“Alleluia! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!”

With these words we break our Lenten fast.

Some Christians refrain from saying or singing the joyful exclamation of praise — “Alleluia” — during the 40 days of Lent as a discipline, an exercise of self-restraint.

Then, on Easter Sunday, when Lent is over and the fast is broken, the ancient shout of praise once again rings out in church.

“Alleluia! Christ is risen!” the pastor or worship leader calls out.

“Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!” the people respond.

It’s glorious to hear and say these words together in church on Easter Sunday!

But this year that joyful proclamation of faith will have to wait a little longer to be heard within our churches.

Although it is Easter on the calendar, our fast is not yet done. We are all still living under the directive to stay home, so we cannot come together in church on Easter Sunday as we would like.

As a result, we will miss something very precious. Many of us will feel a profound loss on Easter Sunday this year.

But is this situation we find ourselves in only an experience of loss?

Might it not also be an incredible opportunity to discover something more of the depth of the faith we harbor in our hearts?

I think this year’s strange stay-at-home-Easter can teach us about the wisdom of self-restraint. It can be a blessing.

Here’s what I am trying to learn from having to be apart for Easter this year: the practice of fasting is something that people of faith have for centuries found to be beneficial.

I think of St. Paul’s bold words from I Corinthians 8 as providing Scriptural insight in this matter.

As Chapter 8 opens, St. Paul launches into a topic that does not immediately resonate with us — eating food offered to idols. But even though that situation is not one we typically face, we can still find his point to be relevant.

St. Paul encourages the faithful to live their lives conscious of how their behavior affects the other members of their family that is their faith community.

It is in this context that he gets up on a soap box of sorts and says, “If food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.” (I Cor. 8:13, NRSV)

In other words, St. Paul is willing to practice self-restraint in order to care for others. And that is exactly what our staying home from church this Easter is doing. It is an exercise of care for our neighbors.

Dr. Martin Luther, the 16th century German reformer of the Church for whom the Lutheran church is named, taught us that God does not need our good works, but our neighbors do.

We do not fast in order to earn God’s favor. God loves us whether we refrain from saying “Alleluia” during Lent or not.

Our practice of self-restraint is meant to help us become more attentive to the lives and needs of others, to shift the focus from our own wants and needs to the larger values of the whole community. This is the benefit of fasting — it yields an expanded view of how God works through many people to bless the community we find joy in being part of.

It’s the promise of that larger view that is helping me to be patient and keep the fast a little longer this year.

If my self-restraint in any way keeps someone else safe this Easter, that itself is cause to shout out, “Alleluia!”

Bishop Kurt F. Kusserow leads the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.