Lenten Perspective: A Different Kind of Fasting

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A Different Kind of Fasting

Is this the kind of fast I choose,
a day of self-affliction,
of bending one's head like a reed
and of lying down in mourning clothing and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?

Isaiah 58:5 (CEB)

What if there's a bigger picture
What if I'm missing out
What if there's a greater purpose
I could be living right now
Outside my own little world

From "My Own Little World" by Matthew West

In the Gospels we read that, before Jesus began His public ministry, He spent forty days in the wilderness, fasting and facing temptation.¹  Jesus' time in the wilderness is the basis for Lent, a roughly forty-day season of self-denial, introspection, and penitence observed in the Church.  During this season, Christians all around the world figuratively follow Jesus into the wilderness in order to draw closer to God in preparation for high holy time of Easter.

One practice commonly associated with the Lenten season is fasting.  A vast majority of the people who fast during Lent do not give up food entirely, as Jesus did while He was in the wilderness.  Typically they give up one particular kind of food or drink, like chocolate, meat, or alcohol.  Some might give up something else that keeps them preoccupied, like social media.  By abstaining from such things, people seek to grow closer to God.  By putting aside things that distract them, they are free to turn their focus to God, and, by putting aside the things they use as crutches, they become more reliant on God.

Fasting was practiced long before the time of Jesus.  Evidently, it was never known to be a pleasant experience, for Jesus once found it necessary to say to His followers, "And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces as to show others that they are fasting."²

In the Book of Isaiah, we read that, at one point, people wondered why God didn't seem to notice their fasting.  They were reportedly asking God,

Why do we fast and you don't see;
why afflict ourselves and you don't notice?³

It seems to me that, for some reason, people have always tried to make twisted bargains with God, thinking that they can get God's attention or cooperation by making themselves miserable.  So many times people have promised to stop doing things they enjoy or to do things they really don't want to do if God would do something for them.

In response to the people's question, God asked,

Is this the kind of fast I choose,
a day of self-affliction,
of bending one's head like a reed
and of lying down in mourning clothing and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?⁴

This rhetorical question suggests that God has never been interested in watching people make themselves miserable.

What God did not like about the people's fasting was that it was not resulting in any substantial changes in the people's lives.  People made seemingly humble outward gestures, but they went on living selfishly and contentiously with each other.⁵  God urged the people choose a different kind of fasting.  God said,

Isn't this the fast I choose:
releasing wicked restraints, untying the ropes of a yoke,
setting free the mistreated,
and breaking every yoke?
Isn't it sharing your bread with the hungry
and bringing the homeless poor into your house,
covering the naked when you see them,
and not hiding from your own family?⁶

In other words, God wants to see people fast from things like injustice and indifference.  God does not want to see people inflict suffering upon themselves.  God wants to see people alleviate the suffering of other people.

John Wesley, the founder of my particular branch of Christianity, urged people to live according to three rules: to do no harm, to do good, and to take on spiritual disciplines that help them to draw close to God.⁷  Though we tend to focus on the third of these rules during the season of Lent, maybe Lent is also a good time to consider how we can make life better for other people and how we can lessen the harm that is done in the world around us, which, truth be told, can be a lot more subtle than we realize.

If we want to give something up for Lent, maybe we should focus less on abstaining from things we enjoy and start considering how we can work to eliminate things that are actually harmful to ourselves and to others.  God want to see us make life better for each other and not to see us just make life harder for ourselves.


Notes:

1. Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13
2. Matthew 5:16 (NRSV)
3. Isaiah 58:3a (CEB)
4. Isaiah 58:5 (CEB)
5. Isaiah 58:2-4
6. Isaiah 58:6-7 (CEB)
7. https://www.umc.org/en/content/the-general-rules-of-the-methodist-church

The photograph of the empty plate is used courtesy of freepik.com user jcomp.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Lenten Perspective: To Shine, or Not to Shine?

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

To Shine, or Not to Shine?

Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Matthew 6:1 (NRSV)

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You
It's all about You, Jesus

From "The Heart of Worship" by Matt Redman

As I noted almost a year ago, the four Scripture readings assigned for Ash Wednesday by the Revised Common Lectionary are the same every year.  The Gospel reading is excerpted from the Sermon on the Mount, a series of teachings Jesus shares with His followers in the Gospel of Matthew.  I've decided to take a second look at this particular reading at the beginning of this Lenten season, since I've been spending a lot of time with the Sermon on the Mount lately.

