Sermon: Jesus Liked to Eat

Lectionary: Proper 13A

Text: Matthew 14:13-21

Introduction

“Jesus liked to eat.” That is how one of the commentaries for this week’s text begins. Here is a little bit from the opening paragraphs of this commentary:

"Jesus liked to eat. The disciples of John the Baptist noticed enough to question why he did not fast. His enemies noticed enough to ask his disciples why he ate with tax collectors and sinners. They labeled him a glutton and a drunkard. His parables are often about wheat, or fruit trees, or banquets, or vineyards...

Eating is rarely listed as a spiritual practice, but it should be. Some of the best stuff in ministry happens over meals... Every pastor ought to have an expense account to be used to fund the pastoral ministry of feasting. It may be more important than paying the light bill. Mealtime is often where ministry happens."[1]

The act of eating together in the Christian tradition is traced all the way back to Jesus. The early church shared food and meals together. And food was one of the original controversies, too. The appointment of the original deacons in Acts was in response to a controversy regarding inequities around the distribution of food. Acts also contains the vision of Peter and the unclean foods, and how that led him to accept eating with Gentiles. The Epistle to the Galatians contains a report of Peter reverting to segregated eating at which point Paul challenges Peter. Several of Paul’s epistles contain discussions about food controversies around clean and unclean distinctions and distinctions around food offered to idols. The First Epistle to the Corinthians contains a controversy about the differences in the kind of food the wealthy Christians ate vs. what the poor Christians were left to eat. And of course, the tradition of the Eucharist, or the Communion meal is found in the gospels and in some of the epistles. The Didache describes the communion meal as well, and it is described as the prelude to a full meal.[2] The miraculous distribution of food is reported in all four gospel accounts.

In the present-day church, fellowship time and potlucks take place regularly, continuing the central place of food and meals in the gathered church.

Jesus and Eating

If Jesus liked eating and we love eating as well, why is eating subordinated to the formal order of a worship service? Why is the act of eating, when it is remembered through Communion, reduced to just a symbol?

We read about Jesus teaching through words, but we also have Jesus teaching through activities that occur around meals. What happens during this week’s reading is one, but we also have Jesus teaching at banquets held in his honor, through meals that happen in private homes, and so on.

In the story of the Feeding of the (at least) Five-Thousand, Matthew portrays Jesus only as continuing his healing ministry. In Mark, Jesus teaches the people. In Luke, Jesus both teaches and heals. And in John, Jesus teaches, but directed to the disciples. From this I find potentially broader possibilities for worship than what we have traditionally accepted as the order of worship.[3],[4]

Question About Resources

The issue facing many smaller churches, including this one, is a lack of resources, especially the human kind. Many smaller, rural churches are finding it difficult or impossible to attract a pastor.[5] The congregation itself is getting older and fewer in number, making any kind of ministry difficult, both internal ministries and external ones.

And I think that is where today’s gospel reading touches our present realities.

¹⁷ [The disciples] replied, “We have nothing here except five loaves of bread and two fish.” (Matthew 14:17 CEB)

When given the audacious task of providing food for the entire gathered crowd, this is all they could find. It wasn’t enough to feed even themselves.

¹⁸ He said, “Bring them here to me.” (Matthew 14:18 CEB)

That is Jesus’ response to human need and apparent insufficiency of resources. And then,

He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them and broke the loaves apart and gave them to his disciples. Then the disciples gave them to the crowds. (Matthew 14:19b CEB)

Jesus gives thanks for what they could find, and then he returns the food back to his disciples.

This story is nearly always portrayed as Jesus providing a miraculous multiplying of food. But that is not anywhere in the text. (One can certainly read between the lines and possibly infer that Jesus might be doing the multiplying.) It is in the act of the disciples going out among the crowd with what they were each given, that the food somehow is not only sufficient, but abundant by the end.

That is a detail I found that I hadn’t really noticed before. Several commentaries I read noted that the miracle, however it might have occurred, is not the central theme or even a point of the story.

What is the point, then?

Start With Sharing What You Have

If the story is restated, it consists of Jesus seeing an initial need, Jesus having compassion and acting on it. Then a new need develops which the disciples see, but they can’t see how it could be solved. They suggest a very reasonable and logical solution, which Jesus rejects. Jesus tells his disciples that they are to solve the problem using their means. Their means appear far insufficient. Jesus takes what they do have, offers gratitude to God, then returns the items back to the disciples. And it is, as the disciples share what they have, that they discover that what they have is not only enough, but abundant.

