When Do We Act Then Fast And When Do We Need To Fast And Then Act?
Good Morning Friends,
Moses the lawgiver, King David, Elijah the prophet, Queen Esther, the prophet Daniel, Anna the prophetess, the Apostle Paul, and Jesus Christ. These people in Scripture have fasting in common. They practiced a spiritual discipline that most of us have largely ignored. In modern times we have the likes of Cesar Chavez and Mahatma Gandhi who fasted for causes. But this week my motivation would be out of mourning the senseless deaths of the seventeen people who were murdered and numerous others injured on Ash Wednesday after a former student opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The thing is that access to mental health services have declined over the last few decades and the mental health of students and teachers, now with Post Traumatic Stress the challenge of educators grows. Perhaps this might move me to embrace as cause without fasting. The thing is that the expelled student who killed others was disturbed and someone must have known he wanted others to suffer. Embracing a cause of See It And Say It now might help to thwart such anger. So, with this mindset in the tension of reflection and active engagement I wonder. When Do We Act Then Fast And When Do We Need To Fast And Then Act?
Scripture: Top of Form
Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God.
“Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
Isaiah 58:1-9a (NRSV)
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Matthew 9:14-15 (NRSV)
This shall be a statute to you forever: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall deny yourselves, and shall do no work, neither the citizen nor the alien who resides among you. For on this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord. It is a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall deny yourselves; it is a statute forever.
Leviticus 16:29-31 (NRSV)
They mourned and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul and for his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
2 Samuel 1:12 (NRSV)
Message: The Lord wants us to see things the way He does and I am not sure I do fully when it comes to the topic of fasting. There is more here than the lack of a meal. Perhaps I need to fast when I am angry. Perhaps I need to shout out when I see something that is wrong. We all get angry and sometimes it is related to injustice and not so damaging if we reflect on a proper response. The bad kind of anger is unreasoning and can become like gluttony as it eats away at our soul and turns into hatred and violence as happened on Wednesday. The thing is that those who savor the bitterness of these confrontations feast on their own bodies biting to the bone and licking their lips on their own raw bloody flesh. So, I guess fasting in this context should be part of a Christian life along with the spiritual habits, like Bible study, prayer, praise, and fellowship. I understand that fasting is supposed to be a tool, and it is about relating to God, but I have found as one of my friends experienced it, to often be all about the faster and not so much about humbling ourselves, and intensifying our prayers. Unfortunately fasting tends to be about self-denial and about suggesting that the physical is somehow intrinsically evil, and that gets us off track. So, unless we understand the nature of true fasting and we begin to practice it properly, I doubt we will be free of issues. But if we fast and feast with the right focus something good can spring forth from the activity. As we meditate on today’s Isaiah 58 scripture we might gain understanding that our own personal problems will be solved if we get busy taking care of others. That is a good place to start with the idea of fasting, for there is a right and wrong way to fast. Part of the message here is that we can experience the pure joy of living in the kindness and peace of giving just a little bit more and taking just a little bit less. Jesus instructs us in the proper way. When we fast we set an objective, make a commitment and prepare ourselves spiritually as an act of repentance. Before fasting, we prepare ourselves physically consulting professionals for reasonable precautions. When we fast, we need to put ourselves on a schedule setting ample time to be alone with God, listening for our Lord’s leading and reinforcing the time with intakes of fluids. And when we end our fasting it needs to be gradual so that we retain a new rhythm of grace in our daily lives.
Pray we feed the right dog. Pray we understand the proper way to fast with a sense of humility. Pray we realize it is not so much a corporate activity as a personal one…something between each of us and God. Pray we not advertise our fasting. Pray we get the connection between fasting and atonement. Pray we focus on getting closer to God. Pray we experience the connection between repentance, prayer, giving and fasting. Pray we realize that the entire time of fasting is meant to be a time of prayer. Pray we cease our strivings to fast, to pray, to rest, allowing God to restore rhythms that we are meant to enjoy. Pray these new rhythms reflect God’s creative hand, rhythms that allow us to feel more alive even if we appear to do less. Pray that our giving, fasting and praying and repenting converge to restore the texture and pace to our lives as a cushion for us against the forces that eat away at our souls. Pray that we would be concerned about what God is concerned about. Pray we would see people around us the way God does. Pray we would say what to see so no one is consumed by their own wrath.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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