To know me is to know that I LOVE food.
Some say it’s my love language- I experience the world and loving others in eating, feeding, preparing, and gathering. One of my favorite ways to experience God’s Kingdom and glory through food is to head to the Farmers Market on Saturday morning. I walk the aisles, marveling at the vendors' tables heaped with treasures from the earth. Throughout the year the seasonal offerings change, but if you look, you will find colors, shapes, and inspiration that entice the eyes and the palate. This is a place where God shows off His creation, the partnership between humans and the divine. The gift of cultivating the earth and bringing forth nourishment which nurtures bodies and souls.
The Kingdom is evident in our palates.
The world of flavors that we are able to experience through our taste buds all point to our creative God. Eating is a unique experience as it engages all of our senses. A juicy cherry tomato picked straight off the vine still warm from the sun, its sweetness lingering on your tongue. The sound of bacon sizzling in the pan and the intoxicating aroma that fills the air. An artfully arranged salad vibrant with colors that please the eye. A warm bowl of stew and the textures that fill your mouth, from the tender vegetables to the unctuous and savory pieces of meat. Only a God that delights and revels in His creation could create such personal and satisfying experiences. Eating, which might seem ordinary and obligatory to some, becomes joyous when we slow down and fully experience food, engaging all of our God given senses in every bite.
Cooking, eating, and gathering are sacred acts.
Over the years I have had many meals cooked for me, and I have cooked many for others. Much of my extended family lost their homes in the Camp Fire, and we grew from a family of three to eleven overnight, for about three weeks. The morning after the fire, there wasn’t a lot I could offer my family who had all walked away with almost nothing but the clothes on their backs. I made a simple breakfast of coffee, scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. I fed them because they needed it to sustain life, and I fed them as an act of love. To gather my loved ones around my table in the midst of deep grief and trauma and to nurture their bodies was a gift, one I could offer to comfort and sustain. Over the next week our church body reached out in love to nurture our family with meals.
One of the things that I marvel at in the mystery of food, is that I believe that you can taste the love in every bite.
The comfort of being cared for, and the love that I experienced in the midst of great tragedy nourished my body and my spirit. Feeding people is a sacrificial love-gift. When we prepare a meal for someone we give of our time, our resources, and our energy to give life to someone else. The act of eating is essential to sustain life, but food is one of those amazing constants in our lives through tragedy and triumph, devastation and celebration. We gather, we comfort, we are nourished, and nurtured.
Christ offers us the ultimate representation of food as love with the Eucharist.
Every time we break bread and drink from His cup, we remember Perfect Love- His love that came down to rescue us. Every time we remember his broken body for us and His blood shed on the cross, we are nourished- body, soul, mind, and spirit. One bite and we are transformed, never the same again. We are one in our union with Him.
Gathering people around our table is Holy.
The table is a place where intimacy, connection, relationship, and nourishment are fostered. It is a life sustaining place. This is the same invitation that Christ extends to us to gather at His table. A place to grow in our intimacy, in our connection, and to be nourished.
Come to the table- gather ‘round. Gather your loved ones, your friends, your family. Gather with Christ. Come and sit with Him.
And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. ~ Luke 22:19-20 (NASB)
If you missed Pastor Andrew's message last Sunday from his series The Kingdom, "Jesus Is King Over All", click here to watch the video or listen to the podcast.
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