The full mission of Christ’s Church is to minister to all the world. But what this story seems to be saying is that it doesn’t happen all at once. The story seems to be showing the growth of the kingdom through initial small steps of sharing. And that reminds me of the parables that we heard the past three weeks: “the kingdom of heaven is like” a sower sowing seed, a mustard seed, yeast, weeds, and so on.

Perhaps the gospel writer placed this story in this place, immediately after the parables, as what he saw to be an explanation and illustration of the meaning of the abovementioned parables. The beginning of the kingdom of heaven may appear small, inauspicious, even ordinary, but as God and God’s people work together, the influence and effects sprout and spread quietly, even mysteriously and miraculously, until the end of this age when at the harvest the full picture of how much it has grown is finally seen.

Our responsibility is to do what we can with what we have. Another parable comes to mind: the parable of the talents. Some groups start with larger resources, and they can have greater (in our way of thinking anyway) results. But one of the messages of that parable is to be faithful and use (or share) all that we were given, and whatever the result is, is sufficient. Faithfulness is not a competition or a comparison with the next person or group. Faithfulness is between you and God; between us and God.

Returning to Food and Fellowship as Worship

This congregation is struggling, and it is not alone. There are many all over the country facing similar struggles. What does it mean to be faithful with the resources that we do have?

When we think about resources, the first thing that most often comes to mind is probably financial.

But what about human resources? That may be a more pressing concern. Where are our human resources currently being utilized in this local congregation? How are our time and efforts currently being allocated? Who is being fed? Do we like what we see, or do we want to see something different? If something different, what needs to change?

Even if God was ultimately the source of multiplying the loaves and fish, it was in the act of the disciples taking and sharing to the crowd, not among themselves, that was the critical piece of the multiplication. How might that inform decisions we make about the resources we have among us today?

When I look at today’s story about how a huge crowd was given abundant food, I wonder if the church tradition of compartmentalizing and isolating worship from eating is necessary or good. Can the two be integrated so that worship and eating mingle together, where one moves back-and-forth seamlessly between the two? Where eating and socializing is one form of worship?

If worship is honoring God, is there a more appropriate way to honor how Jesus used food and meals to bring people together and teach the importance of sharing and community? Many of the ancient sacrifices and offerings were “shared meals” with the divine. Why couldn’t we practice and experience the same here, through our meals with one another?

The commentary I started with ends with this sentence: “When you have no idea what else to do, plan a meal, invite as many people as you can, offer what you have, and prepare to be amazed.”

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[1] Feasting on the Gospels--Matthew, Volume 2, chapter on Matthew 14:13-21, section "Pastoral Perspective", p. 44.

[2] See Chapters 9 and 10 of the Didache.

[3] Our Order of Worship brochure (pcusa.org) (https://www.pcusa.org/site_media/media/uploads/theologyandworship/pdfs/order_of_worship_brochure_dec_2008.pdf#:~:text=The%20order%20of%20worship%20that%20centuries%20of%20Christians,deeply%20into%20intimate%20communion%20with%20God%20in%20Christ.)

[4] The History of the Worship Order | Ashley Danyew (https://www.ashleydanyew.com/posts/2016/the-history-of-the-worship-order/)

[5] Why Did So Many People Stop Going to Church? - The Atlantic (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/christian-church-communitiy-participation-drop/674843/)

Recipe: Bread Pudding

After making this many, many times over the past 12+ months, I think I've finally converged on what is important to maintain and what can be flexible and adaptable. The following results in a bread pudding where the texture of bread becomes very homegenous and uniform, not very "eggy", firm but still very moist and tender, and not cloyingly sweet. It's a combination that I like and have received numerous compliments.

Adapted from a cooking demonstration and recipe provided by New Orleans School of Cooking. 

Bread Pudding

Pudding Base

• 1 20 oz. loaf, stale white bread, broken into small pieces
• 4 cups milk (any kind) - may substitute with other liquids such as juice
• 2 cups granulated sugar - can reduce by up to half
• (optional) Up to 8 Tbsp. Melted butter
• 3 large eggs
• 1-2 tsp. Vanilla extract
• (optional) Cinnamon, nutmeg, and other complementary spices

Add-Ins

• 1-2 cups of frozen, fresh, or reconstituted dried fruit
• Up to 1 cup of nuts

Instructions

1. Combine all pudding base ingredients in large bowl. The consistency should be like that of wet oatmeal. Let sit to soak and further dissolve and combine ingredients for at least 30 minutes, and up to several hours. 
2. Mix any add-ins into pudding base just prior to baking. Pour batter into large (9x13 or larger) baking dish.
3. Place uncovered into oven set at 350-375ºF. Preheating is not necessary. Bake 75 minutes, or until top is browned in spots and crispy. 

