On Fasting...

I read these words last week and thought they were very helpful in dealing with the topic of fasting. They are published by St. George's Cathedral in Wichita (Antiochian) - and thus the words are in regard to fasting as Orthodox Christians - but I thought they were useful in dispelling some rather erroneous notions about fasting in general for Christians of whatever confession. Don't know about you, but I sure would have trouble describing this sage counsel as "legalistic":

Preparing for the Fast ~ I: 1 Corinthians 10:23-28, especially vs. 26: “for the earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness.” At the threshold of Great Lent, the gateway to the “bright sadness” of the Fast, it is right to ask: are we prepared for fasting? Now is the appropriate moment to reflect on the Apostolic wisdom of today’s reading concerning eating and abstaining. To do so, we will consider some pertinent historical background, and then share two thoughts concerning the days ahead, so that the Fast may profit us for our life in Christ.

Recall the tiny handful of Christians who lived in the city of Corinth in St. Paul’s day. They worked, shopped, and socialized in a pagan town bustling with commerce and shipping, but their Christian profession raised problems for them: how could they keep themselves “pure and undefiled...before God” (Jas. 1:27) within an active pagan culture? They faced “sticky” issues.

Almost all meat in the markets came directly from idolatrous rituals, from sacrificial animals slaughtered in pagan temples. Only the best animals were offered to the “gods,” and only a tiny portion of the meat was consumed in the actual rituals. The rest was sold to support the operation of the temples. To help the new Christians, St. Paul provided a guide: love requires sensitivity to the conscience of others; thus, “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well being” (1 Cor. 10:24). For the Faithful in Corinth the Apostle’s rule meant: go to the markets, buy meat, but do not unnecessarily constrain one’s self with issues of conscience by inquiring about the source of their purchases (vs. 25). Further, when invited to dinner, they were to eat and enjoy, but not to pry as long as no one indicated that the meat came from pagan temples, (vs. 27). The Apostle grounded the rule on revealed principle: all comes from God (vs. 26 and Ps. 23:1 LXX) so nothing is impure except when one’s conscience is contaminated (Mk. 7:18-20).

What do these principles say to us about the Lenten fasting disciplines? First and foremost is the issue of freedom of conscience. Do we fast because it is a rule that we have been told we must follow? If that is our prime reason, then we will not have chosen to fast with the Church freely. Instead, we will be operating on a contrary basis, because rote obedience to religious traditions and rules is Judaizing, which destroys freedom in Christ (Gal. 2:4,16).

The Lord Jesus commends fasting as part of the life of a disciple (Mt. 6:16). He does not command it as He does the Liturgy - “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Lk. 22:19). Father John Romanides speaks of two important reasons why Orthodox Christians should fast: “love, unity and communion of immortality with each other and with the saints in Christ; and...the war against Satan and his powers, already defeated in the flesh of Christ by those living in Christ, beyond death.” Let us choose to fast in order to express our unity with the Church, and because we wish, in Christ, to deny the demons control of our passions and thus to deprive Satan of the passions as “points of entry” into ourselves. Of course, we never should fast as Christians if we merely are seeking our own good at the expense of others (1 Cor. 10:24).

Further, let us fast quietly, in modest freedom before our fellow Christians and before non-Christians as well. Who would use his freedom in Christ to avoid fasting with the Church? Such self-serving would abuse our fellow Christians by suggesting that the common life in Christ is unimportant, and it would leave them weakened in their struggle. If, by God’s grace, we can sustain an unassuming attitude toward fasting, we may show non-Orthodox the value of the common life in Christ. Above all, let us be unpretentious, without show, expressing mutual love in the Lord; for if we flaunt fasting or non-fasting, we already “have our reward” (Mt. 6:16-18).

Fortify us, O Lord, that we may fulfill our fast with God pleasing purity and devotion.