Fasting to Feast! October 27, 2013

Transcription

1 Fasting to Feast! October 27, 2013 What is the spiritual practice of fasting? Is it being thankful when we successfully diet to look good and impress others? Is it rigidly following rules to give up food to make us look spiritual regardless of how it affects those around us? Is it turning off our phones in order to hear God s voice better? When our ad hoc planning committee looked at possible spiritual practices we might explore, I expressed interest in exploring fasting for a couple of reasons. Though fasting is frequently mentioned in the bible I don t recall being encouraged to fast. I have wondered, why? I know Christians through the ages have fasted and I wonder what motivated them. I tried fasting years ago, as I understood it, and it wasn t a meaningful experience for me. In more recent years I ve heard of Mennonite folk being encouraged to fast. I have read about alternative fasts. I wondered, whether fasting, as a spiritual practice might help me keep company with Jesus So, I started to do a little research - and was overwhelmed by all the information out there. From the limited research I was able to do, I confirmed, there are many references in the scriptures to fasting - in both the Old Testament and New Testament. I saw that in the scriptures: the lengths of fasts varied from: 1 meal, 1 day to 3, 7, 14, 21 and all the way to 40 days. Fasts included giving up food and water, or only food, or only certain foods. Fasts were done both by individuals and fasts were done by groups. And fasts were done for a wide variety of reasons. Here are a few examples of people who fasted: Moses fasted and prayed for 40 days on behalf of Israel s sin Deut. 9:9, 18, 25-29; 10:10. David fasted and prayed that his son would be healed: 2 Samuel Queen Esther and all the Jewish people fasted when Hamen tried to destroy them: Esther 4: The people of Ninevah fasted after being warned by Jonah: Jonah 3. Jesus fasted and prayed for 40 days before beginning his public ministry: Matt 4:1-11. Paul fasted three days after encountering God on the road to Damascus: Acts 9:9 The early church fasted and prayed: prior to commissioning Paul and Barnabas as missionaries (Acts 13:1-3) and prior to the ordaining of elders (Acts 14:23). I found only one command in the bible to fast. In Leviticus ( ) the children of Israel are commanded to fast once a year on the Day of Atonement. I found four places in the bible where corrections were given for the way people were fasting. As you hear them read this morning, listen for a word or phrase that stands out for you. 1

2 First Isaiah 58. Here we have the story of the Israelites complaining about having to humble themselves by fasting. They accuse God saying You don t even notice when we fast indicating they expected certain pay back for their humility. I invite us to imagine ourselves as one of the Israelites as we listen to God s response to this accusation through the prophet Elijah as paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in The Message : Here is why I don t notice your fasting The bottom line on your fast days is profit. You drive your employees much too hard. You fast but at the same time you bicker and fight. You fast but you swing a mean fist. The kind of fasting you do won t get your prayers off the ground. Do you think this is the kind of fast day I m after: a day to show off humility? To put on a pious long face and parade around solemnly in black? Do you call that fasting, a fast day that I, GOD, would like? This is the kind of fast day I m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed cancel debts. This is what I m interested in seeing you do: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. (Isaiah 58:3-7) Next, in Zechariah 7, God clarifies God s instructions regarding fasts. I invite us to imagine ourselves as part of a delegation sent from our town to Jerusalem to ask the priests and prophets if we are to continue a day of mourning and fasting as we had done for seventy years. God, through the prophet Zechariah, responds this way. When you held days of fasting all these seventy years, were you doing it for me? And when you held feasts, was that for me? Hardly! You re interested in religion, I m interested in people. I want you to: Treat one another justly Love your neighbors. Be compassionate with each other. Don t take advantage of widows orphans newcomers and the poor. Don t plot and scheme against one another that s evil. (Zech. 5b-10 The Message) And now we move to the N.T. I noted that Jesus does not command his followers to fast. When asked why his disciples didn t fast, Jesus indicates that at the appropriate time, once he is no longer with them, they would. Mark 2.20 Jesus gives guidance on the proper exercise of this common practice of the Jews of his day. In the Sermon on the Mount he points out the importance of motive. 2

3 I invite us to imagine ourselves joining his disciples and all the other people on the side of the mountain listening to Jesus teach about fasting When you practice fasting or some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don t make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won t make you a saint. Act and dress normally God doesn t require attention-getting devices He won t overlook what you are doing; he ll reward you well. Matthew 6:16-18 (The Message) In Luke18, Jesus highlights the importance of our having the right attitude toward fasting when telling a parable about fasting and prayer to: some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt. Can we imagine ourselves as self-righteous people hearing Jesus tell this story? Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people robbers crooks adulterers or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income. 13 Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, God give mercy. Forgive me a sinner. After telling this story, Jesus concludes with these words: This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you re going to end up flat on your face, but if you re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself. (Luke 18: 9-14 The Message) So what words or phrases stood out for you as you listened to these scriptures? It is from these scriptures that I realized that the focus of fasting is to feast on God Now that we have briefly looked at people s experiences of fasting in the scriptures let s move on to what we can learn from people s experiences since Bible times. After reading and rereading my notes from the books and articles I read on how to fast, what fasting has meant, can mean and does mean to others, I really struggled with what would be helpful to share this morning. Finally I found peace when I decided to share my personal experience with what I read. As I began my research I soon became aware that I resisted the idea of fasting big time! I identified with the character in the skit we saw this morning who came up with all kinds of excuses why he didn t fast including bottom line, fasting makes me hungry. 3

