Beloved, the Bridegroom has returned to His Father, and there He prepares the bridal chamber for you. He makes ready the place that the Church, His holy bride will live unto ages of ages.
But He is hidden for a little while, and so, we fast. He has said to you in the second chapter of Mark: “Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”
The Bridegroom has been taken away. He is ascended into heaven and seated at the right hand of God the Father. He is hidden from your eyes and we only see him in a hidden way, veiled in the Word you hear and the body and blood you receive. And so He says to you this night, “Fast,” but he does not only the simple command of fasting. He adds how and why.
“When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”
Now is the season of Lent. Now is the day of fasting. But these are hard words for Americans, and even harder for Lutherans in America. Fasting is a sad relic of popery, and we, Lutherans in the land of plenty, do not do such things. We prefer to hear Jesus earlier words to us, “Do not be like the hypocrites, who fast with a sad countenance. They disfigure their faces so that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.”
Boo, Pharisees, boo. Away with you and your self-righteous braggery. You merit nothing before God by your great acts of piety. We like to consider how Jesus condemned the false faith of the Pharisees. Don't show off, says our Lord. Don't make a show of how holy you are. Do not praise me with your lips and let your hearts be far from me. Do not fast with downcast and sorrowful faces. Do not pray loudly in the marketplace. Do not let the focus of your faith be yourself and your own efforts.
God is not impressed with your works. He does not stand up and take notice because your hands are folded and your head is bowed. He looks to your heart and sees the sin. He sees your selfish motivations. He knows when your mind wanders. He knows when your thankfulness for His gifts are vain imaginings of your heart of stone.
Repent. Prayer is not the problem. Your good works are not the problem. Fasting is not the problem. The problem comes only when you expect good things from God on account of anything you might do.
We fast as we recognize our sin. We fast to subdue the body that is bound to decay and die. We fast in repentance. We fast because we await the Bridegroom's return, when He will remove you, His bride, from all sin and all sorrow.
Christ has saved you, and His works on your behalf are reckoned to you by faith. He was born and suffered the blade of circumcision. He was handed over to Pontius Pilate and nailed to the cross by your false piety and every other sin you have ever done. He bore our sins in His body on the Tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by His wounds you have been healed. And, beloved, it has pleased Him to reckon to you His deeds, His innocence, and His eternal righteousness.
And though you fast as you await the Bridegroom's return, your fasting will end. There is no fasting when the Bridegroom is with you, and He will not hide in Word proclaimed and Sacrament received forever.
At His final coming, the fast will become a feast, and you will eat the marriage feast of the Lamb in the day that will have no end.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
