Sermon for Jan 5, 2020
Christmas 2A
Ephesians 1:1-14, John 1:1-18
A friend of mine has a sign in her kitchen that simply says “Gather.” Just one simple word that says so much. There’s something about gathering around a kitchen table that solidifies relationships among friends and family.
Food is sustenance for life and fuel for our bodies, but shared meals mean more than that. No wonder couples usually go out to eat when first getting to know each other, and why meals are served for celebrations and get togethers. It’s not just something to do. Breaking bread together creates intimacy, dissolves barriers and adds to the joy of being together.
Even those of us who are introverts who need some alone time can appreciate the importance of spending quality time with people with whom we belong. For those of us who can eat by mouth, sharing meals together becomes a meaningful shared experience. This is especially true around the holidays.
We can all probably think of at least one person who is naturally gifted at hosting gatherings and bringing people together with a meal. Some of us are fortunate enough to have someone like that in our families; a person who acts as the glue of the family — someone whom everyone gathers around and is responsible for keeping the family together. Some of us are fortunate to have a friend like that; someone who acts as a magnet for a community of friends who might not otherwise remain as close.
Not long ago, I was at my friends Lindsay and Daniel’s house sharing a meal with several people. When the meal was over, another friend leaned over to me and said “There’s nothing like being around this table. This is one of my favorite places to be.” Lindsay and Daniel are gatherers.
I believe those gatherers among us are emitting a divine characteristic, a part of the diving image in the world. For God is the original and ultimate gatherer. God, who was in the beginning, and through whom all things were made, is the one who also gathers all things up on God’s self — things in heaven and on earth.
Throughout the Bible, the demonstration of God’s grace and mercy and the vision of God’s kingdom is often illustrated with the symbolism of a meal. From the hospitality stories in the Old Testament to the parables and living example of Jesus Christ, God is often revealed as the gracious host who makes abundant food and invites everyone to partake.
Jesus’ first miracle revolved around a meal; turning water into wine at a wedding reception. He once compared the kingdom of God with a great banquet prepared by a man who invited many guests. When these didn’t show up, the man tells his servants to invite anyone they could find so that the house would be full. Jesus lived by this example, often accused of eating and drinking with sinners. He fed the multitudes following him, even when it seemed impossible. On the night of his arrest, Jesus spent time sharing a last meal with his disciples. After the resurrection he still managed to serve them fish and bread on the beach.
God is the gatherer; the glue; the magnet; gathering us all together into one family in the kingdom of God.
There are many kinds of families in the world, some better functioning than others. There are also chosen families; those people who, while not related to us by blood, choose to relate to us as family by love.
There is an old folk story with variations all over the world about a young woman named Cinderella. When we talk about the “Cinderella story” applying to a situation, we usually mean it is a rags to riches kind of story: a poor, overlooked girl becomes part of the royal family. She goes from living in a basement or attic to living in a palace. But when you look at it closer, it is also a story about family.
Cinderella loses her father and is forced to live with a stepmother and stepsisters who do not consider her family. They treat her as a servant and never show her any love or affection. She is never invited into the family table. Then, one day, she meets a prince who chooses her. He seeks her out and chooses her to be his bride. She now has a family who loves her and chooses her.
When we think about how different we are from Jesus, we realize we don’t deserve being part of God’s table. We don’t deserve being called God’s children. Yet God chooses us all the same, claiming us and inviting us into the table. It is a rags to riches story — going from the rags of our brokenness to the riches of God’s grace and receiving a full inheritance. It is also a story about family — being chosen as God’s own children, by love.
As children imitating their parents, or as prisms reflecting light, we also reflect the divine nature to gather and nourish God’s children. Thinking about God’s movement in our church until now, it is clear to me that God has especially called and gifted this church as a gathering and nourishing church. We have been gathering our community together through civic engagement and community services throughout our long history. Here lately this has manifested in the way we have served as the gathering place for other churches and community members to serve the homeless and vulnerable through our White Flag ministry. We have also been a nourishing church, in a very literal sense — from the long history of our food pantry and Thanksgiving community meals, to the more recent community garden and White Flag meals.
This season of transition in our church when we are discerning who our next senior minister will be is also an opportunity to discern who we are, who God has called us to be, and where the Spirit of God is leading us still. It’s not just a question of “who do we want as our pastor”, but also “what does God want to do through us?” How is God developing our gathering and nourishing gifts now? What else is God the host preparing in the back of the kitchen?
A couple of months ago, singer Idina Menzel (most famously known as the voice of Queen Elsa in the Frozen movies) released a Christmas album titled “Christmas: a Season of Love.” A song in this album named “At this table” beautifully illustrates God’s table and some of the verses we read today. Some of the lyrics are:
At this table everyone is welcome… At this table everything is forgiven
At this Table, Idina Menzel
There’s enough for everyone… At this table mercy has a seat
At this table we’re all sons and daughters… There’s no place I’d rather be
So come as you are… Remember that the door is always open
Yes, come as you are… The perfect gift that you can bring is your heart
So come as you are
From the riches of God’s grace, everyone is welcome. From the riches of God’s grace, we are called to welcome everyone.
From the riches of God’s grace, everything is forgiven. From the riches of God’s grace, we are called to forgive as we are forgiven.
From God’s fullness, we’re all sons and daughters. From God’s fullness, we are to welcome one another as brothers and sisters.
So, come to the table today, boldly, freely. As we come to the table, let us open our hearts to the Spirit’s calling and discernment for this new year and season in our individual lives and in our church life. As we eat the bread, let us ask how God is calling us, individually and collectively as our church, to be broken for the nourishment of the world. As we drink from the cup, let us ask how God is calling us, individually and collectively as FBC, to be poured out as wine, joyfully and sacrificially for the world.
May we have ears to hear and eyes to see. Amen.