Ash Wednesday and True Fasting

This morning I attended a small Ash Wednesday service with my friends and my husband David at my church in Hollywood. Fasting is a common practice during lent and we read Isaiah 58 together—a reminder of what true fasting looks like. Even beyond fasting (because I honestly don’t do that much of it myself though I find it to be a useful spiritual discipline) I think I could lump many of my own more common “spiritual” practices in with the practice of fasting--things like going to church, singing praise songs, reading my bible. The list goes on.

Today I felt right at home in the Isaiah passage, though sadly I was not playing the part of the characters I’d hoped. I was a confused Israelite. Here’s what I read:

Isaiah 58

Shout out, do not hold back!
  Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
 Announce to my people their rebellion,
 to the house of Jacob their sins.

(God’s trying to get the Israelites attention here. And in case you didn’t catch it, he’s not pleased.)

Yet day after day they seek me
 and delight to know my ways, 
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
 and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
 they ask of me righteous judgments,
 they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?
 Why [do we] humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’

And right there in those first lines of verse two I saw myself and my own American Christian culture – we, day after day, seek God and delight to know his ways, as if were a nation, a culture, a church that practiced righteousness and did not forsake God’s ordinances. We take delight in (as the King James puts it) approaching God. But God’s not paying attention, and we’re all confused when we’ve just spent our long weekend at a worship conference singing about how much we love Jesus.

Okay God, what ordinances then have I ignored because I’m trying to be nice to people, I’m not stealing or lying or cheating and I’m reading my Bible and going on mission trips—what am I doing wrong? Here’s the next thing I read:

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?

So the first thing that comes up is collective exploitation of workers. What I'm hearing from this passage is that people are fasting, lifting their hand high in the worship service (use whatever imagery you like) while simultaneously allowing or contributing to worker exploitation in their community which is something that is causing fights and strife. This is still sounding all too familiar for my liking.

Alright God, what then would true fast look like? What kind of fast would you choose to pay attention to?

Is not this the fast that I choose:
 to loose the bonds of injustice,
 to undo the thongs of the yoke,
 to let the oppressed go free,
 and to break every yoke? 
 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 them,
 and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

After reading this I find myself in deep sadness because I know what I’ve been doing is not enough. I cannot any longer sit in a church service or go to a Bible study or sing a praise song if it doesn’t lead me to share my wealth and food, free the oppressed, bring strangers into my own house and stop worker exploitation. In fact, based on this passage, I think God would prefer I spend most of my time doing those latter things rather than the former.

Today during the Ash Wednesday service my pastor Ryan came around to each one of us before he imposed the ashes and said, “Reconsider your whole life. Follow the gospel.” God tells Israel in Isaiah 58 that when they follow him in the way he requires that he will heal them, answer them and be near them and they will be transformed—they will be called, “the repairer of the breach,
 the restorer of streets to live in.” As you set out on your journey to fast in God’s way, these are your promises from Isaiah 58:

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
 and your healing shall spring up quickly;
 your vindicator shall go before you,
 the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard. 
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
 you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
 the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry
 and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, 
then your light shall rise in the darkness
 and your gloom be like the noonday. 
The Lord will guide you continually,
 and satisfy your needs in parched places,
  and make your bones strong ;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
 like a spring of water,
 whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
 you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; 
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
 the restorer of streets to live in.

*This post is dedicated to Rachel Stricklin who, at a wedding of a dear friend this past winter, expressed unexpected interest and confidence in my blogging abilities.