Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen?

Isaiah 58:1-12 TNIV

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.

Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Declare to my people their rebellion

and to the house of Jacob their sins.

For day after day they seek me out;

they seem eager to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that does what is right

and has not forsaken the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions

and seem eager for God to come near them.

‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,

‘and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbled ourselves,

and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please

and exploit all your workers.

Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,

and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today

and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,

only a day for people to humble themselves?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed

and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast,

a day acceptable to the Lord ?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose 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?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you,

and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.

The Lord will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

and will raise up the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.


My thoughts -

I am not a fan of fasting. Any of you who know me should not find this hard to believe. It's not that I'm against the idea of fasting, merely the practice. And I'm only against the practice of fasting under a very narrow set of circumstances. Those being my involvement in the practice. I'm against me fasting. Passionately against it.

Yes, I've fasted. I fasted for ten days once. It was hard. Very, very hard. It required more discipline than I like to have. It required more prayer than I like to pray. It was an intense experience. There's a reason it's a spiritual discipline and there's a reason a lot of us don't practice this discipline. It requires you to rely on God in an a much more radical way than we usually have to. It's uncomfortable. But it is also rewarding. My fasting experience was a transformative one and I really ought to do it again and do it more often. But again, I hate being uncomfortable and having to rely on God in such a radical way. But that's my issue.

Here we have another issue described related to fasting. A few days ago we asked what good prayer and offerings are without a desire to do God's will. Today we are faced with an even more intimidating (surely I'm not the only one intimidated by fasting!) spiritual discipline being completely worthless if it is not accompanied by a desire to do God's will.

If you say the right words, if you play the part, if you follow the law to the letter and appear to be devout, and yet are unwilling to do God's will, you are just going through the motions. What good is spiritual discipline if you don't have concern for the poor? The irony with fasting in this case is that people would deny themselves food while continuing to deny food to the hungry.

What good is all of the religious devotion a human can muster toward the Almighty if it does nothing to address abuse and oppression? What good is fasting if those that practice it continue to participate in a cycle of abuse and oppression? Are you any closer to God if you deny food to your body but continue to deny yourself to God? Even the most intensely religious action is worthless, less than that, really, if it does not compel one to do God's will to care for the least, the lost, the broken, the poor, the hungry, the powerless, and the oppressed.

Fasting is good. Fasting is necessary, even. We need to learn to rely on God. I need to practice regular fasting. My own experience with fasting convinced me as much. But even fasting, if you are unwilling to be transformed and unwilling to give yourself to God and to do God's will in this world, is worthless.

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