Fasting into Rest - Pastor Bradley Peters
Isaiah 58 becomes the lens through which fasting, rest, and true devotion are re-examined. What looks like piety from the outside—public humbling, ritual abstinence, and dutiful worship—can mask rebellion and self-justification. Authentic fasting, however, is inward and outward at once: it breaks chains of injustice, feeds the hungry, shelters the stranger, and refuses to exploit workers. When fasting is reduced to suffering for show, it breeds anger, quarrels, and a shallow spirituality that God will not honor. By contrast, fasting that issues in mercy and justice invites God’s light, healing, and the forward motion of righteousness.
Biblical examples illustrate different faces of fasting. Nineveh’s corporate repentance shows fasting as sorrow that leads to communal reformation. Daniel’s watchful fast in the face of crisis demonstrates devotional urgency and personal dependence. Jesus’ refusal to be distracted from his mission at the well models a different kind of abstaining—one sustained by the joy of God’s work rather than by performative suffering. The narrative of Mary and Martha frames the pastoral tension between service and presence: some work is holy, yet the greatest gift is to sit at Emmanuel’s feet and receive.
Rest receives equal theological attention. God’s design for sabbath rests not as laziness but as participation in the Creator’s rhythm—work followed by rest—and as trust in God’s providence. True rest comes from the assurance that atonement is accomplished in Christ and that labor without love cannot purchase God’s favor. Fasting can free time and focus so people may lean into prayer, justice, and the sustaining joy of kingdom work. The promise of Isaiah follows: when fasting turns to righteousness, light will dawn, healing will come quickly, and the Lord will answer and be a rear guard for his people.
The conclusion presses both holiness and hope: turn fasting into compassionate action, allow God’s finished work to grant rest, and reorder busyness so that presence with God and neighbor becomes the measure of spiritual life. The appropriate response is not mere discipline for discipline’s sake but a reoriented life that reflects God’s mercy, enjoys his rest, and advances his kingdom.