Fasting and Justice 09-02-2020

Sermon for Leighmoor UCA on Sunday 9 February 2020

By Andrea Mayes, UCA candidate

Bible reading: Isaiah 58:1-9a; Matthew 5:13-20

Fasting and Justice

Have you ever fasted? That is, gone without food for a particular purpose.

Many people have to fast for certain types of blood tests and medical procedures. When I was in high school I was part of the 40 hour famine. Each year I would seek to raise money for people overseas living in poverty by getting people to sponsor me to go without food for 40 hours. In doing so I also learnt what it was like to feel hungry and I appreciated the food I had.

Since becoming a Christian, I have fasted occasionally. Sometimes at lent I have given up something, like coffee or chocolate or TV. Sometimes I have felt moved to go without food to focus on prayer. There is a rich tradition in both the Jewish and Christian faiths of fasting. Many other religions also include fasting. A well-known example is the Muslims fasting during the month of Ramadan, where they refrain from having both food and water during daylight hours.

In the reading in Isaiah 58 God is talking to the Jewish people who have returned from the exile about their practices of fasting. The community would gather together several times a year and fast to mark the Day of Atonement and the anniversary of the destruction of the temple. The fasting was a sign of mourning and humbling themselves before God. Often they would fast in very visible ways by lying down in sackcloth and ashes. Because they are not doing anything except fasting, this passage suggests that they make their labourers work even harder to make up for the work they are not doing. The reading says “Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day and oppress all your workers”. In addition God is pointing out that they quarrel and fight with each other when they are fasting. Perhaps they are arguing about who is fasting properly? Or perhaps they see fasting as a duty, which leads to an edgy and irritable community. In any case, there is a gap between their intention to humble themselves before God as a community and the way they went about their fasting. They were fasting to create the impression of piety and self-righteousness but at the same time they were oppressing others and quarrelling amongst themselves.

God’s response was to tell them that God wants a different fast, one that is focussed on addressing injustice and letting the oppressed go free. He tells them to share their bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into their homes. To cover the naked and to be available to their families when they are looking for them. I notice that all these action are based in relationship. 

God does not tell them to give food to the hungry, but calls them to share their bread with the hungry, which means personal involvement. Jesus demonstrated this practice when he ate with people who were poor or outcast. 

God does not say to build homes for the homeless, but to bring the homeless poor into your house. This is pretty challenging. There are many practical reasons why we may not want to invite the homeless in to our own house. If they move in, we will be caught up in all the problems in their lives that have contributed to their homelessness. Yet, God calls his people into deep relationships with people who are homeless and poor, to love their neighbour.

God’s call to address injustice goes beyond what is normally seen as acceptable. It is personal and costly. Jesus makes a similarly hard call in his sermon on the mount when he tells the people listening to him that “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”.

The scribes and Pharisees were religious leaders at the time who were seen publically to be keeping the law. They would have been the ones fasting in public in sackcloth and ashes to show how committed to God they were. I think the problem Jesus had with them was they were doing the right thing, keeping the law, for the wrong reason, they wanted to look good. Instead, Jesus wants his followers to do the right thing, for the right reasons. As I was telling the kids, Jesus asks us to let our light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Not so that we will be praised for doing the good work.

Last Sunday morning I was going on my usual walk and I took two bags to pick up rubbish along the way. I do this because I am concerned about the impact the rubbish has on animals when it gets into our streams and oceans. There is one particular spot where people stop their car and look out over the suburb which always has lots of rubbish lying on the ground. There is also a bin in the carpark but many people don’t use it. So as I was picking up rubbish in this spot and putting it in the bin, a car stopped and a lady asked if she could help. I encouraged her and we picked up rubbish together. She asked about the rest of my day and I told her I was going to church. As we parted she asked God to bless me for what I was doing. This made me think of today’s bible readings, “to let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven”. I am using this example because most people can pick up rubbish, it doesn’t cost money or take much time. It needs to be picked up because it the right thing to do, yet most people also see that it is a good thing to do. I wonder, what are the good works that you do that point people towards God?

I want to be clear – we are not saved by the good things we do, we are saved by grace. This is one of the great things about being a Christian. No matter how hard we try, we will always fall short of perfectly obeying the law and living in line with God’s way. But Jesus, through his death and resurrection has ensured that we are forgiven. According to our reading today, even if we break one of the least of the commandments and teach others to do the same, we will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. We are still in relationship with God and given the gift of eternal life.

Jesus has a very high view of the law. He says that he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfil it. The writings of the law and the prophets point to Jesus. If the law and the prophets come to completion in Jesus, then Jesus is the only one that can say how the law will continue to be applied now that God’s Kingdom has started on earth. Jesus calls for high standards of his followers. He want people to go in the direction that the law is pointing – a deep love for God and for other people. 

As we move towards Lent in a bit over two weeks and we think about whether we will fast this year. I want you to consider the words from Isaiah, that the fast God desires is to loose the bonds of injustice, to let the oppressed go free, to share our bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into our house. Then if we do this, our light shall break forth like the dawn, and we shall call and the Lord will answer. In both today’s readings, our light shining forth is linked to our good deeds and our contributions to creating a more just world. I hope you hear this as an invitation and an opportunity to join with Jesus in helping God’s kingdom come on earth, not as a requirement or law or obligation. 

There are many opportunities during lent to be active in relation to social justice. Many Christians join in the Palm Sunday march for refugees. In relation to climate change, there are carbon fasts, which challenge you to do something each day to reduce your carbon footprint. 

There is also earth hour on 28 March where you switch off all your lights at 8:30pm for an hour. Clean up Australia Day is on the 1 March and Harmony Day is on the 21 March, which is also the United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. I’m sure you could find many other social justice related activities during lent in whatever areas you care most about. 

Let’s all think and pray about the themes from today’s bible reading, fasting, social justice, good works and letting our light shine and ask for guidance from God in how to respond.