LUKE 24:35-48
WHEN I WAS GROWING UP,
ABOUT EVERY FEW WEEKS WE KIDS WOULD BE SITTING DOWN WITH OUR COUSINS
AT ANOTHER SUPPER COMMEMORATING SOME OCASSION IN OUR EXTENDED FAMILY
– SOMETIMES NO OCCASION AT ALL, JUST THE FACT THAT SOMEONE WE
HADN'T SEEN FOR A WHILE HAD BLOWN INTO TOWN. MY MOTHER WAS NOT THE
GREATEST COOK IN THE WORLD, EXCEPT FOR HER BAKING SKILLS, AND AS MY
DAD GOT HIS MEAT AND POTATOES, EVERYBODY WAS HAPPY. BUT WHEN WE ATE
IN THE HOME OF A RELATIVE, THERE WAS ALWAYS SOMETHING DELICIOUS.
MOST OF MY RELATIVES WERE FARMERS OR HAD FARMING ROOTS, AND GERMAN
AND EASTERN EUROPEAN INFLUENCES COLORED THE CUISINE. BEING A GROWING
BOY, I ALWAYS LOOKED FORWARD TO THESE OCASSIONS.
BUT YOU ALL KNOW THAT
SHARING FOOD WITH FRIENDS AND RELATIVES CHANGES REFUELING THE BODY
INTO A TRULY HUMAN EXPERIENCE. WHEN I GO AWAY FOR A CONFERENCE, IF I
HAVE TO EAT ALONE, I GENERALLY BUY SOMETHING IN THE LOCAL 7-11 AND
TAKE IT BACK TO MY HOTEL ROOM. THERE'S NO SENSE IN GOING OUT TO A
RESTAURANT AND WORKING MY WAY THROUGH A REGULAR MEAL IF THERE ISN'T
SOMEONE TO SHARE IT WITH.
THIS WEEK WE ARE HAVING
AN INTERFAITH CONVOCATION AT SAINT MARY'S, AND AS A SYMBOL OF
SOLIDARITY AND MUTUAL RESPECT, WE WILL SHARE A MEAL WITH MUSLIMS AND
JEWS AND OTHER CHRISTIANS AND MEMBERS OF THE B'HAI FAITH. THE
SHARING OF FOOD PUTS A SEAL OF AUTHENTICITY ON WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO
DO.
I KNOW MANY MEMBERS OF
SAINT MARY'S PARISH EAT MOST OF THEIR MEALS ALONE. I GUESS YOU CAN
GET USED TO THAT, BUT IT'S SAD TO MISS THAT HUMAN EXPERIENCE OF
SHARING A MEAL.
TODAY JESUS APPEARS IN
THE MIDST OF HIS DISCIPLES ONCE AGAIN; AND THEY ARE STARTLED AND
TERRIFIED ONCE AGAIN. JESUS HAS BEEN MURDERED. HIS HEART HAS BEEN
IMPALED ON A SPEAR JUST TO MAKE SURE HE WAS DEAD. HE WAS BURIED IN
THE GROUND, WRAPPED IN A SHROUD. AND HE RISES FROM THE DEAD. THE
WORLD WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. THE MOST MOMENTOUS EVENT IN HISTORY,
PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE, HAS TAKEN PLACE. GOD WAS PUT TO DEATH AND
MAN ROSE FROM THE DEAD, AND GOD AND MAN WERE ONE IN THIS JESUS. AND
JESUS ASKS, “HAVE YOU ANYTHING TO EAT?”
WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS
THAT, JESUS? I IMAGINE THAT DYING AND RISING FROM THE DEAD CAN MAKE
YOU PRETTY HUNGRY – BUT STILL....
IT'S POSSIBLE TO READ
THIS STATEMENT AS A WAY FOR JESUS TO SHOW HIS DISCIPLES THAT HE IS
FLESH AND BONE, NOT A GHOST. BUT REMEMBER THAT IN THE SECTION OF THE
GOSPEL JUST BEFORE THIS ONE, HE WAS SITTING AT THE TABLE SHARING A
MEAL WITH THE TWO DISCIPLES WHO HAVE JUST TOLD THE APOSTLES ABOUT
THEIR OWN MEETING WITH JESUS.
I THINK INSTEAD THAT
JESUS WANTED TO EAT WITH HIS DISCIPLES AGAIN; THE DESIRE TO SHARE
FOOD WITH FRIENDS IS PERHAPS A MUCH STRONGER SIGN OF BEING HUMAN THAN
HAVING A BODY OF FLESH AND BONE.
