Chapel Hill UMC has been challenged by the United Methodist Women to fast from sundown Tuesday, Feb. 21st until 6:00 on Wednesday, Feb. 22. We will break that fast at 6:00pm on Wednesday with a light meal together before we go into the Sanctuary for the traditional Ash Wednesday service which officially heralds the beginning of the season of Lent.
Take the challenge. Fasting is an ancient means of grace and has been exercised as a spiritual discipline for generations. John Wesley fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays from 4 am until 4 pm. The time he would have spent eating and drinking, he spent praying and going through a rigorous time of self-examination of conscience. Many will give the money they would have spent on food to the church as an added discipline.
If you choose to fast, ponder these thoughts from one of my favorite authors, Macrina Wiederkehr:
Fasting makes me vulnerable and reminds me of my frailty. It leads me to remember that if I am not fed I will die. Standing before God hungry, I suddenly know who I am. I am one who is poor, called to be rich in a way that the world does not understand. I am one who is empty, called to be filled with the fullness of God. I am one who is hungry, called to taste all the goodness that can be mine in Christ.
Come join others, even if you decide not to fast, at the brief service of repentance and forgiveness at 7:00 pm on February 22. The service is a means of beginning our journey of remembering Christ’s passion. It is like the melody line in the rich harmony of a symphony. Come re-experience sin confessed and sin forgiven with our sisters and brothers in this body of Christ and bring a friend.
Your servant and His,
Pastor JoNell
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