Meal-times played a hugely significant role in the ministry of Jesus. Over and over again it was at a meal-table that Jesus revealed truths about the Kingdom of God, sometimes through his words but more often than not through his actions.
Today’s gospel reading (Lk 7:36-50) is an excellent example. Jesus had accepted a dinner invitation at the home of a Pharisee called Simon. While he was reclining at the table an ‘embarrassing’ scene unfolds — certainly for the Pharisee though not for Jesus. A woman, with her own story of shame and brokenness to tell, stood at Jesus’ feet weeping, and then wiped his feet with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. The Pharisee was scandalised that Jesus allowed this woman of ill repute to carry on in this way. For him, it called Jesus’ very identity into question.
But Jesus would have none of it. He cuts right through the Pharisee’s judgementalism, and then deals graciously with the woman, declaring her sins to be forgiven and telling her to go in peace. The point of this story, and many others like it in the gospels, is that for Jesus a meal table was never just about food and eating. It was a fertile place for the deeper needs of life to be addressed—in this case a woman’s need for acceptance and forgiveness, and a Pharisee’s self-righteous blindness.
Think about some of the memorable meal-tables that you’ve sat around in your life. Can you remember one from your childhood, or maybe the one in your first home after getting married? Maybe there’s a particular meal-table from a special occasion that stands out for you, a 21st birthday celebration, perhaps; or maybe a family reunion. What are some of the memories and associations that you have with those tables? What life and grace did they offer? I have a hunch that you may not be able to remember the details of the food that was eaten there, but other powerful memories may certainly remain.
I remember a table in our kitchen when I was growing up. It was a big kitchen, with space enough for a large round table that could easily seat 6 to 8 people. That’s where our family ate most of our meals. The table was a bit wonky, and so we’d often be seated with our food in front of us, and my dad would start turning the table until it was steady, by which time your plate of food was on the other side of the table.
But what I remember most is that everyone in our family had their place around that table. It was a place of belonging and of nurture where each evening I could tell the story of what happened at cricket practice that day, and listen to my sisters’ and parents’ stories as well. All the while being fed and nourished by my mom’s wonderful cooking. As I think back, I can see that our kitchen table was at the very heart of our home and that the gifts that were shared there were some of the very best that God could give.
So, think about the meal table in your home. How often does it get used? By whom? What are the sorts of things that happen there? How could your meal table become a channel of blessing within your home, where the gifts of belonging, acceptance, togetherness, nourishment, reconciliation, conversation, kindness and care can be freely shared? Sadly, many families have simply gotten out of the habit of eating together, and so have effectively cut themselves off from this magnificent means of grace.
Of course, a meal table can be an agonising place when there’s unresolved conflict in the home. The long silences at supper time speak volumes of the need for reconciliation and forgiveness. This is even more reason to sit down at a meal-table, as there at least the possibility exists for underlying tensions to be acknowledged and hopefully brought into the light.
The movie Babette’s Feast offers a beautiful illustration of the gentle grace that is at work in good food lovingly prepared and shared. In the movie, a small community sit down to a sumptuous feast, where the relational tensions and conflicts among them are resolved as they eat and drink together. Of course, there is no set formula for this and no guarantee that any particular meal will be a time of reconciliation. But what can be said is that this is the potential of every meal that is shared with openness and love. Maybe that’s why Jesus chose a meal—Holy Communion—to be the central act of remembrance of his reconciling love.
PUTTING FAITH INTO ACTION:
- Make a commitment as a family to sit down to a meal together every day. If this feels like too big a step, make the commitment to sit down to a meal together at least once a week.
- For the rest of this season of Lent, ban TV suppers.
- If you live on your own, all of this talk about meal tables may seem irrelevant to you, and maybe even quite painful. But your meal table can still be a place where you consciously gather loved ones around you. You might even want to put photographs of them on the table. As you eat, be open to the love that they have to share and the love you have for them, and your meal times will nourish not only your body, but also your soul.
- Practice hospitality. Invite others to share a sit-down meal in your home.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, meals were special times for you to share and show your love. May that be increasingly true for me and my family. Show me what I can do to allow this important and necessary part of every day to become a source of grace and life for all who join me at my table. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment