London Time
Easter 3b 2012
Pastor Ronald T. Glusenkamp
“Eating”
36b"Peace be with you." 37They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate in their presence.
44Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you — that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. Luke 24
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
There is a lovely line from the Didache (Teachings of the 12 Apostles-from the late first or second century) that has been served up into the hymn As the Grains of Wheat
Refrain
As the grains of wheat once scattered on the hill were gathered into one to become our bread; so may all your people from all the ends of earth be gathered into one in you.
Text: Didache, 2nd cent.; Marty Haugen, b. 1950 Text © 1990 GIA Publications, Inc., 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638. www.giamusic.com. 800.442.3358. All rights reserved. Used by permissi
Those words are a prayer, or perhaps even a recipe for harmony and unity, that we might be one in the One who makes all things new.
Today I am talking about EATING. As I was thinking about this series of Seeing, EATING and Walking it came to me that my mother, Levera Glusenkamp died seven years ago on April 16, 2005. So, there is some divine guidance in all of this because she was a very good cook who enjoyed serving food and also eating food. One of her mantras was, “If we can’t fry it, we can’t eat it!” And of course, that had and has ramifications for all of our cholesterol levels and coronary conditions.
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| "stars + promises" |
The kitchen where my mother and my two grandmothers cooked (who were divas of dining) was a very welcoming, inclusive and experimental area. Very little precise measuring was done. There was a pinch here and a sprinkle of this or that there. Tasting was all important to the process.I like to tell people that I come from a “food equals love” family. While the words “I love you” were not always easily spoken, (as they are today) love was expressed by the plenteous portions of food. Seconds and thirds were always available. If you hung around the kitchen you were invited (read commanded) to participate in the cooking, baking or cleaning up process. To this very day, I find being in the kitchen a holy place and space.
So yesterday I made communion bread for today. I did so because after it is all said and done I am so thankful and pleased that every Sunday, every service, week in and week out we gather around this table to remember. There is something amazing and holy about eating. It is so basic, primal and sensual to take something and put it in one’s mouth. To chew and to taste the various flavors that exist. In the communion bread for today you will taste honey, molasses and the whole grain wheat. You’ll have to chew it a little bit more than the wafers. And in so doing, I hope and pray that you are lead to imagine being part of the feast of victory. It is about TRUST!
One of my prayers is that pastors, parishioners and seminary professors might be as passionate about Jesus, the Bread of Life, as some of the leading “theologians” on the Food Network or Cooking Channel are, such as Paula Dean, Jamie Oliver, Emeril, Gordon Ramsey, Rachel Ray, Nigella Lawson, Anthony Boudain and of course, Martha Stewart.
One of the things that I experienced over and over again on sabbatical is that we (folks who gather together) when we are involved in “blessing, breaking and sharing” the Bread of Life for those who hunger and search for the real, meal deal, that is when church is growing and going. On the other hand when we act as “consumers” and kind of write up restaurant reviews, that is when church is static and not alive. Instead of critiquing what it is we like or don’t like we need to be part of the distribution channel of “blessing, breaking and sharing” the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ. That is what it means to belong. I know that in my own self, when I forget my child of God status and switch on my food critic status, then I don’t “taste and see” that the Lord is good and the people of God are good. Instead I have “spiritual indigestion.” However, when I put on my apron (and that’s really a sign of service) or when I gather food for Metro CareRing so that others might be fed, then I know “who I am and Whose I am.” Pastor Ruth Ann serves on the board at Urban Servant Corps (they just celebrated 25 years of service).That’s why BE THE BLESSING is so life giving. So in other words, when a congregation, a community of believers, sees themselves as bakery, or a collection or distribution point where the hungry can be fed, when the searching can be led, that is what Jesus is calling us to do.
I hope by now you’ve all received the mailing about “Renewed in Faith.” I want to publicly commend the elected leadership of this congregation that was able to discern this
is a “God thing.” For us to be able to put forward this wonderful opportunity and challenge to be debt free by freely giving of our talents.
Abbot Christopher Jamison (WORTH ABBEY) has written in his book, Finding Happiness-Monastic Steps for a Fulfilling Life,
“Never has so much food been as easily and quickly available as it is today, and yet Western culture suffers from both too much eating and too little, from obesity and anorexia, or other eating disorders. (page 73) http://www.worthabbey.net/bbc/thebigsilenceindex.htm
This is where we find ourselves today. It is a place of tension and contradictions. The disciples were in a similar spot. They were confused and worried. They didn’t know if Jesus was a ghost of if he was really alive. They gathered and ate together and in doing so experienced Jesus. He commissioned them to be “witnesses.”
Take in hand the ELW, if you will, and turn to page 23. I’d like for us to read together the third prayer from the top. This is an old collect, originally written by Thomas Cramner in the 16th century.
PRAYER OF THE DAY (ELW) Epiphany 3c
Blessed Lord God, you have caused the holy scriptures to be written for the nourishment of your people. Grant that we may hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that, comforted by your promises, we may embrace and forever hold fast to the hope of eternal life, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. amen
“He said to me, O mortal, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. 2So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. 3He said to me, Mortal, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.” Ezekiel 3
On sabbatical I thought a lot about patterns and connections. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and were exiled. You and I are invited by Jesus to eat and drink in remembrance of him. When we do so we are invited to be at home where there is a thanksgiving feast.
Three quick stories.
As I said, I come from food equals love, so one time after I had said this a great deal, a dear friend of mine, Cindy, went to New Hampshire on vacation. I was at home and
heard the door bell ring. By the time I got to the door the only thing there was a gallon of maple syrup with the note, “if food equals love, this should hold for a while.”
Secondly, in my second parish, Immanuel Lutheran Church, I introduced using real bread at communion. This was a big cultural shift for the good people. On the first Sunday we did it, I was standing in the center aisle breaking off big pieces of bread and saying “the body of Christ given for you.” One woman, Lillian Gee, who now celebrates the feast in heaven, came up and I put a big piece in her hand. She looked at me and then at the bread and then she said, “It’s too much for me.” I told her, “It’s too much for all of us.”
Last but not least, once when I was cycling on the KATY Trail with a good friend of mine, we had done quite a few miles and we stopped in the KATY CANTEEN. It was mid-morning. There was a woman behind the counter who was waitress and cook. I asked, “Is it too early for lunch?” She looked at me, smiled and said, “Not if you’re hungry.” Churches all over the world should take lessons for her, “not if you’re hungry.”
As the Grains of Wheat
Refrain
As the grains of wheat once scattered on the hill were gathered into one to become our bread; so may all your people from all the ends of earth be gathered into one in you.
AMEN
There are three pictures at the National Gallery in London that connect to today’s sermon. You might want to look at them and talk about them with family and/or friends.
On sabbatical I wrote about the SACRED BANQUET. You can check it out by going to
