Simplicity and Fasting

Hello, and welcome to The Grove Church podcast. I'm Charlie Loften, the lead pastor there, and we are so glad that you're joining us. Whether you are a member and you're just catching up on a sermon that you missed or you're someone who's brand new, we are really glad that you are joining us. And if you are new in some way, and I know that a lot of people will do that, we'll listen to sermons first before they visit. I want you to know that we would love to meet you at any point.

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All right. Well, hey, good morning. My name is Mark. I wanna, I wanna welcome you as well. Just real quick before we jump into the message, I wanna just bring back up this, this party we're having here in a few weeks called Grove Fest.

It's something that we, we do at the start of kind of every fall or when we kind of walk through this first kind of launch series. And then we have us a party, and there ain't no party like a Grove party. Amen? And there ain't no party like a Grove Church party. There's just not, and there's gonna there's gonna be tacos, and we're just...

We're not talking about normal tacos. We're talking about, like, really, like, people who like tacos are like, man, these these tacos are good. There'll be be music. There might even be somebody dancing. I don't know.

There can be some inflatable things for kids to jump on. There can be a lot of things going on, door prizes. There's gonna be a lot of fun things happening. But at the end of the day, the best part is that you're there, that that we're that we're there together. And and that's that's really powerful.

And if you haven't had a chance, know, lot of times on Sundays, you come in and you leave, and that's just really kind of the way this whole thing works, right? Mean, it's like there's two services, and there's, you know, a concert. Basically, there's something happening on the stage, there's an event, and then you leave, and it's really hard to touch bases or to catch somebody or to get to know somebody, and there's just something really powerful about sharing a meal together. So it's a party, there's not like a whole lot. We're just going to be together, and I can even look around this room, and faces and people that I know that it was a Grove Fest that they sat at a table and met somebody and kind of made their first friendship here that turned into doing life together.

And so I invite you to that. Grove Fest is gonna be a lot of fun, but at the end of the day, the best part is that we're there, that you're there. So make sure you put that on your calendar here in a few weeks. Be right after the second service. We're gonna continue today on this series where we're talking about the ancient paths, the paths that, you know, Jeremiah calls this out, that rest for your souls is found at the end of.

The ancient paths, those things that historically followers of Jesus have done and have found life in, life giving activities, life giving disciplines, life giving pursuits that take us down a road of life. And today, the two are Simplicity and Fasting. Simplicity and Fasting. And I think that these two are particularly needed because of the environment that that we live in and our culture. Because, y'all, I I think the truth is that we're getting pushed around, that our our lunch money is getting taken from us, and we're getting wedgied and swirly and and pushed in the locker.

I think I think we're... Truth is, I think we're getting bullied, and the sad thing is most of us don't know it. That constantly around us, there's this this push for more that somehow life is gonna be found in having more, in being more, and being more successful, and having more stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with being successful or having more stuff, but when it becomes the pursuit and the belief, buying into the lie that if I make enough of a name for myself, then I am somehow gonna be happier or better, Or if I have enough things that there's some pursuit, like if I have more, there's gonna be happiness and life found out. Those are just lies, and y'all, they're bullying us, and we're buying into it.

We're letting it happen. We're just standing by and letting it happen. Now I have an issue with bullies, and Terry and I actually had a talk about this earlier this week. I think I've officially identified that maybe it's in the realm of a real issue I need to deal with because I don't just have, like, a hatred for bullies. It moves over into rage sometimes.

I've confessed it here before, I'll confess it again, but I've at least acknowledged, like, she said, my problem is a lot of times a bully, I'll put them in box, and then they can't get out of that box. If somebody shows themselves crazy arrogant, or, like, they're taking advantage of people, they're using their power or their size or whatever to push somebody else down, it pushes some kind of button in me. And I know what that's all about, but it's there. I think it kind of goes back to some things that happened growing up. It that I got bullied all the time, but there were some real transformative kind of moments where I had to deal with bullies.

