up can expand our

appetite for God. One thing Laura and I have

loved to do, we've done it once before and then

we did it when we got to Cairns, is Brazilian

barbecue. Have you done Brazilian barbecue? I

think it's called Bushfire. There's a great little

place on the Esplanade. They do Brazilian barbecue.

Brazilian barbecue is an all -you -can -eat thing.

They bring out meat to the table and they shave

it off onto your plate in front of you. It's

really, really good. And we've done it twice.

It's been very special. But what do you do when

you do Brazilian barbecue or any all -you -can

-eat? You know the strategy, right? If you don't

come in with a strategy, you're cooked. You've

got to go in and starve yourself all day, don't

you? Because you want to get your money's worth.

Now, if I ate something earlier, if we're on

the way to Brazilian barbecue and I had a quick

sneaky maccas, what a terrible idea. No room

for the better food that we're about to feast

on. I want to make sure when I'm going to Brazilian

barbecue, I have capacity to eat my weight in

meat, okay? What happens after we won't talk

about, but you know. Now, there's a sense in

which we do the same with God, don't we? We want

to make room to enjoy feasting on God. That's

why Christians fast. It's trying to free up space

so that we can enjoy more of him. And so if you're

a Christian, I want you to remember those times

where you've been hungry for God. Times where

you had great, rich joy from feasting on him.

And I bet you can sit here and say, that was

deeper, that was more satisfying than anything

else. But what if that was just the tip of the

iceberg? What if there's so much more to God

that you still haven't feasted on? But to get

there, we have to stop filling up on other things,

don't we? Don't you want that again? Well, maybe

you're due for a fast. Maybe you're here and

you're not yet a Christian. And what I'm saying

sounds amazing. Wouldn't it be worth having something

that satisfying, that rich, that wonderful? Maybe

you need to stop filling up on junk. Maybe you

need to come and find out more about how great

God is. But how? What's it look like for Christians

to fast? And that's the second thing we're seeing

today. Fasting means denying yourself. Fasting

means denying yourself. In verse 17, Jesus assumes

his disciples will fast. So it's not commanded.

But it's assumed. It's not if you fast, but when

you fast. Jesus is saying this is a great tool

to use for your spiritual life. And primarily

it's about giving up food. And, you know, when

you think about it, like in the ancient world,

they didn't go to Coles and pick up a loaf of

bread. Like, making food was a big deal. It took

a fair bit of time and effort, didn't it? So

it's about giving up the time and the effort

and the actual process of eating. so that we

can focus on god now some of us here shouldn't

do that if you're got health issues or you're

pregnant or something like that uh that's not

for you and that's okay it's a tool remember

maybe you know that's not the tool you need to

use right now but also i want to say it's not

limited to food we find the same principle about

fasting in 1 corinthians 7 Where Paul tells married

couples that they should give up sexual relations

for a limited time so they can go focus on prayer,

but then that they should come back together.

It's the same idea. It's giving something up

so that you can refocus on God. It's denying

yourself so you can focus on God. I mean, Jesus

gave up sleep to pray, didn't he? He'd pray into

the night in desolate places. I mean, fasting,

when people have done it throughout the Bible,

that's often accompanied with sackcloth and ashes.

They're trying to remind themselves of what they're

feeling. They're denying comforts to kind of

get themselves in the right headspace. Fasting

is giving things up so we devote that extra space

to God. And it's worth the cost. I was at the

airport the other day for the Southern Cross

Diocese Conference. and they've become really

strict with carry -on weight. I don't know if

you've experienced that at the airport, but I

had my little backpack there and they got everyone

to line up and they're weighing everyone's carry

-on to make sure that it didn't go over the seven

kilo limit. Now I want you to imagine that you've

gone to Brisbane. Say you've gone to Brisbane

on a trip. to buy a signed footy boot from Buddy

Franklin or whoever your favourite footy player

is. If it's not footy, just find the substitute

for you. And you've gone to Brisbane, you won

at auction, you went, I've got the footy boot,

I'm going to put it in my office, it's going

to look great. But you get to the airport and

they weigh your bag and your bag is overweight.

