Feasting and Fasting

This time of year we plan our big family meals, make travel plans and look forward to celebrations and reunions with loved ones. It's a time of joy, fun, and food -- although food seems to be #1 on that list!  And we rarely think of deciding to go without food for a day, because we're looking forward to those great meals. But from time to time, fasting -- voluntarily going without something -- is important.  It reminds us how physical we really are and how much we depend on (or are a slave to) nourishment or some other physical thing.

Isaiah talked about fasting in 58:3-7.  The nation self-righteously claimed to obey God because they could say they fasted.  Yet, Isaiah says, their posturing didn't affect their behavior; "oppressing your workers," and "fighting and quarreling" were two of their sins that continued.  "Going through motions of penance" does no good, says Isaiah, if your heart is not changed.  Instead, says the prophet, creating justice and stopping oppression, and feeding and clothing and housing the poor, is the kind of fast God wants.  Why is that a fast?  Because it is giving up something that makes us more comfortable, whether it's leisure time, additional food in the pantry, an extra jacket in the closet, or something else we're not really using anyway, in order to help someone else.

Isaiah's words didn't seem to have much effect on his own people.  But how did his words come to life in Jesus?  The Son of God 'fasted' from his divine privileges in order to do what Isaiah said: "let oppressed people go free, and remove the chains that bind people."  Paul describes how the Son of God, whom we know as Jesus, sacrificed himself to serve humans, in Philippians 2:6-8:  "Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.  When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross."  He didn't have to give up all that, but he did.  He didn't deserve the criminal's death -- we did.   

The Son of God shared himself with the spiritually hungry as well as feeding them physically (see John 6:1-15 and 25-40).  He provides a home for the homeless:  "There is more than enough room in my Father’s home...When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." (John 14:2-3).  He preached the good news to the poor (Luke 4:18-19, interpreting Isaiah's words directly).  And he fasted for 40 days before meeting Satan in the wilderness and defeating the evil one completely. 

Through Isaiah's words, God invites us to do what he has already done:  to become uncomfortable in order to provide comfort for someone else.  Jesus, the living Son of God, sacrificed all through his life, not just so we could 'follow an example' but so we would be completely included in him, and in the love of the Father:  "I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me." (John 17:23).  I know people who have experienced Jesus' love, and they share it with others.  They sacrifice their comfort so others can have more, they give up time and personal space and comfort, and money and food and clothing, so that someone else can have enough -- and so those people can also experience the love of God as they get included in that love. 

Jesus, the Son of God, fasted so we can feast.  How will you "go and do likewise" this year?   And if you don't know what this love of God for you really means, please give me a chance to explain it.