If you begin the Season of Lent with fasting in the Isaiah 58 (I-58) way, there won’t be anything ritualistic or superficial about the next 40 days.
I-58 (see passage below) hits hard with a call to fasting that means something. Fasting is not about empty rituals but embodying justice, mercy, humility, and compassion. This passage challenges us to examine our hearts for empty religion and apathy. I-58 is a chain-breaking call to show up for the overlooked, underrepresented, marginalized and oppressed.
Will you take the Isaiah 58 challenge? Read the passage below aloud with a friend. Ask each other how and where you can live out the passage in your neighborhood. May these 40 days that lead to Easter call us to be repairers of the breach, servants of our neighbors, and restorers of hope in our communities.
So, eat your chocolate, drink your coffee,
just be sure they’re Fairtrade,
and let’s fast the I-58 way!
#AshWednesday #Lent #Fasting #Isaiah58 🫳🏼🎤
Isaiah 58:6-12
6- This is the sort of fast that pleases me:
Remove the chains of injustice!
Undo the ropes of the yoke!
Let those who are oppressed go free,
and break every yoke you encounter!
7- Share your bread with those who are hungry,
and shelter homeless poor people!
Clothe those who are naked,
and don’t hide from the needs of your own flesh and blood!
8- Do this, and your light will shine like the dawn –
and your healing will break forth like lightning!
Your integrity will go before you,
and the glory of YHWH will be your rearguard.
9- Cry, and YHWH will answer;
call, and God will say, “I am here” –
provided you remove from your midst
all oppression, finger pointing, and malicious talk!
10- If you give yourself to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your shadows will become like noon.
11- YHWH will always guide you,
giving relief in desert places.
God will give strength to your bones
and you will be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water
whose waters never run dry.
12- You will rebuild the ancient ruins,
and build upon age-old foundations.
You will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
and Restorer of Ruined Neighborhoods.
PS
Join us at Crossroads this week- ccmonline.org
Wednesday at 6:30 PM for Ash Wednesday Liturgy
Saturday (online or in person) for a 3-hour retreat. More info here
Sunday at 10:32 for the New Series: Now and Not Yet