Jesus has begun His sermon with some announcements of blessing upon people who would not normally be considered blessed in this world.  He has told His followers that they are both the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world" and has urged them to maintain their saltiness and shine brightly.  He has explained that that He has come to fulfill the instructions of the Law and the exhortations of the prophets, and He has gone on to do so by getting to the heart of the matter in regards to all religious instructions.¹

Now Jesus begins to address how His followers should conduct themselves regarding their acts of piety and charity.  Speaking generally, He says, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven."²

Jesus goes on to give His followers some examples, specifically in regards to charitable giving, prayer, and fasting.  First, He says, "Whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you...  But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing..."  Next, He says, "Whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret..."  Finally, He says, "Whenever you fast, do not look dismal...  But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face..."³  Basically, Jesus is instructing His followers to be discrete or even secretive as they go about their acts of piety and charity.

These instructions seem to be somewhat at odds with something Jesus said earlier in His sermon.  After Jesus told His followers that they are the "light of the world," He said to them, "Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."⁴  So does Jesus want us to allow other people to witness our good deeds, or does He want us to do them in secret?

Because the Bible is a collection of works written by numerous authors over a span of hundreds of years, we can expect to find some contradictory statements within it.  That said, I don't think we expect to find them within the same sermon!

Maybe there is some truth to be found in the tension.

When Jesus instructs His followers to practice their piety and charity discretely, He repeatedly urges them not to be like "the hypocrites" who want to be seen and admired by others.⁵  The word hypocrite is derived from the Greek word hupokritēs which is used to describe an actor.⁶  Actors, as we all know, make a living pretending to be people they are not.  The hypocrites of whom Jesus speaks do good deeds as a means of putting on a performance for others, not unlike an actor performing in a film or a play.  Their actions lack authenticity.  Repeatedly Jesus says that, when such people are seen doing good works, "they have received their reward."⁷

Jesus tells His followers that, when they do good deeds in secret, the God "who sees in secret" will reward them.⁸  When we do good deeds in order to get attention from other people, the attention we receive will be all we get from the experience.  Doing good deeds without the intention of being seen by other people can bring its own reward.  Helping someone in need without an audience gives us the opportunity to make a personal connection with another person; praying by ourselves gives us the opportunity to spend some time alone with our Creator; and fasting without trying to be seen for it frees us up to focus on God and to look inward.

That said, if other people see us praying, helping others, or fasting, they just might be inspired to do the same.  In this case, allowing other people to see our acts of piety and charity would actually be a good thing.  By allowing our lights to shine before other people we are inspiring them to glorify God by shining brightly themselves.

To shine, or not to shine, that is the question.

Maybe we need to consider why we do the things we do.  Are we authentically shining brightly so that we may bring glory to God, or are we merely putting on a show for other people in order to bring attention to ourselves?

I wonder if maybe Jesus is actually sharing two different messages for two different kinds of people.  Maybe He wants those among His followers who tend to be more timid to learn to shine brightly before others.  Maybe, at the same time, He wants those among His followers who tend to be more showy with what they do to learn to dial things down a bit so that, as they stop trying to get attention from the people they want to impress, they can give more attention to God and to people in need.  Knowing which message one needs to follow at any given time will require self-awareness and honesty.

The season of Lent, which began just a few days ago, is a time meant for introspection and penitence.  During this season, as we examine what we do, may we also examine why we do what we do.  If we find ourselves wanting to be noticed by other people, may we consider why we want to be noticed.


Notes:

1. Matthew 5:1-48
2. Matthew 6:1 (NRSV)
3. Matthew 6:2-3, 6, 16-17 (NRSV)
4. Matthew 5:16 (NRSV)
5. Matthew 6:2, 5, 16
6. Wiktionary: "Hypocrite"
7. Matthew 6:2, 5, 16 (NRSV)
8. Matthew 6:4, 6, 18 (NRSV)

The Sermon on the Mount was painted by Carl Heinrich Bloch in 1877.