Food for Thought

There have long been jokes about Lutherans and food, especially about the Norwegians and their lutefisk, the Germans and their beer, or coffee and jello salads at meetings and potlucks; plus comments like "If you serve food, they will come!" But I have realized that Ray and I have been assigned perhaps the only internship site where the majority of our meals will be at church!

You see, St Paul's provides meals for the volunteer work teams that stay at the church. If you bring a team to work, you can expect to be taken out for pizza the night you arrive, served southern fried chicken and biscuits one night, enjoy an Italian night (ranging from home made spaghetti to frozen lasagna), and go out to eat at a local seafood house one evening (that excursion is dutch treat). Plus, the church provides food for teams to prepare breakfasts, pack lunches for the work sites, and prepare their other evening meals themselves.

This all means that three to four nights a week we have meals with the mission teams as part of our internship! Add to that a get-aquainted dinner with our internship committee members, a welcome potluck with the entire congregation on our first Sunday here, a lovingly prepared funeral luncheon, and a Sunday lunch to celebrate a member's birthday and you will realize that we have eaten very well since we arrived two weeks ago! Plus, the vicars' office is next to the kitchen, so we often walk past tables and counters laden with breakfast, lunch, and snack goodies for the volunteers. What temptation!!

Many meals at the church may actually be a good thing, since our apartment kitchen is small and is equipped with an electric stove. Ray, the chief chef, is struggling to cook to his usual high standards in the challenging space. And I, chief bottlewasher, struggle to clean up the mess he sometimes creates...

I'm not sure what brought all this to mind - perhaps it was preaching Sunday on one of the John 6 texts where Jesus declares that he is the Bread of Life. I realized when I was preparing that I was struggling with explaining his statement that the one who comes to him will not hunger and the one who believes in him will not thirst (John 6:35), given our constant need to eat and drink; not only to sustain our bodies, but also to experience fellowship and strengthen our communities. And yes, I did get to the point of the text in the sermon: when Jesus tells us to come and to believe, he is inviting us into companionship with him in eternal life.