4 I wondered if that was why the alternative fast ideas appealed to me. But then I saw, even on that list, the suggestion Fast from eating unnecessarily otherwise known as snack attacks or recreational eating. I wasn t even motivated enough to give up snacks! From the reading I was doing I recognized that my resistance to fasting isn t unique. For example, in her book Soul Feast, Marjorie Thompson says: Some of our suspicions about fasting may simply be a rationale to cover deeper anxieties like the horror of being without food. (70) She also says: While food is necessary to life, we have made it more necessary than God, and asks, How often have we neglected to remember God s presence when we would never consider neglecting to eat. Guilty as charged! Then I read in a couple of places about the importance of discernment and that not everyone should fast, and I thought maybe I was off the hook. Exemptions include those who are sick, traveling, pregnant, nursing, young or persons who have a medical condition e.g. diabetes, gout, liver disease, kidney disease, ulcers, hypoglycemia, cancer or other blood diseases. I wasn t sure if my medical condition qualified or not. I was afraid if I fasted I would end up dizzy. But all the time I was struggling with what I should be saying in my sermon, I had the nagging thought that I should be practicing what I preach before I preach. And I did not want to! Then, when I was putting together todays Fasting handout including Fasting and Feasting guidelines, I thought, Who am I to pass along guidelines when I haven t even tried any of them myself? Finally, mid Thursday morning, I decided to fast over lunch time. During the time I usually spent eating lunch I would spend with God. I collected the suggested glass of water, my bible, a couple of song booklets and the Fasting Handout. I figured I usually spend 15 to 20 minutes for lunch so planned to spend that time with God, reading my bible, singing and praying. After getting settled, I spent some time praying, beginning with the suggested prayer Speak, Lord, your servant is listening, and then I prayed prayers of thanksgiving. I decided to read a scripture listed with the option Fast from eating unnecessarily even though I was afraid it would make me more hungry. I looked up John 6.35 and groaned inwardly as this is one I have come across before and have difficulty understanding. 4

5 Jesus said to them I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. If it said, we can always come to Jesus to have our hunger and thirst met, fine. But it says If we come we ll never be hungry, and if we believe, we ll never be thirsty. So what does that say if I still hunger and thirst spiritually? I decided I wasn t really sure what this verse meant so I moved on to the next one. When I looked up Psalms 34:8, I was surprised to find that I knew it as a song. O taste and see that Lord is good, O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed are they who put their trust in him. O taste and see that the Lord is good. This verse spoke loudly to me! I experienced it as encouragement to trust God to meet both my physical and spiritual hungers. Then I wondered how many more scripture songs I know that speak about God being food and drink or quenching hunger and thirst. I looked through my song booklets and the first one I came to was: Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat! Come buy without money, come buy without price, come buy milk and honey from Jesus Christ. and so on this is the chorus to a song based on Isaiah 55: 1&2 Again a reminder that Jesus will quench my hunger and thirst - for free! Next I found the song based on Romans 14:17 The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy (3X) righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (2x) When thinking about this verse I realized that I had spent a lot of time and energy resisting giving up food when that isn t the focus of what fasting is all about. Fasting is being focused on God and God s righteousness, peace and joy. The next reference to food I found was a verse of His banner over me is love God brought me to His banqueting table, his banner over me is love. 3x His banner over me is love. I assume this verse refers to the parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22 and I enjoyed visualizing myself feasting at God s table wrapped in God s love. Before I knew it half an hour had passed and I hadn t made it through the Feasting suggestions. I hadn t spent time bringing my desires to God and asking God whether my desire was in line with God s will. I hadn t taken time to be still and listen. And that, I decided, was okay. They are after all, only suggestions. In spite of my mixed motives I felt God met me and I enjoyed the time I spent in worship. I was surprised that my stomach rumblings hadn t interrupted me. 5

6 I worried a little as to how the afternoon would go. But, I followed my usual routine for the afternoon, and didn t get dizzy! Amazingly I was no hungrier than usual at supper time. It was definitely a positive experience! I m ashamed to admit one of my initial thoughts afterwards was, Hey, maybe I could lose some weight if I fasted more. That wasn t so hard, and then I realized how easy it is to fast for myself rather feast on God! I suspect that this may be at least part of the reason we have not been encouraged to fast. I learned that many Protestant Reformers reacted against fasting along with other practices in the Catholic Church, especially those that seemed to highlight human merit with regard to salvation. I found there is little evidence that the Anabaptists paid much attention to fasting at all. There are no references to fasting in the writings of Menno Simons. (Kent Berghuis) Fasting is not mentioned in any of the actual articles of our Confession of Faith although it is noted in the commentary regarding Article 18, suggesting that the list of spiritual disciplines mentioned is not complete and that fasting could have been included. This quote by Macrina Wiedekehr summarizes well my learning about fasting so far. Fasting from physical food can scarcely be experienced as spiritual until it is joined to the sense of feasting on God s gracious love, and responding by loving others. In response to the question, whether fasting as a spiritual practice might help me keep company with Jesus, I would say a definite, Yes! I feel I ve only scratched the surface of experiencing the possibilities and look forward to experiencing more. If you are open to exploring these possibilities as well please pick up a handout at the back which includes guidelines for food fasting and feasting as well as alternative fast options. And regardless whether we feel drawn to this particular spiritual practice or not, I invite each of us to continue to find ways to feast on Jesus as we make Jesus the centre of our lives. As a hymn of response please turn in your Sing the Story to # 31 Jesus, be the center. 6