Fasting (and Feasting)

by Laura McAfee

Fasting and feasting: Feasting and fasting - Matthew 6:16-18
In these verses about fasting, Jesus doesn’t tell you what is more moral; a water fast or a juice fast. He doesn’t present the pros and cons of a one day fast versus that of a ten day fast. In fact, food is not mentioned at all here. The details on how to fast and the why of fasting are not mentioned in these verses. And although the easy part to understand is that Jesus is talking about the right attitude to have while fasting, what is invisible is the necessary opposite to fasting which is feasting. In the next five days we'll look at fasting and feasting, together in a rhythm of Kingdom Living.

Day 1 - Kingdom Living
Read Matthew 6:16-18, Luke 14:12-14
In these verses Jesus is taking off the mask of superficial religion and explaining to us how to deepen our spiritual practice with the right Intention: God and our relationship with God. Jesus says, "when you fast..." his assumption is that we will fast. He doesn’t say...if you get around to it..., should there be an opening in your schedule...., no, Jesus says, "when you fast....".

And Jesus continues with a deeper understanding, an expansion of how fasting has been done, how we need to be when we fast. He moves the conversation away from the action of fasting and the outwardness of it, to us and our inward intention of being closer to God. Jesus does this by first noting the problem with fasting... "do not look somber as the hypocrites do." Something we do to draw nearer to God has evolved (or dissolved) into a show, a superficial ritual meant to impress others. We lose the right intention when our actions are outward focused; our right action becomes a farce and a show for others.

Jesus then explains what we should be doing, "when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face." Something we do to draw nearer to God should be between ourselves and God. When we are inwardly focused on God and deepening our relationship with Him through fasting, we are fasting in accordance, in harmony with, Kingdom living. This same understanding is expressed with regards to feasting in Luke 14:12-14.

Just as in Jesus' teaching on fasting, the emphasis here is Kingdom Living and right intention. "When you feast (give a luncheon or dinner)" don’t do it for show and personal gain, but "when you invite" those that can never pay you back or add to your status and reputation.

Read Matthew 6:16-18 and Luke 14:12-14 back to back. Reflect on the do's and don'ts Jesus is using to make the contrast between Kingdom living and the other way.

What are the things you do to draw nearer to God that have slowly slipped from being about God? Maybe worship has become a habit without meaning, or actions such as volunteering, have become more about being known by others than about you simply serving God.

Let us confess to God our arrogance and pride that keep us from the fullness of living in Christ and pray that God will open our eyes to the ways we have gone off the path as we remember to praise our Faithful and Good Shepherd for leading us back to God.

Day 2 - Doing as Jesus does
Read Matthew 4:2-4, Matthew 11:19, John 2:11
The Sermon on the Mount reflects the deep authority of Jesus as teacher, as Rabbi. We are sitting at His feet together, listening to Jesus tell us what to do and how to be disciples, Jesus is teaching us about how to live in God’s Kingdom! And Jesus understands the saying.. "Do as I do"..

What does Jesus do? He fasts. Matthew 4:2-4 What does Jesus do? He feasts. Matthew 11:19

Jesus demonstrates the rhythm of feasting and fasting. He models a way to listen for God’s direction and to prepare ourselves for trials and temptation through fasting and he models a way to listen for God's direction and to celebrate life through community by feasting. In fact Jesus' teachings on the Mount occur (in the Gospel of Matthew) after 40 days of fasting. And in the Gospel of John, Jesus begins his earthly ministry with a miracle at a Wedding Feast. (John 2:11)

It is a rhythm that is duplicated in many different ways and forms throughout the Bible and is represented in our deep Christian tradition and teachings. Fasting and Feasting.

When I moved to New Orleans I was 22 years old. It was a shock when the Mardi Gras season rolled into town. It didn’t take me long to adjust to the constant parties and feasting. The King Cakes and parades were remarkable and really unforgettable. But it is only now, safely and sanely away from that life that I can appreciate the feasting before the journey of the Lenten season. When the King arrives in Jerusalem, we should feast! Sharing what we have, giving thanks for all we are, in Christ. The journey to the Cross, needs a focused heart and mind, a fast from the cultural insanity that constantly surrounds us. Feasting and fasting.

Take a moment to reflect on times that you have feasted with joy and a deep love of the group that was with you. Were you able to feel God's presence and joy in that experience? Can you look back at times of great celebration and imagine God's loving – kindness present at the table?

