In the breaking of the bread......

"I broke the bread, big chunks from Tom's round wheat loaf, and put a piece in the hand of the person standing in front of me, and looked at her.  Something happened......again."

There is power in the words "in the breaking of the bread," power beyond the simple meaning of the words.  Two travelers heading to Emmaus discovered that their dinner guest was the risen Lord Jesus himself in the 'breaking of the bread.'  Three of our younger members who come for bread lift their hands reverently, and even if only for 15 seconds they are centered, focused, ready to take and eat the bread that is broken for them.  Our older members who cannot come to worship with the fellowship will say, 'Be sure to bring communion when you visit."

There is power in the breaking of the bread because Christ is present. On the night in which he was betrayed (how often have we entered into those words and that story?) Jesus broke bread with his disciples - all 12.  Judas, the one we love to hate.  Peter, the one we love to redeem by overlooking his denial of Christ.  Some of the disciples fade away from the historic record, they become the anonymous ones sort of like you and me.  Together they broke bread.  Together....with Christ and with one another.

Thus they modeled the Christian life.  We do it together.  We do it with betrayers and deniers and behind-the-scenes workers.  We do it with strangers and disreputable folk.  We do it with enemies.  We live the Christian life in the midst of the life we know, yet breaking bread with all who come to the table.

When I traveled to Africa, I learned about a code of hospitality which welcomed, fed, and protected the guest.  Those with little shared their little with me.....and here's the real insight.....they rejoiced that they were able to give and to share.  We ate at the same table; we shared the same food.  We became family for that moment.

Just like the communion bread we share, we don't receive it because we are good or special.  We receive because Christ poured out himself into this meal of solidarity where all the hungry are fed.  The bread on the table of the Lord is meant to be shared with everyone.  It is not a private meal.  Jesus didn't choose only the holy, the deserving, the morally upright to invite to the table; he invited and ate with all.  He invited me.  He invited you.

Luther said, "We are beggars, all."  We are all hungry in a thousand different ways.  Jesus feeds all.  Jesus feeds all.

Thanks be to God.

No Hunger Games here

Too many children go to bed without enough food in their stomachs.  I have read as many as 1 in 5 children in the US are hungry.  Add to that number the children and adults around the world who are unsure of where their next meal will come from, and we have a serious problem on our hands.

The World Hunger Appeal and the Good Gifts program of the ELCA address just these issues at home and abroad.  Go to elca.org and participate in making a difference.

The Church provides more than nourishment for the soul and spirit; it fills tummies as well.  We will gather at the communion table this Sunday and be nourished by the hand of Jesus.  Let us reach out our hands and help nourish the hungry in our world as well.

Hunger

This is a heads up.  Eat a good breakfast Sunday because the sermon is going to be about hunger, and if you are like me, all it takes is someone talking about hunger to get my stomach rumbling...or is that grumbling?

Our lessons are the story of David and Bathsheba (see two previous posts) and Jesus feeding the 5000.  Now I know why I chose the 2 Samuel story of David for the Old Testament text.....it is just too good a story to miss.  But it wasn't clear how that story connected in any way to Jesus' feeding the 5000.  (And to tell the truth, the lectionary folks didn't intend it to.  2 Samuel is the alternate OT text).

But then the word struck:  HUNGER.  What we want, what we need, and where it all leads us.  For some it leads to Jesus and God.  For others, it becomes a great abyss into which we fall. 

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they will be filled."  Mt5.6

The writer of 2 Samuel tells us "But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD and the LORD sent Nathan to David."  2 Sam12.1    When the prophet comes a-callin' at your door, be prepared to repent.

That's what we are talking about Sunday, but it certainly is a good topic for conversation all week.