Easter 3 St Peter’s 4 May 2003
Revd Mark Bonney
One of the great pleasures of
life I find is eating. Not only is it a pleasure but it’s fundamental to our
existence – the dampening of the pleasure of course being the millions in our
world who go hungry day by day.
There have been many colourful
and not so colourful clergymen down the ages who’ve had something of a
reputation for over indulgence when it comes to food. I hope I’m not going to
be one of those who enter that number – I don’t mind being colourful (although
I suspect that is unlikely) – and much as I love food I don’t wish to assume
global proportions. One character from the past who I’ve always found amusing
is the Revd Sydney Smith who lived in the later 18th and early 19th
centuries. His life-style would not be considered entirely appropriate for a
clergyman today – he simply adored high society, wining and dining with the
well to do – he took trips to Paris where he was favourably impressed by the
food. Reports of him are full of splendid remarks: of the place where he served
his curacy he wrote to a friends, “nothing can equal the profound, the
immeasurable, the awful dullness of the place.” A little later it was he who
observed that there were three sexes “men, women and clergy” – and aged 63 he
said to William Gladstone that the new generation of clergy were a vast
improvement on the last one – “whenever you meet a clergy man of my age, “ he
said, “you can be sure he’s a bad one.” He believed in the apostolic succession
of bishops because it explained he said, “how the Bishop of Bristol was
descended from Judas Iscariot. But the comment of his that brought him to mind today
was to do with food – he said that his idea of heaven was “to eat pate de frois
gras to the sound of trumpets.” They don’t make them like him today.
It’s rather easy to poke fun
at, or even look down our noses at the fat and profligate Sydney Smith. But
before jumping too far onto any high horses it’s worth reflecting on the place
of food in the gospels because it’s fascinating how any times it turns up.
To start with they record that
Jesus was accused of being a drunkard and a glutton – so if you ever tempted to
call me that I’ll rejoice in the company I keep. Jesus seemed to enjoy eating
and drinking – and particularly in disreputable company – having persuaded
little Zaccheaus out of his tree the first thing Jesus did was to eat with him.
Jesus was castigated by the religious leaders for not keeping all the rules
about fasting – not that that stopped them inviting him for a meal – although
when he came he wasn’t the politest of guests. He wasn’t beyond the odd comment
that was intended to annoy his hosts – to one Pharisee who had asked him for a
meal he said “you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside
you are full of extortion and wickedness. “ Well, I don’t expect he got invited
by that Pharisee again.
Many of Jesus’ teachings about
the kingdom of God make allusions to wedding feasts and banquets – so perhaps
Sydney Smith with his pate de fras grois wasn’t so far off the mark after all.
And then, of course, Jesus’
Last Supper with his disciples and the several chapters of teaching that go
with it in John’s gospel all centre around food.
And last but by no means least,
are the several resurrection appearances – including the one in today’s gospel
– that have eating as a central part of them.
All this eating and drinking is
important for a number of reasons. For one thing they’re all social affairs –
they’re no solitary eating and drinking, but eating and drinking in company
with others. There’s a private side to religious experience – and there’s a
proper place for being alone with God – Jesus spent many hours alone in prayer
– but there’s also a strong social side to Christianity – the Christian faith
is lived with other people – except in extraordinary circumstances it isn’t
meant to be lived alone. That’s why it’s important for Christian people to
gather together and worship together on a Sunday – that’s part of the reason
why the oft repeated phrase ‘you don’t have to go to Church to be a Christian’
is nonsense.
Eating and drinking is also fun
– there’s a very right and proper place for reverence in our worship, but that
doesn’t exclude the possibility of enjoyment – the heart of the word enjoyment
is JOY – and joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit that is most
infectious. Being with other Christians and sharing in worship is, I hope, a
joyful thing – not a vapid bonhomie that passes for joy, but a joy that comes
from knowing that we’re loved and accepted by God – a joy that enables us to
love and accept others. I wonder if anyone watching us come out of church this
morning will think – they look a joyful lot of people! Let’s hope so.
And food –eating and drinking –
is at the heart of this Eucharist. It’s no accident that the one thing that
Jesus told his disciples to do in remembrance of him is to gather together and
to eat and to drink – just as it was while eating and drinking that the
resurrected Christ was seen in some of the resurrection accounts, so it’s in
eating and drinking that he comes to us now.
A couple of week’s ago there was
some publicity about the latest pronouncement from the Pope – the press
interest focussed on the fact that the Pope emphasised again that
inter-communion was not to be countenanced. I have to admit that whilst I don’t
agree with the totality of the argument – the thinking is deeper and more
complex that the papers and I expect the average Catholic and non-Catholic get
involved in. The Pope’s statement came
in a the course of a long encyclical about the Church and the Eucharist of
which I’ve only read an abbreviated form – but I must say that much of it was
profoundly moving.
At the very beginning he says
“The Church draws her life from the Eucharist” – amen to that! And at the end
the Pope says “In the humble signs of bread and wine, changed into his body and
blood, Christ walks beside us as our strength and our food for the journey, and
he enables us to become, for everyone, witnesses of hope. If in the presence of
this mystery, reason experiences its limits, the heart, enlightened by the
grace of the Holy Spirit, clearly sees the response that is demanded, and bows
low in adoration and unbounded love.”
May simple eating and drinking lead our hearts to bend low in adoration that we may go out and proclaim with joy the love of the one and only living God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.