"Blessed is everyone who will feast in the kingdom of God!"
Time and time again, it is in the mealtime context that Jesus points the way to our spiritual nourishment.
The new covenant is about living in the kingdom of heaven.
The kingdom of God is about a way of life – here and now – not about waiting and dreaming of times to come.
To those folks in Galilee so long ago, Jesus said in effect, "If you truly want to fill up on life, then fill up on Me.
Feed on Me, for I am the life-sustaining Bread you long for. "
God spreads a sumptuous banquet before us,
and we nibble around the edges.
God fills our cup to overflowing,
but we scarcely take a sip.
Jesus concludes his story about what the kingdom of heaven is like by passing on the comment of a hearer: "How fortunate the one who gets to eat dinner in God's kingdom!"
"How fortunate the one who gets to eat dinner in God's kingdom!"
Two tourists were busy seeing the sights in Milan, Italy.
They were particularly interested in seeing Leonardo da Vinci's painting, "The Last Supper."
They tried to follow the vague directions given to them by the hotel desk clerk, but they soon became lost. Since they spoke no Italian, their several attempts to question passers-by ended in failure.
Finally, they drew a rough sketch of "The Last Supper" on a pad, and showed it to the next two persons who passed by.
And twice the directions they received led them, not to the museum, but to nearby restaurants.
It's easy to imagine that if Jesus were physically present in Drexel Hill town today, we might find Him in a restaurant (right?), sharing a meal with friends.
For example, in the last chapter of John's Gospel, Simon Peter and several of Jesus' friends decide to go fishing, remember?
All night they fish and catch nothing.
Then, the Risen Jesus appears on the shore and calls out, "Throw the net out to starboard and you'll find something" (Jn. 21:6).
They follow the instructions and immediately catch more fish than they can handle.
Whereupon Simon Peter cries out, "It is the Lord," and he jumps into the water and rushes to Jesus.
When the other disciples come ashore, they see that Jesus has some bread there, and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it.
And, in the midst of it all, Jesus says in effect, "Let's eat!"
Actually, He says to them, "Come and have breakfast" (John. 21:12).
There are many other New Testament scenes in which Jesus shares a meal with others.
On one occasion, He goes down to a wedding feast with His mother and some friends.
On another occasion, He sits down at a table and shares a meal with extortionists and prostitutes among others.
And in that most familiar story, in a single sitting, He feeds a hungry crowd of more than five thousand people. "They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps remaining were collected they filled twelve baskets" (Luke. 9:17).
In setting down the story of Jesus' ministry,
the New Testament writers seem to place a certain emphasis on mealtimes – bodily nourishment – obviously with good reason.
For as we know, it is often in the mealtime context that Jesus points the way to our spiritual nourishment.
It was during the Passover Meal – the "Last Supper" – that Jesus instructed His Apostles to never forget that he will forever be the Source of spiritual nourishment.
As they sat at the table, Jesus broke the bread and shared it with the Apostles, saying, "This is My Body which will be given for you; do this as a memorial of Me" (Luke. 22:19).
Jesus had told them earlier, "I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry" (John. 6:35).
The ancient story of the faith is that God told Noah that the rainbow was placed in the clouds to remind all of the covenant God made with all living things on the Earth.
And we remember that Jesus picked up on this promise during his last supper with his disciples when he told them that God has renewed this covenant to be a part of the everyday life of everyday people everyday – nevermore to feel abandoned or alone – and that the cup they were sharing was a sign of this new covenant –
a new covenant that was going to sealed with his blood .
This is how it was then.
This is how it is now.
The new covenant is about living in the kingdom of heaven.
The kingdom of God is about a way of life – here and now – not about waiting and dreaming of times to come.
So the observer could say: "Blessed is everyone who will feast in the kingdom of God!"
You see, this is a statement of faith.
That’s what this whole thing we celebrate here today is: a statement of faith.
The feast is prepared,
the table is set,
the invitations have gone out,
Jesus said.
And you and I are invited!
You and I get to sit at the table and partake of common elements –
together in unity with others of faith –
in all times and all places.
At the table of the Lord, we say.
It’s a statement of faith.
It’s a pretty arrogant statement when you think about it.
What right do we have to claim to be in the presence of the Lord?
What right do we have to say we’ve gotten an invitation?
What right do we have to be here at all?
By rights, I, for one, am very uncomfortable in the Presence of the Lord.
But, by faith I know the invitation has been given.
By faith, I know the Lord is present here –
and wherever I go,
whatever I do.
By faith, I know that this table is a sign of the Kingdom of God –
a new covenant God made with us through Jesus.
By faith, we are here.
You know you are here.
You know I am here.
And as you look around, you may know who else is here.
But I really don’t think is very obvious who we – as a group – are.
As we look around the room, some of us are local residents – living within walking distance of the church.
Some of us live too far to walk, yet close enough to be considered near.
Some of us are what might be called commuters –
some driving great distances to be here and be a part of this worshiping fellowship.
Some of our congregation are older – some 18 of our members are over 70.
But there are an equal number of folks that worship here regularly who are under 50.
Some of our congregation have young children.
Some of our congregation have been attending Presbyterian worship their whole lives,
some had never been inside a Presbyterian church before they found us.
A question I ask often is “Would any of the people of this congregation have found a place to worship if we weren’t here doing what we do?
Lord knows, there are plenty of other places to worship – if you drove here today, you passed by many many other churches.
But, as I look at it, there are very few who take seriously the movement of Biblical studies of the past 50 years or so,
and seek to incorporate them into the sermons and liturgies and songs and prayers.
And there are even fewer who take seriously what recent scientific studies tell us about communication
and what makes us human
and how our body and mind and soul are wrapped into a whole.
And, I really don’t know of any others that custom designs a Sunday School curriculum to introduce the stories of our faith in a way that is meaningful to a young child.
Well, I could go on . . .
But my intention was to stimulate your thinking a little bit about
who we are as a church,
and what makes us different,
and what strengths we might play to
as we deal with the questions of the day.
So, I am going to stop now so we can celebrate this symbol of the great feast to come –
to which all of you –
and even I – are invited.
For, as the observer noted:
"The greatest blessing of all is to be at the banquet in God's kingdom!"
This sermon was a part of a worship service at Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, June 5, 2011.
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