One of them is kind of funny. I was on the playground, and and there were a bunch of kids out there. Right? We were all playing soccer, and there was this one kid. Let's just say he had bought his own cigarettes on the way to school that day.

He had skipped several grades, and he was bigger and taller than all of us. In my mind's eye, I feel really certain that he looked just like Scott Farkas on A Christmas Story. That's the picture. That's remember, what whether he did or not. Every time I watch the movie, like, oh, yeah, that's that guy.

And so we're all playing, and the ball gets kicked, it hits him in the face. And everybody laughs, and so I laugh also. And and then he looks at me, and he says, what are you laughing at? And I looked around, I said, man, everybody's laughing. You just got hit the butt in the face with the ball.

That's funny. And then he walked straight over to me, and he looked down at me, and he's like, I'm gonna knock every one of your teeth out. Now normally, Mark is not very good in these kind of situations. I I get... I have really good comebacks about an hour later as I start to mull on it.

Like, in the moment, I'm just angry, and then later on, like, oh, dude, if I had said that, that would have been... This is my shining moment. And I think it's because I already had and knew that I had a dentist appointment later that day, and so I was loaded up and ready, and he says, I'm gonna knock every one of your teeth out. I said, that's okay. I got a dentist appointment today anyway.

And they just shut him up, and he just he just walked off, and everybody was kinda like, oh. And that was it. That was that was the end of that one. I never had that good of a comeback before. So it's like, I don't think that one shaped me as much, but there's there's one in particular.

I would call him, this kid, the the Grover, the toady. He was actually smaller than I was. He was on my Little League Baseball team. He was one of my best friends early on, and at the same time, he was my worst enemy. For some reason, he had picked Mark out and decided he wanted to belittle me in every way possible.

He would lie to friends, tell them I said things I didn't say, to hurt my other friendships. He would just look for every way to bring Mark down. And most of it was just verbal and mental abuse, but then one day, he walked up after class, and he pushed me, and I took it. Then the next day, he pushed me again. Same time, same place, and it became this thing.

Like, he would just... It was like he was just saying, what are you gonna do? What what are you gonna do? And so one day, I I go home, and this is this is very vivid and clear in my mind. I am looking in the mirror at myself, and I ask myself the question, am I going to continue to this person to bully me?

And so I came up with a strategy and a plan. He's going to push me tomorrow, and when he pushes me, I'm going to rock back, and then I'm going rock forward, and I'm going to throw the hardest punch I can right at his jaw. So next day happens, same time, same place. He wasn't very creative. Same time, same place.

He comes up to me, he pushes me, I rock back. I rocked forward and threw that punch, and I'm pretty sure my eyes were closed, so I'm surprised that I hit anything. But I did. I caught him right on the jaw. And guess what?

Never got bullied again. And we actually became pretty good friends after that. I had to make up my mind that enough is enough. There's a point where that no longer will I take this. And I'm not promoting, punching people today.

My my point is, y'all, there is this oppression from the culture around us that is lying to us about where life is found, and it is pushing us and bullying us at every corner, every time you flip open your phone, every commercial you watch, every... All the people around you when you're sitting with, it's happening over and over and over again. And the church, as followers of Jesus, we have to answer the question, are we gonna continue to take it, or are we going to do something about it? Enough is enough. And so Simplicity and Fasting, I believe, are, man, the two two punches.

These these are two key things that are all through our our our Bibles, these ancient practices. They go right at the thing that we most need to deal with. And I wanna start here with a verse from Lamentations chapter three, because I think at the heart of it is, where do we find our significance? Where do we find our hope? In Lamentations chapter three, it's talking about how God's love never stops, how His mercy never finds its end, how it's new every morning, how His faithfulness is incredible.

And then in chapter... I mean, in verse 24, he says, and I say to myself, the Lord is my portion. The Lord is my portion. He is my enough. He is my my share.

He is is my my part. And it... Him, just just just him, a relationship with the creator God. He... Jesus...

He's enough. You know, last time I was up here, was talking about trying to get on this get right plan. I've gotten a little bit better, but I'm still struggling with portion sizes, y'all. If good food, I wanna go back for my second helping and my third helping. The first helping should be enough.