What do you do? You toss out the lesser things.

to make room for the footy boot don't you you

go i'm going to get rid of the lesser thing you

know that that shirt oh that that's a bit ratty

anyway and oh even that nice one i don't i was

here for the footy boot that's what it's valuable

it's precious that's the thing that's going to

make it with me on the plane and so you dump

all your clothes uh so that you can go on the

plane with what's valuable well fasting is briefly

doing that in our lives There is a cost. It will

cost. But it's worth it because you're getting

something so much better in God. What did Jesus

say when he fasted? Man does not live on bread

alone, but on every word that comes from the

mouth of God. We don't live just on the things

of this world. And so it's often worth asking,

what do we need to go without? So that we can

focus again on God. For some of us it might be

a week without social media. You get up early

not to scroll Facebook but to get into the word

and prayer. For some of us it might be going

a week without the grog so that we can be more

sober minded. I don't know what it is for you.

I'm sure you could work it out. But the key is

to ask yourself. What distracts me and numbs

me so that I don't seek God? What thing will,

if removed, give me much needed space to pursue

God? That's probably a good place to start. What

would that be for you? But there is a pitfall,

there is a trap we need to be aware of, and that's

the third thing we're going to see today. Fasting

must not be a performance. Fasting must not be

a performance. And that's what God was telling

us in Isaiah 58. What was going on in Isaiah

58? You might have been sitting there and you're

going, they're fasting, but then they're punching

each other. Is it that they're hangry? No. What's

going on is that Judah were play acting. They

felt pious by their fasting. But God's saying

that's not reality. You're not actually righteous

because you won't fast from sin. I mean, there's

something big about fasting we need to land,

isn't it? That the real fast that matters to

God is not that we fast from food or other things,

as good as a tool that that can be, but the thing

that matters to him is that we fast from sin.

And the hypocrites in Jesus' day? Well, they

sought to look pious, didn't they? But their

fasting was all an act. Come with me to verses

16 to 18 in Matthew 6. Jesus says there, when

you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites

do, for they disfigure their faces to show others

they are fasting. Look at me, look at me, I'm

fasting. They make it as obvious, as clear as

day, that they are fasting. Truly, I tell you,

they have received their reward in full. People

are looking at them going, well, you're devoted,

you fast. That's the reward. But when you fast,

put oil on your head and wash your face so that

it will not be obvious to others that you are

fasting. So Jesus is saying, in our context,

it would be like... scrub up wash your face put

on some deodorant put on some makeup whatever

it is to look nice don't make it obvious that

you're fasting so that it will not be obvious

to others that you are fasting but only to your

father who is unseen and your father who sees

what is done in secret will reward you so jesus

saying this is something we need to keep hidden

it's something private It doesn't mean we can't

do corporate fasting just like we can do corporate

prayer. But we don't want to be going around

showing off that we're fasting, showing off that

we're denying ourselves so that other people

will think more highly of us. Let's not rock

up to church deliberately unkempt because, hey,

I didn't have any time for self -care today.

I spent five hours in prayer and giving up TV

or whatever. It would be like when you're out

in the yard. And you're cleaning up the yard

and you've done a good job and then you decide,

oh, I'm not dirty enough. No one's going to appreciate

what I've done. And you rub dirt all over you

and like, you know, that's what this is about.

This is going, I just want everyone to see how

amazing I am. Seeking that sort of attention

is not what God wants us to do. He wants us to

be hungry for him. Not hungry for human applause.

So Jesus is saying, don't make your fasting visible.

If you do, it's corrupting you and it's of no

benefit to you. I'm getting old. Nearly 40. Sad

things happen when you're nearly 40. These are

sad Weet -Bix, as I call them. These are special

Weet -Bix. They're cholesterol lowering. My dad

put me on them. 9 % clinically proven to lower

your cholesterol. That's right. That's right.

It's natural. It's actually got a natural compound.

Anyway. But you have to, like, if you're interested,

go to the Coles, and they're not in the normal

level where Weet -Bix are. You have to look up

for the sad Weet -Bix. And I call them sad Weet

-Bix at home because they really do taste like

cardboard. But... I've been back on them to try

and get my cholesterol down. I stomach it. Here's

how I stomach them. I drown them in toffee yogurt.

It was a much nicer way to eat them, with a bit

of fruit and toffee yogurt. Yeah, and upon reflection,

I went, I think I've corrupted any benefit here

that I was getting. Back to bacon and eggs, I

think, but yeah. But it's the same when we make

our fasting visible. It's like we've gone and

taken something really good and we've poured

toffee yogurt all over it. It's become fake and

empty. See, fasting is a good tool. It can bring

spiritual benefit. But Jesus is saying, don't

corrupt it by showing off your fasting to everyone.

