If you are relatively new to our church, you may have noticed that we love eating together. We have regular meals together on communion Sundays, seniors gather for lunch during Senior Scene, young adults share meals regularly, youths eat together, community groups often share meals, and we love inviting one another for meals in our homes or at our favourite restaurants. In fact, we are going to eat together (a food truck dinner) for our Annual General Meeting on April 25th at 6PM right here at the church. Please save the date and plan on being together with the church family as we share a meal and conduct important business of the church.
Why do we love eating together so much? For starters, it's fun! Food is a common experience that all of humanity shares, so it is a natural way in which people come together. Sharing meals with people from different cultures provides opportunities for learning, understanding, and expressing empathy. It is also an effective way of getting to know one another. However, there is also a theological reason why we love eating together.
As a part of my formal studies, I wrote a theological paper called, "God as Generous Host," and explored how the church ought to reflect God's characteristic of radical hospitality and incredible generosity. God is revealed to us as a generous host throughout the Scriptures. For instance, in the Exodus narrative, we find God's generosity and hospitality highlighted by the foil of Pharaoh's cruelty: Pharaoh harms (Ex. 1:16) while God protects (Ex. 9:26); Pharaoh enslaves (1:13) while God frees (3:8); Pharaoh exploits (1:11) while God provides (16:15).
In fact, history shows that we are familiar with exploitative leaders and even gods in ancient mythologies. Enuma Elish, an epic of the Babylonian creation myth, suggests that Marduk created humans to be exploited: "I will establish a savage, 'man' shall be his name. Verily, savage-man I will create. He shall be charged with the service of the gods that they might be at ease!"[1]
In stark contrast to such a worldview, the bible claims that we serve a God who gave his life sacrificially so that we could be granted the right to dine at his royal table (1 Cor. 11:23-26), while he serves us out of the bounty of his goodness. God is not a cruel entity that exists to take advantage of us. Jesus even said that he came to earth to serve us (Mark 10:45). What an amazing God we have!
In response to such an amazing God, our response as recipients of his radical hospitality ought to be one of imitating his generous service to the world. "Goldingay observes that Exodus does not 'describe YHWH's rescue of Israel as an act of liberation' but instead portrays the Israelites as transferring their service from Pharaoh to YHWH. He then declares, 'The way Exodus talks of freedom—or rather, fails to do so—confronts the Western preoccupation with freedom. Freedom in Scripture is the freedom to serve YHWH.'"[2] We have not been freed so that we could live with ourselves on the throne; we have been liberated from the selfish, exploitative greed of our brokenness to serve our Lord who exemplifies such radical grace. Our allegiance transferred to our God. Therefore, our act of worship must include faithful service to our God by participating in his mission to be radically hospitable to the world.
This is precisely why our church emphasizes "Radical Hospitality and Meaningful Connections." We not only enjoy doing it but we believe that it is demonstrative of the very characteristic of our glorious God. In order to show the world our God's glory, we practice radical hospitality and we meaningfully connect with one another. So, come out to the AGM and eat with us! Take one another out for coffee or for a meal. Connect, listen to one another, and serve one another as the Lord served us. He has given us the best example. Let us follow him!
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