The God of love, whom we are experiencing now in this time of Easter, shares His love by providing food for the hungry and offering up the bread of life for us who desire it. One way that I have been shown this love is by being fed. Food plays an important role in my daily life, and to share a meal with someone is more than just hospitable, it’s Christlike. This idea stems from my childhood. My mother, serving as the deacon of food in our medium-sized church in Toronto, followed the foundation God set for us on how to love others. Her role was to plan both the coffee hour as well as organize the potlucks. Now, potlucks in the Christian tradition are an important part of the church community. They not only bring people together, but they unite a congregation. People are made equal, stomachs are full, and Christ is presented in action, inviting people to explore their faith outside of a secluded Bible study.
Food has always been this agent of love in all cultures. It transcends language and economic status and goes deep into the soul of a person. Food heals a hurt heart, invites strangers to become friends, and acts as a mediator during a time of tension. In the Scriptures, we see Christ using food not only for sermon illustrations but for meaningful transformations. From the Last Supper, where Jesus said the words, “this is my body broken for you,”1 to the wedding at Cana, where Jesus transforms water into wine. One of the most well-known examples of Christ feeding His people is in the Gospel of Luke when Jesus feeds the five thousand. The disciples say to Jesus, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside to lodge and get provisions, for we are here in a deserted place.”2 Now, Jesus had been speaking of the Kingdom of Heaven the whole time the crowd was with Him, so why wouldn’t he show them what the Kingdom of Heaven looks like? “And taking the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven and blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were filled, and what was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.”3
But if you had to ask me which my favourite is, it is The Parable of the Great Dinner in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus says, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner, he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘come, for everything is ready now.’ But they alike began to make excuses.”4 “So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ And the slave said, ‘sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ Then the master said to the slave, ‘go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.”5 Jesus starts this parable with “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers and sisters or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”6 Our meals should be less about honour and glory for ourselves, but should be for those who are treated as though they have no honour and glory. They should be the ones we have sit at the heads of our tables and be served first.
With Christ, the potluck is plentiful, there is no barren place, and the wine is flowing out like water. We continue the Eucharistic meal into our time together, breaking bread as one and drinking the water of life together. Our potlucks should be as theological as our homilies; they should point to the God we worship as much as the hymns we sing. Those leaving our potlucks should be full and at rest, and those coming in should be seen as equals. They should invite people to experience the love of God through the people of God — a people who feed and a people who have been fed. My hope is that people will feed, take delight in one another’s company, and share the love of God. My hope has welcomed me to His Holy Potluck, expecting nothing of me but a hunger that longs to be filled. The love of God is found in the food we eat, the laughter we share at the table, and the delight in one another.
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
- Luke 9:12
- Luke 9:16-17
- Luke 14:16-18
- Luke 14:21-23
- Luke 14:12-14