Whether it's subtly making your self -denial

visible. Whether it's telling people that you

are, oh, you know what, I'm giving up for Lent,

you know. Most importantly, though, don't fool

yourself by cherishing sin. That's what Jesus

is saying. Fasting from sin is more important

than no food. or screens fasting from hypocrisy

is more important than anything imagine a guy

at church named jeff i hope there's no one here

named jeff who's super disciplined he loves his

rituals he comes to church every sunday he fasts

he gets up he reads the bible he prays but imagine

if jeff is a bully at work And stingy with his

family. He's not generous to anyone. No matter

how disciplined Jeff is, he's wearing a mask.

He's hiding the corrupt reality of where his

heart is at. Even if he's blind to it himself.

But God sees. Others might look at Jeff and be

impressed, but God is not. And it's the same

for all of us. It doesn't matter how disciplined

we are if our hearts are loving sin, pride and

hypocrisy. So let's sum up. We started by asking,

what are the benefits of fasting? How do you

fast? What are the dangers, the pitfalls, the

traps of fasting? And we saw three things today.

Fasting grows our hunger for God. Fasting means

denying yourself, and fasting must not be a performance.

But if I'm honest, on my own, I fail miserably

at all three of these things. I don't think I'm

the only one. Because I know I'm not as hungry

for God as I should be. It's just easy to fill

up on other things, isn't it? Denying myself?

Well, I keep thinking to myself, can I have my

cake and eat it too? Can I feast on God without

self -denial? I want to do that. And when I do

get it right, it's so quick to corrupt it and

become visible about it or try and paper over

sin in my life with some good self -discipline.

We fail each one. But thankfully, Jesus did all

of these things perfectly. He loved God more

than anything. He had the greatest hunger for

God any man has ever had. He went for a 40 -day

fast. Not saying you should do that, but, you

know, that's what Jesus did. He denied himself

in the greatest possible way. He died on the

cross, drinking the cup of God's wrath down to

the dregs so that there was nothing left for

us to drink, so that we escape God's judgment

for all the times we sin, we're... where we're

idolatrous, where we're worldly. Jesus drank

all of that onto himself. And his self -denial

was perfect and real. He didn't fake it. He didn't

show off. It was genuine, Godward and real. And

Jesus did that for us. He fasted from sin his

whole life so that he could bear my failures.

He died so that we could get his eternal reward

from the Father. He gave us his spirit to transform

our hearts so that we would be hungry for God.

We don't fast to save ourselves. We fast because

we want to worship the one who saved us. That's

what drives we're all Christians. But it's easy

to look the part when your heart is not right.

Or to even fool yourself when your heart is not

right. See, some of us here might be the Sunday

Christian. We have self -denial for a day. We

look the part on a Sunday. But we're filled with

other things during the week. Some of us are

the religious hypocrite. We look the part because

we're just trying to impress others. But we're

ignoring God and the reality's not there. Some

of us are the sin hiders. We paper over our sin

by spiritual disciplines, self -denial, doing

the right rituals. But we need to ask, where

are our hearts really at? What are you doing

on a Friday night? Is that a little window into

where your heart's at? Maybe another free time.

I don't know. Look at your week. What's really

going on in your life? Because as we've seen

over the last three weeks, who you are in secret

is who you really are. Now, we all struggle with

these things. I want to close with two questions

to help us. Ask yourself, what do you need to

starve in your heart? What do you need to starve

in your heart so that you can feast again more

on God? Is it sin? Is it distractions? Is it

hypocrisy? Is it guilt? Is it shame? I don't

know what it is for you, but what do you need

to starve in your heart so that you can feast

more on God and his grace? And secondly, who

can you be raw and real with about where you're

at? Who can you just quietly talk to and if you're

struggling, say, hey, I'm struggling. Who can

you just be real with about where your heart's

at? Jesus is saying, let's do these things in

secret. Let's have a good relationship with God

in secret. But he's not saying, let's do it alone.

We want to be a body of Christ that loves and

supports each other in fighting sin and hypocrisy.

That's how we be a church that isn't fake, but

is truly righteous. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,

we trust in your grace. When we fail, we remember

the cross. When we're self -indulgent, we thank

you for Jesus' sacrifice. Please, Father, help

us to cherish your love, your mercy, your grace.

And, Father, would it move us, would it drive

us to fast from the things of this world and

to focus more on you, to feast on you, to hunger

for you, to enjoy all that you have given us?

and to enjoy you most of all please father where

we need that reset help us to do it help us to

be wise about what we need to reset on and help

us not to be fake but real in knowing and loving

you and we ask this in jesus name amen