Like, what is what is enough? If you go too far, right, that's a good example of, like, it becomes counterproductive. Now it's not good anymore. But there's a portion on a plate. Right?

The plate is the size it is for a reason. You don't need a trough. I need a plate. And the portion, that's enough. Lamentations is talking about is that there's this...

He is the portion. He he is enough. And the truth about life, real life, is that none of us are gonna experience that until we really embrace the fact that he is enough. He is our portion, and nothing more is needed. He is enough.

Then it says... It goes on to say, there... Therefore, because he's my portion, I will wait, I will hope in him. That's what happens when you realize he's your portion. You you look, you don't look other places, you don't look to yourself, you look to him to be the one that that you're totally dependent upon.

This is repeated in in the Psalms. It's over and over again. The writer's like, Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. He says, whom am I in heaven but you? There is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Another place he says, I cry to you, oh Lord, I say, you are my refuge. You are my are you are my portion in the land of the living. If we have a relationship with Creator God, it should be, that's enough. This is what people discover on loop, a recurring theme.

People that go on mission trips discover this. If you talk to anybody here that's been on one of our filter of hope trips, or maybe you've been, you know, this is what you find out. You go, and you know there's a need, and specifically with that, you know, like, man, people don't have good drinking water, so you're going to impoverished areas, and you're taking this hope of some good drinking water with the promise of Jesus, and you think you're going to help, and then you get there and you find out. People are happy. Sometimes, happier than you are.

You start out going, woe is woe is them, and then you find out, woe is me. They don't have the phones. They don't have technology. They don't have the things, and they're better off. They got their dirt floors.

Now I know there's an impoverished level where people don't have basic needs, and that's that's serious, but I'm talking about when I... I've run into believers. I know that's what happened to me on the first time I went to

a place like that, and

I realized, oh my goodness, these believers have something that I long for because they don't have the distractions. They don't have all the fog that keeps me from being able to see Jesus and him just alone being my portion. That's the thing that people learn because it's the thing that's true. Proverbs says this. This is an interesting thing in a wisdom book.

This is just this is just true. Proverbs chapter 30 verse seven. Two things I ask you, Lord, two things do not refuse me before I die. So the writer's saying, hey, these are the things, if you're gonna pray for something, these are the two things to pray for. What does he say?

Proverbs 30 · chapter mention

Keep falsehood and lies far from me. Please, father, please keep lies far from me. Keep a lack of authenticity far from me. I don't want to be a fake, I wanna be what I say to be true, my yes to be yes, my no to be no, who I am to be, who I say that I am. Keep falsehood and lies far from me, and then what's number two?

Give me neither poverty nor riches. Nor riches. Woah. Woah. Woah.

Woah. You're saying that one of the two of a wise person, the two core prayers that they would pray, one of them would be, God, give... Don't give me riches? Woah. That make any sense.

Right? Yes. Look, he explains it. He says, give me only only my daily bread. Make me daily dependent on your provision so that I have you in your right place and me in my right place.

He says, otherwise, if this isn't true, if I have too much and disown you and say, who is the Lord? So if I if I have too much, then I would be tempted to think that, you know what? Mean, I can just... I I can take care of myself. My my security is kind of in me.

In fact, I I might just be God, because you know what? Like, I'm I'm providing for everything, and you start to forget who He really is. Then he says, yeah, if if poverty, then I might become poor and steal and dishonor the name of my God. So give me neither poverty nor riches, just my my daily bread, my my portion, so that I'm looking to you and dependent upon you. Ecclesiastes talks about this in chapter four.

It says, and I saw all the toil and all the achievement that it springs from, is motivated from, a person's envy of another. So here, this book that's looking at life and making this observation, that what's driving most of it, what's driving most of that pursuit for more, it's motivated from, it's coming from one person's envy of another. And y'all, I don't know, I mean, I know that before all the things we have now, I mean, I didn't really even know what other friends have unless I spent the night at their house or something like that growing up. And today, we're constantly, it's in our face. Oh, this person has more than you.

