Psalm 23 and Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Rev. Emily Tanis-Likkel

            Several years ago my husband Brett and I had a friend named Chris.  He was a young single man that we met at our church in Seattle, a talented musician who was living at home to help his parents out.  We had Chris over for dinner a few times, and enjoyed getting to know him.  He was very grateful for our hospitality, responding as though our simple meals were something extravagant.  He wanted to return the favor, to make dinner for us.  We came to the apartment that he lived at with his parents and a couple of other family members.  They had a dining table but no chairs to go with it.  After Chris had finished the pasta with tofu, he looked around wondering where we would eat.  We ended up perching ourselves at the coffee table for dinner, which worked out just fine.  We asked Chris where his family typically ate.  He looked over at the chair-less table as if for the first time.  We don’t sit down to eat, he told us.  I don’t ever remember our family eating together.  We were surprised.  They were a nice family that loved each other, surely they would have shared a meal every once and a while.  It wasn’t part of their family’s culture.  They just didn’t do it.  This story is probably extreme.  Families today usually eat together at least occasionally.  Yet savoring our food together is not often a top priority.  Many things vie for our attention, and convenience food gobbled up in front of the TV becomes the norm for many of us.

We can worship God in all aspects of our lives.  We have been exploring the senses this summer in worship.  We have talked about sensing God through our touching, seeing, and hearing.  We can worship God in all of the ordinary things that we do every day.  How do we worship God with our sense of taste?  Keeping our eating in the realm of the sacred can have many different responses.  For some it might mean making better choices for healthy eating.  It may help others to be more intentional about purchasing more of their food from local farmers and to support sustainable farming.  For some it might mean eating more, for others it could be eating less.  It could mean being aware of when we eat for emotional reasons, and when we are trying to fill a hunger other than a stomach growl.  The focus this morning is on tasting gratefully.  Next week we’ll talk about what it means to be spiritually fed.  Tasting gratefully means recognizing that all of the good in our lives comes from God’s hands.  When we eat as members of God’s household, the ordinary is transformed to something sacred.  Tasting food becomes prayer.  When we recognize that God provides, we humbly thank God for the basic gifts of food, drink and shelter. 

A group of people tasting food together around a table was very important in Jesus’ day, and particularly to Jesus and his disciples.  Jesus wanted people to be well nourished and have a restful meal together.  In Mark 6 Jesus noticed that the disciples were getting tired and hungry.  He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”  They had been following and assisting Jesus as he taught and healed countless people.  We read that “many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.”  The crowds did not allow them to break away for even a moment, getting to the deserted place ahead of them.  Jesus knew that all of the people were both physically and spiritually hungry.  The disciples’ meal had to wait, in order that all could eat.  This story recalls Psalm 23 in its description of Jesus as a shepherd and a host.  He had compassion on the people because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  They were hungry for his teaching and wisdom.  He served them what they needed, both physically and spiritually.  These needs are connected, and both are vital.

            Psalm 23 says that God prepares a table before us.  God is a gracious host.  God wants everyone’s needs to be met, and also desires that our spirits be full.  Food, drink and shelter are all necessities of life.  The sustenance we are given when we live in God’s realm is vital just like these basic necessities.  Jesus told the disciples to come away and rest and eat.  He knew that they needed to be nourished in order to do their best work. If we read a little further in Mark, we hear that Jesus invited the people to recline.  This was how people ate in those days, they didn’t sit at a table, they laid down.  They really settled in to eat, they didn’t eat and run.  Some people really know how to eat.  Even if the food they can afford is meager, they eat gratefully, savoring each morsel, thanking God for providing for them.  God invites us to savor our relationship with God. God invites us to recline.  We are not to have prayers on the run, forgetting about our faith until next Sunday.  No, we should chew on it, taste it, and savor it.

            God prepares a table and fills our cups to overflowing.  Psalm 23 reads that “our cup runneth over.”  The drink that God pours is more than enough.  God wants the very best for us, wants us to be well taken care of.  Hospitality was extremely important in Biblical times.  One would bring out the very best for the guest, would work tirelessly to make the guest as comfortable as possible.  In tasting gratefully at God’s table we recognize that God is the most generous host.  We taste our food gratefully; we taste all of life gratefully.  We are to recline at this table, settling in and savoring God’s food of life. 

