Fasting: Going Hungry or Hungry for God

  • Matthias Haeusel
  • Mar 1, 2009
  • Series: The Gospel of Mark

Today is Ash Wednesday. Chances are that if you are not Catholic that means very little to you. I grew up going to a Catholic all boys school complete with monks and priests as part of the faculty, Latin and Greek classes and mass every Wednesday. So growing up the Ash Wednesday ashes on our foreheads was a very real part of every year, getting ready for Easter.

Last night as I was talking with the members of my soccer team the question was posted: "What are you giving up?"

I was intrigued by the question, especially since I am preparing a message on fasting for this coming Sunday. In our culture giving things up is not a common thing. We are not into sacrifice of any kind but instead enjoy consuming, indulging and hording stuff.

As I was contemplating food, fasting, feasting and lent I was thinking about how food has become just one of so many things that replace Jesus as our savior. We may even confess that he is Lord and Savior, but practically live as though we are atheists; finding our hope, joy and salvation in other functional saviors.
We are extremely good at self-medicating.

The question is what tool do we use to deal with our pain. We all smile or chuckle when we hear about retail-therapy, primarily because we can all relate. It does make us feel good to buy something new, a new outfit, a new flat-screen, a new car, whatever, it does provide a temporary high, and sidetracks us from other things going on in our lives if only for a few hours or days.
Entertainment is another one of these self-medicators. Television, movies, shows, bars, restaurants, even gyms serve as distractions from who we really are and the pain of our experience.
Self-medicating with both legal as well as illegal substances such as drugs, alcohol and perscription medication is just as common but often viewed as more sinister and looked down upon by society.
Sex and a constant stream of (often dysfunctional) relationships are also a popular way to mask our loneliness and pain only to frequently lead to more pain. Our human condition lends itself to pain, not just physical but emotional, relational and spiritual pain that needs assuaging.
This leads me to food. Food is wonderful, a gift from God! Have you ever considered that God made our taste buds as an act of utter generosity. He loves giving good gifts to his children. He loves it when we taste some delicious food and delight in it, giving praise and thanks to him for providing for us in his kindness and generosity. Unfortunately we have elevated food from a marvelous gift to a demi-god. As the Bible puts it their god is their stomach... We use food as a functional savior to deal with pain, frustration and even boredom.

So maybe Lent is a great time to contemplate what to give up. Not as an act of somehow garnering God's favor - he already demonstrated his love for us by sending Jesus to suffer and die for us; but as a way to break our dependence on anything less than Jesus Christ. And maybe, just maybe, more than simply giving something up for a few weeks, we should spend some time thinking about where we are going to place our focus this Easter season. Not on temporary functional saviors but on the one who's given himself for us on the cross to truly save us.