Notes

• Basic (inexpensive) white bread works just fine. Any kind of bread without seeds, grains, and nuts should also work fine. Unless you’re going for specific texture and/or flavor that they bring to bread. You really want bread that dissolves into a paste when combined with milk. To test, take a fresh slice, tear it up into a bowl, add a tablespoon of milk, and mash it around with a fork. If it turns into a paste, you’re good to go.
• I’ve looked at a dozen different recipes for bread pudding. Most use way more eggs than this recipe. They also seem to have a higher ratio of liquid to bread. I think what is happening is that the greater egg count is used to “set” all that liquid that is being used. The result is a more “eggy” custard. If you want a more “eggy” taste, by all means use more eggs. But I think that gets closer to a French toast casserole or an omelette, rather than a bread pudding.
• I’ve read both sides of the “should bread be stale and dry” argument. I’m going with using fully staled, dry bread, as much as possible. You can speed up staling by toasting bread pieces in the oven. Or stick them in a paper bag and let them dry out over several days. 
• I accidentally omitted using any butter one time, and discovered it didn’t affect the result noticeably. I think it was a little less “rich” in flavor, but no one missed it. So yes, you can cut down on the fat and calories (I mean, there’s still plenty of sugar) by reducing or omitting the butter.
• I prefer using a bag (12-16 oz.) of frozen fruit. It works really well. Don’t thaw it — add them frozen to the batter right before baking.
• If using dried fruit, you will want to reconstitute them. You can do that by heating a small amount of liquid (water, juice, liquor) and then soaking the dried fruit in the hot liquid. 
• If using nuts they are better if you have time to toast them beforehand. 
• Don’t overdo spices. You’re not going for fall pie flavors. Or maybe you are? Just a touch to give a hint of something there.
• I think the critical piece is that the batter have a consistency of wet oatmeal. This tells you that the solid to liquid ratio is correct and you will have a bread pudding rather than either a soupy mess or a dry, rubbery mass. 

Sermon for Trinity Sunday: Mirepoix

The following is the sermon I preached at the Petersburg Lutheran Church on Sunday, May 22, 2016. The gospel text is John 16:12-15 and the New Testament text is Romans 5:1-5.

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Last month, April, Elise and I spent a week in New Orleans, Louisiana. Having been settled by the French in the early 1700’s, then given over to the Spanish, back to the French, and then to America, there is a lot of history. Its culinary heritage also contains the diverse mixture and history of its residents. In fact Creole cuisine is recognized as the only non-Native indigenous cuisine of North America.

In addition to the sight-seeing, one of the highlights we experienced was sitting through a cooking demonstration of Creole and Cajun cuisine at the New Orleans School of Cooking, where the instructor for that lunch period was Chef Kevin Belton. He demonstrated putting together gumbo, jambalaya, bread pudding, and pralines while talking about the culinary history of New Orleans and how it permeates his own personal and family history. For New Orleanians, food and cooking is not just something to do to take in nourishment, but it is a family affair. It brings multiple generations together to share community and tradition. It is a glue that holds people together.

The foundation and distinctiveness to much of this cuisine is three vegetables: onions, celery, and green peppers. When the French arrived from Europe, they brought with them their cooking style. In France many dishes are based on mirepoix which is onions, celery, and carrots combined and sautéed, fried, or baked. But these first settlers discovered they could not get carrots in the swamps of Louisiana, and so they substituted it with what they could find plenty of: green peppers. Whereas carrots are fairly mild and sweet, green peppers are bold, assertive, and grassy. And thus Creole cuisine was born. The French settlers, the devout Catholics that they were, termed this mirepoix combination the Trinity, which is still the term cooks use today.

Chef Kevin describes that in his family, his mother would often begin sautéing the Trinity before she knew what she was going to cook for dinner. That’s how integral these vegetables are to Creole cuisine. It is what makes New Orleans food so distinct. When you taste the finished dishes, you can pick out each individual components, but it is the combination that gives them their uniqueness.

I think food is an appropriate metaphor for the Christian Trinity in describing God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have their own unique characteristics, but it is when they come together as one, working in harmony and in combination, that the full and complete nature of the Godhead becomes evident and manifest. The foundational characteristic of God is self-sacrificing love, and that cannot be known by a singular individual. It requires a community. This love is the distinct flavor that is unique to the Christian Godhead, the Trinity, and it is what flavors all God’s interactions with creation and humankind.

In many restaurants, hierarchies exist: from the executive chef, to the sous chefs, to the line cooks, to servers, to the busboy, and to the dishwashers. But often, before the evening begins they come together to share a family meal, in which these distinctions are set aside, at least for a time.

