Matthew 14:13-21
“Eat Your Fill”
Preached Sunday, August 6, 2023
Listen to the first verse of this hymn, I am gonna ask you to come in on the second:
“Come to the table of grace, come to the table of grace, this is God’s table it’s not yours or mine, come to the table of grace.”
You’ve heard how it goes, now replace the word grace with peace and sing and clap with me, it’s okay if it’s a little clumsy.
“Come to the table of peace, come to the table of peace, this is God’s table, it’s not yours or mine, come to the table of peace.”
Now replace peace with love.
“Come to the table of love, come to the table of love, this is God’s table, it's not yours or mine, come to the table of love.”
One more time, this time use the word joy.
“Come to the table of joy, come to the table of joy, this is God’s table it’s not yours or mine, come to the table of joy.”
The rest of this sermon - I’d love you to hear it, to be challenged by it, inspired by it, to realize more deeply God’s love for you through it…and, if you stop here, that hymn says it all - THIS is God’s table, it’s not yours or mine, and it is a table of grace, peace, love, and joy. And, God invites ALL to come to the table to feast and have their fill - of bread and of Christ.
In the United Methodist Church, one of our most unique, distinctive practices and theology is that of the Open Table. And every time that I preside at this table, you will hear me share an invitation to that Open Table. And it sounds something like this:
Here in the United Methodist Church we practice an Open Table. That means it’s not our table, it’s not The United Methodist Church’s table, it’s God’s table and all are welcome here. You do not have to be a member of our church, you do not have to be a member of The United Methodist Church, you don’t even have to be baptized - all you have to want is to encounter our Risen Lord in the bread and the cup.
When we accept the invitation to this table, we are called to come and be open. Open to God. Open to each other. Open to all whom God invites. Coming to this table is an act of releasing ownership. Releasing our grip. Releasing our idea of what is ours, and what is God’s. Because we are not the host of this meal, I am not the host of this meal, Boardman UMC is not the host of this meal, God is the host of the meal. We are the guests. Even when I stand behind the altar table and bless the elements, I am not the host. The pastor is the presider of the meal - the overseer…we could even say, the waitress, the server. We are all the hungry guests, hungry to eat our fill, to encounter our Risen Lord, we are all made equal before this table and before our gracious and generous host of this meal, Jesus Christ.
Because there is something happening here at this table, God’s table, where all are invited to come and eat their fill, a mystery is unfolding here. In the United Methodist Church we have two sacraments, Baptism and Communion - outward, tangible signs of God’s intangible love for us. Sacraments are acts of divine grace, mysterious and sacred. The word sacrament actually comes from the word that we translate as “mystery.” As in, it’s partially a mystery - how this bread and this juice is the body and blood of Christ for us. It’s a mystery as to how we encounter the Divine in it. It’s a mystery as to how God loves and saves us - but it happens! And we experience this mystery and this love through the sacraments.
We believe that something happens here, something mysterious and something holy. It is not what the Roman Catholic Church believes, transubstantiation, where the bread literally becomes the body and the cup literally becomes the bread. But! It’s also not just a memorial either, what Baptists believe, where we come to this table and just remember what God has done while eating mere bread, and mere juice. Something happens, through the Holy Spirit, mysterious and holy, where we truly believe that Christ is present in the bread and the cup, Christ is present in and with us, and in this meal, at this table, all of time and space collapses in a single moment, and this table is linked to all the tables where Jesus ate, where followers of Jesus ate and eat and will eat, past and present and future. Where this table, God’s table, becomes the same table that is God’s heavenly feast.
Picture all of time, stretched out like a linear line, from The Beginning, to now, to that day when a new heaven and earth are created - and then, in the mysterious divine intervention of the Holy Spirit in this meal, all of time, it’s not so much scrunched up into a single dot, but time itself is removed by the One who is beyond time.
Some of you may be on board with what I am talking about, with “Yes, Amen!”s. Still others, maybe your mind is blown by this idea. And still others may be scratching their heads wondering what the heck I’m talking about. Think about it kind of like this, Jesus said to do this meal “in remembrance of me.” And so often we are used to just remembering backwards, to that Last Supper when Jesus instituted this holy sacrament, when Jesus died on the cross…and that is part of it. And, it’s also a remembering forward to what has not yet happened for us - but time doesn’t matter to God. A remembering of what Christ has done, yes, an acknowledgement of what God is doing, yes, and a remembering forward of what God will do. Because God’s promises are as good as done. It’s a remembering forward to the promise of a heavenly banquet where all shall be fed and nourished with bread and with God’s love.
