From Fasting to Feasting

“At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer; when you cry out, He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking, and if you offer yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday. The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose waters never run dry. Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the foundations laid long ago; you will be called the repairer of broken walls, the restorer of streets where people live. “If you keep from desecrating the Sabbath, from doing whatever you want on My holy day; if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, seeking your own pleasure, or talking too much; then you will delight yourself in the Lord, and I will make you ride over the heights of the land, and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭58‬:‭9‬-‭14‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

Have you ever heard the term “empty calories”? These are foods that are high in calories but have little or no nutritional value. That includes things Iike donuts, ice cream, cake, cookies and chips. Unfortunately for me, these are some of my favorite foods. I suspect I am not the only one in that situation. In fact, that seems to be one of the biggest health issues facing modern Americans. We’re addicted to foods that make use feel good in the moment but provide no real benefit for life. Some of you may be thinking: “I don’t care. I’m still eating that slice of carrot cake. Just try and stop me!” That just highlights the real issue. We’re seeking momentary happiness and not lasting satisfaction and fulfillment. 

This pattern doesn’t just happen with food. It also happens with our religious beliefs, practices and habits for much the same reason – momentary happiness instead of lasting satisfaction and fulfillment. Last week, we took a look at the issue of false and true fasting or a hypocritical lifestyle versus a life lived in obedience to God and His Word. So how did we move from an issue with fake fasting to eating empty calories? Well, that isn’t really a huge leap. God wants us to recognize how we use substitutes, or false gods and fake faith, as a replacement for the real thing. The people were going through the motions of fasting and worship but it was all a mask. Now He wants to address our dependence on the religious mask.

Religion is man’s attempts at seeking, finding and relating to the god(s) we believe exist. But true Christianity is the recognition that our seeking and attempts at relating are pointless unless God reveals Himself, joins in the conversation and is willing to relate to us in a personal way. Why are our efforts futile and pointless? Because God is transcendent, holy, omnipotent, spirit and sovereign. Those are big fancy words that tell us God is immeasurably different, unimaginably greater and infinitely better than we are. Fortunately, scripture tells us that same God, the one true God of all creation,  loves us, reveals Himself to us, communicates with us and wants a direct relationship with us.

Our religious beliefs and actions tend to be very pragmatic. That means they are practical, self-focused and intended to get the results we desire or seek. In other words, we tend to do what we believe is needed to get the desired response from God. If we believe God’s blessings are based on fasting and we want His blessings enough then we’ll fast. If we believe we can manipulate God’s actions through prayer, then we’ll pray. If we believe we can procure a bigger blessing through sacrifice, then we offer it up. In theological terms we call this your “worldview”. Your beliefs and convictions about yourself and about God dictate how you view and interact with everything around you. Your beliefs determine how you view the world and how you fit and live within it.

It is really easy to read scripture and get the wrong idea about God, who He is and what He wants from us. Let me clarify something before I proceed. God is NOT like us, we are made in His image. In other words, we are a bit like Him. Yes, I meant to say it that way – we are a “bit” like Him. The true differences between us are really beyond our comprehension, right now. How are we like Him and how much are we like Him? That is a question no man can answer. But scripture does tell us that we are enough like Him that we long for Him, we look for Him, we find ourselves in Him. This I know, we are SO much like Him that He loves us more than we can possibly know.

““For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

So what does all of this have to do with our focal passage? In Isaiah 58:1-8, God addresses His people’s attempts at manipulating Him through religious fasting. We looked at this last week. If you’ll recall, His condemnation was their fasting was selfishly motivated and wasn’t tied to God’s desire for them to care about others they way He cared about them. This week, He extends those same ideas into how we observe and honor the Sabbath. If you know what the word Sabbath means, then you can’t miss one of the core principles – rest. “By the seventh day God completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.” (Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

But the idea of taking a day of rest is not just about having a day off from work. It is bigger and deeper than that, much bigger and much deeper. The idea of resting is both very pragmatic and deeply spiritual. God knows you even better than you know yourself. God created us with purpose and intent. When God created man, He not only blessed Him with all of the good things that the earth produced, He also gave man and woman tasks. Yes, God gave us jobs to do in His world. We were to care for and subdue the creation He had made. So we have an innate desire to work, achieve and succeed. But the created order is broken and that means we tend to give things, like work, a bigger place in our lives than God intended. We often elevate work, achievement, financial success and the things they provide to a higher level than God intended.

Don’t misunderstand me, work is inherently a good thing. We were made to work and produce a good result from that work. But we have a bad habit of taking something God intended for our good and turn it into something that destroys His plan. God intended for work to be a tool that enables us to fulfill His purpose in our lives – to care for and subdue the created order so it can be used to fulfill God’s will. But we often elevate work to the point that it takes the place of God in our lives.

Listen to how He describes His intent: “At that time, when you call, the LORD will answer; when you cry out, He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking, and if you offer yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness and your night will be like noonday.” Last week, I referenced the “yoke” and spoke about how this can relate to the oppression that common workers have placed upon them by their employer or jobs. I mentioned that we can’t claim to be truly seeking God in our fasts if we actively oppress those under our supervision and care.

