On Fasting, Death, and Joy: Reflections on My Upcoming Ordination

Hugh Lynn, a deacon-elect at a PCA church in Indiana, wrote this short reflection for Ordained Servant, the OPC’s journal for church officers, before his ordination. Puzzling over when fasting is appropriate, he walks through the fasts of Moses, David, Elijah, Esther, Darius, and Jesus and finds one common thread: each stands in the shadow of death.

So he fasts before taking office, because the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 set a standard he will never meet, and the deacon’s duties will require him to die to self. The fast ends in joy, since with Christ death gives way to life (Galatians 2:20). A devotional piece, better suited to preparing a deacon’s heart than his to-do list.