I hope that you have
had time to eat before coming here this evening as I want to talk about one of
my favourite subjects - food.
On a basic level it’s
something that is essential to our very existence but it also means a great
deal more than that. For many of us meals are linked to our memories, for me
terrible school food, I shall never forget spam fritters, who in their right
mind would ever come up with such a concoction? I’m lucky enough to enjoy some
rather good business lunches from time to time but I would still say my best
meals have been those with ingredients from our own garden shared with family
and friends.
Food can have many
meanings pleasure, enjoyment, fusions, art, surprises, textures, flavours,
aromas. From programmes such as Masterchef as well as from personal experience we
know the hard graft that goes into preparing worthwhile meals and the emotions
involved when they are well received, or otherwise. Preparing the best meal we
can is one way to express love for those we share it with.
Sharing a meal means so
much more than simply consuming food together as highlighted by the recent
attention attached those dining with our Prime Minister described by some as
‘Cam dine with me’, certainly no such thing as a free lunch in this case. So
who we eat with and under what circumstances seems to have potential for
controversy as much today as it did when Jesus was scrutinised by his critics.
It seems that Jesus
openly enjoyed his food, particularly the aspect of sharing and interacting
with others. Elsewhere in the bible we will have heard how he fed the 5000, eat
in the home of Martha and Mary, invited himself to dinner with Zachaeus and
would have been a very welcome guest when he did considerably more than ‘bring
a bottle’ to a wedding at Cana.
Even when he wasn’t
eating it seems Jesus is thinking about food and its wider meaning, he tells us
of the feast laid on when the prodigal son returns and of the beggar who wanted
to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.
So the meals of Jesus
represent something much greater than the food consumed. He was criticised for
eating with tax collectors and sinners and his followers were told that they
were not fasting enough. This was the very point as Jesus brought a new reality
into people’s lives, centred around something tangible and something capable of
being shared. Food and the actions surrounding
it offered a way in which love could be expressed through our everyday
activities.
The reading from Exodus
foreshadows the Last Supper. In both readings there is urgency and a sense of
building anticipation. Like when the Israelites were in Egypt, the paschal lamb
is about to be sacrificed only this time the lamb is Jesus.
"Jesus knew that
his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father".
If you knew you were
going to die in under a week, what would your priority be? A meal with those
you love would probably be a good start. In John's Gospel, that means, for
Jesus, taking time to gather with the disciples to share food.
That last supper is
undoubtedly the most famous meal ever. The food and drink may be simple but controversy
and meaning are interwoven into its fabric as it is rooted in denial, betrayal,
a disciple’s suicide, a Messiah’s death, the body and blood of the soon to be crucified
Messiah, and another example of love in the everyday this time focused on dirty
feet.
We heard in Exodus that
‘this day shall be a day of remembrance for you". Passover was intended as
a perpetual day of “Remembrance” which is mentioned in this passage, as well as
in the reading from 1 Corinthians where we heard ‘Do this in remembrance of
me’.
When we take time to
remember Jesus sacrifice we may also be able to accept the reality of our God
who continues to feed us daily giving him to us as manna in our wilderness, food
for our earthly pilgrimage.
With open hearts we can
receive Christ through Holy Communion but he also receives us as we kneel
before him and joins us at the table once more reaffirming his message of so
many meals shared before, “I love you and you are special to me”.
Amen
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