Fasting is not all about us. When we fast, God wants us to actively help the oppressed and resist injustice. Yet, this is only a partial glimpse of the fasting in Isaiah 58. Fasting is also about feeding others.
We see in verses 6 and 7 that we should "share our food with the hungry", "provide the poor wanderer with shelter", "clothe the naked", and "not turn away from people". Verses 9 and 10 go on to tell us that we should "spend ourselves in behalf of the hungry".
People who are hungry.
People who are naked.
People who are homeless.
(I don't think that we realize how using an adjective as a noun can be a hurtful descriptor to the person it describes. When we call someone "the disabled" instead of "the disabled person" or even better "the person who is disabled", we are maximizing their difference and minimizing their humanity. It takes intentionality to choose a lengthier way of describing people, but when the longer phrases acknowledges a person's humanity and personhood, it is worth the extra time to say).
As we are fasting from food, we have extra food in our cupboards and extra money in our bank accounts. Fasting isn't a way to build our fortunes and save money. It's a way to transfer money that we normally spend on ourselves and shift it to spending money on others.
The great tragedy of our civilization is that we simultaneously have people dying from the consequences of eating too much food, even while we have people dying as a result of having too little food. We have people in ragged clothes that are falling apart, even as our closets are stuffed to the point of overflowing. We have people without homes freezing to death on the streets, even while our guest bedrooms go unoccupied. And the worst part of all? We look at this disparity and are not moved with compassion. We spout a line about the undeserving poor and move on with our lives.
But what if...we made meal kits to give out to the people holding signs at the intersections?
What if we collected clothes and blankets in our church buildings to give away for free to those who need clothes?
What if we knew the names and locations of shelters that we could refer people to?
What if we arranged vouchers with a simple motel that a person down on their luck could present to stay for a few days?
What if we learned the names of the people who are asking for help?
What if we dared to give, not only from our excess, castoffs, and unwanted surplus, but also from our treasures, essential supplies, and beyond what society things that a person could reasonably give?
What if we gave more than that about-to-expire can of cranberry sauce that we forgot to use, but also some of our favorite foods?
What if we chose to eat less because there are hungry people in our world?
What if we chose to eat more vegetarian meals because meat takes more resources than vegetables to grow and get to the grocery store?
What if we opened our spare rooms to foster children, foreign exchange students, and international students (post-pandemic of course)?
What if we prayed for our hearts to be moved with compassion toward our fellow people and for hearts to break over the brokenness hurting people?
What if we realized that in God's economy, we are the undeserving poor, but He poured out His compassion, mercy, and grace abundantly.
What if we realized that any blessings and comforts (above and beyond the minimum we need to survive) were given to us, not so that we could be more comfortable, but so that we could bless others around us and around the world?
What if we used our fasting to feed the hungry and provide for those unable to provide for themselves?
We have isolated ourselves from the poor and needy, as we retreat into our comfortable neighborhoods. Yet, we aren't commanded in Scripture to give to the food bank that feeds the poor; we are commanded to share our food with people who are hungry. (It is good to give to the food bank who can reach people you can't, but if we stop there, we aren't fully obeying what is commanded.) It is messy. It is hard. It will leave us undone and hurting over the state of things. Yet, we will learn that more than being the "body of Christ", we are actually also serving Christ. We will see that as we help people in need, we are able to learn from them as well, provided that we are willing to humble ourselves and approach as a student.
What do you have to share with a person in need? How can you share it personally?
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