Hello,
Several years ago I was on a retreat with a bunch of 7th,8th,
and 9th graders. We
were in the dining hall, and I found myself seated at table with seven seventh
grade boys. Some would consider
this a very dangerous place to be.
It was lunch, and although I don’t remember exactly what was served, I
am sure that it had to be something akin to sloppy joes, chips, and sliced
peaches….isn’t that what is always served for lunch at camp.
As we awaited the hall to fill up and lunch to begin, I was pleasantly
surprised by the lack of poking and jabbing amongst my table mates. When all had arrived and grace had been
sung and said, the “runner” (a dangerous name for kids carrying food) was
selected by some random factor…the one with the longest hair? Once selected, the runner walked to the
serving station and procured our food and set it on our table, and that is
where the pleasantries came to an end.
Like coyotes circled around a dead animal, my tablemates began lunging
at the food, grabbing for sloppy joes and potato chips, fearful, it seemed that
this food might take off and run away if not for their pouncing on it. Once the flurry had subsided and most
of the sloppy joes and potato chips were on plates and not on the floor, I said
to my lunchmates, “Is this how you eat at home?”
To my surprise every one of them, all seven seventh grade boys, said the
same thing, “No. We never sit down
at a table and eat together at home.”
“Really?” I replied back, startled. At that time I still had my three boys at home, and we
regularly, but not always, tried to eat at least one meal a day together as a
family. Probing further, I
discovered that the universal practice of these seven seventh graders was to
almost always eat by themselves….grab something out of the frig….heat it up….take
a seat in front of the TV….and eat.
And even when they did eat with others in the family, it was usually
sitting on the couch or easy chairs, focused on the TV.
Although this may not be true for you, I have since discovered that this
is pretty standard fare for meal time in our culture. Tables are not used.
Families don’t gather, and the TV provides conversation.
When I consider why many Christians do not find themselves drawn to
Sunday morning worship, it seems to me that my seven seventh graders provided
me an insight. In a culture where
mealtime is often solitary, often paired with individual entertainment, and the
sole objective is simply to fill one’s stomach….it is no wonder that Sunday
morning worship where we gather together at a pre-set time, where we share
fellowship and a table with others, and where certain “manners” are observed
seems an odd and almost repulsive idea to many.
Gathering together for worship may be a relic from an age when people
gathered together to eat, but maybe this is a relic worth holding on to. For when people gather together for
worship they develop friendships that are grounded in God’s self-giving love. When people kneel side by side at the
table, they experience the impartial, unconditional love that Christ gives to
each of them. When people join
their prayers for loved ones and strangers they link their thoughts and
hearts. When people join their
voices to those around them in song, they hear the sounds of harmony that is
possible in spite of their difference.
When people sit side by side in worship together, they get to know each
other better, and thereby are able to care better for each other in times of
need. When people converse
and praise together, single notes are woven into rich and interesting chords of
sound.
It may be easier to eat alone in our fast paced world, and it may be
easier to practice one’s Christian faith alone in this same harried world, but
consider the monochromatic life and faith that such isolation creates and on
the other hand the dynamism of being together brings to both life and faith.
At First Lutheran of Greensburg where I worship and dine, the church bells
ring at 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m..
Those bells echo from a day that is passed, a day when dinner bells
called children in from play to gather around a table and have their lives
broadened as they joined for a purpose greater than just filling their stomachs
with food. If you hear our bells
or not, know that the invite is sent ringing out to you, no matter where you are. There is a church whose doors are open
to you telling you that it is supper time….time to gather around the table of
the Lord with a far greater purpose than just filling our stomachs with food.
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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