Fasting and Feasting

Growing up in the church I never really understood what the big deal was with Lent.  The only thing I knew was that it was the season when one was supposed to give something up for 40 days before east.  Usually it was some personal indulgence like coffee or candy, or maybe some habit one was trying to change like watching too much TV or sleeping in late.  There would always be those people at lunch who would order water because they were struggling through the fact that they had given up Diet Coke for Lent.

 I still believe that there is a “deny ourselves” aspect to Lent.  When we get really honest we might be able to see just how much we are a medicated and distracted people.  Beyond the classic “alcohol and drugs,” in our culture today we use everything from food, iPods, X-Box, sports, shopping – the list is endless – to escape our stresses and calm our fears. 

Pope John Paul II once said, “It is Jesus you are seeking when you pray for happiness.”  If true, then maybe some form of self-denial during Lent helps us to answer Jesus’ question of, “Do you love me more than these.”

 But I am also learning that Lent is not just about fasting, but also about feasting.  The 40 days of Lent places us with Christ during his 40 days of fasting in the wilderness as he prepared for the Cross.  So let’s look at the story a little closer (Matthew 3:13 – 4:11).

 Right before He leaves for the wilderness, John baptizes Jesus in the Jordan River.  Before everyone present God the Father declares out loud, “This is my beloved Son, and I am well pleased with him.” God called Christ his beloved before He had even done anything publicly, which shows us that our identity in the Father is not based on what we do, but who we are and who God is. At the end of His wilderness wandering, Satan enters a battle of Scripture interpretation with Jesus.  At one point Jesus declares, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

 Do you see the connection?  Before he began his fast, he heard the word of the Lord calling him the Beloved.  And so maybe during his 40 days of fasting these were the words of the Lord that Christ feasted on.

 The goal of lent goes beyond self-improvement.  Lent places us in the story of Christ, where we deny ourselves for the sake of our love for Christ, all the while feasting on the words of the Father calling us the Beloved. 

If you are fasting during this season of Lent, pray for the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart to see more of what is going on with this story of Jesus in the wilderness.  It looks like fighting Satan, but it is really about dealing with God.  It looks like temptation, but is really deliverance.  It looks like fasting, but is really feasting.

One way to feast on Scripture as a community this Lent can be found on the Asbury Seminary Reader website.  Every day during the 40 days of Lent and the 50 days of Easter you will find a prayer, a reading from the Gospel of John, and some writings from the saints who have gone before us.  Check it out and enjoy the feast...