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. 

Cats and God, part 2

If you don't know, the McCulleys recently adopted two kittens.  It's been a lot of fun to see them learn their way around the house and create toys out of all kinds of things I didn't expect.

When we got them, they both had colds so we had to take them to the vet. The vet assured us that humans and cats don't infect each other, because we are different kinds of beings.  That was helpful, because I was concerned we would catch what they had.

In somewhat the same way, God is a completely different being from us -- completely 'other' than we are. He is the Creator, but he is uncreated, and outside of his creation. We can never be 'god,' because we are created beings, utterly distinct from him.

But by the incarnation of the Son as Jesus, God entered the creation, and our state of being! The uniqueness of Jesus Christ is that, although the Son of God (uncreated and eternal) he also took on the same flesh that we have.  By doing that, his unique union of God and flesh enables us to become children of the Father. Jesus Christ is the Father's Son by nature as God; and because of his birth into human flesh, we are the children of the Father by adoption through Jesus.

We read this in Ephesians 1:3-5 "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.  Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure."  Because of what the Son did by becoming flesh, due to God's decision before time and creation began, we are His.  And although we will never be God as God is God, we are adopted into the circle of love that exists within the Trinity, and we will experience that love forever.

We can't cure our kitties' colds; we have to give them medicine and wait.  But because the Son entered our world, our humanity and our mortality is cured forever:  As Hebrews 2:14 says:  "Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death."  

Our death is swallowed up in Jesus' death, and his resurrection ensures our future life.  What a wonderful life we will have forever with God, because of his Son!