A Meal Shared

A Meal Shared

This time of year we gather around tables as family and friends and so it seems
natural to consider what is within a meal we share? At its very basic component
level is the sustenance to maintain our bodies need for caloric consumption and
supply energy to each of its organs for their purpose within the body. However,
despite its simplicity – it’s so much more.
Food represents love in its physical form. In the beginning of creation God could
have proposed that man only eat Manna. This bland flour would sustain man all
of his days and he would have known no difference. If this had been our reality -
a meal might have been considered solely for its purpose of sustenance.
Thankfully, this was not his design.
We read on the 6 th day in Genesis 1:28 and following verses that God blessed man
and told him of the fruits and grains and variety of foods he had made for him to
eat. To complement this menu God designed our mouths to taste various flavors
provided from his creation for our enjoyment. When we understand the care and
intention behind his design we can consider the love he carries for mankind and
how foundational a meal is within our lives.
Meals were designed at the core our relationships. As we cook a meal for each
other that same intentionality is shared between each of us. In our fast paced
culture we can often miss this and rush through this shared event as if it were an
obstacle that gets in the way of where we need to get to next. When time is taken
with planning and cooking, each meal is an embodiment of our love for each
other. When we do so we glorify our creator and his love for us. We also
recognize our dependency for him, and on each other as he provides the elements
then so many others have contributed to the harvesting and logistics that led to
the food on each of our tables.
When we share food it breaks social boundaries as well. From before the time
Jesus walked the earth through today, those we share a table with are typically
those closest to you in relationship, or in some cases those desired to benefit from
association. We read within multiple accounts of scripture where Jesus spent
time reclining at meals with all types of people. These social boundaries were
often crossed by Jesus through his inclusion and affection to commune with
those considered unclean or despised by others in the religiously elite circles.
In Luke chapter 7, we read of a meal where Jesus was invited to dine at the home
of Simon who was among the Pharisee elitist. The intention of the invite was
most likely a power move to host the new and upcoming Rabbi that was the talk
of the town. However, it became a multifaceted teaching opportunity for our
Savior. An uninvited woman with a reputation as a sinner in the eyes of the
Pharisees disregarded these social boundaries and approached Jesus while he
was reclined at the table. She brought oil and her sorrows to his feet then began
kissing and anointing his feet and washing them with her own hair. Despite this
incredibly display of humility - the guests of the party and Simon looked upon her
with disdain and questioned Jesus’ prophetical power since he allowed someone
considered unclean to touch him. Jesus instead takes the opportunity to make
evident the value of a heart full of gratitude and illustrate that despite Simon
inviting him to share a meal in his own home - a stranger had outdone him in
hospitality at his own table.

We can learn through this story that hospitality can be a barrier breaker. Some of
the best ways we can evangelize is to spend time and get to know someone over a
meal.
The Holiday season ahead presents some great shared meal opportunities to
build relationship. We can be intentional to slow our pace and take an hour more
at the table, laughing together and enjoying one another’s company. This is the
will of God we read of in Psalms 34:8 - that in our affection for one another we
share in his love and “Taste and See that the Lord is Good.”
Jesus’ love and desire is expressed in a shared a meal with his most beloved
friends before his death. (Luke 22:15) We see throughout the course of time that
our father desires the same for us to dwell with him around his great table. In
Luke 13 Jesus describes that we will continue into eternity and recline with him
one day at the table in the Kingdom of God. I hope each of us can reflect on that
scene and cherish the gift of time around the table together each day.
- Rett Griffith

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Little White Lies

We’ve all heard of them – they’re the lies people tell and convince themselves that
they are justified because they:

avoid hurting someone’s feelings
protect an important secret
don’t involve anything important
are really just told in jest
are expected in business dealings
etc.

If you don’t like the term “white lies” you can take your pick of the other
euphemisms we have invented: fib, half-truth, equivocation, prevarication,
stretching the truth.
You will search your Bible in vain to find justification for any sort of lie. What we
are told is found in Prov 6:16-19, where we read that “a lying tongue” and “a false
witness that speaketh lies” are an ABOMINATION to God.
As for the specific question of whether some lies are excusable, we are told in Rev
21:8: “The fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in
the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.”
Someone has observed that people who think it is permissible to tell little “white
lies” often become colorblind.
- Selected

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