Day 3 - Already but not Yet
Read Matthew 9:14-15, Mark 1:14-15; Matthew 9:14-15
We live with the tension of living with a fulfilled Old Covenant through Christ and living in a fulfilled yet unfinished New Testament. We feast because Jesus is with us and we fast to listen for God’s purpose for us while we wait for Christ's return. We live this tension every day. We feast in thanks and praise of the blessings God has provided us; for driving about in our cars, going to our jobs, buying groceries, drinking plenty of clean water to keep us well hydrated. We feast with others, sharing what God has so lovingly and abundantly put into our lives. Yet we fast and pray because the Kingdom is not yet fully here. We know this. We see this in the continued oppression, injustice, and disease of the majority of the world, such as, the 92% of the world’s population without cars, the over 1 billion people on this planet without clean drinking water, the 800 million people who won't eat today, and for the 1 billion or so who live on less than one dollar a day. We feast on the Bread of Life, on the very Word of God, in remembrance of Jesus. These are truly gifts of God that keep us in right relationship with God.

We fast from the things that keep us separated from God, the distractions, obsessions, twisted cultural norms and values that time and time again Jesus tells us are not the Way, not part of the Kingdom, or Kingdom living. Mark 1:14-15 "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God 'The time has come,' he said. 'The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!'"

The Kingdom is near...

Where do you feel/see God's Kingdom alive in your life? Where do you believe the Kingdom of God is close but not yet?

Let us pray today that God pours out His Spirit on us with a fresh view of His Work and Will in our lives and that God will renew our vision of the blessings and the needs that surround us.

Day 4 - Self-control/Self-indulgent
Read Galatians 5:19-21, Galatians 5:22-23, Philippians 3:17-21, 1 Corinthians 10:31
'Binging and purging' is a serious eating disorder that received a great deal of attention during my teenage years in the 1980's. It has also become part of our culture in that it represents a vast consumer driven culture of binging. We gobble up T.Vs, computers, clothes, new cars, high end electronics, stuff, stuff and more stuff. It's a mind-set of binging, compulsively, without thoughtful reflection of need versus wants. However, there isn't a counter-balance such as a culture of purging. It seems 'purging' happens to us through calamity, disasters; purging comes unbidden and unwanted. Our culture simply does not take self-denial, discomfort, or the discipline of fasting very seriously.

These terms, binging and purging, express something more than food, they express a focus on acquiring our every want and desire often times accompanied by an attitude of entitlement. Galatians 5:19-21 speaks to the same kind of desire-driven compulsion that comes from a lack of self-control, a mindset of self-indulgence and self-absorption.

But, self-control, the kind of self-control that helps and encourages us in living the life Christ calls us to, is also the kind of self-control spoken of in Galatians 5:22-23. It is produced and strengthened through the Holy Spirit and in turning our lives to the lessons that Jesus offers us.
Read Philippians 3:17-19

Binging and purging are about such things as gluttony, pride, sickness, and idolatry... to name a few, while fasting and feasting are about God and our response to God. When we fast we allow God to be our focus and this shifts our minds dramatically. If we take a week off, ten days off, 40 days off from the computer, cell phones, unnecessary shopping trips, chocolate, whatever activity or thing keeps us in a place of non-attention to God, keeps us from reading Scripture, prevents us from praying, calling that friend or family member in need, being available to God’s will...if we intentionally take time off from those things, we will re-align ourselves with a mind centered on God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God"

Day 5 - Spiritual Community- Joy and Solidarity
Read Jeremiah 36:9, Joel 1:14, Esther 4:15-16, Isaiah 58:3-11
Fasting can be and often is a solitary means of seeking God in our lives. But we see often in the Bible God's people fasting in solidarity or as an extension of a community in need. We read in the Old Testament that fasts are called for in times of catastrophe or profound injustice (Jeremiah 36:9; Joel 1:14, Esther 4:15-16). Fasting reminds us that together as people of God we carry heavy burdens and we turn to God in seeking a means for change. We fast together in a spiritual response to injustice that allows an inflowing of God's spirit to provide a clarity of vision and direction. In fact in Isaiah we read of a very different type of fasting. Isaiah 58:6-7 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" We can see here that in calling for a fast from hoarding our food to sharing it with those that are hungry and in need... we are called to fast and potentially feast at the same time.

In an amazingly different type of cookbook, Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook, Joetta Handrich-Schlabach writes, "When affluence allows people to feast too frequently and independently of others, feasting loses much of its joy and integrity. It results in ill health and dulls our sensitivity to the needs of others. Reclaiming the feast may require learning to fast. Regularly abstaining from meat and other rich foods can be a spiritual act of solidarity. Reserving for special events foods we might easily afford, but that are luxury items in the world economy, unites us with those who have less."

The people of the Old Testament understood that feasting was a praise-filled, thankful community, remembering, worshipful, sharing of God’s gifts in the same way they understood that a fast is often times a community coming together in seeking God.

Fasting and feasting are also recognitions of our weakness and an admission of God's power - It may feel like the abundance in our lives is the result of our own effort, hard-work, and self-sufficiency but through a shared table we come to appreciate the source of all that we are and all that we have. In the same way, we fast to remember the God from whom all things flow.