In our little experiment we call (for lack of a better term) The Gathering, one of the things we hold dear is the idea that those of us who claim to follow Jesus should eat together regularly. There are several reasons for this, among them being:
The first church ate together.
The first Jesus followers were always eating. Seriously; look at how much bread breaking they are doing, all of Paul’s railings on table etiquette, The Emmaus story, Acts Chapter 2, etc. These folks were eating. And this was not incidental to what they did; rather, this is what they did. It was not in addition to “church stuff’, this was church stuff.
Jesus tells us to do it.
Do this in remembrance of me. Do what in remembrance of me? When Jesus said this, he was at a Passover meal. That happens once a year; Did he mean “When you have the Passover meal”? The early Jesus followers did not think so, as I pointed out above. They were eating together as a part of worship all the time. No, the first church took it to mean “Whenever you have a meal in common, do it in remembrance of Jesus”. And so do we.
Eating together echoes Jesus stories
Jesus had a lot to say about food. Jesus fed the five thousand, with tons left over. Jesus fed the four thousand on another day, again with tons left over. Jesus turns water into wine, and there much left over. We are told by Jesus how to act at banquets (take the worse seat for ourselves). We are told who to invite (the blind and the beggar). The Kingdom of God is often compared to a banquet or a feast. The Passover meal itself tells us that God will provide liberation for his people. Matthew 25 tells us that, in some way, our eternal destinies are tied to what we do with food. The examples are near endless.
Sharing food says something about what we believe.
When we eat together, it is making an economic statement: There is enough. It says we depend on each other. It says we can all contribute. It shows us that God made a world of abundance. It says that in the Kingdom of God, no one has to go hungry.
These are a few reasons why we make it a point to share food on occasion. Yesterday was one of those occasions.
There were our usual folks, plus some folks we invited for the first time. We sat down together, white and black, rich and poor, male and female. Many of us brought things — all of our regulars contributed.
There were burritos, soft tacos, hard tacos. There was a ton of refried beans and Spanish rice. For desert, we had huge chocolate chip cookies. We sat and ate, and talked and laughed. For the newcomers, we shared a bit about what we are looking to do. We invited them to come and be a part of us, to share their lives with us and to join us on this journey of following Jesus. There were a lot of questions, most of which were answered better than I could have done it by the regulars.
Here we are, hanging out and chatting before we eat.
Note: I keep getting asked when we will open it up to ‘outsiders’. The answer is still “I am not sure”. It is a lot like going to Grandma’s house. You love doing it, you get a lot out of it, but if you put 20 strangers in the living room, it changes everything. Right now, we are selectively inviting folks. We are not sure what the future looks like yet. Please be patient, and as we build this, we will invite more of you. Meanwhile, we appreciate your prayers, love and support.
A lot of groups do things to help feed the poor. People show up, sit by themselves or whoever they came with, eat their food and then go on their way. That’s not what last night’s meal was like at all. This was more of a family style dinner where people got to sit down and hang out with each other for 2 hours. It reminded me of when I was a kid and my poor, sweet mother would plan around my schedule and insist that we ate dinner together as a family. Sure, I could come home at my own convenience and put together some leftovers to eat, but my mom wasn’t so concerned about my health. She just wanted to make sure our that family consistently spent quality time together. That’s what last night felt like. It wasn’t about getting a free meal. It was a large, incredibly diverse, family sitting down and catching up. I hope this becomes a regular event for us.
And next time I’m bringing some Franks Red Hot.
This is so encouraging, Hugh! I made up a cheesy little phrase a few years ago – The Body of Christ: Some assembly required. It really seems that this is what’s happening with all of you. And not to get into a real presence/memorial meal debate, but I think ‘remembrance’ of the One who’s the resurrected Maestro of Heaven & Earth is so different than remembering, say, Robert Paulson – it’s a kind of re-membering of Jesus in our midst, especially when we share meals in the manner of Jesus.
All of which is to say – you go!