Slideshow image

The Truth of Fasting – Joel 1:13–20

Alex Hogendoorn – February 22, 2026

Tagline

Fasting is the honest, embodied cry of empty people who refuse illusion and turn to the Lord as their only hope.

Sermon Summary

Picking up on the theme of mourning from last week, Joel calls the people to fast. Not as a diet or a spiritual productivity technique, but as physical, natural, honest response to catastrophe — like the gut-level revulsion toward food when we receive devastating news. Joel's call to "consecrate a fast" is explored through three dimensions: fasting as *refusal* (rejecting the false comforts and illusions that numb us to reality), fasting as *epiphany* (asking the Spirit to make what we know in our heads a felt, embodied reality), and fasting as *solidarity* (standing alongside a groaning creation in shared hunger directed toward God).

The sermon then connects fasting to the cross and the "Day of the Lord," arguing that both are terrifying and joyful for the same reason: they expose every lie and illusion we've built around ourselves. Just as Jesus refused to shortcut his wilderness hunger or escape the cross, fasting trains us to see clearly. It strips away filters until the "brutality and beauty" of the cross become visible. Ultimately, fasting is framed as the posture of salvation: empty hands, open mouth, nothing left to rely on but God. The preacher closes with a Lenten invitation for the congregation to "stop" — to set down whatever keeps them numb, and in that emptiness, to cry out to the Lord who alone can fill them.

Group Discussion Guide

Icebreaker Question (pick one)

  1. Playful: If you had to fast from one non-essential comfort this week (food, media, coffee, scrolling, etc.), which would be the hardest to give up—and why?
  2. Meaningful: Can you remember a moment when disappointment or loss made something feel suddenly very real to you? What changed in you in that moment?

Opening Prayer

Ask the Spirit to speak through the word and to lead your time together.

Scripture Reading

Read Joel 1:13–20 (ESV) aloud together.

Main Discussion Questions

God Revealed

In this passage and in the sermon, what do we learn about God’s character in the Day of the Lord? How does seeing God as utterly true—one who exposes illusion but also invites us to cry out—shape your understanding of him?

Humanity Mirrored

Where do you see yourself in this text? In what ways are we tempted to numb ourselves with comfort, distraction, or false assurance instead of facing truth and calling on the Lord?

Gospel-Centered Vision

How does fasting point us to the cross of Christ? 

Transformed Living

What might it look like, practically, to “consecrate a fast” in this season—not to impress God, but to remove insulation and seek him honestly? 

Sharing and Witness

Who around you is quietly groaning, and how might your own honesty before God make you more present to them?

For Further Study

  1. Isaiah 6:1–7 – Isaiah encounters the holiness of the Lord, is undone by truth, and receives cleansing—an image of exposure leading to grace.
  2. Psalm 42:1–2 – The psalmist’s soul pants for God like a deer for water, echoing Joel’s imagery of longing.
  3. Romans 8:18–23 – Creation groans alongside us, waiting for redemption, placing our hunger within a cosmic story.
  4. Matthew 4:1–11 – Jesus fasts in the wilderness and refuses to turn stones to bread, showing that we do not live by bread alone.
  5. Matthew 6:16–18 – Jesus teaches fasting as a sincere act before the Father, not a performance before others.
  6. Acts 2:16–21 – Peter quotes Joel and proclaims the Day of the Lord with joy, revealing its fulfillment in Christ.
  7. Revelation 6:12–17 – The Day of the Lord reveals the wrath of the Lamb, exposing illusion and calling for repentance.
  8. John 19:28–30 – Jesus says “I thirst” on the cross, entering our hunger so we might receive life.
  9. Philippians 2:5–11 – Christ empties himself, showing that true glory comes through self-giving humility.
  10. John 4:7-15 – Jesus promises living water to all who ask of him, and they will never thirst again.
Adults
Gospel Communities