It’s Not About the Food

What do the birth of a baby, a birthday, a first date, a wedding, an anniversary and a funeral all have in common? I mean besides people. Food. Every one of those moments demands that somebody bring over a dish, decorate a cake, set a table, bake a casserole or throw a full-on, no-expense-spared, heartburn-inducing feast. We celebrate all of our significant life transitions, not to mention our major and minor holidays, by eating together. But then, that’s the way it’s always been.

In Mark’s gospel, the word bread appears 18 times. The verb for eating shows up 25 times. And Mark is only 16 chapters long. Sounds like eating was a pretty big deal in Jesus’ day, too. Except it wasn’t about the food. It was, as it is now and evermore has been, about who is at the table and what happens when they gather there.

That’s why one of the first things Jesus was criticized for in Mark was who he shared a table with. He invited Matthew (Levi), the tax collector, to become a disciple, and then Matthew celebrated this major transition in his life by hosting a banquet in Jesus’ honor. That’s when the criticism kicked in.

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mark 2:15 – 16).

Every time he got the chance, Jesus sat down at a table with sinners. While they ate together, he told his stories and listened to theirs. Somebody passed a loaf of bread across the table; a pitcher was tipped and wine was poured. They laughed out loud and he listened as if he had all the time in the world. And it wasn’t about the food. It was his way of accepting them where they were and offering them a different alternative to the ones they’d chosen.

That’s what His table was always about. It was never about what was on the menu — it was about who was in the room. Eating with people was one way Jesus loved and accepted them. And that’s also one of the reasons, on the night before he died, he arranged to gather with his disciples for one last meal.

“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,” (Luke 22:15). Throughout the meal, he talked about love, remembering and relationships. Jesus loved to eat. He loved to eat because he loved being with people.

Your church eats together every Sunday — and that meager meal is not about the food, either. Or who’s worthy, because no one is. It’s not even about when you do it or in what order. It’s about who’s in the room and how we treat them. It’s about how we’re getting along with each other and who we welcome to the table. And most of all, when you and your church family gather to share communion, it’s about remembering who Jesus was and what he did to make this family possible.

If you really want to remember Jesus, then gathering around the table on Sunday mornings cannot merely be a moment of private devotion between you and God. If that’s what communion was meant to be, then we could do it all by ourselves. And I don’t think God intended to set a table for one. Today, when you take the bread and tip the cup, keep your eyes open. Look around. Notice the people sitting around you. They have stories just like you. Theirs may be tinged with regret or sprinkled with joy; burdened with sorrow or buoyed by hope. But you are all guests at his table, welcomed not because of who you are or how well you’ve lived, but because of who he is and why he died.