Breaking Bread

It is truly amazing to skim through the Bible and see just how many times the biblical writers paint scenes of people gathering around a table or a pot eating together. Preaching on the story of the walk to Emmaus I recently commented,

Abraham and Sarah encountered three angelic men near their camp in the book of Genesis – and they did while eating cakes.
The Hebrews celebrated God’s deliverance from Egyptian slavery – and they did it with a meal. In fact, God used the meal itself to deliver the people from Egypt. The very blood of the lamb they ate was placed above the doors to signify the angel of death to pass over their homes, hence the Passover meal.
And in the New Testament, Jesus performed his first miracle – the turning of water in wine – at a meal.
When he saw over five thousand hungry souls – hungry not only for hope, but for food, he took five loaves of bread and two fish – and fed them all. The first biblical buffet!
And then there was the Last Supper. Jesus gave his disciples their new commandment – that they love one another. He told them to continue in his work and to remember him always – and it all happened over a meal.

When people come together over a meal, we are not only putting food into our bodies, we are making a statement of faith that life is worth living (I've been reading Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisypus" in which he argues that the greatest philosophical question is not 'what is life' but 'is life worth living.' Eating affirms that it is!). And in breaking bread and affirming life communally - God's goodness inevitably shines through.

Cherilyn and I enjoyed a wonderful meal with the Vestry and Fr. Randy last night. No agenda, no topics, no plan - just food and the presence of each other. And God's goodness shined.

Do you have memories of God's presence when you break bread (other than the Eucharist!)?

Fr. Steve+