The gospel text for today in John chapter 16 is part of Jesus’ extended discourse following the Last Supper in the Upper Room. We understand this to be Jesus’ inauguration of the Eucharist or Communion. It is where Jesus used food and drink to bring together and establish a community based on self-sacrificing love. It was an event where Jesus broke down hierarchies and human-distinctions and created a family-based faith community.

Anyone who cooks knows that recipes are important. It may be something you follow diligently from a book (or screen), or it may be something that you’ve done so many times that you just know. But there are ingredients and steps. There are amounts to be measured, and although substitutions can happen, they can’t just be random ones. But recipes don’t describe the experience of eating. Even the best food photographs, artfully presented, can only arouse the senses and desire. They cannot satisfy.

Food is an experience that has to be consumed. And while having a great dinner by yourself may be fine from time to time, the best experiences with food and eating usually happen in the setting of community – with family and friends. (As an aside and also an acknowledgement, some bad experiences do also happen around the dinner table with family.) In fact an average meal with good conversation and interactions are often more memorable than technically perfect dishes but with tension among the people around the table. Good food is valuable, but so is good company.

I think the same can be said of what happens in churches, our Christian community. Good theology, good services, good programs – they are valuable. But by themselves they mean very little. Even the Godhead, with its perfect love, mean nothing without a community in which that love can be manifest and through which its power is experienced by all the world.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” (John 3:16) And this Son, Jesus Christ, created a community as part of his glorification of the Father. “The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:22-23) “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:12-13) “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35). “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-14)

The glory of the Father is his love. This glory was shown to humankind through the self-sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Jesus gave his disciples the Holy Spirit to remind all future generations of this love, and to provide the power to enable us to live the love of Jesus in our daily lives.

The “truth” that Jesus spoke of in John 16:13 is not facts, data, or theological knowledge. It is the power and experience of love that seasons and binds the community of faith and transforms it into a family that genuinely cares and sacrifices for one another.

This is the divine mirepoix. This is the essence and foundation of God that we are acknowledging today on Trinity Sunday. Love – the genuine concern and care for one another – is the flavor that God wants to have permeate through his family: in this congregation, among all the churches in Petersburg, and through the whole world. It is the distinct flavor that anyone tasting it should recognize without question.

But we also much acknowledge that we are often rather imperfect at incorporating this divine mirepoix into our personal and communal lives. I know this for myself, and none of us need to be reminded or harangued about it. So I’m going to leave out any more criticism and ask a few questions for each of us to ponder.

• Who or what in the past week has given you a taste of God’s love?
• How would you most like to experience God’s love now?
• How do you think God inviting you to participate in his love for the world?

In closing here is our reading from Romans:

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (5:1-5)

Book Review–First Bite: How We Learn to Eat

First Bite: How We Learn to Eat by Bee Wilson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fascinating and detailed discussion about how humans learn (or as the case may be, fail to learn) to eat. Bee Wilson uses research from medicine, psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, economics, and sociology to explain how we learn to eat what we do, from prior to birth all the way to the twilight years.

Wilson's focus is primarily on the years of infancy through childhood, as good eating and dietary habits formed during these years can last a lifetime. But she describes how poor and harmful habits can be corrected later in life, to improve both health and enjoyment of life.

What is found inside this book may be of great value to parents. What is provided here is research-based information (Wilson doesn't call it 'advice') that can help parents place their children (and themselves) on a good trajectory of life, as far as eating and food go. Quite a few of the ideas presented go against traditional advice, but are supported by recent research.

The book may also be of value to those in medical and dietary fields. It provides a good overview of the current state of research findings.

View all my reviews

Book Review–From Field to Fork…

From Field to Fork: Food Ethics for Everyone by Paul B. Thompson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Modern debates about food, ranging from food and social justice issues to GMO, are complicated issues. The problem is that for most people, they are seen as relatively simple, because modern pedagogy is taught in isolated silos of subjects and because people generally don't make decisions based on strictly rational thought.

In From Field to Fork Paul Thompson discusses the primary debates going on today, not merely as issues of food, but as debates of social norms, history, philosophy, ethics, economics, politics, psychology, and yes, even the hard sciences. He shows how these debates cut through, across, and involve all these disciplines and how a single discipline simply is inadequate to inform any of these debates.

Even though the book itself is about food, the methods and principles that Thompson utilizes can be extended and applied to just about any contentious topic. He demonstrates why a liberal arts education is still valuable and necessary, and gives evidence of why a good philosophical foundation is vital, even in a modern, data-driven and science-heavy society.

Whatever your views of food in relation to economics, social justice, politics, and scientific innovations, this book will give you something to think about and in ways that you probably hadn't thought to think. It is a very philosophical work, referencing a number of key philosophers and their schools. It is not a light and easy book to read.

View all my reviews