13 March 2008
Is there a LUTHERAN way to fast?
Yes! The Augsburg Confession disdains the distinction of meats, and does so solidly based on Colossians But that doesn't mean that Lutherans didn't and don't fast. If we remember that fast mean "to go hungry" the solution is apparent: skip meals! It's not a matter of what FOOD you give up for Lent, but a matter of what MEALS and feeding (as in snacking!) you set aside. If one follows the typical Western fast, one eats but 1 and 1/4 to 1/2 meals per day. This is not done to impress God, but to train our bodies (that our belly is not our boss) and to free up time for prayer and money for charity. I bring this up again because we are preparing to enter Holy Week. During this week as we give time to specially contemplate the Passion of our Lord, the discipline of fasting is highly appropriate for all who can safely do it. A complete fast on Good Friday suggests itself to allow for total concentration upon our Lord's self-immolation for our salvation. Fasting is such a blessed discipline and is a bodily form of prayer - as we are reminded that no earthly food can satisfy the hunger of the human being, which is ultimately a hunger for the Blessed Trinity - to whom be glory forever!
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7 comments:
I am a little confused. I thought Lutherans followed the Western fast to include abstaining from meat on Friday's and other appointed days but from what you write, Lutherans do not participate in that aspect of the fast? Only meal times per day and portion control? There is no abstinence from meat at any time?
I didn't realize you had people in your church fast from the Eucharist on Holy Thursday to the Eucharist on Easter. That was a pattern I once followed but I made it up...it wasn't in light of any common community devotion or anything I had been taught. Would you know its origins?
Dixie,
Lutherans historically argued that distinction of meats is abrogated in the NT, and that the key to fasting is not in the abstinence per se, but in the fast itself. Chemnitz has a great section on this in Examen where he mocks the "feasting" on fish of certain Romanists who called this a "fast." He says: no such thing. But he strongly argues for moderation in eating at all times and for setting aside days not to eat so much food at all.
The fast from Maundy Thursday to Vigil is actually just the observance of the strict fast of Good Friday combined with the eucharistic fast on Saturday. Both of them are grounded in the Church's historic approach on the one hand to Good Friday and on the other hand to the Eucharist.
By the way, which is not to say that in Christian freedom a person may choose to abstain from meats, or whatever. The key is the spirit of the fast as less food and simple food - that we don't think so much about food! - and free up the time for prayer and the funds for charity.
Chemnitz has a great section on this in Examen where he mocks the "feasting" on fish of certain Romanists who called this a "fast."
The thing about fish...it doesn't "stick to your ribs" like meat loaded with fat that both satisfies hunger and forestalls its return. Unless, of course, it's Southern Fried Catfish...a delicacy that the Romanists in the referenced quote would not have had unless their Rome was in Georgia!
It ain't always so easy to keep one's eyes on one's own plate.
Depends on the sort of fish, I think. If we think of shrimp and lobster, they definitely seem to have a "sticking power." :)
But I've really come to appreciate the counsel to cut back on meals, regardless of what those meals are, and not fret so much over kinds of foods. Fits well with Blessed John Cassian's advice on gluttony: the fathers have but one universal rule on fasting - stop eating before you are full.
If we think of shrimp and lobster, they definitely seem to have a "sticking power." :)
Ya...but I think it's the corresponding garlic butter they are dipped in that does the "sticking!"
Kali Sarakosti...what remains of it for you, anyway!
If you think Holy Week is blessed askesis (to use Paul's words), take the Apoostolic (and historically Jewish) approach. Strict(er) fast the first week (I mean this in all sincerity; if 1 1/4 meals is good, for the first week try 3/4 of a meal--or whatever is pastorally recommended); then try the fast you suggest above. Holy Weeks is then as strict as the first week.
This is the tradition. It has been tried for millenia. It is true. I'm so happy to see Lutherans embracing Pauline askesis. And I imagine all parishoners will be getting pastoral counseling on fasting, since it can be a razor: when used well, it trims the flesh off the heart; when used poorly, it can cut too deep and become a sin.
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