This person has achieved more than you. This neighbor, this person across town, this person in another city, like, all these people, they've got more than you. If you just had more, if you just had more, if you just had more, if you just had more, if you were more, if you were better, if you were... Then then you'd find it. But it's just not it's just not true.

He says this too is meaningless. This is the repeated theme in Ecclesiastes. It's meaningless. It's chasing after the wind. It's chasing after something that you'll never catch.

Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves. It's as better as one handful with tranquility. The one handful, the portion be enough with peace than the two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. We get the one hand full, and then we're like, but if I just had the second hand full, it would make life better, and yet it somehow doesn't. It actually makes it worse.

There's a line where enough, and one handful with tranquility and peace is better than the two. Is that possible that more could be a not good thing? Our Bible seems to tell us that, and it reminds me of what mama told me when I was young. When she said, come sit beside me, son. She said, listen closely to to what I say, because if you do this, it's gonna help you one sunny day.

She said, be a simple kind of man. Be something. You love and understand. Right? I don't know if you like Southern Rock or if Leonard Skinner was coherent when they wrote those lyrics.

I I don't know. But they were speaking directly from God's word, and it's and it's absolutely amazing. So homework today, please go listen to the song. Because they, you know, they're going to say, take your time. Don't live too fast.

Troubles are gonna come, and they're gonna pass. Forget your lust for rich man's goal is all you need, the portion, the needed thing, it's in your soul. Don't forget, there's someone up above, and that's the one. This is what you need. Even Lynyrd Skynyrd knew it, y'all.

It's just true. Jesus talked about it in in Luke chapter 12. Says there's someone in the crowd that said to him, teacher, my brother... Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. And Jesus replied, who appointed me judge or arbiter between you?

Luke 12 · chapter mention

And then he said to them, watch out. Be on guard against all kinds of greed. Jesus says, why? Because life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. That's not where life is found.

And then he told a story about a rich man, he's got a problem, he's got too much stuff, and he's trying to figure out what to do because he's got too much stuff, and he's like, I'm just gonna go build bigger, better barns, I'm gonna get a few more storage units to store to store all these things that I have. He starts to hoard it, and he hoards it, and the question is, for what? What is he what is he hoarding it for? We take nothing with us. So Jesus is talking about don't don't stress over this life, for life is more than this, than the abundance of the things that you have.

Instead, seek the kingdom, the things that last forever, because the things will will just go away. And most of you guys know back in the spring, our our house caught fire, and so this is really close to home at the moment because it didn't, you know, it didn't burn the whole house to the ground, but it did enough damage that everything everything was lost. And I've got a picture here. I I was standing across the street watching them bring the house down on the day of demolition, and that's our that was our that's our home right there. And that's that's all of it.

That's, like, that's all the things that we own. Like, they're they're all they're all gone. Pretty pretty enlightening day, I'll I'll say, for me, to look at the abundance of things and to see how pointless they are. And, man, I hope that that your house doesn't catch fire, but guess what? A hundred a hundred years from today, I guarantee you all of your stuff is gonna look like...

It's gonna be in a landfill somewhere, the same as mine. Because the stuff doesn't... It doesn't last. It makes a promise that it can't fulfill. And, you know, everybody that we've talked to about this has said, man, I'm just so glad that the kids got out safely, and you and Terry and and the dogs got out safely.

And, you know, if... Even though everything's lost, at least the people are safe. Exactly. Exactly. Ain't it crazy in those...

In these kind of moments, we identify what's true. What's true rises to the surface. What matters? People. What matters?

Our relationship with the God that transcends all of this. What doesn't matter? The things. They just don't. So when we put our hope there, it fails.

So I'll say it this way. Simplicity is is knowing what is enough. We have to have the things. Alright. There's a guy my dad used to listen to.

My dad was a salesman, it was a guy... Zig Ziglar would talk about sales, and he would say, Money's not everything, but it's dangerously close to oxygen. And there's a truth there. Like, I mean, there's certain amount of things we have to have to survive and live. Right?