            At Bible Study here last Tuesday we talked about what Psalm 23 might mean by God preparing a table in the presence of our enemies.  It sounded odd to us, as if it would be gloating to be served food in front of our foes.  Yet the idea here is that God cares for us no matter what we are going through.  In the midst of our suffering, God loves us and provides for us.  As a shepherd watches out for poisonous plants or dangerous animals, God watches over us.  As we taste gratefully, we recognize that God continues to care for us even when life is difficult.

            Tasting gratefully means eating well.  One sustainable farmer writes of four components to eating well: quantity, quality, health and responsibility.  The first component is quantity because having enough food is the most important part of eating.  I have often heard that here in the west we have no idea what it means to be hungry.  I believe that.  I have never been truly hungry, certainly not starving.  It is central to the teachings of Jesus that all should be fed.  This is a huge concern for today’s world, where the imbalance of wealth is immense.  The second component of eating well that he talks about is health.  Safe, nutritious food is ideal.  This is not always easy.  We must pay a higher price for food that has not been fussed with, processed, and sprayed with chemicals.  Simple foods are so wonderful.  The movie Big Night that came out several years ago depicted an Italian family that ran a restaurant in New Jersey that refused to tailor their food for American taste even though the locals greatly preferred the restaurant across the street for their boring spaghetti and meatballs.  This movie is full of great food scenes.  My favorite is when one of the brothers of the restaurant cooks an egg in a pan, and the perfect simplicity of how he prepares it was so memorable.  My family now calls that egg preparation Big Night Eggs.  The third component to eating well is quality.  We enjoy food that has great texture, color, smell, and of course taste.  Eating well adds to our quality of life.  Taking the time to prepare and enjoy the food we eat helps connect us to our Creator.  The last component is responsibility.  This farmer encourages the consumer to “look at the broader impact of a dining decision.”  He says that if you don’t grow your own food, try to know the person who grows it for you. “Eating responsibly, on top of everything else, addresses the more spiritual side of eating well, perhaps offering some nourishment for the soul.”

            Tasting gratefully means thanking God for the food on table, in the pantry and in the fridge.  Silently or aloud we acknowledge that God is the provider, and we pray for God’s blessing on those who don’t have enough to eat.  Tasting gratefully includes doing what we can to share the bounty. Psalm 34:8 reads “O taste and see that the Lord is good.”  In our thanksgiving we recognize the goodness of God, that God cares for our every need.

            Tasting gratefully includes the idea of the shared meal.  In the context of worship this takes the form of Holy Communion.  In the celebration of recalling Jesus’ last supper with the disciples, we participate in a holy feast with people of faith in the past, present and future.  We recall Jesus’ words that his body was broken for us, and that whenever we eat and drink together we should remember his love for us.  One of the most memorable Communion meals I have shared was at Plymouth Church in Seattle, when an interim minister suggested that we all take a big hunk of bread.  Instead of the usual little morsel, we took large pieces of bread, pieces that actually needed multiple bites taken out of them.  I loved this because it symbolized for us the abundance of God’s grace.  Another very memorable Communion for me was at a young clergy conference I attended last May.  All of us were asked to form one large circle.  There were over 60 of us in a small space, so several were just outside of the circle.  It was time for the liturgy to begin.  Yet one of the leaders of the service took the time, with no hurrying, to have everyone shift around so that every person was part of the circle.  Then the prayers began, and we were all invited to participate in blessing the elements, which were bread and grapes.  The communion table was lusciously spread with a great abundance.  We ate and had a final song together, forming a chain that danced and weaved throughout that old historic UCC church.  When the song ended many of us were drawn back to the communion table like magnets to continue the meal.  

            We all have food memories.  Do you remember a particularly moving communion?  Maybe it was your first communion?  Do you remember a special meal shared with friends?  A wonderful family owned restaurant you found while on vacation?  Do you think of a meal that you had so much fun cooking?  Do you remember helping older relatives cook when you were a child?  Did you take a taste from the bowl?  Maybe you love the ritual of always having the same menu on Christmas or Easter.  Perhaps it doesn’t feel the same without the dish that you grew up with or that you have discovered.  Maybe you love the adventure of trying new flavors.  We spend a lot of our time buying food, preparing it, and cleaning up after a meal.  There is nothing mundane about it.  God is with us in all aspects of our lives.  God created the senses we use to understand and take in the world.  God created the textures, aromas, and tastes that surround us.  God delights in our enjoyment of the wonderful sense of taste.  May we gratefully taste our food, may we gratefully appreciate God’s bounty, God’s provision for the body and the soul. 

David Heininger, Black Mesa Ranch, Arizona.  www.eatwellguide.org