The First Sunday in Lent: Fasting is more than humility

This was a short week of fasting. Just Wednesday-Saturday. 

Isaiah 58 began by outlining the fasting that God rejects. 

We see in verses 3-5, that God rejects fasts for the following reasons: 

-we still do as we please on the day(s) we fast

-we exploit others

-our fasting ends in quarreling and strife

-we strike each other

-Fasting is not a day to just humble ourselves. It is more than bowing down or lying in sackcloth and ashes.

If we fast this way, we can't expect our voices to be heard by God.

Our culture raises us to be very self-centered. We are focused on ourselves, our likes, our dislikes, our preferences, and our opinions. Yet, when we fast, we are not to be focused on ourselves or pleasing ourselves. The opposite of this is to focus on others or doing what pleases someone else. What is something that someone else wants you to do that you've been avoiding? 

Exploitation. This is an ugly word. And it's not one that we are keen to apply to ourselves. Yet, even though we are not actively exploiting people (I hope), either by underpaying, oppressing, or through some other means, we are still benefiting from a system that exploits people. When we consider the cost of fabric for a shirt (which should include the labor to make the fabric) and the labor to make a shirt, well, cheap clothes would be much pricier in stores. When we buy a $5 shirt, we are buying from a company that is not paying its workforce for their time and skill in an appropriate amount. We may not be the ones underpaying, but by buying the shirt, we are benefiting from the exploitation of others. What is a purchase you can make that properly pays people for their time, skills, and materials? 

Quarreling and Strife. Striking and Fighting. Granted, at the end of a day of fasting, we all are a little hangry (angry because we are hungry). Yet, if we are fighting, turning on each other, or arguing, we are not focused on hearing from and listening to God. A lot of the time, we fight because of our pride. We want to save face, justify our words/behavior, or rationalize our actions. We don't overlook an insult, because we are determined to have the last word. How can we step away from the next fight that comes up?

Fasting is supposed to be more than a way of humbling ourselves. Bowing down, using sackcloth, and covering ourselves in ashes is a biblical way to show humility, but we are to go beyond self-abasement when we fast. We see this in Jonah 3. The city of Nineveh fasted (not eating OR drinking), wore sackcloth, and sat in the dust. But they also called on God and were commanded by the king to give up their evil ways and violence. If we just go through the motions of humility without repentance and changing our ways, then God is not impressed with our fast. How can we move beyond humbling ourselves to lasting change?

If we fast in these ways, we can't expect our voices to be heard by God. In the coming weeks, we will look at ways that we are called to fast. We will look at the things God specifically mentions doing.