...if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. ~Isaiah 58:10-11
The Christian walk is a walk that follows in the steps of our Lord, Jesus. We follow Jesus, not just because He is our God and Savior, but because He was a man as well--a man "who in every respect has been tempted as we are" (Hebrews 4:15). This means He understands us in such a profound way: as one who has lived like us and who is our God and Creator.
Jesus is perfect humanity. This is why we strive to be like Him.
Following the practices that Jesus followed is one way to grow closer to Him and to become more like Him. One of those practices, which often gets overlooked in contemporary church society, is fasting. This practice has been neglected mainly because many believe it to be irrelevant. But the truth is not that it no longer applies to us, rather that its heart, its core purpose, has been lost to us.
Fasting can be tricky. When we notice it mentioned in the Bible it's usually because it's being done incorrectly. Too often, when we fast we do it for the wrong reasons. For example, some fast for the sake of ritual, but this is narrow and often makes it empty and meaningless. Others do it for the sake of deprivation with the goal of discipline, but this view is limiting as well.
The heart of fasting is much deeper and more complex than we care to realize.
There are many reasons to fast: to seek out God's voice, to humble ourselves, or to tame our temptations. Another reason to fast, that is present throughout Scripture, is to appeal to God--not just on one's own behalf, but on the behalf of others--for social justice.
Isaiah 58 tells us about the proper way to fast. This scripture also makes it abundantly clear that God calls those who have to care for those who have not. Where we live, most of us fall into the "those who have" category. Even when strapped for cash or without work completely, few of us know what it's like to really be without.
This weekend the Youth of University United Methodist Church joined the fight to feed the hungry by participating in World Vision's 30 Hour Famine. Nine middle school and high school kids (plus a few brave adults) stayed at the church for one day and two nights, fasting, praying, learning, playing, and serving together for the sake of those less fortunate than themselves.
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| The youth serving the residents of Tent City during their fast. |
While fasting, they set aside their feelings of hunger and focused on feeding others. They helped prepare bags of food for God's Pantry, they served a spaghetti dinner to the residents at Tent City, they played a game (called TRIBE) that helped them experience an impoverished life, and they participated in a candlelight vigil on behalf of the children around the world who die (one every ten seconds) due to hunger-related diseases.
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| Helping with God's Pantry, or building a fort? |
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| The youth worked together to survive the struggles of poverty during the game of TRIBE. |
The theme of this year's 30 Hour Famine was "Make Hunger Your Fight." The message was centered around the story of David and Goliath and focused on the idea that even those who appear small and weak can take on problems that look big and fierce.
Too often we ignore those hurting around us. We hear about their serious struggles and assume that we are too small to make a difference. We forget that our God is bigger than all of the evil and injustice in the world.
Also, too often we underestimate the passion and power of the youth in our churches. They are indeed our future, and this small group of adolescents and teenagers at UUMC have shown us that our future is in caring and capable hands. The youth have proven to have hearts that are willing to follow Christ's call.
Our youth, like David, revealed to us this weekend that small is the new big.
So, let's take a page out of our youth's playbook and challenge each other during this Lenten season to serve with hands wide open, fast with hearts seeking justice, and feast with humble appreciation of all that our Lord has freely given.