But the

simplicity is knowing what's enough and then being willing to stop, being disciplined, to stop, and to know when you cross the line, and now we've moved into more than is needed. That second handful, that's a trap that leads us down the road that leads to death. Paul talks about this in in first Timothy. He's condemning these false teachers and their desire for wealth, and he says in verse six, But godliness with contentment is great gain. There is something really, really special about a person who is content.

That's what we find, what I'm talking about in these mission trips, when we see someone who content. It's like there's something really valuable there. And then he says it, for we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and to trap.

There's a trap set for us where we wouldn't be content, and we would think that the more things that those happiness and life found there, but they'll fall into many heartful and foolish desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. And then later on in chapter six, verse 17, he says it this way, Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant, and here's the core of the problem, not to put their hope in wealth. The hope, the hope can't be there, though. Right? Like, that's where the line...

Like, now is my is my hope now now there? Which is uncertain. Amen. It... Whew.

Boy, it it is... So if you put your hope there, just get ready because you're ride a roller coaster because it is... It's gonna be uncertain always and ever, but to put their hope in God where certainty is found. See, that's the ability to be content and to have life is that you've got your hope in something that can actually hold the hope, the God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good and to be rich in good deeds and to be generous with the second handful.

Let's give that away. Let's help others. In this way, they will lay up treasures for themselves and a firm foundation, not in this age, but in the age that is to come, things that are eternal. And look at the way he says it at the end. So that they may take a hold of life that is truly life.

Real life. Not fake life, but real life. It's found in this path of simplicity. But then if if simplicity is is the first punch that we take at this bully, y'all wanna know the knockout blow. Knockout blow is fasting.

Yep. I just said it. I just said it. Fasting. And I'm not talking about laying your phone down for a little bit.

I know that there's things that we can do like that. I'm talking about real deal, ancient path, denying yourself food, a basic a basic human need. Say, what, Mark? What what are you talking about? Yeah.

Exactly. When we take food away and we start to realize real quickly, you know, for me, I miss a meal. I already... I'm already starting to get a headache. Go go meal number two, man.

Whew. Now I'm not even sure I can stand up straight. It it doesn't take it doesn't take very long before I start to realize I'm just human. I can't even I can't even exist without my cocoa pebbles. Amen?

What does that say? It screams to Mark, you are not God. There is a God, and you are not him. It reminds me. It draws me back into my dependence and my desperate need.

Jesus modeled it for us in in Matthew chapter two... Or chapter four where it happens, it says this, one of my favorite verses, short one, easy one to memorize. After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he, Jesus, was hungry. I bet he was. I bet he was.

Wouldn't you wouldn't you be? Forty days and forty nights? If I can't go three meals, right? Like, yeah, forty days and forty nights, I bet I bet he was hungry. And guess what?

Jesus was... He was God, and he was human. There's a perfect example. Yes. He was hungry.

Yes. Fasting will leave you hungry. Hungry for food, but then there's this spiritual awakening that starts to happen. Fasting, it's almost like it throws gasoline on the embers of your prayer life. It it it ignites them.

I have personally seen this. I I can testify. I don't like to talk about it a lot, but there have been a few times where I felt like we were pushed up against the wall, I was pushed up against the wall, and I realized that I had no hope unless Jesus showed up. And I've watched God respond. It's powerful.

We we see it so many different times, but I just wanna throw you a couple of examples in in the book of Ezra. Ezra is leading the journey of this large group of Jewish exiles to Jerusalem, and and they stop beside this canal in chapter eight. And he says, I proclaim I proclaimed a fast so that we might humble ourselves. So he and and he... The whole group, they they take a...

They have a fast so that what? He calls it out so we can humble ourselves before God and ask Him that He would give us a safe journey for us and our children and with all of our possessions. And then he says in verse 22, like, I wanna do this because I don't want to ask the king for the support of the armies and all of his stuff, because I've clearly told him that our God will take care of us. And so I'm kind of out on a limb. Like, I've said that.

