For us Western Christians, the Advent fast is fast approaching (our Eastern fellow Christians already have begun it). But how shall we approach this holy time so that it produces spiritual benefit for us? First, it requires time. Here's where the busyness of our lives does us such a great disservice. We hurry ourselves to the grave. Don't think of the extra services in Church as "one more thing" added to your already insanely busy schedule. Instead, see them for what they are: oases of peace that will allow you time for prayer and reflection on the coming of our Savior into the flesh, His coming in the Sacrament, and His coming in glory. Make every effort not to miss a single one of the Sunday or Wednesday liturgies. We were not made for busyness; we were made for communion with the Blessed Trinity!
Second, it requires time. Here's where the busyness of our lives does us such a great disservice. We hurry ourselves to the grave. Instead of thinking of extra time in the Word and in prayer as "one more thing" added to your already insanely busy schedule, see it for what it is: a daily oasis of peace that can prepare you for the joyful celebration of the incarnation. Make every effort not to miss a single day of prayer in the Treasury and seek to expand your prayer time with the addition of one extra office. If you already pray Matins daily, add Noontime Prayer or Vespers or Compline. If you pray Matins and Vespers daily, add Noontime Prayer or Compline. You might want to add the praying of the Litany to your devotions at the dinner table. And if you can, set aside time to sing together as a family the great hymns of our Church for this season. We were not made for busyness; we were made for communion with the Blessed Trinity!
Third - you guessed it! - it requires time. Here's where the busyness of our lives does us such a great disservice. We hurry ourselves to the grave. Spend some time with an honest confrontation of God's Law, examining your life. Use a tool such as the Preparation for Confession and Absolution According to the Ten Commandments (pp. 1460ff) in the Treasury. Recognize your sinfulness and then go to your pastor, confess the sins revealed by God's law and receive the Holy Absolution. We were not made for busyness; we were made for communion with the Blessed Trinity.
Starck writes: "During the holy season of Advent, [believing Christians] meditate on the love of their heavenly Father, who spared not His only Son but sent Him into the world to suffer and die, and thus acquire salvation for all people. They consider the ardent love of Jesus, who was clothed with our flesh and blood in order that He might bring us to heaven and give us unending happiness. They give praise for the grace of the Holy Spirit, who has placed the gifts lavished on our human race before the souls of believers, who has made them their own, and who causes them to recognize these gifts in such a vivid and effectual manner that they seem to have been given this very day. Accordingly, they make this holy season a time of devotion and prayer, and begin and end it with hearing and meditating on the Word of God, with singing festival hymns, and with a quiet and godly way of living." (pp. 49, 50)
More to fit into your busy schedule? Yes. More moments of peace, of quiet, time for tears of repentance, time for joy in the presence of God. Moments to lay aside the worldly cares that too easily weigh down our hearts and glorify Him who took on flesh to redeem you and who will appear again in glory to bring you home; to be ever more conformed to His image; to let His Word and Sacrament do their healing work in your life. Welcome, holy Advent! We rejoice at your approach:
Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding!
"Christ is near," we hear it say.
"Cast away the works of darkness,
All you children of the day!"
Startled at the solemn warning
Let the earth-bound soul arise;
Christ, its sun, all tears dispelling,
Shines upon the morning skies.
See, the Lamb so long expected,
Comes with pardon down from heav'n.
Let us haste with tears of sorrow,
One and all, to be forgiv'n.
So, when next He comes in glory
And the world is wrapped in fear,
He will shield us with His mercy
And with words of love draw near.
Honor, glory, might, dominion
To the Father and the Son
With the everliving Spirit
While eternal ages run!
LSB 345
P.S. On the FAST, do check out the information on the December Ember Days in Treasury, page 21 and the section in the The Lutheran Study Bible on fasting, page 189 for concrete guidance on the how of a fast.
9 comments:
Wonderful reminder - thank you! And thanks for the fast info.
Awesome comments Will! It requires time, and what do you know? God gives us the time we need to accomplish all that He gives us to do.
Advent blessings to us all. Jeremy
Pastor Weedon,
Thank you so much. I am already seeing my 4 children getting antsy to rip open the gifts - but my wife and I hope to be intentional this year and be sure to emphasize the true Gift given to us. Through the beautiful Advent devotions. I wish the Treasury and LSBible wouldn't hit my wallet so hard... but you are making them hard to resist.
Thank you again,
- Tim
Fr. As I do not have the Treasury, could you provide some excerpts from what it says about fasting? I'd really like to know.
Tim,
You won't regret it!
Jeremy and Sue,
Thanks!
Chris,
The Treasury simply mentions when the ember days fall and that they are days for fasting, prayer and almsgiving - and that they are particularly appropriate days for praying the great litany.
The Lutheran Study Bible, however, includes a section on fasting, noting that "The early Christians fasted. Why shouldn't a twenty-first Christian do likewise?" Specific suggestions: fasting for a meal or two before approaching the Supper and spend the extra time in God's Word and singing communion hymns. Fasting during Lent also (and I'd add Advent), and the suggestion is to rise before dawn and eat breakfast; examine yourself (as before the Lord's Supper); offer your life to God in penitent prayer; go about your day, breaking the fast at evening. So basically cutting down on the food you eat by omitting all eating during the daylight hours.
It also points out that if abstaining from food is not possible (as for diabetics), abstain from something else - such as the TV.
Can't we have Thanksgiving at least before starting the Christmas stuff -- in church as well as the stores!
Or we could go back to the St Martin's quadragesima if we have to have a 40 day Advent like the EO.
I grew up fasting from midnight before reception of Communion. Why clown around. The fact is, mistaking the early stages of messing around with your glycogenolysis for some sort of spirituality borders on the superstitious.
The fasting the Lord wants he laid out quite clearly in Isaias 58.
Terry,
I have never understood your dislike of fasting. Our Lord assumes we will do this (as also TLSB points out): "when you fast..." There is no question that fasting from foods without fasting from sins is never pleasing to God - fasting is never meant to impress God or to score brownie points. It IS meant to restrain the flesh and to remind ourselves that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of our God. Because Rome at one time horribly abused the notion doesn't mean it hasn't a real place in Evangelical practice. Certainly the Lutherans of yesteryear took it pretty seriously.
I'd love to see Thanksgiving moved into October like much of Europe does for the Harvest Festival. I'd find that helpful in focusing on the End Times and the Advent season.
It isn't just Rome. I've observed the Yom Kippur fast etc too -- voluntarily, as it is not required of the Nations.
I'm not saying it should be forbidden, just that it is an elective observance. Which means that it should not be characterised as normative either. It's something known to the Father alone, as it says.
Not to mention, the Father has made it clear what is the acceptable fast to him through Isaiah.
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