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| December 2008 |
| Billie Silvey |
| God's Feasts Of Memory |
| Any hospitality we may show is but a feeble reflection of the hospitality of God, the Great Host. God made the world and everything in it. He welcomed us, the people he had made, to live in it and enjoy its fruits. Scripture is full of God's loving invitation and provision. There's the Great Banquet to which the poor, crippled and blind were invited. There's the Good Samaritan, who found a wounded stranger on the road and provided for his needs. And there's Jesus' invitation to open the doors of our hearts and invite him in for supper. |
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| It started with the Exodus, when God led his people, the Israelites, from slavery in Egypt. He established the Passover, a meal of deliverance, to celebrate the fact that the angel of death passed over the homes where the feast--the sacrificial lamb, unleaven bread, bitter herbs, and wine--was being shared. |
| It continued through the Last Supper of Jesus, when he celebrated the Passover with his disciples before his Crucifixion. |
| And it continues today as Jews celebrate the Passover and Christians, the Lord's Supper-- feasts rich in symbolism and deep significance. I remember the Passover we celebrated with our Jewish friends Bob and Rebecca Rona, and the emotion we shared as Bob explained the significance of the feast. |
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| And every week, I take the bread, symbol of Jesus' body, and the cup, of his blood, to remember his death until he comes again. These are common meals, taken together to express our unity with God and with each other. They are feasts held to remember significant events in our religious history, and they are feasts connecting our past, present and future lives in God, our Great Host. |
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