Last night I went out to friends' for supper. I've known this family for quite some time. I think I met them when I'd been here about nine months. They've welcomed me into their home and into their lives. And...well...even that gets a bit complicated.
This is a religious family. Yes, making the distinction is important, even here. Not everyone here is religious in the same way that America is not truly 76% Christian. Oh, some make the yearly trek to church at Christmas and Easter. Here there are those who take part in this or that aspect of their religion. Some even consider them both Mm and atheist at the same time. Their Mm-ness has more to do with their national identity than with true faith of any kind.
This family is not of that ilk. They are in pursuit of righteousness as spelled out by their book. It is a righteousness of good works, of scales that weigh out good and bad deeds. It is a righteousness that hopes that one day the good that they've done will be taken into account rather than the bad that they've done.
Last night we sat at the table until the call to prayer was heard. Then, and only then, could the meal be started. First personal prayers were offered. Then the water. Then the food. I attempted to make conversation over the meal like we have done in times past. Oh, I forgot. This is a meal to break a 17 hour complete fast. No water, no food, if you take it to it's extreme then there is also no saliva (a junior high boy's dream - spit all you want!). Food is the main point of the meal.
Just before the call to prayer was heard, my friend's husband asked me if we had a fast like this. Like this? No. We have nothing like it. We do fast, but not to earn favor with God. We fast in combination with prayer, but it is free. We are not commanded to fast for a certain time and in a certain way.
But how long must you fast? There is not a prescribed time. Oh that more had come to my mind at that moment. More about who the God is that we are serving, that we are loving when we fast. More about what it takes to please Him. More about how our works do not please Him without the sacrificial blood of His Son split on our behalf.
The words come now. They've been said in other ways, in other conversations. I think about them today. Is it because I am actually chasing after my own self righteousness that I didn't say them again to my friend? Yes, I am covered by the blood. My works are nothing. But I so easily forget.
So in a way I am thankful for these thirty days of fasting. I'm thankful for the daily reminder that it is finished, that there is no need to chase after my own righteousness any longer, that I am now counted righteous because of Someone Else's perfect righteousness.
Another reason to give thanks that I live and serve in this country.
No comments:
Post a Comment