Matthew 6:16-18

The Right Side up Life

Because Christ is telling us that we don’t have to trust the reward of the immediate. But we can trust the voice of the Father. That we don’t have to trust the applause of the crowd, because the reward of the Father is better.

› And that we don’t have to trust even what we think is most necessary in our lives. God is even more necessary.

Fasting revolves around that question. It is a central idea of faith. What happens when we give something up?

Will everything else be enough?

And the only way we can answer it is through looking at “who do we trust?”

› Fasting is the proclamation that we are rushing out of the circle so God can rush in.

Matthew 6:16–18 ESV

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Fasting Takes us out of the Center

Fasting is giving up what we know to be necessary, like food, in order to see what is even more necessary than food, like God.

To fast is to see God as primary. And to do that means that we are no longer in the middle. It throws us off.

We don’t like being off center. It feels wrong, it feels off. It feels off balanced.

But sometimes being off balanced is the best thing we can do.

Fasting reminds us that we are at our best off center. Because Christ catches us.

Christians are perpetually offset. Jesus makes that clear in the first 10 or so versus of chapter 6 because he only talks about activities which place us off center.

the goal of Christianity is to be a decentered individual. . This is the call in fasting. It is the reminder. We don’t have to be ultimate. We have someone who has taken responsibility for us. We have someone we can trust. Someone who is better in the center anyhow.

Fasting Makes God Central

When Christ is in the center, we get a better sense of how things really are.

Christ is our better perspective.

Colossians 1:15–20 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

It is More than Enough that God is Central

Christ is best in the center of our lives.

We are best when we are off center.

Throw yourself off Center

Throw yourself off center by throwing what you think is necessary out of the center.

Fast for a meal this week.

Instead of eating, spend some time in the Scriptures. Spend some time praying.

The Christian lives with this statement as the center of our understanding.

› “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”

Abraham Kuyper

Discussion Questions

1. **Fasting as a Spiritual Practice**: The sermon emphasizes that fasting helps shift our focus from what we consider necessary (like food) to what is truly necessary—God. How does fasting, or the act of giving something up, help reveal what or who we truly trust in our daily lives?

2. **Off-Center Living**: The idea of being “off-center” is presented as essential to a Christian life, where God, not ourselves, occupies the center. Why do you think it is difficult for people to step out of the center of their own lives? What can we learn from being “off-balance” spiritually?

3. **Forced Perspective**: The sermon discusses how we often live with a skewed, “forced perspective,” seeing ourselves as more central than we truly are. How do you think this distorted perspective impacts our relationship with God and others, and how can fasting correct this?

4. **Trust in God’s Provision**: The sermon describes fasting as an act of trust in God’s provision, suggesting that “Christ is more than a meal, Christ is the entire harvest.” How does fasting challenge our reliance on material or temporary things, and what might it look like to trust God as the ultimate provider?

5. **Practical Application of Fasting**: The sermon calls for specific actions such as fasting from food, coffee, or even political rhetoric, and using that time for prayer and Scripture. What might be a practical step you can take to incorporate fasting into your spiritual life this week? How could you replace a “necessary” activity with time focused on God?