Breaking Bread

Some of you know that Jill and I open our home every Thursday night. Through this painfully long winter season, the weekly coming together to share soup, break bread together, and connect with whoever shows up has been an incredible experience. It sounds simple and we have tried to keep it at that, but before we meet tonight, I wanted to address a few things for those wondering about it.

What unspoken pretenses do we have with our Thursdays? I want to spell out that there are none. It's not an attempt to replace someone's Sunday church-going experience (for those who attend), just as it is not a covert operation that welcomes all to let their guard down only to be brought into a surprise Bible study. This is no bait and switch going on. 

We feel that this is just one intentional opportunity (to go along with the many unintentional ones) during our week for us to share our lives with others. Communio is a Latin word that looks a lot like community or communion in English and it means "coming together".  While I feel that this is something that Jesus spoke often about, I also honor the fact that others who come might be hungry for Jill's delicious food, eager for a chance to be heard, and looking for an unscripted occasion to be themselves around others who wish the same.

While the menu might eventually migrate towards a more Summer-friendly dish, we hope to continue to 'come together' throughout the year. As always, you are welcome. Just as you are encouraged to speak with Jill or I anytime about any questions that you might have - be it what can you bring or where we stand on a particular topic.  Thanks for the opportunity to share and for those who show up or have visited our place in the past, thank YOU for your part...we are always equally encouraged and challenged by you as well.

Who would follow this Jesus?

I am tired, but not the kind requiring more sleep. Maybe weary is a better word for this feeling I have had lately.  In the not-so-distant past, I have angered and frustrated people close to me, which honestly has taken a lot out of me (and I am truly sorry for the hurt feelings, but equally thankful for the loving common ground we eventually found). Granted, much of it has come via Facebook, stemming from a growing desire that begs me to ask questions...not so much out of doubt or a lack of faith, because I also desperately love the Church...but BECAUSE of my faith.  My journey has sent me searching - not so much for concrete answers, but for the opportunity for the right questions.

Today, I feel as though I have more of an idea what faith, love, and hope look like than during any time regularly attending church in the traditional Sunday morning sense. That used to sound horrible to even consider, but as my family has taken a sabbatical from Sunday morning, generations of Puritanical guilt have washed away to show some bedrock beneath.  I still love Jesus.  I love my family. I am still capable of loving and serving others.  I pray.  I gather with others and share the love and hospitality that I feel called to. 

This morning, whether you are one who considers yourself a follower of Jesus or not, I encourage you to think about who He truly is...and maybe more about who He isn't.

“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.” (Is. 53:2)

No other place in the Bible gives a glimpse at the physical description of Jesus. Yet just this one passage when held up to the body of work depicting Christ is puzzling to me.  Why a beautiful (sometimes frighteningly scary), white, blue-eyed Savior?  Is that what we have needed?  Isaiah isn't saying he was grotesque, but he was not an attractive man.  The closest depiction I could find of a Middle Eastern Jesus was this one:

Olive skin, shaggy beard, brown eyes... if THIS Jesus returns today, would more people be liable to call him in as a terrorist?  Why do we easily embrace 'Jim Caviezel Jesus' (from Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ), instead of one who more accurately looked like Osama Bin Laden?  I do not need a handsome redeemer. His life, His words, and the Story are enough. 

Today, I challenge you to clear your mind of the images that you have of perfect, beautiful Jesus. Resonate on the things He did. The words He said.  Reflect on the truth that He preached through word and deed - 'Love your neighbor as yourself'.  For some, this will require you to look in the mirror and love yourself first...or perhaps you will need to find yourself by stepping outside your comfort zone and loving others.  The challenge for each of us is to love.