Jan 16, 2023
One year at Boy Scout camp, the emphasis for our troop was to
get all of the merit badges pertaining to water. We were in the
pool or on the lake most of the week. One of the merit badges we
were trying to accomplish was canoeing. Our instructor took us to a
nearby lake where we unloaded the canoes and geared up for an
afternoon on the water. That day was incredibly windy, and it
didn't take long for us to reach the other side of the lake.
Honestly, there wasn't a lot of paddling going on, mostly just
steering and riding the gusts of wind.
The problem came when it was time to head back to the other side of
the lake. It was nearly impossible to paddle our canoes against the
wind. We would dig in the water with all of our might, making
little progress...only to have the wind push us back when we took a
break. It felt a lot like Sisyphus of Greek mythology, rolling the
boulder up the hill only for it to roll back to the bottom. The
wind was making it impossible to return to the other side of the
lake. Being resourceful Boy Scouts, we did the only thing we
could think to do, we drifted back to shore a decided to earn our
hiking merit badge by walking back along the shoreline with the
canoes in tow! The lesson we learned that day was simple: Paddling
into the wind is nearly impossible.
The life of a Christian often feels like paddling a canoe into
the wind. There is this sense we get that everything is
against us; culture, peers, maybe family or friends--not mention
our own short comings, guilt and brokenness. It can seem like an
insurmountable task, and our efforts seem puny or pathetic
"against the wind". A sad reminder that we
aren't strong enough. But isn't that the point? We aren't strong
enough to navigate this faith journey on our own! God will supply
us with the power we need to overcome.
How does one learn how to rely less upon their strength and more
upon God's? Spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines are
those practices found in Scripture that promote spiritual growth
among followers of Jesus. In most cases, spiritual disciplines
force us to relinquish our strength and become more
dependent upon God's power and strength for our lives. Case in
point is fasting. According to Richard Foster "fasting is the
voluntary denial of an otherwise normal function for the sake of
intense spiritual activity." Less of me. More of
God.
In this sermon we are going to take a look at how Jesus incorporated fasting into his life to help keep him on mission and allow the strength of his Father to power his life and work. Check it out!