Paul Sibley: Fasting and Feasting

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. Philippians 4:8

“Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling in them.
Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of all life.
Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.
Fast from thoughts of illness; feast on the healing power of God.
Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
Fast from worry; feast on divine order.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.
Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer.
Fast from hostility; feast on non-resistance.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal truth.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from facts that depress; feast on truths that uplift.
Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm.
Fast from suspicion; feast on truth.
Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.
Fast from shadows of sorrow; feast on the sunlight of serenity.
Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.
Fast from problems that overwhelm; feast on prayer that has the power to move mountains.”

Paul Sibley in “Fasting and Feasting in Lent”. Special thanks to Scott Bailey, a great pastor and friend, for forwarding this list to me.

The list of things to “fast from” contains many of the leading hindrances to generosity. Did any stick out to you as something you may need to fast from so that you can feast instead?

As we feast on that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and praiseworthy, generosity does not comprise good works we do as Christians; it describes who we become in Christ.

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. John 12:32-33

“The ungenerous are known as grasping and close-fisted, whereas openness is the mark of generosity. The “opened treasures” put the Magi forever among the generous [Matthew 2:11]. The valiant woman is generous: “She hath opened her hand to the poor” [Proverbs 31:20]. The world with all its goods is a mark of the generosity of God. “Thou openest Thy hand and fillest with blessing every living creature” [Psalm 145:16].

The openness is characteristic of our Lord. His hand was ever open in gifts and blessings. “Sell all thou hast and give” was His teaching and practice [Mark 10:21]. His arms were opened wide to welcome the young and innocent as well as the sinful and old. And it is with generosity as with every other virtue; His heart found special, tender ways of teaching it.

All His virtues reached their highest in the Passion, and there, too, generosity attained to perfection. “And I,” cried our Lord, “if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself” [John 12:32]. The open hands and open arms of generosity got a new meaning from the cross. He put Himself there to show that He wanted to die giving, to be fastened firmly in the action characteristic of generosity.”

Francis Patrick Donnelly in “The Generous Heart” in The Heart of Revelation (New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons, 1917) 99-100.

Each day of Lent brings us closer to the Passion, closer to the openness of Jesus, who from the cross draws all people to Himself. Do we reflect the openness and generosity of Christ toward others? I think that we are quick to open our arms to the “young and innocent” but slow to embrace the “sinful and old” around us.

Father in heaven, as we journey to the cross, captivate our hearts with the generous openness of Jesus so that, by your Holy Spirit, our lives extend generous openness to everyone, from the young and innocent to the sinful and old. In your mercy, hear my prayer, for without such openness we cannot at all be generous.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 1 Timothy 6:6-7

“We didn’t even know what moderation was. What it felt like. We didn’t just work: we inhaled our jobs, sucked them in, became them. stayed late, brought work home…We ordered things we didn’t need from the shiny catalogs that came to our houses: we ordered three times as much as we could use, and then we ordered three times as much as our children could use. We didn’t just eat: we stuffed ourselves. We had gained only three pounds since the previous year, we told ourselves. Three pounds is not a lot. We had gained about that much in each of the twenty-five years since high school. We did not do the math. We redid our living rooms in which the furniture was not worn out. We threw away clothing that was merely out of style…

We felt that it was important to be good to ourselves and that this meant that it was dangerous to tell ourselves no…And if it was dangerous for us to want and not have, it was even more so for our children…When we wondered if fevered overwork and excess of appetite were not two sides of the same coin – or rather, two poles between which we madly slalomed. Probably yes, we decided at these times…After moments like that we were awash with self-contempt. You are weak. Self-indulgent. You are spineless about work and everything else. You set no limits…We looked for others whose lives were similarly overstuffed; we found them. “This is just the way it is,” we said to one another on the train, in the restaurant. This is modern life…

When did the collision between our appetites and the needs of our souls happen? Was there a heart attack? Did we get laid off from work, one of the thousand certified as extraneous? Did a beloved child become a bored stranger, a marriage fall silent and cold? Or by some exquisite working of God’s grace, did we just find the courage to look the truth in the eye and, for once, not blink? How did we come to know that we were dying a slow and unacknowledged death? And that the way back to life was to set all our packages down and begin again, carrying with us only what we really needed? We travail. We are heavy laden. Refresh us, O homeless, jobless, possession-less Savior. You came naked and naked you go. And so it is for us. So it is for all of us.”

Barbara Hawthorne Crafton in “Living Lent” in Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent (Walden: Plough, 2003) 15-18.

With graphic candor, Crafton paints the picture of “the modern life” and beckons readers to see how feeding our appetites actually starves our souls. This way of living not only hinders generosity; it stifles even the possibility of it. Did the invitation to “begin again” ring true for you? If so, sit with our Savior today, “look the truth in the eye” for He is the truth, and He welcomes all who are heavy laden and in need of rest. He will likely encourage you to let go of all those things and all that money you think you need, not because He wants it all from you, but because that’s how He helps all of us take hold of life in Him.

“Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.” Matthew 21:12

“But who, exactly, are the people who buy and sell? Are they not precisely the good people? See! The merchants are those who only guard against mortal sins. They strive to be good people who do their good deeds to the glory of God, such as fasting, watching, praying, and the like – all of which are good – and yet do these things so that God will give them something in exchange. Their efforts are contingent upon God doing something they ardently want to have done.

They are all merchants. They want to exchange one thing for another and to trade with our Lord. But they will be cheated out of their bargain – for what they have or have attained is actually given to them by God. Lest we forget, we do what we do only by the help of God, and so God is never obligated to us…What we are we are because of God, and whatever we have we receive from God and not by our own contriving…He gives to us freely.

People are very foolish when they want to trade with God. They know little or nothing of the truth. And God will strike them and drive them out of the temple…When He enters the temple, He drives out ignorance, and darkness and reveals Himself in light and truth. Then, when the truth is known, merchants must depart – for truth wants no merchandising…As long as we look for some kind of pay for what we do, as long as we want to get something from God in some kind of exchange, we are like the merchants.”

Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1327) in “Merchandising Truth” in Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent (Walden: Plough, 2003) 108-109.

If we fast, pray, and give during Lent (or any time during the year) for the wrong reasons, we are like the merchants. We are doing it only to get a return, which is for the wrong reason, and we too will be driven away. He gives to us freely, so likewise, our generosity must be given freely. Eckhart was spot on in his conclusion: “As long as we look for some kind of pay for what we do, as long as we want to get something from God in some kind of exchange, we are like the merchants.”

Father in heaven, help us not give like the merchants, who merchandise the truth and expect a return. By the power of your Holy Spirit, help us give like Jesus who freely, richly, and sacrificially gave. Amen.

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. Acts 4:32

“All ownership feeds on stifling self-interest. When deadly selfishness is killed by love, and only then, ownership and all that separates comes to an end. This is how is was in the early church. This is how it still can be: Under the influence of the Spirit, community is born, where people do not think in terms of “mine” and “thine.”

This kind of love overlooks no need or suffering. In such a life-sharing community no one suffers a lack of clothing, food, or any other necessity of life. Those who want to keep goods and valuables for themselves in spite of the need around them must do violence to their own hearts.

God ‘s heart is never limited in its sphere of action. Those who held their goods in common at Jerusalem thus gave generous hospitality to thousands of pilgrims. Through the outpouring of the Spirit, they were able to care wisely for many, for very many, with the slenderest of means.”

Eberhard Arnold in “Spirit of Fire” in Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent (Walden: Plough, 2003) 400.

It’s been a joy to share life in community with friends and neighbors, especially as we have no family close by. For example, tonight to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, we are going to the fish fry with our neighbors, Ken and Carol Sharp. Ken helps host the meal, and we are excited to join them. They have become dear friends in the journey of life.

What hinders such life-sharing community? Arnold nails it: “stifling self-interest” and “ownership” thinking! One time I was over at their home and could not read something, Carol gave me a pair of reading glasses and urged me to take them home and use them. We’ve shared things like books with them too. Carol loves to read “Jesus Calling” daily.

During Lent we learn that sharing with others does not leave us empty but enriched. When we abandon “stifling self-interest” and “ownership” thinking, our eyes are opened to see the needs around us. We learn that we are not here to just worry about ourselves but to help meet those needs through giving. We love and are loved in ways that can only be experienced in community.

Have a great St. Patrick’s Day everyone! Enjoy his famous Breastplate Prayer as you celebrate with friends and family today!

“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Joel 2:12

“Fasting in American and other [materially] prosperous Western nations is almost incomprehensible because we are brainwashed by a consumer culture. We are taught to experience the good life by consuming, not by renouncing consumption…The pervasiveness of consumerism is manifest starkly when we realize how deeply it permeates all levels of society, even those that can scarcely afford to consume. The mark of consumer culture is the reduction of “being” to “having”. And this reduction is fed daily by television [or other forms of media].”

John Piper in A Hunger for God: Desiring God through Prayer and Fasting (Wheaton: Crossway, 1997) 137-138.

Piper hits it spot on! Our consumeristic culture teaches us that life is found in “consuming” and in “having”, and that “life consists in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). Alternatively, Jesus urges us to renounce that narrative, which does not mean we will not or do not consume. It means we will not seek to find “life” through consumption any longer, but rather through Christ!

Father in heaven, show us, by Your Holy Spirit, the things in our lives that we feed on that do not satisfy. We renounce the messages that life consists in having things and return to You today. May our fasting be an act of making space in our hearts and lives for that which is better for us. We draw near to You today in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

“The third-century North African Church Father Tertullian said that the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church. Absorbing hatred in the name of Jesus by giving over one’s own life, the Christian martyr furthers the reconciling work of the Lord. These deeds of self-giving extend the proclamation of the gospel. Where one might have thought that murder would stifle the voice crying for peace, in actual fact it only amplifies it. This is the logic of the cross, and the paradox of the way those who bear the cross witness to the power of the resurrection.”

