Soma Austin Community Church

Fasting from food to draw near to God is an ancient practice with deep roots in the scriptures.  The scriptures make the overwhelming point that the fast is to be from food.  Why?

Dependence

As created beings we depend on God for our life and our sustenance.  Food is our primary physical source for nutrition which gives us energy, strength and vitality.  It is critical for every part of our body that we partake of food and water to live.  If we are not careful we can begin to trust in the physical things of this world and forget who provides them.  In fasting to draw near to God we are remembering that what sustains us is not merely physical but spiritual as well.  Through our fast we are acknowledging our dependence on God as the real primary source that gives us energy, strength and vitality.  We can add to that purpose, meaning, joy and a family.

Jesus shows us this in John 4.  In this chapter, after a long night of healing and traveling, Jesus sends the disciples ahead for food while he rests at a well.  While there, a woman comes to draw water and in the subsequent conversation Jesus ministers to her deeply and reveals Himself as the Messiah, blessing her and offering renewal.  After the disciples come back and the woman leaves, the disciples offer Jesus the food they had brought back.  At that moment Jesus responds, "I have food to eat that you do not know about.  My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work."  Jesus makes it clear in this passage that He is being sustained in drawing near to the Father in doing the work the Father gave Him to do.  In His dependence Jesus is being sustained spiritually and being led to far more joy than a full stomach.  In this case Jesus skips a meal having drawn near to God and doing the work of the Father.

What about TV?

So why only fasting from food?  Why not fasting from video games, TV, chocolate, Oprah, etc.  Why can't I give up other things and focus on God while giving them up?  Because it is not just the drawing near to God in giving up physical things, but also the dependence on God for the spiritual provision of life as He is the source of it.  Let's be honest, while giving up TV can be hard for some of you, there is something fundamentally different in abstaining from that which gives nutrition and requires us to depend on God, and of abstaining from entertainment related items.  Not eating for a week has a very different effect than not watching TV for a week.  And if giving up TV is that hard, it isn't merely something to fast from, but more likely an idol that you need to examine in your life and possibly stop altogether.

Some well meaning people have said that there weren't video games, TV, etc in the first century, and since those are things that distract us from God now, they are suitable alternatives to a food fast.  This is called a 'trajectory hermeneutic', meaning that we find the underlying ethic that God was teaching at the time and adjust that ethic for our times.  First off, that type of hermeneutic is incredibly dangerous because it sets the current culture as the arbiter of what God intends.  Secondly, the underlying purpose/ethic of the fast was always to abstain from food, a physical source of life, and to show dependence on God, the spiritual/ultimate source of life.  Video games, TV, etc are hardly physical sources of life.

Suffering

I would propose that one reason for the adjustments in acceptable types of fast is that as a Christian people, we have grown uncomfortable in our own suffering and calling people to suffer.  We don't like to talk about it, and we lower the bar for others to avoid it.  But sharing in suffering is often the best way for us to understand what it is to suffer.  Please learn what it is like to have a hungry belly so that you can share in the suffering of those who do.  Besides, will they be impressed when you tell the hungry that you know what it's like to suffer because you gave up your TV for a whole week?

A True Fast

Is there anywhere in scripture where God calls us to a different type of fast?  I am glad you asked because there is another type of fast that God calls us to, and in this passage the underlying ethic is more fully revealed by the scriptures.

Isaiah 58

6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

In Isaiah 58 God is calling a people to not fast from food so as to be seen by others, but to a fast that gives up their food in order to give it to others, to open their homes for the use of others, to use their freedom and abundance to bless others.  God is calling them to a true fast that draws them near to God's heart, a fast that reminds them of the hunger in their own bellies, a fast that reminds them that God is their provider and sustainer.  From that true fast, drawing near to God and remembering what it is like to go without physical provision, they turn to those without it and seek to provide it.  People aren't dying around the world because they can't watch TV, they are dying because they don't have food and clean water.  How do we really relate to that level of poverty and oppression by not watching TV?

True Fast in Jesus Christ

The true fast is found in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who was rich, but became poor, hungry and dependent on the Father's spiritual sustenance in order that we might experience both physical and spiritual sustenance from the Father, and in turn bless others.  In His life, Jesus shows us the fulness of the true fast. If our fasting does not turn into blesssing for others, then we have not drawn near to God's heart for the nations.

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During this Lenten season, Soma Austin is inviting our members and friends to join us in fasting from food, in order to draw near to God and to draw near to His heart for those who are hungry, thirsty, harassed and oppressed.  We are inviting you to skip a single meal each week, to feel the hunger, to be reminded of God as provider, to draw near to Him in prayer, to share in the sufferings of others, and to ask what you might be able to do to relieve hungry, thirst and oppresson in the nations.  You can find some practical steps for fasting, including a longer fast here.

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