A
good number of pastors use the early hours of Sunday mornings to finish up
worship preparation. Maybe
finalize those notes on the sermon, or find pictures to go with their
powerpoint show, or even go over to the church and run through the sermon once
or twice in an empty room.
Sometimes you have to pick up bread and wine for communion, or shovel
snow away from the door if it’s winter and you live where it snows.
Me,
I make breakfast.
If
I’m not out on the road supply preaching, I have the luxury, because our
community worships Sunday evenings, of getting up early, making coffee and
following pretty much the same routine as every other day of the week: let the dog out, feed the cat, pour my
first cup of coffee, sit down in my favorite chair and pray the Morning
Office. Then I read or watch TV
until my girls get up. Sunday
mornings, though, are special. I
make breakfast: eggs, muffins or
pancakes or waffles, bacon or sausage.
We love those weekend days when we
have the time for a hearty family breakfast before we launch into our day. Eating together is important, and not
just because you’re fueling up your body:
eating together is about community. It’s about relationships. Eating together nourishes our souls as much as it nourishes
our bodies. Jesus knew that
breaking bread together was a primary means of creating community, and so in
every resurrection story from the gospel of Luke, Jesus eats with his
disciples. We could even go so far
as to say that Jesus hungered to eat with his friends. If we pay attention to these meals, we
see the kingdom of God breaking into the world; not with dominance and
strength, but with a far different power of lives brought together, souls
well-nourished, broken bodies strengthened together. Eating together is important, to Jesus, to his disciples,
and to us here in this place also.
All of which serves to make tonight
even more important than we might have realized. I sat down this morning to my heaping plate of bacon, eggs
and blueberry muffins and realized I’d never doubted, not for a second, that
we’d be able to eat that meal together.
If we had been out of muffins, or bacon, or eggs, there were plenty of
alternatives in our cupboards. But
there are those who do not have the means to be assured they will have enough
food. Here’s a story about them:
Imagine if Jesus had come into the
midst of his disciples on the night of our story from Luke and discovered they
had no food. Remember the times
Jesus fed the multitudes who’d come to listen to him. Recall the stories from the Old Testament of people fed by
God’s gracious hand: the widow and her son who sheltered Elijah, and the people
of Israel who lived on manna in the desert for 40 years. When Jesus taught his disciples to
pray, part of that prayer was to ask God for our daily bread. Food and nourishment are intimately
tied to the story of God and God’s people – from the moment God created all
that is to the meal by which we are given the flesh and blood of our Lord to the
feast that awaits us when God’s kingdom has fully come into being.
These things come about because of
God’s gracious action, in God’s time by God’s will. But we live in our time, where we are called to act with
will and purpose to tend the world God has entrusted to us. In our time, here in our world, we have
the resources and technology to end hunger, to ensure the basic needs of all
God’s children are met. What we
lack is the will to make it happen.
This is where tonight becomes important.
Hunger doesn’t respect
politics. Republicans and
Democrats go hungry exactly the same way.
Children of Occupy protestors suffer every bit as much as children of
Tea Party protestors. Working to
end hunger is a humanitarian act, not a political one. We have the opportunity to make a small
difference, to be advocates for those who will go to sleep hungry tonight. In this action we help tend to the
nourishment of God’s people – and in tending to their nourishment, we tend
their souls also. The kingdom of
God breaks into the world in such acts, and we become witnesses to the
resurrection life Christ has prepared for us and for all.
Tonight we’ve remembered how Jesus
broke bread with his disciples, how he ate and drank with them and how their
wondering, questioning hearts were filled. May your wondering, questioning hearts be filled as well, in
this community gathered around God’s table and in your action for those whose
tables are empty. May their souls
and their bodies be nourished by your action, and may your soul, your very
being, find peace and joy in knowing you have been a witness against hunger in
God’s world. In the name of
Christ, may it be so. Amen.
 |
| Our letters, ready to be mailed to Senators tomorrow. |
No comments:
Post a Comment