The radical subversiveness of the common meal...

"Open commensality was a similarly radical rejection of class and status. The gospels reveal the horror Jesus’ contemporaries felt, seeing Jesus eating with the poor. He commanded his followers to do the same (Luke 14:12). The meal was the single most important theater for Romans to assert the realities of class and status. Mingling persons of differing classes at the same table for a meal was a radical rejection of the very notion of class and status the likes of which has no clear modern analogy".(www.anthropik.com)"Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” -Luke 14:12-14

Most people would never think that an invitation to dinner could be considered a subversive act. Who would of dreamed that generosity would undermine the very societal structures of the culture or kingdom. But that is exactly what the radical inclusiveness and hospitality of Jesus sets in motion.

Daniel prophesied about this conquering and subversive kingdom that would come: "While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth." (Daniel 2:34-35)He just didn't know it would strike using bread, fish and...salad!

When we are serving meals on Tuesday, we are confronting the very powers that seek to weave chains of racial, economic and dead religious bondage. We confront the systems of this world that divide, ostracize, oppress, ignore and mock the very people Christ called most blessed...the poor. When we all recognize our own poverty and join one another around a common meal, we take part in the total deconstruction of the kingdoms of this world...crumbling kingdoms, that stand in opposition to the ever growing kingdom of God.

Making salad...now feels kind of naughty.

Come have breakfast...

So when they got out on the land,
they see a charcoal fire laid
and a cooked fish lying on it and bread...
Jesus says to them, "Come have breakfast."
None of the disciples dared to inquire of him,
"Who are you?"
knowing that he was the Lord.
Jesus comes and takes the bread
and gives it to them and the fish likewise.
-John 21:1-24

This is one of my favorite set of verses in the Bible.
Jesus making breakfast.
A simple act of love.
God making something...for his friends to eat.

There is something holy...yes, I said holy...about making something for someone to eat. I am not talking about throwing some cardboard box into the microwave and scooping out its contents onto a plate. But when you take the time to think about what you will cook. When you prepare something that was first conceived in your mind and heart for those you love or want to bless. It really is an offering.

Cooking should be rescued today from the frantic hands of over busy lives. The kitchen should once again be sanctified and set up as an altar of worship. A place where time is spent. Where the aromas of slow cooked delights ascend like incense; calming the heart, soothing the troubled mind. The table should be set with a prayerful hum. Each setting is an invitation to share, to commune, to receive.

Cooking is really personal...you handle everything...you touch the meal. I pray that those who fight to remain at home would be hallowed in their home care. I pray that those who are forced or choose to be out of the home...would fully inhabit the home when they are there.

"It takes great artistry to create a home where people will want to talk to each other; where they will want to linger over dinner; where they will want to snuggle up with a quilt and a book on a rainy day instead of escaping to the shopping mall. it takes skill and sensitivity to design ways to buoy, comfort and strengthen the people we love." -Linda Burton "The making of a home".

This isn't woman's work...it's parent work. It's ministry...it's worship.
When was the last time you found a quilt or a blanket that was really, really comfortable and enveloped your son or daughter in it...together? It's about the feel of the blanket chosen...a deeply felt experience. Most memories are packed full of sensation, smell, sounds...a meal can fill the gut or fill the heart and mind. The danger for us parents is when we lose sight of the importance of home and the many nuances of home life that are sacred.

"We need to scrutinize the rush of our activities, because even venerable exertions may be keeping us from becoming and doing what God wants. A packed schedule may be detrimental not only to ourselves, but to those we seek to help. A few years ago our neighbors were drawn to us, but when we talked to them about the Lord, their response was, "We couldn't be Christians; we couldn't live at your pace." They had been attracted to Christ, but the busyness of our lives had scared them from a commitment. -Jean Fleming, "How Busy Is Too Busy?"

I love that Jesus...sat down and cooked a meal..a charcoal fire...not Elijah fire from heaven...PRESTO...kind of cooking but...He cooked fish and bread...in fact the scriptures mention the "means" in which He made the breakfast, it was a charcoal fire.. He took time making a fire and slowly cooking a hearty breakfast for hard working fisherman.

We should worship God in the same way...slowly, with intent, with quality food...in the spirit of Jesus.