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.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Fasting must change the heart Fasting that remains a public performance preserves sin rather than removes it. True fasting entails inward repentance that shows itself in transformed relationships, honest confession, and an end to hypocrisy. A genuine fast produces humility that rearranges priorities toward God and neighbor. [41:14]
• 2. Justice and mercy, not ritual God judges fasting by its fruit: loosening injustice, breaking yokes, and sharing food with the hungry. Ritual without righteousness is an evasion; practical compassion is the evidence of a fasting soul. When mercy governs practice, God’s light and healing follow. [64:29]
• 3. Fasting can be redemptive repentance Corporate or personal affliction can catalyze genuine turning from sin, as Nineveh’s example shows. Repentant fasting is not a performance but a communal reorientation toward life-giving obedience and restored relationship with God. Such fasting invites God’s compassion and averts judgment. [47:28]
• 4. Fast toward rest in Christ Abstaining from food or distraction should lead to deeper dependence on Christ and a Sabbath of soul. Rest is not escape but trust—resting in the finished atonement and joining God’s work with serene confidence. True rest renews service and calms the anxious heart. [54:40]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [36:38] - Personal confession about fasting
• [37:33] - Isaiah 58 introduced
• [37:52] - Reading Isaiah 58:1–2
• [38:18] - Opening prayer and reflection
• [45:11] - Dangers of outward fasting
• [47:28] - Jonah and Nineveh: repentance
• [50:53] - Jesus at the well: sustained mission
• [54:40] - Rest and sleep as God’s gift
• [59:44] - Mary and Martha: presence vs. work
• [64:29] - Isaiah’s call to justice and mercy
• [68:03] - Closing prayer and benediction

Bible Reading

Isaiah 58:1–9a (ESV)
“Shout it aloud; do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”

John 4:31–34 (ESV)
“Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Has anyone brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.’”

Luke 10:38–42 (ESV)
“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.’”

Observation questions

1. In Isaiah 58:1–2, what are the specific ways the people appear to be seeking God on the outside, and how does God describe their actual condition? [37:52]
2. According to Isaiah 58:6–7, what are the tangible actions that characterize the "fast" God has chosen? [01:04:53]
3. In the story of Mary and Martha, what specifically was Martha "distracted" by, and what was Mary doing instead? [01:00:05]
4. When the disciples urged Jesus to eat in John 4, what did he identify as the "food" that was sustaining him? [51:14]

Interpretation questions

1. Isaiah 58:3–4 describes people who fast but continue to "exploit workers" and engage in "strife." How can religious rituals like fasting actually be used to mask a heart that is still in rebellion? [45:11]
2. Jesus speaks of having "food that you know nothing about" while ministering to the Samaritan woman. How does being "sustained by the joy of the work" differ from performative religious suffering? [51:38]
3. The promise in Isaiah 58:8–9 says that when we practice justice and mercy, our "light will break forth" and God will be our "rear guard." What is the connection between our treatment of others and our experience of God’s presence? [01:06:10]

Application questions

1. It is possible to look like a person who "seeks God out" while actually justifying small sins or ignoring God's commands [40:01]. Are there areas in your life where you are maintaining a "good show" on the outside while feeling far from God’s presence on the inside?
2. Sometimes spiritual disciplines can make us "hangry" or irritable toward our families or coworkers [45:27]. How can you ensure that your times of fasting or sacrifice lead to more compassion for others rather than more quarreling and strife?
3. If the devil cannot make us bad, he will often try to make us busy [55:40]. Looking at your schedule this past week, have you been more like Martha—worried and upset about many things—or have you taken time to sit at the feet of Emmanuel? [01:00:30]
4. True rest is a gift from God, yet many of us toss and turn at night worrying about our tasks and schedules [56:45]. What would it look like for you to "fast into rest" this week by consciously handing your anxieties over to the Lord before you go to sleep? [55:23]
5. God’s chosen fast involves "sharing your food with the hungry" and "not turning away from your own flesh and blood" [01:04:53]. Is there someone in your life—a neighbor, a worker, or a family member—that you have been too busy to notice or help? How can you reorient your week to show them God's mercy?
6. Sabbath is a participation in God’s own rhythm of work and rest [57:13]. Do you have "brunch" moments in your life where you stop on purpose to enjoy the time you have, or are you constantly rushing to the next task? [58:52]