“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 them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”
Isaiah 58:3, 6-7 NIV
How is your Lenten fast going? Did you give up chocolate? Wine or beer? Are you fasting from meat or carbs? Maybe you've chosen one day a week to not eat at all. In his book, Wondrous Encounters: Scriptures for Lent, Richard Rohr remarks: “The poor body is always the available scapegoat to avoid touching our purse, our calendar, or our prejudices.”
Don't get me wrong, I think fasting for Lent (however you choose to do it) is a good thing. It helps us to refocus and keep ourselves reminded that we are called to return to God in Lent. But we must remember that these fasts are for no one but ourselves. God is not impressed, and frankly, neither is anybody you try to regale with tales of your awesome abilities of self-denial.
If your fast leads you to deeply desire what God desires, then we’ve got a fast that is truly worth something! And what kind of fast does God desire? …please refer to the scripture above, or better yet, read all of Isaiah 58.
This Lent, let us all strive to loose the chains of injustice and break the yoke of oppression. Let us feed the hungry, house the homeless, and offer care to the sick. Sometimes all it takes is a willingness to listen to someone else’s story without pre-conceived ideas of how they came to be in need to open our hearts enough to take on the kind of fast God really wants from us. Go a little deeper this year and make your fast count.
Holy God,
We humans can trivialize anything. Help us to want more from ourselves this Lent. Show us the way. Amen.
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