Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Psalm 128:3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Our congregation shares a table fellowship meal each month following worship on the last Sunday of the month. Sadly, Greta and I missed the table fellowship in October which occurred while we were away.
As a pastor, I have found 2 themes which seem to me to dominate much of my preaching and even my personal theology. I believe Christians, by our faith in Jesus as the Christ, are united in a family of faith. “The word ‘Christendom’ first appeared in the 12th century, arising from the Middle English term cristendom, and the Old English cristendōm. Before the schism of Orthodoxy and Catholicism in the 11th century, there was one church of Christianity, which was all of Christendom. Now that there are thousands of distinctly identifying Christian churches, the affiliation of Christendom is more complex.” (www.christianity.com/wiki) My belief is that Christendom is the global family or clan, composed of a vast array of individual families or congregations. Although these families are not necessarily genetically linked, they are definitely linked spiritually.
I’m sure the song We Are Family by the group Sister Sledge was not meant to describe Christianity when the song was released, but whenever I think about the unity of our faith, I hear their words, “We are family/I got my sisters with me/We are family/Get up everybody and sing.” “Everyone can see we’re together/As we walk on by (and)/ And we flock just like birds of a feather/I won’t tell no lie.” We are family, sisters and brothers of faith, united in our belief in Jesus as the Christ. We don’t all look alike. We don’t all dress alike. We don’t all talk alike. Like biological families, we all don’t even agree upon the specifics of the faith which binds us together. But, we are Family!
One of my favorite ideas about families and faith is represented in the New Testament by the Greek word κοινωνία, “(1) as a relationship characterized by sharing in common fellowship, participation (1J 1.3), opposite κακία (dislike, hatefulness); (2) as giving so that others can share generosity, fellow feeling (2C 9.13; PH 2.1); more concretely willing contribution, gift (RO 15.26).” (Friberg, Analytical Greek Lexicon) The idea of sharing table fellowship with my family of faith has become as strong a theme for me as the idea of family itself.
Many years ago, the phrase, “The family that prays together stays together” became quite common. There is certainly an essential truth in that idea. The prayers we offer during worship and the prayers we offer individually do create bonds of unity. Equally true is the (non-rhyming) idea that “The family that worships together stays together.” There is, or should be an elemental bond between family and togetherness.
The experience of the earliest Christians expressed in Acts 2:42 can be understood to refer to sharing the Eucharist; but, it can (and should) be extended to the basic sharing of meals. The churches of my youth almost all shared some version of a ‘covered dish supper.’ The church where Greta and I raised our children did the same. I have wonderful childhood memories and adult memories of sharing meals together with our congregational families of faith.
During our trip, we shared every meal with a portion of our biological family. One of the justifications for the trip itself was to visit our grandson who is studying this semester in London, England. Along with his parents, we shared several meals with him. I have no qualms about whether the effort and cost were worth it. They were!
But, I did miss the end-of-October “Breakfast for Lunch” with our family of faith at First Parish Church of Newbury. I love to share table fellowship with all of my family.
Find your family of faith, enjoy fellowship with them, trust God,
Pastor Ray