While that is true, it is also true that the “yoke” can also reference the oppressive burden we place upon ourselves to achieve and succeed. We can become so obsessed with a “successful life” or obtaining things that we don’t see the bind (or yoke) they place upon us. We are unable to be the people God wants us to be because we are so consumed by the work required to be successful or obtain our dreams. He says we need to drop the yoke, stop pointing fingers, cease talking badly about others and offer ourself to the hungry and downtrodden. 

It is really easy to become so obsessed with our own success that we don’t even notice those around us who are hurting. God offers Himself to us in a very personal way, “Here I am.” If we claim to know Him and to walk with Him, then He expects us to offer ourselves to others in a very personal way, too. This may be one of the hardest things for us to do in our individualistic society. We will donate money to assist in the recovery efforts when a disaster strikes, but we don’t offer ourselves. 

We will buy gloves, cases of water, emergency supplies and food but we often fail to connect personally with the hurting. Maybe we feel inadequate in the circumstances or perhaps we feel we lack the proper words to offer comfort in their struggle. Let me tell you a secret, they don’t want or need words of comfort. They want and need a friend who will hold their hand and cry with them in those moments. They need a hug, not a cliche. Offer yourself, not some cheap substitute. God has always intended that one of the best evidences of His existence is through those of us who walk with Him on a daily basis.

When we are willing to do this, the LORD will lead us, He will satiate us in a parched land, and He will strengthen us when our bones (bodies) grow weak. We will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose waters never run dry (v. 11). “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding. He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.” (Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭28‬-‭31‬ ‭HCSB‬‬) 

He will be everything we need when we realize He’s all we need. 

Go back and read my last statement. That’s the deeper part I mentioned above about the Sabbath. Not only is the scope of what God intends with the Sabbath bigger than we often realize, it is also deeper, MUCH DEEPER than we realize. The Sabbath is not just bigger than a day off of work, it is also so much deeper than just a day off work. God wants you and I to realize through the Sabbath that the things we think will meet our needs (working, succeeding, obtaining) can NEVER really meet our needs. Work can’t give us what we want it to give us. We labor six days a week to meet our physical needs and provide food, shelter and clothing. But we’re still missing something.

If you carefully read the creation account in Genesis 1-2, you’ll notice that it says God rested on the seventh day from all His work of creation (Gen. 2:3). He then blessed it and declared it to be a holy day. After He finished His work of creation He began the work of relating to His creation, to us. Since that time, man has sought to enter into the rest that God promised through the Sabbath (see Heb. 4). 

Work can’t give us what we seek, but God can. But what does He offer us and how do we obtain it?

Ah, there it is! What must I do to be saved? What do I need to do to obtain God’s favor and blessing? That’s the sinful idea of work desecrating the holiness of the Sabbath. Yes, we try and turn the holiness of the Sabbath into a chore or a job that needs to be done. We want a list of the tasks necessary to know God so we can schedule them into our day. Just tell me what I need to do, then I can do it and then get on with my day. Surely you’ve noticed the spiritual blindness in the story of the rich young man? He wants to know what he must do to get into heaven. When Jesus tells him it involves selling his possessions, he walks away sad because he can’t bring himself to do it. He doesn’t possess those things, they possess him. He doesn’t really want God, he wants his things. 

Notice in our focal passage, “if you honor it (the Sabbath), not going your own ways, seeking your own pleasure, or talking too much; then you will delight yourself in the LORD (v. 13b-14a).” What if all that God really wants is for you to come and sit quietly in His presence? Not going your own way. Not seeking your own pleasure. Not talking too much. Just finding delight in Him. What if all He has ever wanted is for you to realize that He is everything you’ve ever needed. He is the treasure you really seek. Isn’t that really the point in Jesus’ parables about the buried treasure or pearl of great price (see Matt. 13:44-46)?

Until God becomes the desire of our hearts, we haven’t given up all to follow Him. Something or someone else still holds onto our affection, our love that only belongs to Him. When He becomes the desire of our hearts everything else begins to fade and fall away. In John 6, Jesus tells the crowds that they only pursued Him because they had eaten their fill the day before and wanted another meal. He tries to get them realize that what they really want is not another meal of bread, but the “bread of life”. That’s precisely what God is telling us in this Isaiah passage. All of these things that we pursue are just empty calories. They have no value for our lives. If you really want to know the fulfillment of God’s promises in your life, then delight yourself in Him. Nothing else, only Him. He is the treasure you seek, the success you desire, the love of your life. 

In conclusion, the Sabbath is not a day of fasting. It never was and was never meant to be. It was a day of feasting. We are not to fast on the Sabbath, we are to feast. We are meant to feast on Him, on His goodness and His provision. Everything else is a waste of time, just empty calories. We are not to fast, we are to feast… to feast on God because He is everything we need and all that we truly desire.