Week Three: "REST"
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So far, we’ve looked at fasting as a means by which we sacrifice something good — whether food or something else! — so as to prepare ourselves to encounter Christ more deeply. This week, we take a look at the connection between fasting and REST.
The command to rest is at the heart of God’s invitation to all of us. It’s right in the center of the Ten Commandments, and it’s found throughout the entire Old Testament — even in the very first creation story that opens the Book of Genesis! God invites us to rest, to slow down, and to let go of the compulsive need to produce and toil and spin our wheels. From the very beginning, God teaches us that there is something holy about resting and remembering that creation is good.
Fasting is a way to participate in this rest. Whether we are setting aside food or phones or hot showers, fasting is a means of returning to the simplicity of creation and getting in touch with being itself. When we clear out a space from all the noise and busy-ness of the world, we can see more clearly the goodness and love of God all around us. It’s through this intentional practice of simplicity and stillness that we can say with God: “It is very good.”
So, how will you fast and REST throughout this week?
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Exodus 20:1–17In those days, God delivered all these commandments: “I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain. For the LORD will not leave unpunished the one who takes his name in vain.
“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day. Six days you may labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God. No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you. In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
“Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, nor anything else that belongs to him.”
The Ten Commandments, also referred to as the Decalogue, enumerate God’s covenantal expectations for the people of Israel — they teach the Israelites how to live in right relationship with God. Are rules or boundaries important when forming relationships? Why or why not?
While God warns of “inflicting punishment . . . down to the third or fourth generation,” God also promises to bestow “mercy . . . down to the thousandth generation.” What do you think about the radical imbalance of these two numbers? Does this help to heal any imagery you might have of a wrathful, vengeful God?
At the heart of the Ten Commandments is the command to rest, which is connected to the story of creation, in which God rested on the seventh day. Why was it so important for God to teach the newly freed slaves to rest? Do you feel that you experience enough rest in your own life today?
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Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 100
R. (John 6:68c) Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
1. READ the psalm, making sure to recite at least the refrain (in bold) aloud. Read it once or twice, simply allowing the words to sink in.
2. REFLECT on what words or phrases seem to capture your attention. Return to them and ask God to reveal why these words or phrases might be resonating with you.
3. RESPOND to God, sharing openly and vulnerably what might be on your heart.
4. REST in silence and listen for God to respond to you.
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1 Corinthians 1:22–25
Brothers and sisters: Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Paul writes of the “foolishness” of the message of Jesus, even calling it a “stumbling block” for some. How is your own practice of following Christ “foolish” in the eyes of the world?
Paul continues, writing that “the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom.” Consider any stumbling blocks you have encountered in your own faith. Have you also encountered the wisdom of God through them?
In his Second Letter of the Corinthians, Paul describes weakness as the point where God’s power is made “perfect.” How does the idea of God’s power manifesting itself in our own weakness connect to your practice of fasting?
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John 2:13–25
Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me. At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken. While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.
The story of the cleansing of the Temple is an example of Jesus’ humanity, when he showed his passion and emotion in his fiery act of righteous anger. How do you feel about the idea that Jesus experienced the same emotions you experience?
Jesus drives out the merchants and money changers because they were corrupting the Temple, distorting it from its purpose as a restful house of prayer. What areas in your own life might need to be restored to their own restful purpose?
What other connections do you see between all the readings for this week?
How do they connect to the idea of fasting in any way?
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"The Furnace of Transformation"
by Henri Nouwen6 MIN READ
. . . Solitude is thus the place of purification and transformation, the place of the great struggle and the great encounter. Solitude is not simply a means to an end. Solitude is its own end. It is the place where Christ remodels us in his own image and frees us from the victimizing compulsions of the world. Solitude is the place of our salvation. . . .
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Henri Nouwen writes of solitude in this excerpt, but his insights can be expanded to include any sort of ascetical or sacrificial discipline in which we come face to face with our own weakness and offer it to God. In that sense, then, how is fasting similar to solitude?
Nouwen tells the story of the old man whose demons fled him as soon as he turned to Jesus, writing that the encounter with Jesus occurs “precisely in the midst” of our struggle — not before, after, or beyond it. Have you ever had an experience of realizing Jesus’ presence in the midst of your struggle? What would you say to someone who is currently struggling with something?
Nouwen concludes that it is in solitude — in intentionally shedding ourselves of that which binds us — that we become free. What would this total freedom look like in your life? What are your next steps toward it?
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St. Anthony of Egypt
2 MIN READ
. . . Born in Upper Egypt of a prosperous landowning family, at about the age of twenty, following his parents’ deaths, he sold all of his possessions and gave the money to the poor in keeping with the Gospel injunction in Matthew 19:21. He took up the life of a hermit, first near his home under the tutelage of an elderly hermit; then for twelve to fifteen years he lived in empty tombs in a cemetery at some distance from his village, and later still in an abandoned fort deep in the desert (286–306). . . .
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St. Anthony of Egypt,
who sold all your possessions and gave your luxury away,
pray for us.
St. Anthony of Egypt,
who encountered Christ in the solitude of the desert,
pray for us.
St. Anthony of Egypt,
who found rest in silence and service,
pray for us.
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