One of the key aspects of Diaspora is food. We eat, we snack, we dip, we potluck, we BBQ, we gnosh, we graze, we unabashedly enjoy our food!
It’s not just the eating either. It’s the conversation and the laughter and the lives opened in breaking bread together. Jesus spent a great deal of time eating with people. As a matter-of-fact, he got in trouble for the people He chose to hang with and break bread with. But it was sharing a meal that was often the beginning of His relationship with people who were in need.
Jesus told Zacchaeus He wanted to stay at his house which we can assume also included eating. (Luke 19) A pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to his house for dinner but was shocked by Jesus’ acceptance of the care of a “sinful” woman. Jesus’ first miracle was at a wedding banquet. Over and over He’s fed by or feeds throughout His ministry.
SHARING FOOD IS SHARING LIFE.
There is something deeply spiritual that happens when we eat together. We provide for someone else. We bring different portions of a meal to one another. We accept the hospitality of those we eat with. We eat in gratitude to God for all He has provided.
And what did Jesus tell us to do to remember Him? To eat bread and drink wine.
So, we do that. We celebrate communion, we eat together and we break bread with others. Last week it was a BBQ and it was a great Jesus time. It was Diaspora being Jesus’ people.
