hungry?

Jesus’ sermon on the mount is full of meaty stuff. I’m sure many Christians could regurgitate much of it on cue. Check out Matthew 6:2 ‘So when you give to the needy…’, which is echoed in 6:5 ‘And when you pray…’ – and that’s all good. Jesus isn’t so much commanding us to give to the poor or to pray, but he’s assuming we will in a response to who God is. So what about 6:16 ? ‘When you fast…’ also carries the same assumption, yet today fasting doesn’t get the same treatment amongst western Christians.

This is something I was struck by in Ethiopia. The Orthadox Church there promotes ‘fasting’ (ie. vegan food only) 2 days a week, as well as 40 days before Christmas and another 40 before Easter. Admittedly the average Ethiopian would probably go along with it to please (or appease) God, but the fact remains Jesus is making an assumption here about the Christian life that we, on the whole, ignore. At least I think we do…? Anyone got any reflections on the who, when, where of fasting?