Jack Hardaway
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What is it with Jesus and food?
If it involves food then it must be Jesus.
No one believes it is really him unless they see him eat.
Bread and fish.
Jesus has this thing with food.
And those closest to him could not recognize him or believe in him with out food, breaking bread, eating fish.
If it doesn’t involve sharing food with others and each other, then it isn’t really Jesus.
Miraculous events with bread and fish surround Jesus, feeding people, and at his resurrection sightings there is food in his pierced hands.
It was more than proving that he really was physically risen and really alive, it was something personal and essential to who Jesus is.
Food.
Everyone eats.
It sparked belief in the disciples. Seeing Jesus with food in hand and chewing and licking his lips.
In the first part of the Easter season, we encounter Jesus over and over, we hear the sightings, the encounters.
And we see the disciples moving from confounded and confused joy into belief.
We see the sparks kindling faith, lighting the flame of proclamation, lighting the path of discipleship, they become evangelists, good news bringers.
Outward signs sparking belief.
What helps us believe?
That is one of the things that we are to consider and name in this season. What sparks my belief? How can I pass that spark along?
The sacraments are like that. Outward signs. The bread the wine. The Baptisms. The marriages. The anointing of the sick.
Fellowship is like that too. Sharing food and drink. Coffee and lemonade in the garden.
Ministry is like that caring for the sick and feeding the hungry, making sandwiches, soups, casseroles, cook books and recipes and logistics and hand written notes, with names written down
Outward and visible signs piled high, stacked and toppling.
To participate in the full life of faith in a parish church is to constantly be confronted and berated with the outward signs that spark faith.
And when we miss out on the outward and visible signs of God, then the inward and spiritual starts to flicker and grow dim.
Food for the soul.
Jesus breaking bread, showing his wounds, eating broiled fish.
The stuff of physical resurrection and recognizable gesture and mannerism.
The stuff of belief.
What helps us believe?
How do we share that spark?
What are the outward and visible signs?
We are witnesses of these things.