"Eating Around the Table"

sermon by Pastor David Layman

November 18, 2007

Isaiah 12

Acts 2:42-47

Jesus spent a lot of his ministry eating with others! We often may think that the place we can be closest to God is in a sanctuary, praying, singing, listening to God's Word. But when Jesus knew he would soon be giving up his life on a cross and leaving this world, he chose a dinner table as the setting to leave his disciples with a sacrament that could nourish them during their difficult separation. Jesus celebrated the passover, marking the Hebrew children's deliverance from slavery in Egypt, and marked our deliverance from sin by taking bread and breaking it, saying, "This is my body, which is for you."

A study was conducted of National Merit scholars over the past 20 years seeking to discern what these outstanding students all have in common. They found that, without exception, these youth came from families who sat down and ate together three or more nights a week. Furthermore, children in families who ate supper together were more likely to adopt the faith and values of their parents, less likely to use drugs, be overweight, sexually active at an early age or have eating disorders.

As I look back on my own childhood, we sat down at a table as a family to eat. We never began a meal without acknowledging God's presence and giving thanks in prayer. And we had family devotions at supper time. Sometimes as kids we got stern looks from our parents for finding something funny in the Upper Room story, or someone's mispronounciation of a word. We'd giggle and cut up. But as I look back, without realizing it, I was being shaped by those family meal times.

I can think back over many memorable meals spent with family. Such as the time I was a young boy and my grandparents came all the way from Bloomington, Indiana, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we lived, and surprised us for Thanksgiving. And then after Grandma Layman died, and Grandpa was alone, I was able to come up from Louisville Seminary to join Grandpa for thanksgiving dinner...just the two of us and two turkey tv dinners! Then there was the first Thanksgiving after my father died, and my brother and sister came and joined Mom and us for Thanksgiving at our house. And the year Andrea and Joshua were in Germany, and couldn't come home for Thanksgiving. But you as a congregation gave us a wonderful gift, and we were able to fly to Germany and celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's dinner all at the same time in Freiburg, Germany. Meals shared with family are always special!

And as we read in the second chapter of Acts (2:42-47), the early church became more than a religious community; they became a family: "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved."

The Bible is a very practical book of spiritual guidance. Throughout the Bible we read how worship and table fellowship are both very important. Passover was the most significant holy day of the Old Testament, and it centered on a meal people partook of in their homes. Jesus shocked the righteous of his day by sharing table fellowship with outcasts and notorious sinners, and this eating with others symbolizes how God longs for fellowship with us and wants to nurture us with that which matters most: His forgiveness and grace! Luke 24 tells us of a sad journey two disciples made to the village of Emmaus after Jesus had been crucified. The disciples were heart broken, and were joined on their journey by a mysterious stranger who explained the scriptures to them. They didn't recognize that the mysterious stranger was Jesus during the sermon he shared on the road, even though their hearts burned within them when he spoke. Luke 24:30-31: "When [Jesus] was at table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him..." It was when Jesus broke bread at the meal in an Emmaus home that their eyes were opened, and they recognized him!

In the early church, the Apostle Paul had stern words for some early churches that made their meals together a time to distinguish between the rich and the poor. Perhaps this is where church pitch in dinners originated! Paul insisted that all share together what was brought. And thus we anticipate our Thanksgiving dinner today! Someone has said whenever 2 or 3 Presbyterians gather together, a chicken dies. But we're upgrading that today to turkey!

John tells us that Jesus, the Word of God, became flesh and dwelt among us. The Greek word is literally "tented" or "tabernacled" among us. God pitched His tent in the midst of a sinful humankind. We could also say Jesus "tabled" among us. Jesus enters our lives and breaks bread with us. We don't deserve this fellowship, but Jesus offers it to us. And he urges us to share spiritual fellowship and material bread with one another. When I was at Louisville Seminary, I ate in the school cafeteria. The food wasn't great. Some professors never ate the noon meal at the cafeteria. And students tended to sit with their same group of friends meal after meal. A. B. Rhodes was one of the most popular professors on campus, and he would often eat at the cafeteria (although, as a wise person, he usually brought a sandwich.) Almost every student dining in the cafeteria hoped that Dr. Rhodes would come and sit at their table. But I noticed Dr. Rhodes would often search out a student that was a little different and sitting off by themselves, and chose to sit with them. I believe Dr. Rhodes was teaching us an important lesson outside the classroom, a lesson that Jesus taught his disciples long ago. God reaches out to all with the offer of fellowship and salvation: even the uncool, the blatant sinners, the odd.

One of the most depressing things about health care facilities may be the dining room at meal time. The blank stares, need for bibs, the mess that residents may make trying to eat a simple meal can be distressing to witness. I remember my Granpa Layman, whose Parkinson's caused his hands to shake so badly, that he didn't want to go out to eat and let others see him in the shape he was in. Jesus comes to dine with us, and he sees beyond our outer condition to look into our needy hearts. And if Jesus can afford the damage to his reputation by tabling and tabernacling among us, can't we afford to give ourselves in table fellowship with others about us?

Ken Bailey served as a Presbyterian missionary to the Middle East for many years. In the mid 1960's, President Nasser was at the height of his power, and anti-Americanism was intense. That winter 4 German students stopped at the Bailey's front gate in Assiut and asked if they could pitch a tent in the Bailey's garden overnight. Bailey granted permission, but explained that he had to register them with the local police, following local law. The government insisted on knowing where every foreigner in all of Egypt spent every night. Bailey filled out the form and mailed it in, and the German students left the next morning. But 4 months later he found himself summoned to court in Luxor, three hours away by train, to face felony charges. The charges were that Bailey had not registered the 4 Germans properly. If found guilty,the penalty ranged from a $2,000 fine to 8 years in prison. Ken Bailey spent the next 4 months trying to prove his innocence. The assumption of all government officials seemed to be "All foreigners are spies; we just don't catch all of them." Bailey experienced the psalmist's plight, (31:11), becoming "the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me." Invitations to preach were canceled. Committees of which Bailey was a member did not meet. No one wanted to have their car seen parked in front of his house.

When the time of the trial arrived, a brave elder in the Assiut Presbyterian Church chose to go with Bailey to Luxor. Amazingly, the pastor of the Egyptian Presbyterian Church in the middle of Luxor invited Bailey to preach. After the service those two men locked arms with Ken Bailey and marched down the center of the main street, sat him down in a sidewalk cafe in full view of the town, and fed him a meal. Literally, Bailey's Egyptian Presbyterian friends prepared a table before him in the presence of his enemies. The next morning, Bailey thanked his friends for their support and encouraged them not to risk themselves even more by accompanying him to court. But the Egyptians responded "You are our Christian Brother and we MUST go with you!" Bailey was declared innocent. But he left the courtroom not only rejoicing in his freedom, but in the costly love and fellowship that had been shown him.

We live in a drive thru world where people are grabbing a bite and running, sitting in front of tvs and focussed not on one another but a screen. We live in a world of older brothers of prodigal sons who refuse to come in and join the party, because they object with a Father whose love is so great it's willing to forgive and welcome back! Our Thanksgiving celebration is for far more than prosperity and football. Let us give thanks to God that His Son not only tabernacled but "tabled" among us, and for those who have blessed our lives with fellowship, guidance and support. Along with those in Acts 2, let us break bread and eat food with glad and generous hearts, praising God!

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