Break Bread

Bottom line

Sharing a meal with others isn’t just about being hospitable; it is about being more like Christ.

Opening Line

What are some of your favorite smells?

Introduction

For me, I find that most of my favorite smells revolve around food. I love walking into the house when Michelle is making some butter chicken. The best part about that is how the smell lingers.

When we were pastoring in Medicine Hat, we would have potlucks once a month, and we had a few families from India, and they would make these amazing curry dishes that you could smell the whole time service was happening. The tough part was that the pastors had to eat last, so often that smell was the only hint of that food I would get.

How about the smell of pancakes being made this morning? Or the smell of anything coming off the BBQ just before a meal? Now that everyone is hungry, I’m going to make my point.

Main Point

I have noticed a trend lately when it comes to small group leader training. I first noticed it with Alpha, regardless if the training was for the new believers class or the marriage course. I noticed it again when we did the training for the Bible Engagement Project leaders. It even comes up when you are planning VBS or Kidz Club, and it is almost a non-negotiable when you run any kind of youth program.

What kind of food are you serving?

Why it matters

There is something deeply profound about food. It is so much more than just sustenance. Food has a deeply profound ability to bring people together; to help form community and relationships. Food has the ability to break down barriers.

One of the things you are going to see this morning is that there is actually a theology of food. God shows a deep concern about the right foods to eat and the wrong ones. When you read through the first five books of the bible, you notice that God actually implements regular, yearly feasts that the nation of Israel was supposed to keep. These feasts created a rhythm of worship and community connection.

What I hope you see this morning is that when Luke says that the early church shared meals and the Lord’s Supper together, it isn’t just an add on to fellowship; it is actually a lead up to the way things were before sin, and where we are headed once again when God makes all things new.

Scripture

To kick things off, let’s go back to the verse in Acts that the whole series is based off of.

Acts 2:42 NLT

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

So we have talked about being devoted to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, and now we are going to break down the sharing in meals and the Lord’s supper. As we did last week, we are going to jump all the way back to Genesis 1:29

Genesis 1:29 NLT

Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.

Genesis 2:15–17 NLT

The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

Don’t be distracted by the warning that you miss the good thing that God is telling the man. You may freely eat of every tree of the garden. This isn’t an instruction of the variety, but the quantity. God created the garden to be enjoyed by man, and so man was told to eat whatever he wanted, as much as he wanted. Look at the goodness of our God!

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But often, you and I will miss the blessing of what God is saying for the restriction. Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Yet this is what temptation does. Instead of being overcome with the abundance of God’s blessing and provision, you can easily become fixated on the one thing God said no to. You have this whole garden! Ya but what does that one taste like? What does that one I can’t have taste like?

It tastes like death, you should stay away from it. If God, the good Father who gives good gifts and has good plans for you, puts a restriction on one thing, he probably has a really good reason, and being a killjoy probably isn’t one of them. Do not become fixated on the thing you can’t have; allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the goodness of all that God does provide.

But back to food. As you work your way through the Old Testament narratives, it feels like they are always feasting. Even Lot, just before God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah, throws a feast for the angels.

Genesis 19:3 NLT

But Lot insisted, so at last they went home with him. Lot prepared a feast for them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast, and they ate.

Later on in the Torah, which is Hebrew name for the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Law, God tells the people to observe 6 different feasts throughout the year, and two of them were supposed to be held for 7 days! Can you imagine feasting for 7 days?

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When I read something like that, I don’t think that they were worried about their caloric intake over those seven days. This was meant to be a party of epic proportions because God is good, his blessing is abundant, and what’s a part without food? You don’t even have to be a believer in Jesus to get behind that statement. Food is meant to be enjoyed.

I will just say this quick. Food is meant to be enjoyed within reason. The reason I say that is the same God who commanded feasting also condemns gluttony. It is one thing to enjoy food in celebration of God’s goodness. It is quite other to enjoy it in such a way it replaces God on the throne of your life. Does your joy come from God, or food? In times of distress, do you turn to God or food for comfort? I read recently an article by someone who has struggled with food throughout their life. The one comment he made was that when God became his source of comfort and joy, food started tasting better. When food was his source, he didn’t really enjoy it, he just ate it. When God became his source, he really began to enjoy food again.

So we fast forward to the life and times of Jesus. Every time you flip the page, it seems like Jesus is eating with someone, and the Pharisees are criticizing him for it. At one point, Jesus is being criticized because his disciples were picking heads of grain on the Sabbath. Luke 5:29

Luke 5:29 NLT

Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them.

