"Breaking Bread" Acts 2:43-47 4/24/05

Tonight I want to talk about sharing meals together. As we've been looking at the scriptures over the past few weeks of Christ's resurrection appearances it struck me that the very first activity after his death and resurrection that Jesus renewed with his disciples was eating together. On the Emmaus Road and behind closed doors in an upper room Jesus would come among the disciples as they shared a meal and tried to figure out what they were going to do now. Through out the ministry of Jesus we hear stories about sharing meals. In one of his first public miracles Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding celebration. We remember the story of how Jesus feeds the five thousand from that one loaf of bread and five fishes. During the last days of his life sharing in the Passover feast with his disciples was passed on from generation to generation and has become our sacrament of Holy Communion. Sharing food with publicans and sinners was one of the acts that had Jesus condemned. It was indeed a major offense in his culture to invite the wrong people to dinner.

Sharing meals together is one of the most important things that we do in building relationships. Who among us wants to miss an opportunity to come to a church potluck dinner, picnic, or miss the celebration at our Christmas or Easter dinners. From fellowship after church to a snack at the Elbow room, or eating pizza at one of our meetings community is build many times around food and the act of sitting at table with one another. Being asked out to dinner can signal a first date or hold the potential of being re-united with a long lost friend. Birthday dinners, weddings, even funerals are a chance to be united at very Important transition times in our lives as we break bread together.

So what's in a dinner? Shared meals are vital to making a family. They are times to regroup after a busy day of work or school. In our fast and faster paced existence the luxury and necessity of slowing down and sharing at the table can be vital to a healthy relationship and family. At our home we begin each meal with grace, remembering and thanking God for all of God's abundant blessings. A part of praying grace always includes a prayer for the poor people who don't have enough food. It then is a time for us to be focused on one another and to catch up on what's happening in our lives and our life together. Sharing a meal unites us as a family and grounds us in God's presence.

Shared meals also help us to form bonds with strangers, and to make new friends. Our time for instance after worship is vital to new people who are guests with us. It's a chance for us to extend our hospitality and chat over a cold drink and piece of cake and let them know they're in the right place. For those of us who don't get to see each other during the week it's a great opportunity to check in and see how things are going with one another.

Shared meals comfort and reunite us. After a long hard day there is nothing better than a home cooked meal that has been prepared by loving hands. On the other hand going out to dinner with a good friend can give us both the opportunity not to cook and to be treated special and enjoy the presence of one another. Sharing a meal takes on a vital role in our community as we come to the communion table together.

For some of us as we take communion we remember the meal that Jesus celebrated with his disciples so long ago. For others of us it is a time to receive the body and blood of Christ as it nourishes us for the week ahead. And for all of us it is a very sacred time when Christ's spirit unites us with our brothers and sisters as we become the body and life of Christ for our world. Each week we say these words to one another as we consecrate the bread in our holy meal together:

'Through the broken bread we participate in the body of Christ.' --- Our sharing together is a sign of our joining with each other in becoming Christ body for our world. We are renewed and refreshed at God's table so that we might become Christ's presence in our world.

As we share the cup together we say: "... through the cup of blessing we participate in the new life Christ gives."

As we commune at God's table we participate in each other lives as more than mere observes. We join in Christ's life that lives and moves and has being among us.

For us at MCC communion is a vital life giving experience as we share an open

communion, Because many of us have not been welcome at other tables. When

we gather together we are proclaiming that we are the precious, holy body of Christ that is united with others around our world. No one can exclude us from the banquet of love. I can't tell you how many people tell me in tears after their first communion service at MCC that this was the first time I've had communion in 5, 10, 20 years. I wasn't welcome at other places, at other communion tables.

You might have quested what this week's homework will be. You're right -share a meal with someone. Pray first about who you want that person or people to be. Do you want to cook for them or take them out to dinner? Will it be a celebration, a chance to renew an old friendship, a time to focus on the loved one in your life? As you share that meal remember all the ways that God has blessed your life. Enjoy, savor your time with the other person - let them know how important they are in your life. Remember also as you eat that there are others less fortunate. Maybe you want to send a donation to the Greater Pittsburgh community Food Bank or cook a dinner at a local shelter. Bring some canned goods for our food bank or help to help unload one of our food Bank orders in the future.

And lastly remember that God is present at all the table where you gather just as God is present at our communion table. May the sharing of your meals be a sharing of God's life in our world.