God, I want to honor that, but now I'm here at the canal, and I'm scared. God, I'm gonna stop. I'm gonna seek you earnestly. And earnest seeking meant we're gonna fast. We're gonna look to you.

We're gonna show our utter dependence upon you. And then look what it says. Verse 23, we fasted, we petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer. That's what happened. God showed God showed up.

And then in Joel, it talks about this. Joel is a prophet warning God's people of the impending judgment, the day of the Lord. And he says in verse 12 of chapter two, even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all of your heart. So there's this picture of fasting, that fasting is looking at sin in our life, calling it what it really is, and along with fasting, saying, this is serious, I want it out of my life, with fasting and weeping and mourning, turn to me with all your heart. He says, rend your heart, not your garments.

Basically, not an outward display of, oh, this is not... But an inward heart thing that happens. You know, Jesus talks about this fasting being something that when you do it, do it in such a way that you're not making a big spectacle about it. This is something between you and God and your heart. It says, return to the Lord, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity when you get serious in turn, and fasting is part of that.

So I'll say it this way, fasting acknowledges your limits. It acknowledges our dependence. It puts us in this place where we look to God, and we're not just kinda serious, We're serious, so much so that we would be willing to deny ourselves something so basic as food that He provides. Not checking it off some list. You know, there's other places.

Isaiah talks about this. Not a a thing that we do because you're supposed to, not a thing that we do because it'll make us look cool around the people around us, but a serious thing. We acknowledge that we're flesh, that God is our portion. And if these things are gonna happen, it's gonna be only because He moves. If our sin is gonna be dealt with, it's gonna be because He gives us power over it.

We see it as serious. Fasting acknowledges your limits and your dependence. And again, I think it's the knockout blow. I think it's the knockout blow of this bully that just keeps on pushing us. You know, in A Christmas Story, when Ralphie has finally had enough, and it's a funny movie, but is that not a violent scene?

Mean, I you might as well be watching Gladiator or Full Metal Jacket or some kind of... This is... I mean, it gets a little crazy. He loses himself for a second, man. He's throwing he's throwing hands hard, and you see him kind of go unhinged because he's had enough.

He's been pushed around long enough, and he realizes I got to do something about this. Now we've been we've been pushed around long enough by these these lies that just him is not enough, that we need more, that that making a a name for ourself is the thing that's gonna make us happy, and it and it just doesn't. There is one God in heaven, and He deserves our attention and our focus. This is this is this true. You can push against it.

You can fall into the trap, but it's it's true. And it's time we acknowledge it, and we punch back. We choose to say there's... This is enough, and I'll hold there. Go next level and say, man, it's enough that I'm willing to take this serious enough that I would even I would even deny myself a meal to say to you, God, that you're my only hope.

Now, of all these ancient paths, a lot of them have been already have been convicting to me, but I think this one most of all because I think that it's easy for it to creep in. It's easy for us to adopt it. We need to see with the eyes of Jesus and choose a different path. Let me pray that we would. Father, I do.

I make it I make it our prayer today that you would you would give us eyes to see what's true. Give us strength and courage to push back and not just to to yield and to follow the crowd, but, Father, to acknowledge and to see that all we really need, all we really need is you. You have given us everything, and your daily bread is the sweetest. Your daily provision is the sweetest life, walking with you, Father, being dependent upon you, looking at the hard things, looking at the big obstacles, and instead of trying to tackle them with our little puny strength, looking at your big power and asking you to move for your sake and your glory, not ours. Father, that's that's true life.

So I ask you that as a community, you would give us that vision and the courage to take those steps. Amen.

Thanks again for joining us on our sermon podcast, and you can learn more about us at thegrovechurch.org. If you go to thegrovechurch.org/connect, there's a form you could fill out. Just let us know that you've been listening. And if you wanna dig deeper on some of these topics that we cover in our sermon podcast or just another issues of dealing with culture or theology, those kinds of things, you can check out our cultivate podcast. Which is on the same feed, however you found this particular podcast.

So again, this is Charlie, the lead pastor at The Grove, and thank you so much for joining us.