WHEN WE THINK ABOUT
INTIMACY MANY OF US THINK IN SEXUAL TERMS; BUT EATING WITH OTHER
PEOPLE IS AN INTIMATE ACT, AND NOT AN EXCLUSIVE ONE. MOST OF US WHO
ARE MARRIED BEGAN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH MEALS TOGETHER – USUALLY
THESE WOULD BEGIN WITH SHARING FOOD AND DRINK AT A PARTY OR A DANCE,
GRADUALLY PROGRESSING TO THAT FIRST DELIBERATE MEAL TOGETHER IN A
NICE RESTAURANT. AND GETTING AWAY TO EAT TOGETHER IS STILL A WAY WE
RENEW OUR RELATIONSHIP.
THE QUAKERS HAVE AN
INSIGHT WHICH I THINK ALL OF US CAN APPRECIATE; UNLIKE MOST CHRISTIAN
DENOMINATIONS, THEY DO NOT CELEBRATE THE LORD'S SUPPER, THE
EUCHARIST, HOLY COMMUNION – ALL TERMS WHICH HAVE TO DO WITH A
SYMBOLIC MEAL OF BREAD AND WINE, WHICH WE CATHOLICS BELIEVE BECOMES
THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. THE QUAKERS, THOUGH, BELIEVE THAT
WHEREVER TWO OR MORE PEOPLE SHARE A MEAL, IT IS A SACRED MEAL. GOD
IS PRESENT IN A SPECIAL WAY. WE CAN SEE THE ROOTS OF THE IDEA IN THE
STATEMENT JESUS MADE, “WHEREVER TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED IN MY
NAME, THERE I AM.”
WHEN JESUS APPEARED AMONG
HIS DISCIPLES, THEY WERE FRIGHTENED AND EVEN TERRIFIED. WHEN HE
ASKED THEM FOR SOMETHING TO EAT, THEY WERE REASSURED BECAUSE THEY HAD
HEARD WORDS LIKE THAT FROM HIM SO MANY TIMES BEFORE WHEN THEY WALKED
WITH HIM THROUGH THE LENGTH AND BREADTH OF ISRAEL. NO DOUBT THEY
REMEMBERED THE LITTLE GIRL WHOM JESUS HAD RAISED FROM THE DEAD. AS
HE HANDED HER TO HER PARENTS, HIS WORDS TO THEM WERE “YOU GIVE HER
SOMETHING TO EAT.” AFTER HE RAISES HIS FRIEND LAZARUS FROM THE
DEAD, THE NEXT SCENE HAS JESUS AT A SUPPER BEING HELD IN THE HOME OF
MARTHA, MARY, AND LAZARUS. ON THE SHORE OF THE LAKE AFTER HIS
RESURRECTION HE STARTS A CHARCOAL FIRE AND COOKS SOME FISH, AND CALLS
HIS APOSTLES: COME, HAVE BREAKFAST.
IN OUR WORLD WE ARE
LOSING SOMETHING THAT MAKES US HUMAN. WE RUSH THROUGH MCDONALDS.
IN MANY HOMES EVERYONE EATS WHEN THEIR SCHEDULE PERMITS. AND WHEN
THERE IS AN ATTEMPT TO GET EVERYBODY TO SIT DOWN TOGETHER, THERE IS
OFTEN SOMEONE WHO FEELS PUT OUT BECAUSE THEY WILL BE LATE FOR THE
NEXT EVENT.
WHEN WE EAT WITH EACH
OTHER, WE MAKE OURSELVES VULNERABLE; WE OPEN OURSELVES UP IN MORE
WAYS THAN OPENING OUR MOUTHS. WE CAN'T REALLY EAT WITH OTHER PEOPLE
UNLESS WE CONVERSE, EVEN IF WE TALK ABOUT NOTHING BUT THE WEATHER.
IF WE DON'T SPEAK, WE ARE EATING ALONGSIDE THEM, NOT WITH THEM.
IT'S IMPORTANT, I THINK,
FOR US TO MAKE AN EFFORT TO RECAPTURE THE ACT OF EATING TOGETHER, AT
LEAST NOW AND THEN. IT'S IMPORTANT FOR OUR HUMANITY, IT'S IMPORTANT
TO OVERCOME ALIENATION AND LONILINESS. AND IT'S IMPORTANT FOR OUR
APPRECIATION OF THE EUCHARIST, WHICH, AFTER ALL, IS A MEAL, A MEAL IN
COMMON, A MEAL IN WHICH WE SHARE THE BREAD AND WINE AND SPEAK WITH
EACH OTHER AND WITH OUR FATHER, ALL IN RESPONSE TO THE INVITATION OF
JESUS: TAKE AND EAT THIS, ALL OF YOU, FOR THIS IS MY BODY.”
SO YOU'VE JUST HEARD A
SERMON ABOUT EATING, ABOUT SHARING A MEAL. MAYBE YOU FEEL IT'S A
SMALL MATTER. BUT I FIGURE IF JESUS ASKED FOR SOMETHING TO EAT AFTER
CHANGING HISTORY, OPENING THE GATES OF HEAVEN, OVERCOMING DEATH, AND
WINNING OUR SALVATION, IT ISN'T A SMALL MATTER AT ALL.
