Eating and making disciples
by Tone Benedict
Last week at the Well I talked about the Rhythm of EATing. Everybody eats, not just Christians, But for the person who believes in God and loves God eating is meant to be a form of Worship. You see God created us in such a way that we smell, we See and we taste food, some of us like it crunchy, and all of our senses can enjoy food, and God made it that way! God made it so eating food could be an act of worship! Problem is too many of us worship the food instead of the God who gave us the food and the ability to enjoy it.
Meals are a big deal in the bible, it was a piece of Fruit that Eve saw and it looked good and she worshipped it and gave some to Adam and Sin entered the world. God provided Manna in the dessert, Jesus fed the 5000. But here are a few reasons, I have the Word EAT in the name of the Well. (not all these are original with me, just stuff I have learned.)
Meals remind daily Of our common need for God and his faithfulness to provide both physically and spiritually. Our hunger and thirst remind us that we are not self-sufficient or self sustaining. We have a need for food and water that must be met outside of ourselves. This physical need points our hearts to a deeper spiritual needs, Jesus pointed to it a lot. We have a hunger for intimacy, satisfaction, reconciliation, and more! These desires can only truly be met by Jesus, He called himself both the Bread of Life and the Living Water-consuming him, taking him into you, means there’s a sense in which we will never be hungry or thirsty again if we have Jesus. (some insights from Jeff Vandersteldt)
Community – We all have a need for community, Iron sharpens Iron, in they early church they were together eating meals and loving on each other. God created us to have community. All of us have this desire to be fully known and accepted and I just don’t see how you can get that in one hour on Sunday. Ultimately only Jesus can know you fully, be as Christ followers we are called to encourage one another, that means we need community with each other. But how bout this! Community is that Jesus EATS with Sinners! You cant make disciples if you don’t eat with people. When God comes, he is going to be having a party, it is about communion and Jesus by eating with Sinners he was communing with them. When you eat with people you commune with them you have unity with them. Whoever we eat with, we give a chance to be changed and that maybe some more sinners would show up here if our churches were a place where people they felt loved and welcomed into community.
Communion – Amazing that originally the Passover, was the way God saved the Israelites. They had to kill a lamb and take its blood and put it over their door and the Angel would Passover their house, the lamb had to be perfect. There was to be no yeast in the house. In the bible Yeast represents Sin. So no yeast in the bread, and then Jesus shows up. So listen to what Jesus does. They never understood why no yeast in this bread, Jesus teaches them why. Because His sinless body was going to broken for them.
Now as they were eating,(eating a meal) Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” (see the disciples would have all of a sudden understood why the bread couldn’t have yeast, we have always wondered why no yeast, now they understood, it was because it represents the sinless body of Jesus). And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus is the better meal. I have a story that I tell about the first real communion I had where God me in the meal. He told me he wanted to die for me, he opened my eyes and for the first time I saw blood in the cup. I never knew a man that would die for me and seeing that blood was God’s way of expressing his love toward me. Oh how much love he has for us. And Jesus said we should do this “every time we get together, we break open the bread and we would think about his body being broken for us, we would drink the wine and by his blood we are forgiven. Every time, we get together we can celebrate his life and his death and his resurrection.
And Jesus promised that In the Kingdom we will get to eat with Jesus. ”I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matt 26:26-29) What a promise we will eat with Jesus, we will spend time communing and talking and celebrating with Jesus, what we do now should not be a ceremony, it should be a party, I can’t wait to party with Jesus!
A picture of the Kingdom. “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:6-9 ESV)
I can’t wait!
Pastor Tone is the pastor of “The Well“ located in Jacksonville Florida.
“I personally know Pastor Tone and he is one who lives what he preaches” Russ Welch, owner Radicaldisciples.me Blog
You can read more of Pastor Tone’s writings at Tone Benedict’s Blog
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