The word of YHWH [Yahweh] Omnipotent was addressed to me as follows; “YHWH Omnipotent says this. The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth are to become gladness and happiness and days of joyful feasting for the House of Judah. But love the truth and justice.”
Zechariah 8: 18-19
The holidays are a time we associate with festivities that may involve a lot of eating. Magazines at the grocery check out feature ways to avoid gaining weight over the holidays. The stores feature all kinds of delectable delicacies that are generally only available this time of year. Candied fruit, finocchio, chestnuts, and other specialties are featured. I know at our house, we usually use more heavy whipping cream between Thanksgiving and Christmas than we do the other 11 months of the year combined! We associate festive celebrations with food. If there is a reason to rejoice, then there is a reason to eat!
In the scripture from Zechariah, we see this association of feasting and joy. Celebration is connected with feasting. At first the people observed a fast once a year. Then twice a year. The directive to fast 4 months of the year in the verse above is double the directive given just a chapter earlier in Zechariah. So much fasting, a ritual of mourning and repentance. The people evidently had a lot to be sorry for.
But the words of the prophet indicate that all that fasting is to be turned into joyful celebration and feasting. This is because the people have returned to God. They have taken up God’s way again. They are redeemed. They are practicing authentic justice and compassion. They have abandoned defrauding the socially vulnerable. They no longer plot harm to one another. They are to feast for 4 months of the year because they have become a new people.
In AA and other twelve step programs, there is a common saying, “Fake it ‘til you make it.” The idea is to stop drinking (or using) and not drink, even if your thinking and character have not yet been transformed by the twelve step process and lifestyle. As you try to become a better person by working the 12 steps, do the right thing , even though your heart is not in it, and it doesn’t come naturally (yet). Act right, do the right thing, and eventually it will feel right to you.
Maybe we can apply this to the message from Zechariah. This holiday season as we feast, maybe we can fake it until we make it. Maybe we can celebrate with joy that we are living God’s way, shown to us in Jesus. Maybe we can celebrate with joy that we are generous people. We often are this time of year. If now, why not all year? Maybe we can celebrate with joy that we have become more just and fair in society. Maybe we can celebrate with joy that we are more compassionate and understanding. Maybe we can celebrate with joy that we are not taking advantage of others in any way; that there are no victims of our choices. Maybe if we celebrate all of this with our feasting this season, it will become more real for us, and we will have cause for joy not only this month, or two months, or fourth months of the year, but all 12 months of the year!
So, this Christmas do your best to feast joyfully with gladness and happiness, loving truth and justice. May our feasting call forth the world of joy that Jesus came to inaugurate. Bon appetite and pass the whipped cream!
Prayer
Each and every day is a gift with potential and imminent opportunity; a cause for celebration. Sometimes we are too busy and too consumed with our agendas to see it. Feasting is a way to recognize the gift. To celebrate the potential. To enact the hope and joy God intends for us. May we nourish and feed that which fosters our connection with God and one another in truth and justice. Amen.
The theme for this Advent season at Lakewood United Church of Christ is JOY to the World. Each day during the Advent season, a reflection on a scripture passage related to JOY will be posted. We hope these daily reflections help you to have a joy-filled Advent.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 