When Lent began on Ash Wednesday those gathered were issued an Invitation to Lenten Discipline. For many, discipline is a harsh word, carrying with it feelings of dread and punishment. But the word discipline actually means “to teach.” Disciplines help teach, train and strengthen. Imagine what the Olympics would be like if the athletes didn’t practice, learn, make progress, fail and practice some more. The same can be said for spiritual disciplines in a life of faith.
John Wesley suggested that to “stay in love with God” we need to be disciplined. What he recommended for us was to attend worship, to read Scripture, to pray, to receive Holy Communion, to engage in conversation with our brothers and sisters in the faith community and to fast.
I would suggest that most Christians attempt the first five things in the list. We go to church on Sunday morning, we read our Bibles as part of our daily devotions, we talk to God (and sometimes listen), we go the table and receive the bread and juice when its offered, we engage our friends in conversation about our faith (in addition to what’s going on in college basketball and American Idol). Fasting, however, is not something that we practice often.
But it may be helpful to remember that both the Old Testament and New Testament teach fasting. Actually, the Scriptures talk a lot about fasting and feasting. One way to look at it is that fasting allows us to put down the things of earth, so that we might receive the things of heaven. St. Augustine is to have once said that God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.
Most often we think of fasting as it relates to food. And I would suggest that if you are considering an extended fast from food that you consult your doctor and a spiritual director. But a fast doesn’t have to be complete or prolonged. If you were to give up one meal a week, you might consider donating the time and the resources that you would have used to someone who has need. The cost of lunch at Wendy’s or a several cans of soup could go a long way in helping someone who doesn’t know where there next meal is going to come from.
Other types of fasting could include abstaining from media overload – yep, that means put down that cell phone, turn off the TV, drive-in silence. Or maybe we could fast from over-packed schedules for ourselves and our families that leave us exhausted, depressed and short-tempered. Marjorie Thompson the author of Soul Feast asks “what would it mean to fast from judging other, or even judging ourselves too harshly?
Ultimately, the question to be asked with any discipline is what does God want to accomplish in me through this practice? Is my need to be connected 24/7 a sign of issues with control or fear. In my fast food life, could it be that what I’m consuming is actually consuming me? Are there places in my overcrowded life where God is unable to find room?
As Marjorie Thompson writes, “It may help to understand that spiritual disciplines are not ends in themselves. Rather, they are simply means of grace — by themselves the Spiritual disciplines can do nothing, they can only get us to the place where something can be done . . . They are the means by which we place ourselves where God can bless us.” (also quoting Richard Foster, Soul Feast, p. 10).
During this season of Lent may we continue to seek ways to be blessed and blessing.
Pastor Sherri
