Closer to the Feast Than You Think
Church family, here is a quick quiz. Name one Bible story that has nothing to do with food.
Take your time. I will wait.
The whole Bible is bookended by meals. It opens in a garden with fruit and one very bad decision about it. It closes with a wedding supper in the book of Revelation. In between, Israel eats a hurried meal the night they leave Egypt, then lives on manna in the wilderness (a bread that was literally called "What is it?"). Jesus gets so many dinner invitations that his critics give him a nickname, and it is not a flattering one. Read Scripture on an empty stomach and you will notice it keeps pointing you toward a table.
Isaiah put the longing into words. He pictured a day when God would host a feast on a mountain for all peoples, where tears are wiped away and death itself is finished. Every dinner in Scripture leans toward that one.
So when Jesus tells a parable about a king throwing a wedding banquet, his listeners know exactly which story he is stepping into. The invitations go out. Some guests have a field to see about or a business to run. The hall gets filled in unexpected ways. And somewhere near the end, the story takes a turn that makes people shift in their seats. We will sit with that on Sunday. For now, just notice that Matthew 22 is a story about a table, a king, and what it means to be asked.
Now for the second reading, which looks like it wandered in from a different book. Paul writes to the church in Philippi from a prison cell, and his big word is joy. He says it twice in one breath: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice." Then comes a line worth underlining: "The Lord is near."
Put those side by side. In one passage a king sends out the invitation. In the other, an apostle in chains says the one who invites is close at hand. Paul also tells the Philippians to bring their worries to God "with thanksgiving." The Greek word there is eucharistia, the same word the church later gave to Holy Communion. Paul is writing about prayer, and he reaches for a word that already smells like bread and wine.
One more detail. Just before our passage, Paul quietly asks two women in the church, Euodia and Syntyche, to settle a disagreement. He has not stopped thinking about them. Anyone who has ever been seated next to the wrong relative at a holiday dinner knows that tables are wonderful and complicated at the same time.
Here is something to carry into this week. Read both passages once, slowly, maybe with a snack nearby for atmosphere. Then ask yourself where a table already exists in your week, and who is usually sitting at it. You may be closer to the feast than you think.
Words Worth Knowing
Kingdom of Heaven: Matthew's phrase for God's reign, the place and time where God's will is done. Jesus says the kingdom "may be compared" to a wedding banquet, which tells us it is something to be welcomed into and lived in, not only something to wait for.
Shalom (peace): The Hebrew word behind Paul's "peace of God" in Philippians 4:7. It means far more than quiet. It carries the sense of wholeness, everything in its right place, the way things were meant to be.
Called: Matthew 22:14 says "many are called." The word means summoned or invited. The Greek word for church, ekklesia, grows from the same root and means the ones called out and gathered together.
Grace & gratitude,
Pastor Mark
Take your time. I will wait.
The whole Bible is bookended by meals. It opens in a garden with fruit and one very bad decision about it. It closes with a wedding supper in the book of Revelation. In between, Israel eats a hurried meal the night they leave Egypt, then lives on manna in the wilderness (a bread that was literally called "What is it?"). Jesus gets so many dinner invitations that his critics give him a nickname, and it is not a flattering one. Read Scripture on an empty stomach and you will notice it keeps pointing you toward a table.
Isaiah put the longing into words. He pictured a day when God would host a feast on a mountain for all peoples, where tears are wiped away and death itself is finished. Every dinner in Scripture leans toward that one.
So when Jesus tells a parable about a king throwing a wedding banquet, his listeners know exactly which story he is stepping into. The invitations go out. Some guests have a field to see about or a business to run. The hall gets filled in unexpected ways. And somewhere near the end, the story takes a turn that makes people shift in their seats. We will sit with that on Sunday. For now, just notice that Matthew 22 is a story about a table, a king, and what it means to be asked.
Now for the second reading, which looks like it wandered in from a different book. Paul writes to the church in Philippi from a prison cell, and his big word is joy. He says it twice in one breath: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice." Then comes a line worth underlining: "The Lord is near."
Put those side by side. In one passage a king sends out the invitation. In the other, an apostle in chains says the one who invites is close at hand. Paul also tells the Philippians to bring their worries to God "with thanksgiving." The Greek word there is eucharistia, the same word the church later gave to Holy Communion. Paul is writing about prayer, and he reaches for a word that already smells like bread and wine.
One more detail. Just before our passage, Paul quietly asks two women in the church, Euodia and Syntyche, to settle a disagreement. He has not stopped thinking about them. Anyone who has ever been seated next to the wrong relative at a holiday dinner knows that tables are wonderful and complicated at the same time.
Here is something to carry into this week. Read both passages once, slowly, maybe with a snack nearby for atmosphere. Then ask yourself where a table already exists in your week, and who is usually sitting at it. You may be closer to the feast than you think.
Words Worth Knowing
Kingdom of Heaven: Matthew's phrase for God's reign, the place and time where God's will is done. Jesus says the kingdom "may be compared" to a wedding banquet, which tells us it is something to be welcomed into and lived in, not only something to wait for.
Shalom (peace): The Hebrew word behind Paul's "peace of God" in Philippians 4:7. It means far more than quiet. It carries the sense of wholeness, everything in its right place, the way things were meant to be.
Called: Matthew 22:14 says "many are called." The word means summoned or invited. The Greek word for church, ekklesia, grows from the same root and means the ones called out and gathered together.
Grace & gratitude,
Pastor Mark
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