Sup part 2
A big part of life is supping, or eating, with each other. Gathering around the family table. And I know "in this day and age" when it seems like we go, go, go and rarely ever have a chance to sit down and break bread, this concept may have lost some of its... not appeal, exactly, because I think there is something ingrained about eating together. Its like going to a movie by yourself, you get the same show, but its just not as appealing. So I think maybe what has been lost is more the... I don't want to say "tradition" because that's a dirty word in religious circles, right? But it kind of fits. Because it seems like (I'm old, but I'm not THAT old so I can't say for sure) family dinners every night were a staple. At least according to Leave it to Beaver. But when I was growing up it was Sunday dinner. That was the one that we made a big deal about. At least once a week. To come together and fellowship. Touch base. Check in. Connect. And that's why I rambled my way through half of this Rant. To get to the point about shared meals being about shared connections. Shared experiences. Relationship. So when Jesus stands at the door and knocks, with the offer of food on the table, its really an invitation to more than just something to eat. And, listen, even if that was all that Jesus was offering--a hot meal for an empty stomach--that would be more than most people offer. More than the world offers most of the time. And if the world DOES offer you something to eat, well, the phrase "there's no such thing as a free lunch" exists for a reason. The world will give, but only so it can get. God gave everything He had and everything He is so that we could have it. He wanted us to have the best of everything, so He gave His life for us, and gave His life to us. Now we have it. The six course meal (the Six Steps to the Throne) that was prepared in the presence of our enemies on the cross is available. Didn't Jesus preach quite a bit about those who are hungry and those who are thirsty? About how if you're thirsty, come a drink from the river of living water? Its available to us. Its at our fingertips. In fact (in TRUTH) its INSIDE us. Because Jesus lives inside us. He is the living water. He is the bread and the wine. He is the Lamb. When we eat WITH Him... we eat HIM. We eat His body and drink His blood. Feasting on the love of God so that we can experience the life of God. The abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love that Jesus lives in us, and through us, and as us. What I think I'm trying to say today is shared experience. When Jesus offered to sup with us, He was offering us... Himself. God gave us His only begotten Son so that we might know ourselves AS His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. We were made in His image. Then on the cross we were conformed to the image of His Son. Now we can eat at the family table, because we know that we are part of the family. We know who Daddy is. And, like I always tell my son, Logan: If I've got a spot... you've got a spot. We don't have to miss out on anything, because everything is available to us. Has already been given to us. And simply needs to be received and released. Experienced. Shared!