Rev. Dr. Kristin Johnston Largen
What does “fasting” have to do with returning to the Lord?
Often, we think about fasting primarily as giving something up, and that doesn’t really appeal to us. “Giving up” something makes it sound like a sacrifice, like the whole point of the discipline of fasting is to suffer. And, for many people, life is hard enough as it is: why would we want to take on an additional practice that is designed to be hard, difficult—painful, even?
But if we think about fasting as “letting go,” instead of “giving up,” I think the real point of this Lenten practice comes into clearer focus. Fasting is not about sacrifice for sacrifice’s sake, or even about a belief that God rewards suffering or sacrifice. [Trust me, that is a road that can lead to some very bad theology.] Instead, the Lenten practice of fasting is about de-cluttering our areas of focus and honing our attention. It is about letting go of the things that clog up and cloud our relationship with God, obscuring God’s presence in our lives and muddling our connections to God and to each other.
And in that way, the discipline of fasting can clear a path to God, enabling us to prune away the dead branches that block our view and lead us astray. Fasting can indeed open our eyes and our hearts such that we are better able to experience the fullness of God’s mercy and grace, and rejoice in God’s forgiveness.
God of grace and mercy, we give you thanks for the forgiveness and new life you show us daily through the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, move us to let go of the things in our lives that keep us from you, such that we are able to see you more clearly, and follow you faithfully. In Jesus’ name we pray. AMEN
