Wednesday, September 13, 2017

                Now that I have assumed most of the duties of chief cook and bottle washer, it has given me a huge appreciation for all the many, many hours and years that my wife, Susan, put in the kitchen cooking up meals for our family. I have always enjoyed cooking as a hobby of sorts, coming up with great stew recipes, making the occasional fancy dinner, being creative and innovative.  I have always enjoyed cooking on the BBQ. But I will confess coming up with different ideas for suppers every night is tough.

There is only so much chicken, or hamburgers, or sausage,  or pork chops and steak a guy can cook before it becomes rather tedious and boring. Susan is a fantastic cook, yet she is quite tolerant of meals that have become routinely dull and repetitive, although she recently asked that I buy no more kale salad kits.

I have been resorting to frozen food like lasagnas, pizzas, and pre-cooked suppers. The other night we had fish and chips. I never seem to learn that frozen, battered fish is the absolute worst. It was a very forgettable meal. It has to be fresh fish!

Food plays an important part in Jesus’ ministry. He was always chowing down with somebody. He loved a good a party with good eats. He’d even invite himself for supper. Poor Martha, a close friend. was slaving in a hot kitchen preparing a big meal for Jesus and the lads. He catered to big picnics out on the hillsides making a few fish and a bit of bread go a very long way. He told great stories about banquets and feasts. He enjoyed the table fellowship with the poorest or the most powerful and rich.

Food meant hospitality, friendship, community, laughter, and socializing.  And I also believe the abundance of food was a gift and a sign of God’s Kingdom to come.

Jesus took very seriously the invitation in Isaiah: "Hey there! All who are thirsty, come to the water! Are you penniless? Come anyway - buy and eat! Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk. Buy without money - everything's free!” (Isaiah 55:1, The Message) The words from Jesus’ parable of the great banquet reflect this: "Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.” (Luke 14:23)

At the end of the Gospel of John there is a marvelous vignette of Jesus cooking some fish over a charcoal fire. It has been a few days since the news of Christ’s resurrection was revealed to the disciples.  But the disciples had  gone back to the tried, true and safe – fishing. Resurrection is a hard bit of news to get one’s head around but they easily understood the repetitious tossing of nets and hauling them in. They hadn’t recognized the man on the shore telling them where the best fishing spots were. But once they started to catch fish Peter recognised it was Jesus and he dove into the water stark naked. (There is a baptismal imagery here but I won’t get into that just now.)

Jesus is cooking them breakfast. By the way I love fresh fish for breakfast; Dad did it all the time at the cottage - fresh, pan-fried perch with toast and eggs; ymmm. There is such simplicity, grace, and humility in the action of the Risen Lord.  Nothing ostentatious. Nothing flamboyant. Sit down and let’s have a meal together.  Come, gather around the fire and warm your bodies and fill yourselves up. Taste and see that God is good. Let’s share each other’s company and tell mysterious and wondrous tales of new life around the campfire. Let’s break bread together.

Now that is something I can’t buy in the frozen food section of the grocery store.

Dale