What kind of meal does Jesus provide? We know he was invited out a lot, but when he’s the host, what goes on the table? Of course. we have the last supper where he served up bread, wine and maybe lamb, a precursor to allowing himself to be served up a day or so later. ‘This is my flesh and this is my blood’, he said at the meal he hosted. So what does he expect his followers to serve up when they’re hosting a meal in his name? Maybe he expects them to serve up what they’ve got to give. When he was in a situation where several thousand folk were milling about following his teaching, he provoked his followers with this statement: ‘I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry.” And then in effect, he said to them, ‘What are you going to do about this?’ What resources do you have to serve this meal? They’re so hungry they may collapse if they don’t get something to eat now. Or perhaps he was in effect saying, ‘What’s in your pocket? What’s in your purse?’ As it turned out, not much. 7 loaves and a few fish don’t go very far with a few thousand people looking to still the rumbles in their tummies. Unless that is, the meal is offered ‘in his name’.
We had a small group that met regularly, I had made coffee, but had not brought any ‘goodies’. Just as we were seated and ready to welcome the Holy Spirit’s presence among us, one of our members burst through the door and after greetings, mentioned that he got home late from work and had to choose to have supper or come to the Bible study. Was there anything to eat to quiet his hunger? I mentioned that the group that provides a weekly supper upstairs might still have some chocolate cake left. He raced upstairs and came back down with no cake. His timing was just off – or was it? Very quickly one of our members suggested he run over to the nearby dollar store to pick up some snack. He headed out for a quick smoke, probably to still the hunger pangs and within a minute or two was back inside. No dollar store trip. Did I mention that most of our members are as likely to shop at the Dollar Store as at Safeway? As he sat back down, the person who suggested the Dollar Store, reached into her bag and pulled out a can of tuna. Tuna! Another reached into his pocket and passed over a chocolate bar. Kind of like fish and bread, isn’t it? A can opener was found along with a fork. We welcomed the Holy Spirit who was already so evidently present. While we started sharing our highs and lows of the week, my friend was eating the tuna out of the can, with tears streaming down his face. Shortly, with his hunger assuaged, he said that on rare occasions, he had had a meal at the Keg Steakhouse. This was a much better meal, he declared. And I sat there astounded at the meal provided by followers of Jesus – in his name, out of compassion and concern for our hungry brother. A very fine meal, indeed!