Food Fight!

The blissful beginning in the Garden of Eden went sour over food. The enticement of eating a fruit of the tree from the talking snake was too delectable to pass up. Eve’s groping, grabbing and gobbling of the fruit (Medieval commentators surmised it was an apple because the word was closely associated with evil) and Adam’s subsequent follow-up was enough to lead to humanity’s undoing. All of this was over a fruit. Food has been a long-standing issue through the Bible. Consider that Jesus’ first temptation was over some stones being turned into Middle Eastern flatbreads. Or think about David bringing cheese for his brothers at the battle lines in the Valley of Elah. Then there is Paul’s rebuking of Peter for withdrawing from table fellowship when Jewish Christians came on the scene. Jesus was sharply criticized for allowing His disciples to eat some corn on the Sabbath day. Oftentimes, food was at the centre of the controversy. Food fights were not at all uncommon.

For us, in the affluence of Western society we take food for granted given we have an abundance of it. But it wasn’t always this way. In fact it’s not like that in poorer countries. We are instructed by our Lord to pray for our daily bread. And that is only after we have sought God’s reputation to be kept holy, His kingdom to come and His will to be done here on God’s green earth. Food is God’s generous provision for His creatures. He grants us the sheer enjoyment of naturally harvested local domestic food. Food also matters because we eat with other people. It’s a social thing. We do not eat in isolation, contrary to popular lifestyle that eats alone. Food was meant to be received, shared and ingested. We do God and one another an injustice by neglecting the table with others.

For baptized Christians who are being discipled in the Truth, our Lord mandates a table to be participated in together. We are to partake of the Lord’s Supper and commune with our Lord and think about the night He was betrayed while munching on a cracker and sipping on some juice. Do this in remembrance of Me. Christ would have us until He comes, to share in a Holy Meal regularly and to have our practices shaped in the way of peace. This is the remedy for fights in the church. We remember we belong to Christ and are family and stop griping about petty differences that mater little in the final economy of things. Peace to be sure is God’s gift and must be received in togetherness in the kingdom of God. May we remember we are followers of Jesus Christ. Let us engage in mission together for the sake of the world by starting at the table of brotherhood in Christ. Then we will draw others to the table with Jesus Christ, a most generous loving host. Let’s say grace.

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