How many of us reading grew up in
families where eating regular meals together was a household practice? What do you remember from those times?
June 7 2015 Psalm 138 Luke 22: 14-20
That ideal of eating runs deep in
our culture but when the experts talk about the value of family dinners, they
sometimes fail to express the reality of the modern family. Many families may eat together but it does not mean we eat right: Today we have the Big Mack attack, the so
called hormone free healthy hamburger at A&W, Tim’s processed meats sandwiches and of course the Tim bits. Did you know that Domino's alone
delivers about a million pizzas on an average day. Just because we are sitting together doesn't
mean we have anything to say either, children bicker and fidget and daydream;
as do we adults who may be stewing over the remains of the day. Often the richest conversations, the moments
of genuine intimacy, take place somewhere else.
It could be while taking a drive in the car or on the way back from a
sporting event with the kids. Other
times it is in the quiet moments of an evening when hand or eye contact allow
secrets to be shared.
Yet for all that, there is
something about a shared meal. At home
with family or together in a worship setting with Church family. Much like the fellowship time we had last night
after our musical event, wasn't that great, music fellowship and food I mean.
What I am not talking about is some
holiday blow-out or blow up as many of them turn into. You know the kind I am talking about, they happen once or twice a year. No, what I am speaking about is the regular meals that
anchors us as a family, even on nights
when the food is fast and the talk seems cheap and everyone has some other
place they want to be. There’s something
special about gathering over food and refreshments.
Christians for centuries have
recognize the power that eating together holds.
The gospel of Luke records over 100 occasions alone. For Christians, sharing food is crucial
because in the sharing of food, we are actually shaping our communities. Perhaps the most universal and sacred ritual
of our faith is Holy Communion. The name
itself implies uniting, coming together, in a kind of oneness. The unity of the shared meal, was so
important to the early church that in their worship, they included a version of Jesus last Passover meal with his disciples. The early church didn't call it the sacrament of Holy Communion but practiced
a ritual called the Love Feast or the Agape meal; and there are some denominations
that continue this ritual today. In Congregational fellowship meals, small group dinners or a weekly event with neighbours, the practice of eating together is of major importance to the life
of any family or community. These
informal times are certainly important to our shared faith. Relationships flourish and communities are
strengthened just as much during spontaneous pot luck meals as they are during the liturgical ones, such as when we feast on the word during
worship.
Of the four gospels, John’s Gospel
is the only one who omits the upper room account of the Lord's Supper. But only John includes this teaching: Jesus as the Bread of Life found in (John
6:25-71). When John wrote it, I
believe he knew that his readers would understand it in light of the Lord's
Supper – especially these words from verses 53 to 57. Take a moment to really digest what John is saying here.
Jesus said to them, "I
tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his
blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has
eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains
in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of
the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me."
This is an important passage to
meditate on and understand, since it sheds the truth and real meaning of the
Lord's Supper. Whether you believe this
passage literally, that the bread and wine become that actual body and blood of
Jesus, as do some of our Christian sisters and brothers ,or understand it as a metaphor; either way, with its acceptance, we do become one with Jesus.
In modern terms we might think about it as if by taking in the blessed
food and drink we take into our bodies the DNA of the Christ, therefore, because
Jesus is one with the Father, we also become one with Father and Son. Jesus prays this prayer not just for the disciples whom he will be sending out on His behalf but for all those who hear and accept the message. Jesus Prays for All Believers John 17: 20-21 {NIV} My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
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