Sharing Meals

“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.  They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.  And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:46-47)

Food is an integral part of the human experience. So many important life events involve eating together.  Weddings and funerals are followed by receptions.  Holidays are celebrated by feasts with family and friends.  People bring food to celebrate the birth of babies.  And countless proposals have happened over candlelight dinners in fancy restaurants.

But perhaps the most important meal is one we might be tempted to view as routine and mundane—the nightly family dinner.  It’s deep impact comes from its consistency.  As families connect with each other around the dinner table night after night, it nurtures a sense of belonging and being known.

A similar thing seems to be true of the church.  It’s hard not to feel discouraged by the discrepancy we see between the modern church and the vibrant, multiplying people we read about in the book of Acts.  Perhaps their practice of regularly sharing meals, with its potential for connection and caring, is something our churches should consider reclaiming.

Meditation

How could you allow food to help you make a connection with someone today?