Luke 19:5 NLT

When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”

In fact, he did so much eating and drinking, the Pharisees accused him of being a glutton and drunkard.

Matthew 11:19 NLT

The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.”

And why? Why does it seem like Jesus was constantly sitting down and eating with different people? Let’s circle back to the Luke 5 passage.

Luke 5:29–32 NLT

Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them. But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?” Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”

Jesus came to not only restore the relationship humanity had lost with God, but also to restore the relationship they had lost with each other. It wasn’t that there are some in society that are sinners and some that aren’t. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Jesus was healing the brokeness that had become so normative in society, and the easiest way to bring people together is with food.

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Which brings us to the profound importance of what is known as the Lord’s Supper. On the night he was betrayed, in his final moments with his disciples before he would be scourged and crucified, he sits down with the disciples and shares a meal. He breaks the bread, he shares the cup, each element bearing profound significance. But it wasn’t a significant moment for just the disciples; he is giving these early leaders of the church a pattern, something to continue on after he was gone.

What is important about the Lord’s Supper is that it bears all the marks of the feasts from the Torah. Take the Passover feast for example. At Passover, the Jews were to sacrifice a spotless lamb of a year old, to remember when the did it in Egypt and the doors were marked with blood so the angel of God would passover them. They were to eat unleaven bread, because on the first Passover, they had to be ready to go because the Egyptians were about to chase them out. So the Jews celebrate Passover and it connects them to their escape from Egypt.

The Lord’s Supper, or communion, does the same but in a significantly deeper way. The Lord’s Supper connects us to the past as we remember the death and resurrection of Christ. It connects us to the present, as you experience the presence of Christ here now by the indwelling Holy Spirit. It connects you to the future, as you look forward to the day when Christ returns and we will eat the heavenly feast.

Revelation 19:6–9 NLT

Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder: “Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.”

Isaiah 25:6–9 NLT

In Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world. It will be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat. There he will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears. He will remove forever all insults and mockery against his land and people. The Lord has spoken! In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”

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All of this culminates with the picture Luke paints for us in Acts 2. The church wanted to be together, and the ultimate expression of this fellowship with each other and with God is found in sharing the Lord’s Supper together. It also why the Apostle Paul taught so strongly on it in 1 Cor 11:20-22

1 Corinthians 11:20–22 NLT

When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!

Last week I showed you that a big part of the unity and fellowship that the early experienced led to a sharing of resources so that no on in the community had any needs. Now Paul is correcting the Corinthians, pointing out the fact that instead of ensuring everyone has enough to eat, they are looking out for number one.

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Transition to Application

So as we, in the 21st century, seek to replicate this kind of deep fellowship with one another, what does it look like, especially as we come into summer. The easiest one is make every effort to come out to the backyard BBQs. It is very relaxed way to connect with different people from the church, and the food is awesome because nothing beats a BBQ.

Main To Do

But I had another thought. When Michelle and I were youth pastors in Medicine Hat, the District would put on a youth pastors retreat in Banff. I know we were really suffering. But over the course of the weekend, they never had meals planned for us. Instead, we had one rule: no one eats alone. In fact, we were encouraged grab a couple we didn’t know and take them out for lunch or supper. Many of the guys I had meals with over those days are still good friends.

So maybe, over the next couple months, and beyond, we have a rule that no one eats lunch after church alone. Make an effort to invite someone out to lunch , whether it is to a restaurant or your home. Let’s be intentional enough to make sure no one eats alone.

Why it matters

You may be surprised at the connection you can make over a bite. You may even decide that Sunday simply isn’t enough, and you start inviting people over regularly. When it comes to building deeper connections with people, nothing break down walls and builds fellowship like food.

Closing Line

So this summer, no one eats alone. Take a chance, invite someone you don’t really know out for lunch, and see what happens. You might just find a friend you didn’t know you needed and now can’t live without.

Discussion Questions

What stood out from the message?

In what ways can sharing a meal transform our experience of community in the church?

What are some practical ways you can include others in your meals to promote fellowship?

How can the act of eating together help us reflect the character of Christ?

How does the concept of the Lord’s Supper shape your understanding of relationships within the church?

Have you ever felt excluded during meals? How can we prevent that within our community?

What barriers do you think keep people from sharing meals together within your community?