So let us imagine that banquet table, that heavenly banquet, that great feast: the table is laden down with every food that there is on earth and heaven, the food and the people who are at the table are more diverse than we could ever imagine. The table is full, a big party, but the table also seems to never stop expanding, there is always room for more - and more and more keep joining in the celebration, there is always another chair, another plate. The table is wider and more inclusive and more full of JOY than we could ever imagine. And still, this morning, I am asking us to imagine! Hold that image in your head, an image that doesn’t even get close to what we will one day experience but an expansive and joyful image nonetheless. So hold that image of the heavenly banquet in your head while we go back in time to one of the many times that Jesus not only ate with people but fed them, served as Host, our Gospel reading from Matthew this morning.
It's a familiar story, the feeding of the 5,000. But actually, the number would have been higher cause that was just 5,000 men but there were also women and children. There is another version, or a second time Jesus does it, depending on who you ask, in the same Gospel, where 4,000 plus are fed. It’s a story that is planted firmly in our brains - and if you’re thinking there was supposed to be a little boy involved, that’s in the other instance. Briefly, let’s put this story in the context of food inequality in the Roman Empire. The ruling elite and those at the top of the social hierarchy, enjoyed an abundant lifestyle with variety and good quality of food. But most lived just at or below the level of receiving adequate food or nutrition. This is one of the reasons we see so much sickness in the Gospels and so many with a need for healing, it is that many people did not have daily bread - hence how very real and important it was for early followers of Jesus to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” It was not an abstract, it was a physical hunger and need driving their prayers. Now it’s not like Jesus was one of these ruling elite. He didn’t quite have money and resources to share. He was a traveling preacher who relied on the hospitality of others. And yet, when confronted with a large, hungry crowd, Jesus says, “Feed them.” And every single person there was invited to come and eat, and have their fill. A miracle and an act of generosity in divine proportions.
Imagine this meal: 5,000 families, men, women, and children sitting down to an impromptu picnic, family units and friends and strangers, intermingling with one another. Food is passed, food is taken, and still there is more food. And as people eat and have their share and their bellies are filled - and they may not have truly been filled very often - more and more joy spreads out across the crowd. More and more laughter. Strangers becoming friends over broken and shared bread. They are incredulous at this miracle of multiplication, they are incredulous at this miracle of community, they are incredulous at the generosity, of the Divine-like nature of their host, of Jesus. And that incredulity spills over in joy and laughter. Imagine that. Hold that image in your head.
And now, take those two images in your head: the image of the heavenly banquet table, the image of the feasting 5,000 plus, hold them both in your mind and then…put our table, no, not our table, God’s table, in the middle of those two images, those two feasts, those two tables.
We are the bridge of those meals shared with Jesus. Open meals, open tables, where all are welcome, where all find a seat at the table, where all are fed, where all find the love of God. Now, along the way of Christian history and practice, this table, this sacrament has become well…stuffy. Solemn. Removed from the joy and generosity that is inherent when Jesus invites us to feast with him. And it’s not that there isn’t reverance as we remember Jesus’s death…but the point of this table isn’t the death. It isn’t to be sad and super serious. The point of this table, of God’s table, is the generosity of God, the gift of Jesus, the gift of having a seat at the table, and the thanksgiving that overflows from the realization of that generous gift. Another name for this meal, maybe you’ve heard it, is the Eucharist. Which in Greek literally means Thanksgiving. It’s why our liturgy for this meal, the blessing we give this meal, we call it The Great Thanksgiving. I had a seminary professor, Dr. Douglas Meeks, who said the only appropriate response to this table is to leave it dancing. To get up, to walk back to your seat, *dancing* because you are overcome with thanksgiving, overcome with joy, having eaten your fill, having encountered Christ - you dance with joy! And when you dance, you invite others to dance with you because joy is infectious.
And the invitation to this table is wide open! So come to the table…
Come to the table of joy, come to the table of joy, this is God’s table, it’s not yours or mine, come to the table of joy.
Amen.
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