THE MYSTERY OF FEASTING AND FASTING. 1. God Created Us For Feasting a
) Life of God the Holy Trinity: Eternal Feasting. * His presences: a reason for ...
THE MYSTERY OF FEASTING AND FASTING 1. God Created Us For Feasting a) Life of God the Holy Trinity: Eternal Feasting * His presences: a reason for feasting + the essence of glory + the essence of love + the essence of joy... b) He created the heavenly powers in Eternal Feasting * worshipping Him is the essence of feasting + the heavenly powers were created in a worshipping state + the Heavenly Liturgy is the eternal feast c) He created the visible world in a state of feasting * everything is created to glorify God + nature around us speaks about Him and that puts it in a state of feasting + for the faithful man, the beauty and balance of nature is a reminder of the Heavenly Liturgy d) He created man in a state of potential feasting * He made Him in “the image and likeness” of the Holy Trinity, the reason for eternal feasting * Paradise was the feasting state of man * after leaving paradise, man lived with a nostalgia for feasting, but: + man reinvented feasting and the reason for feasting along with the gods he invented * in Jesus, the new man is restored to his original state as the feasting man e) The true feasting was tested through fasting * abstaining prevents things from becoming common * too much abundance leads to no taste + it happens to food + it happens to life in general * we end up not feasting when we are in a constant feast 2. Fasting Was Ordained By God a) the first commandment is about fasting * see Genesis 2, 16-17 + eating is involved because: - it is a real need - only a real need can be tested + it is a testing of faith through eating - the commandment tests Adam’s belief whether: = food kept them alive? = God kept them alive? b) The Temptation * the evil one knew and understood the commandment + he attacked fasting by raising doubt over its importance + he deceived Adam and Eve by telling them that food will give them life - life is dependent on consuming rather than - on being with God
2 * Adam and Eve broke the fast by: + believing the lie of the devil + by saying “yes” to the evil one through their eating * the fallen man turned to nature and made it into a God, thus perpetuating his lie about consuming as the source of life * man’s lack of faith, expressed through the breaking of the fast led to the loss of paradise and to death 3. Fasting in the Old Testament a) Moses fasted for forty days * he spent time with God * he did not eat + being with God; the feast + so preoccupied with talking to God that he forgot to eat * he taught us that: + fasting is not an end in itself + fasting is the condition and the result of true prayer and meditation + fasting prepares us for visions and experiences of God’s mysteries b) Elijah fasted * see 1 Kings 19, 8 + he spent time with God + he did not eat + he also experienced his vision during fasting - 1 Kings 19, 11-13 c) Daniel fasted * see Daniel 1, 12 as a preparation for Daniel 3 * see Daniel 10, 2-3 & Daniel 9, 3 as a preparation for Daniel 10, 5-6 + he and three young men spent time with God and refused to worship the pagan gods + he did not eat at all, or abstain from rich foods especially meats + they experienced the mystery of the fiery furnace and Daniel’s vision in Daniel 10, 5-6 + his fasting also associated with repentance d) Jonah and people of Nineveh fasted e) Zechariah prophecies God’s call for fasting * see Zechariah 8, 18-19 4. Fasting In The New Testament a) Prophetess Anna was fasting * see Luke 2, 37 + she and spent time with God + her fasting goes hand in hand with her worship + her worship and fasting are part of her preparation for seeing the Lord * this is very important as evidence of the continuing of fasting from the Old Testament into the New + the Evangelist honors her
3 b) John the Baptist was fasting * see Matthew 3, 4 + he spent time with God + he ate very little and poor food + his fasting is part of the preparation in his task as the one to recognize and introduce the Lord 5. The Lord Jesus Christ Fasted a) The Preparation for the great temptation * see Matthew 3, 4 + led by the Holy Spirit to fast + for forty days + His practice of it: - fulfilled fasting - did not abolish fasting + the fasting example of New Adam - saying “no” to the evil one - proclaiming that “true life comes from union with God and not from consuming” + His entire life was a form of fasting: - said “no” to Himself for our sake - the loudest “note” of His fasting was dying on the Cross for us and for our salvation b) Jesus affirms the fasting of the Disciples and the Church * Matthew 9, 14-15 * Matthew 6, 16 + “when” not “if” * Mark 9, 29 + “prayer and fasting” 6. The Apostles And The Early Church Fasted a) Acts 9, 9 b) Acts 13, 2-3 & Acts 14, 23 * fasting as preparation for ordination * fasting as a key element for preparation for worship c) Acts 27, 9 * Paul was keeping the fasting prescribed by Leviticus 16, 2930 d) fasting was evident in the writings of the Early Church Fathers as well as in the canons of the Church 7. Fasting To Be In Shape Spiritually a) there are many diets for “physical beauty and shape” * from foods * with exercise * with medicine * all diets lead to the mortifying of body for the body b) Fasting is the diet for “spiritual beauty” * the mortifying of the body for the soul
4 c) Food is just the beginning * fasting must include everything that could take over our lives: + drinking + smoking + T.V. + shopping + sports, etc. * fasting is only the beginning of testing + Christian life is a constant testing, which makes it a form of fasting - a Christian is called to: = live in the world, yet = “not of the world” = live with God and for God 8. Fasting Is Always A Form Of Preparation: a) a preparation for feasting: * before Pascha * before Nativity * before Sunday + the feasting of the Eucharist + the vision of the Heavenly Liturgy
