During Lent this year we are looking at various Lenten Practices – what I have called awe-robic exercises – that we do pretty routinely whenever we come to worship here at Christ Church –
Awe-Robic Exercises which, if lifted up and practiced, could change our perception of reality and leave us in a much better position to know what happened on that first Easter morning so long ago.
The first awe-robic exercise we looked at was to Observe Lent.
By consciously setting aside time on a periodic basis to consider how our faith affects our life, we take the first step toward awe-awareness – being aware of the inspired nature of the created world in which we live.
Then we looked at the importance of regular worship participation for our well-being.
And, today, we tackle the notion of Fasting.
We know what fasting is, don’t we?
We have heard about people who fast,
we have read about people who fast,
perhaps even a few in this room have fasted in the past.
While we know what it is, fasting is certainly not main stream for us, or for anyone we know, is it?
But, we know what fasting is.
The dictionary definition is going without food and/or drink for a period of time.
We are told that Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness before he began his ministry.
Gandhi fasted.
Martin Luther King, Jr. fasted.
Peace demonstrators fasted.
Some prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center fasted.
In fact, fasting seems to be something some people do in an attempt to attract attention to their cause.
Personally, I have never understood this on at least two counts:
I am sure that I could fast for a week – or even 40 days and 40 nights – and no one would care.
No one would notice.
Nothing would change.
And, secondly, I know you will find this hard to believe, but when I go without food, I get cranky.
I know, it is so against the image you have of me, but I do get cranky when I go without food for too long.
I am unbearable.
I know, it is hard to believe, but ask Suzanne.
When I was discussing this with my daughter, she asked, well how long have you ever gone without eating.
I responded: “Oh, eight or nine hours.”
We know what fasting is:
Going without food and/or drink for a period of time.
People of the Jewish faith knew what fasting was.
In fact, it had become a sacred act – something a person did regularly in order to gain favor with God.
Fasting and offering animal sacrifice were part and parcel of how they expressed their faith.
The early Christians knew what fasting was.
After all, they were Jews at first,
and fasting was still practiced as a way of humbling oneself in order to get your priorities in life straight.
So, we are told, Jesus fasted before he began his ministry – for 40 days and 40 nights, we are told.
[By then, I would be soooo cranky.]
Because it was so widely practiced, we are told that Jesus felt like he had to address the issue right there during his sermon on the mount.
When you fast, he says.
Not if you fast, but when you fast.
You do it, you know you do, so listen, when you do it, don’t do like the hypocrites do by putting on a sad face and making a show of it,
but make sure you wash your face and comb your hair so others won’t know what you are doing.
Wash your face and comb your hair is good advice.
When the practice of our religion is done in public for all to see – for people to see how holy you must be, it is wrong, Jesus said.
Good advice.
But, there is a problem with our understanding of this fasting concept.
Long before Jesus, 3-400 hundred years before Jesus, this prophet appeared in Judea and began spouting the weirdest things.
This prophet spoke for the Lord God.
He spoke with authority to the priests and to all the people.
Everyone knew him and recognized his authority.
They listened to him and even came to him for advice.
The people of faith came to him with their complaints.
Look, they said.
It seems as if the Lord has abandoned us.
We have been left to cope all alone.
We hear nothing from the Lord.
Bad things happen to good people – and we don’t know why.
We pray and nothing happens.
We fast and nothing happens.
What gives.
Why should we fast if the Lord never notices?
Why should we starve ourselves if the Lord pays no attention?
And, the 58th chapter of Isaiah tells us that in response to those complaints the Lord said:
The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own interests and oppress your workers.
Your fasting makes you violent, and you quarrel and fight. [You get cranky, the Lord says.]
Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers?
When you fast, you make yourselves suffer;
you bow your heads low like a blade of grass and spread out sackcloth and ashes to lie on.
Is that what you call fasting?
Do you think I will be pleased with that?
And, then to everyone’s surprise, the concept of fasting gets completely redefined.
Do you think I will be pleased with that?
Do you think that going without food and or drink for a period of time is going to get my attention?
Do you think that going without food and or drink for a period of time is going to get my favor?
Do you think that going without food and or drink for a period of time is going to influence what happens to you?
Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers?
If you fast to have influence with the Lord God the Creator of the Universe and all there is, your faith is on the wrong track.
If you think any of your faith rituals is going to influence me, you have another think coming.
And, Isaiah drops the hammer:
The Lord says words they did not want to hear –
Words we do not want to hear today.
"This is the kind of fasting I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
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.
This is what it really means to worship the LORD.
Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly.
Free those who are abused!
Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless.
Give clothes to those in need;
don't [ever] turn away your relatives.
"get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people's sins,
[Be] generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, "
This is what this religion is all about.
This is what I notice.
This is what gets my attention.
This is the Lord’s work.
Later on, Jesus picks up this theme when he says this is what is going to be on the final exam –
this is what you will be asked about during your orals –
this is what you will be judged on.
Because this is our calling.
This is what we are to be doing.
This is what we are about.
Our faith is about living for others.
When we give of ourselves for another, we make the ultimate call.
Jesus would say, when you do these things for these people, you doing these things for me –
you are doing these things to me.
For sure, this requires radical reorientation.
This goes so against what we were taught –
and what we learned so well –
and what we all bought in to.
Its not about me.
When it is about me, it is a distorted reality.
For the promise is made – and has been so many times throughout history – and there are some people in this very room – who can vouch for veracity of the promise:
when you work toward these ends,
when you do this ministry for others,
when you live your life so others may live better,
you will have great rewards.
"Then my favor will shine on you like the morning sun, and your wounds will be quickly healed.
I will always be with you to save you;
my presence will protect you on every side.
When you pray, I will answer you.
When you call to me, I will respond."
That’s the promise.
That’s the bargain.
"If you put an end to oppression,
to every gesture of contempt,
and to every evil word;
(10) if you give food to the hungry
and satisfy those who are in need,
then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon."
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
This is the kind of fasting the Lord wants.
This is the kind of fasting the Lord responds to.
This is the kind of fasting that is part and parcel of our faith.
This is the kind of fasting that can only increase our awe-awareness.
This kind of fasting is an important component to an awe-robic exercise program.
It’s the Lord’s work.
And it is what we are to do.
Amen.
This is a portion of a sermon delivered from the pulpit of Christ Presbyterian Church, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, on March 7, 2010.
