The Wisdom of the Feast: Remaining in Christ

Remain In Me As I Remain In You (Sarah Hart/Sarah Kroger)

Remain in me
Remain in me
And my love will remain in you
Cling to the vine
Beloved of mine
Remain in me as I remain in you

When I was a child, I lived in the same house as my mom, my sister and my grandparents. They were such wonderful and happy years. My grandparents had an open-door policy and all were welcome; so I often was in the company of my aunts, uncles, cousins and a million family friends. And most of my memories of these interactions revolve around the exact thing the readings today revolve around: FOOD! The family table was a sacred space. It was the time of day when I gleaned the most wisdom of the world, listening to the adults discuss the events of the day, or what happened to them at work, or even just them sharing a ridiculous tale or a joke. They would ask me about MY day; I felt seen and heard at the family table, which I didn’t always other places. There was the gamut of emotions expressed at any family meal; uproarious laughter, problem solving, the building up of others, discussions of faith, family history, even disagreements handled not in anger, but in love, Unlike school, I actually paid attention at the family table. Often, when a meal was through, a game was pulled out of the cupboard, or a guitar out of a case; so song, or humor, or friendly competition kept us gathered into the night.  To this very day when I smell pot roast, I see my grandmother’s face light up with laughter. When I had children of my own, we carried on the tradition of keeping the dinner table a “sacred space”, and my own girls would beg for our stories, laugh at our jokes, and share their hearts. The family table has always been about more than just food; it is joy, wisdom, and – crucially – a time of intense “remaining”.

The reading yes, they are about all food! But also just like the family table, the readings this week point us to wisdom; and how to remain in her.

In the first reading, Wisdom is personified as an amazing hostess who has set a wide table, and asks all who seek understanding of any kind to come in. It is worth noting that, in this time in history, most people were not considered important enough to invited to a feast of this kind; a feast with the best wines, finest meats, most attentive servers, most lovely ambience. A feast like this would have been out of the purview of most people; only a few were worthy of such a feast. But Wisdom says that everyone is worthy of understanding the things of God. Not one person is kept away from all that she has to offer. The one pre-requisite is that we must “give up our foolishness”…today we might interpret this as “put down your cell phone, and be present”. We are asked to pay attention to what is offered to us, what is right in front of us, all that has been given to us. We are called to listen and learn. Remain in wisdom.

In the psalm today, these beautiful words of what I love to call holy imagination: “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord”. The Psalmist’s holy imagination is painting such an amazing image for us; the goodness of God here is so real, so visceral that we might actually see that beauty with our eyes, and taste it as we might taste a delicious sweet treat. In this explanation, God is not just an idea, God is living and breathing among us; his goodness, a feast for the hearts of the wise. And the psalmist goes on to say that for those who have this special sight, who can look to God with joy and wonder, the reward is a life lived in the palm of his hand; so close that we might see God, and hear God, and know God. Remain in holy imagination.

One of the great joys in my own life has been making music. And so I love this second reading because Paul talks about music with the Ephesians! I have this funny image in my brain every time I hear this reading, though, of Paul like parent yelling in the garage at their kid who’s practicing with his really terrible grunge band, totally admonishing “you gotta get a life!” What Paul is trying to ask the Ephesians, with loving admonishment, in this passage is this: “are you being foolish with your life? What are you wasting your time on? Are you being purposefully ignorant? Are you getting drunk on wine, but missing the beautiful meal over here?”  Paul is, in that inimitable Paul way, saying “be wise…don’t mistake the world for the Feast of God”. He interestingly closes by saying “make music”! I gotta love him for that! Singing so often accompanies a feast, just like at my house! He says “address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts”. But maybe what he is saying more deeply is “let your life be a song, every word a melody of praise, every beat of your heart a prayer. Don’t waste a breath of your life, but live with purpose. Remain in intention.

And in this year of Eucharistic revival, how perfect is the gospel reading!

Going back to those feasts of my childhood, I think the most beautiful thing about those times is that that was where relationship happened. We all grew closer as we shared food with one another, listening to each other, learning from each other. Breaking bread together created those deep bonds that only family can experience. The memories that those feasts and those conversations created are still alive in my heart and mind. Alive…Jesus refers here to himself as the living bread; what a beautiful and humble offering; that Christ would be alive with us in something so small and so simple as bread. We are again called to use our holy imagination, to see the eucharist not just as something we receive, but as something that is fully alive in us, something that forges a deep bond of relationship with our God, something that creates family when it is shared. Jesus is asking us to remain in Him by receiving not just the eucharist, but true relationship with Him forever by it.

And this is our call and charge; to invite all to the table, to make endless room for others, to leave no one out. Because Wisdom, in love, welcomes everyone to the feast.

May we remain in Christ, and in communion with the world, and in the love of God.

To this table, I gather you in
Come and feast, come and feast
With your servant, your Lord and your friend
At your feet, at your feet
My body will break like the bread I lift high
My blood will be crushed like the fruit of the vine
At this table, my mercy is free
Taste and see, taste and see

Remain in me
Remain in me
And my love will remain in you
Cling to the vine
Beloved of mine
Remain in me as I remain in you

(“Remain In Me” © 2021, Sarah Hart/Sarah Kroger. All rights reserved.)