- Aug 30, 2008
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There are always monetary needs for the poor. As Jesus said, “you will have the poor with you always”. I came across something in the Early Church Writings that I have always believed but I found profound regarding giving to the needy.
If you have read Isaiah on fasting you will notice he says that dealing our bread to the hungry should be a part of fasting:
Isa 58:5-8 Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the LORD? "Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
I have always understood this to mean that when we fast we should set aside what we save (in food cost) and give it to the poor. I was pleasantly surprised to see one of the Early Church Fathers said this of fasting. Hermas (150 AD) had a series of visions which he wrote down, in one of these he said:
This fasting,” he continued, “is very good, provided the commandments of the Lord be observed. Thus, then, shall you observe the fasting which you intend to keep. First of all, be on your guard against every evil word, and every evil desire, and purify your heart from all the vanities of this world. If you guard against these things, your fasting will be perfect. And you will do also as follows. Having fulfilled what is written, in the day on which you fast you will taste nothing but bread and water; and having reckoned up the price of the dishes of that day which you intended to have eaten, you will give it to a widow, or an orphan, or to some person in want, and thus you will exhibit humility of mind, so that he who has received benefit from your humility may fill his own soul, and pray for you to the Lord. If you observe fasting, as I have commanded you, your sacrifice will be acceptable to God, and this fasting will be written down; and the service thus performed is noble, and sacred, and acceptable to the Lord. These things, therefore, shall you thus observe with your children, and all your house, and in observing them you will be blessed; and as many as hear these words and observe them shall be blessed; and whatsoever they ask of the Lord they shall receive.”
Notice how he said when we fast we are to only eat a little bread and water. Which fits with Isaiah who said “[is it really] A day for a man to afflict his soul”. He then said we are to give the money value of what we save, in not eating fancy to the poor. Not only that we were to do it with our whole house, that means the kids, too. In a consumer world, which is all about spending on self, it teaches our kids the importance of giving to the poor.
I have a birthday coming up, I plan to do this kind of fast for my birthday party, the money I save on gifts, and a cake will be given to the needy. But the kids will join in with bread and a coke, and rather than watch a video focused on wasting money, as YouTube is filled with, they will be taught about, and shown videos of those who go without and told of God’s desire to “not forget the poor”.
If you have read Isaiah on fasting you will notice he says that dealing our bread to the hungry should be a part of fasting:
Isa 58:5-8 Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the LORD? "Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
I have always understood this to mean that when we fast we should set aside what we save (in food cost) and give it to the poor. I was pleasantly surprised to see one of the Early Church Fathers said this of fasting. Hermas (150 AD) had a series of visions which he wrote down, in one of these he said:
This fasting,” he continued, “is very good, provided the commandments of the Lord be observed. Thus, then, shall you observe the fasting which you intend to keep. First of all, be on your guard against every evil word, and every evil desire, and purify your heart from all the vanities of this world. If you guard against these things, your fasting will be perfect. And you will do also as follows. Having fulfilled what is written, in the day on which you fast you will taste nothing but bread and water; and having reckoned up the price of the dishes of that day which you intended to have eaten, you will give it to a widow, or an orphan, or to some person in want, and thus you will exhibit humility of mind, so that he who has received benefit from your humility may fill his own soul, and pray for you to the Lord. If you observe fasting, as I have commanded you, your sacrifice will be acceptable to God, and this fasting will be written down; and the service thus performed is noble, and sacred, and acceptable to the Lord. These things, therefore, shall you thus observe with your children, and all your house, and in observing them you will be blessed; and as many as hear these words and observe them shall be blessed; and whatsoever they ask of the Lord they shall receive.”
Notice how he said when we fast we are to only eat a little bread and water. Which fits with Isaiah who said “[is it really] A day for a man to afflict his soul”. He then said we are to give the money value of what we save, in not eating fancy to the poor. Not only that we were to do it with our whole house, that means the kids, too. In a consumer world, which is all about spending on self, it teaches our kids the importance of giving to the poor.
I have a birthday coming up, I plan to do this kind of fast for my birthday party, the money I save on gifts, and a cake will be given to the needy. But the kids will join in with bread and a coke, and rather than watch a video focused on wasting money, as YouTube is filled with, they will be taught about, and shown videos of those who go without and told of God’s desire to “not forget the poor”.
