Meal Sharing Changes Everything
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus
at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with
them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect
complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and
sinners?” – Luke 5:29-30
Have you ever noticed how often Jesus shared a meal
with others? In this passage, Jesus had just invited the man who would become
Matthew to be His follower. It was only natural that Matthew host a banquet to
celebrate Jesus.
Who did Matthew invite? His friends, of course. Except
Matthew’s friends weren’t those the religious leaders would associate with.
They weren’t people you or I might invite to our homes. They were sinners. They
were tax collectors and thieves. They were people we avoid. Yet Jesus was at
home with them.
What would happen if we opened ourselves up to those
who aren’t like us? What might change if we shared a meal with people who don’t
always share our views, our beliefs, our neighborhoods? What would happen if
Jesus reached across the great divide and drew us all toward Himself?
There’s something special about sharing a meal. It’s
different when you put down your cell phone, turn off the television, forget
the iPad. There you are actually having a conversation with another person. Can
you hear the laughter? Do you notice the shared stories and the comradery? It’s
amazing how much we have in common when we get past the surface, isn’t it?
My Mother used to say if you want to get people to
come to an event, offer free food. That’s sure proven to be true. People who
never venture into a church sanctuary will come to a free dinner. People who rarely
come to Sunday School class will come for a potluck at someone’s house.
Why is that, do you think? It’s like the meal, the
fellowship, isn’t as threatening as hearing God’s Word convicting us of sin. It’s
as though we can be ourselves over a shared meal and we can’t when we’re uncomfortably
sitting on a church pew. Do we think God only sees us at church? Do we believe
Jesus loves us more when we’re at a social gathering?
He sees. He knows. He understands. That’s not an
excuse for bad behavior. It’s just that He loves us despite all those times we
let Him down. We’re sinners. We’re only redeemed by the blood of Christ. That
makes us equal with all those sinners we’d rather avoid. At the dinner table,
we’re just us.
The Pharisees were furious that Jesus would associate
with sinners. They saw themselves as superior, elite, the best of the best.
They didn’t get it. They were so busy following rules and trying to preserve
their own power and prestige that they missed the Messiah. They were so focused
on themselves that they missed what was important.
Are we any different? We each have our own agendas,
whether we recognize it or not. We have our own areas of interest, our own
special ministries, our own way of doing things. It gets messy when our agenda collides
with someone else’s agenda. It is not pretty or comfortable.
Until we sit down and share a meal. Adversaries aren’t
so threatening when we’re eating the same food. Critics aren’t so hurtful when
we’re eating dessert. And we see that people aren’t so rigid when we’re sharing
a story or a laugh.
Our church shares a meal every Wednesday evening. We
see people who attend other services. We share a table with people who rarely
come on Sunday. We hear children tell stories of their day. Laughter fills the
large Fellowship Hall. We gather together, this diverse group of people, and we
become a family. Do you think that’s what Jesus was modeling for us when He
spent so much time sharing meals with others?
