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Day 8 of Lent: Seeing God's Heart of Abundance over Scarcity

The Fasting that Pleases God

Isaiah 58:5-7
“Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loosen 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? "

Mt. 9:14-17: "How is is that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?"

Isaiah delivers the word of the LORD that God prefers another kind of fasting which "changes our actual lifestyle and not just punishes our body."

Isaiah makes a very clear demand for justice, non-aggression, taking our feet off the necks of the oppressed, sharing our bread with the hungry, clothing the naked, letting go our our sense of entitlement, malicious speech, and sheltering the homeless.  

Fast forward to the New Testament:  Jesus is asked, why do your disciples not fast?
 In effect, Jesus  says "because it is the wrong kind of fasting."  
Then he introduces a favorite theme and metaphor:  life as a wedding banquet, with himself as the bridegroom and humanity as the bride.  
Jesus is not interested in an elite who do their fasting rituals properly yet refuse to join in the wedding feast that God is preparing for ALL...
 both insiders and outsiders.

Jesus is reinforcing God's heart for abundance to include EVERYONE  at the wedding feast table- that the proper find of fasting is to strip away all of the levels of  our ego, greed, anxiety, and resentment that causes us, intentionally and unintentionally,  to oppress others, hoard our own resources, not think about our neighbor, be fearful, anxious and grudging.  

This rings all too true today.  
"The fundamental human condition today continues to be anxiety, fueled by a market ideology that keeps pounding on us to take more.  We're told to be sure we have the resources to continue our affluent lifestyles, especially with the approach of our "golden years."  That same market ideology powers the multinational corporations, seeking the best deal, the greatest return, the cheapest labor and materials.  Whether it's global policies or local poverty-wage jobs, those who fear scarcity refuse to acknowledge any abundance that extends beyond their own coffers."- from Walter Brueggemann, Enough is Enough.

Until we reject the false stories of scarcity, and remember how God made a barren desert bloom with manna to feed all of the Israelites and Jesus fed a hillside of people with plenty of left-overs, we will remain trapped in a life that fails to see the link between the Creator's generous abundance, and our neighbor's needs- and the Great Commandment: to love God with all of your mind, heart, soul, and strength AND love your neighbor as yourself. 
 The link that unites that love between God, self, and neighbor is God's limitless generosity.
If and when we believe it is, we can begin life anew as stewards of God's abundance, and reorder the economy of the world.

Sound like an impossibility?  
Tomorrow we will explore how the word of the LORD through Isaiah describes what a world would look like if they fasted from the right things.

Prayer:  Jehovah Jireh, what is it that you want me to let go of this Lent?  Is it other than what I think?  Show me Where in my life may I need to fast from fear, comparison, resentment, grumbling, and holding onto the false story of scarcity.   Help me to trust in your limitless generosity and see my neighbor's needs as well as my own...to re-align my desires from want ing more and more of what the world offers... TO  want more and more of YOU....so that you can teach me more and more about ME, and that the ME that is transformed by YOU, goes out into the world that you so love,  and is a catalyst to  transform IT!   Amen


From Lyn Woodruff, posted in the River Prayer Reflections Texting Group. If you'd like to join, write to info@riversouthbay.org or post a comment. 

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