Lent 1 an acceptable fast

Today is the first Sunday in Lent, a period of six weeks leading up to Easter. Traditionally this time has been a time of introspection, of reducing our human footprint. For many this is a time of ‘giving something up for Lent’, for others a time to add in new spiritual disciplines. Some of what I have read over the past few days on lent has encouraged me to think in a different way about Lent this year, one of those things has been the title of the Old Testament study: An acceptable fast.

The title comes from Isaiah 58, the people of Israel are complaining that they fast yet God does not respond to their pleas;

 ‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’

The response:

 “Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,
and oppress all your workers.
⁴ Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
⁵ Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?” [Isaiah 58]

Fasting, giving something up for Lent is not about losing weight or being the one to deny ourselves the greatest amount, it is not to put on a  show of piety. The passage from Isaiah continues:

 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?” [Isaiah 58]

An acceptable fast. It seems that an acceptable fast is one that isn't about giving something up, or adding another spiritual discipline into our life; an acceptable fast is one that is life changing, not only for us, but for the oppressed, those suffering from injustice, the hungry, the poor.

This Lent I am planning on looking mainly at the old testament reading set for each week, that reading today is Deuteronomy. This chapter of Deuteronomy occurs before the people of Israel arrive in Canaan the promised land. Moses has led the people through the wilderness, and this is part of his final instructions to the people as they prepare to go into the land that God has promised them.

Moses is reminding the people that they should remember who they are and where they came from. It can be easy when things are going well to ignore what has happened in the past. If I asked someone here, or someone on the street, today to tell me their story I'm guessing most people would start off with I was born, I have lived, I went to school, I work etc. Moses is telling the people that when they arrive in the promised land they should bring the first of their harvest to the priest. And then they tell the story, the story of being a wandering Aramean, of the time in Egypt, of the exodus, and the promised land. Each harvest people would really tell the story, the with bringing the first of the harvest, present it to the priest, then the community including the Levite and the foreigners would share the food together.

The people who would be saying this had not wandered with Jacob through the Genesis story; most of them would not be able to remember Egypt; yet this was their story. A story based on faith in God, being in community, offering thanks and sharing food together.

Reminds me a little of what we do in our communion services. We here again the story of faith, of creation and prophets, exile and exodus, crucifixion and resurrection; we hear the story of faith. But I wonder for how many of us is this the dominant story of our lives. There are a number of factors that influence our behaviour and thinking, I wonder where that God story comes into that in your life, and in the life of this congregation.

I wonder what the dominant story of our lives is, when we think about the environment, minimum wages, refugees, prisoners, health, education, and a whole range of other issues. Now I know many of these issues are considered political, and therefore should not be discussed in church.

Remember the words of Isaiah from chapter 58 about an acceptable fast, one in which the poorer feed the oppressed are given liberty those suffering under injustice are free.

I suspect that people who are worshipping here this morning will have something to eat at lunchtime, have safe accommodation and money in the bank. It's easy to think that everyone lives this way, but that is not the case. And to a large extent it's about when and where we were born.

None of us bought ourselves into being, none of us can make food appear out of nothing; we all rely on God for life, food, physical and spiritual growth. We also need other people, we don't grow cotton and weave it into our own clothes, we don't have our own animals and kill them for meat, most of us don't grow enough fruit and vegetables to feed ourselves, and we rely on manufacturing and building industries for our homes and cars and household goods.

This chapter of the study gratitude, it isn't always easy to be thankful for what is happening in our lives. Moses told the people who had been in the wilderness, the people who are about to go over to the promised land, that each harvest they were to go and give thanks to God. They did that with the story of who they are and where they came from, but they also said “the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, .. and he bought us into this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey so now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you the Lord had given me."

There is a sense in this passage of how much the people relied on God, in the liturgy the telling again each harvest is part of remembering that story and passing that story on to future generations. Thereof rituals in our lives as well, some are to do with church, some are to do with other parts of life. There are stories that get cold over dinner tables about great-grandparents who came from another country, who started farming, who built a house around the corner, the stories that get told over and over again.

This is the beginning of lent, a time when we move towards the story of Easter, the great three days in the Christian calendar. We are on a journey that takes us to a cross, and a tomb; for Jesus the cross and the tomb were transforming; and because Jesus was transformed we to can be transformed. Lent is a time for us to look at our lives, at our priorities, and our identity,  it is a time when we are encouraged to stop and think a little more deeply about what the influences on our lives are, about what cherished thoughts we need to let go of.

A prayer reflection:

Lent makes me so uncomfortable.

I prefer to remain in my 'zone,'
lounging in my chair;
glued to my plasma screen;
relaxing after a long day;
but you would lead me
into the wilderness

into those uncomfortable places
of tempting,
of power,
of testing.

I would like to hear words
about success,
and praise,
and feel pats on my back,
but you talk about
self-denial;
you mention the cost
of following God;
you invite me (!)
to shoulder
a cross.

couldn't you have sent
a more comfortable
Saviour,

O God?

~ Copyright © 2007 Thom M. Shuman. Posted on Prayers4Today. http://prayersfortoday.blogspot.ca/

What will you do with this Lent?

What fast will you observe?