Kathryn Greene-McCreight in I Am With You: The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent, Book 2016 (London: Bloomsbury, 2015) 147.

These days we find ourselves in world growing increasingly hostile to Christianity. It seems similar to the relationship between the Roman world and the early church. Though many of us may not be in mortal danger, there appears to be unprecedented levels of hatred all around us.

As I explore the heart of generosity during Lent, I am learning that “absorbing hatred” is one way we get to exhibit our faith in spiritually and morally dark times. When we do this, even to the point of death, we are not overcome by the darkness, but we overcome it with good.

To be overcome is not to be killed, but to be immobilized and defeated by fear. Jesus knew we would face this. It’s why He spoke these words pointedly to the disciples (and us): Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28

Let us absorbing hatred in the name of Jesus by giving our lives to proclaim the good news.

The Lord watches over you — the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm — He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Psalm 121:5-8

O God, our heavenly Father, whose glory fills the whole creation, and whose presence we find wherever we go: Preserve those who travel in this winter storm; surround them with your loving care; protect them from every danger; and bring them in safety to their journey’s end; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Book of Common Prayer, “Prayer for Travelers” 53.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day at Camp Spofford in New Hampshire (Spofford Lake pictured above). How soon things change! Due to a winter storm alert, the pastor’s conference was cut short so that everyone could return safely to their homes across New England last night. Unfortunately, my flight for today has been cancelled.

Since I am not going anywhere for a while, and since Lent is a time to focus on prayer, I am thankful for God’s generous and watchful care for us as His children. As for me, I am still at that camp and grateful to have a warm place to stay and food and water to wait it out. Thank you God for preserving all those who travel!

Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Ephesians 4:28

“Dr. E. Stanley Jones, on of my spiritual mentors used to say: ‘A road that perhaps more than any other leads to self-atrophy is undedicated money.’ So if you haven’t done so, then consider transferring your possessions and money over to Him today. When you let go of your possessions and let God have them, then life takes on a sense of stewardship. It really does.

Perhaps a question we ought to ask our selves before going any further is this: who owns my possessions, does God or do I? Whether we acknowledge it or not we are only in possession of our possessions for a brief period. If in reality we don’t own our possessions then the obvious thing is to acknowledge this in a prayer to God.

Have the sense to stay to Him,’I am not the owner. I am the ower.’ A businessman once said, ‘I’ve prospered in my business; now my task is to know who much I can keep for my own use.’ That’s the right order. How much can I keep for myself? For everything I needlessly spend on myself is taken from some other person’s need.”

Selwyn Hughes (1928-2006) in Divine Mathematics: A Biblical Perspective on Investing in God’s Kingdom (Surrey, UK: CWR, 2004) 24-25.

Today I am facilitating a conference at Camp Spofford in Hew Hampshire on Faith and Work in God’s Economy with ministers and marketplace leaders. The fruit of our labor as followers of Christ must be dedicated back to One who purchased us with His blood on the cross (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

As we journey through Lent, we gain a new perspective on the fruit of our work: money. It’s neither ours nor something to be stewarded selfishly on needless expenditures. Biblically speaking, such stewards are squandering and stealing. What should we do? Dedicate the money we possess back to God.

Father in heaven, I dedicate all the money I possess to You. Thank You for purchasing me with Your blood on the cross and for entrusting me with resources to steward for Your purposes. Guide me by Your Holy Spirit to know how much to keep for myself. Help me I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:3

“Though what is specifically “given up for Lent” shifts from generation to generation, the broad categories of entertainment, pleasure, and food have remained constant through the centuries. Caffeine, chocolate, designer coffee, carbs, and social media currently rank among the more popular offerings. In an age suffocating in self, any willful fast from what much of the planet would deem a luxury is to be commended. However, since commendation cannot be confused with preparation, I must ask: can such polite fasts alone truly prepare us to be awed by Christ’s resurrection? . . .

God seems more interested in what we are becoming than in what we are giving up. . .Faith, in general, is less about the sacrifice of stuff and more about the surrender of our souls. Lent, in kind, is less about well-mannered denials and more about thinning our lives in order to thicken our communion with God. Decrease is holy only when its destination is love.”

Alicia Britt Chole in 40 Days of Decrease: A Different Kind of Hunger. A Different Kind of Fast (Nashville: W Publishing, 2016) 1-2. Thanks to my friend, John Cochran, for alerting me to this book.

As we are in the middle of week two, Chole’s counsel is spot on: Lent is not about “commendation” but “preparation”; it’s about “thinning our lives” to “thicken our communion with God”. But what struck me as profound was the punchline of her thought: “Decrease is holy only when its destination is love.”

Whether you are fasting from TV, coffee, social media, or something else this Lent, decrease so that you can “feast on Jesus” as my wife and daughter like to say. Celebrate that “decrease” helps you build spiritual bandwidth with God, who is love. Our role on earth is to enjoy and generously dispense love!