What is the Connection Between Food, Faith and Our Memories?
Good Morning Friends,
The world is going to hell in a handbasket. That couldn’t be clearer. Violence, crime, disease, poverty, injustice, godlessness and immorality are on the rise. We are descending ever rapidly toward the complete disintegration and destruction of everything our forebears achieved. Gone are the prosperous and virtuous days of the past. Or so it is widely and commonly believed. But is it true? Evidence would suggest it is not. Why we believe it and throughout history others have believed it is a bit of a mystery. The fact is that thanks to globalization, and scientific and technological achievements in industrial agriculture, food has never been more abundant and less expensive than it is today. But these changes have come with a cost – obesity, illnesses, environmental degradation, the demise of the family farm and traditional animal husbandry. What is a bit hidden is that when we walk into the supermarket we are making choices that have an effect on our health our economies and our faith. Some choices are not ethical. Some have consequences we do not expect. So what can we learn of help from the stories of the Bible about meals and memories. We have Wine and Bread, Lamb and herbs, fish and Barley loaves, and Manna and quail and the list goes on… So what are we to make of this today? What is the Connection Between Food, Faith and Our Memories?
Scripture: Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Matthew 6:26 (NRSV)
Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has long ago approved what you do.
Ecclesiastes 9:7 (NRSV)
Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.
Genesis 9:3 (NRSV)
Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him. Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. “Food will not bring us close to God.” We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13 (NRSV)
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it;
Psalms 24 (NRSV)
For he satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things.
Psalms 107:9 (NRSV)
and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
1 Corinthians 11:24 (NRSV)
Message: The Bible says a lot about food. But before discussing dietary restrictions, which is a preoccupation with our society, we should first ask about God’s general purposes for food. There are many ways to approach this topic. But let us start here with something we are all familiar, the pleasures related to eating. Good food is enjoyable, for God intended it that way. God created food to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Food also demonstrates our dependence upon God. And that thought should make us humble and praise God for what we do have. At times, however, it is confusing. God has over time changed the rules about eating. Adam and Eve were vegetarians. God told Noah he could also eat any animal, but not blood. Through Moses God gave very strict dietary regulations that helped make the nation of Israel distinct as His special people. But God also I think realized that those religious laws would create certain problems. Perhaps God wanted the Israelites to learn that no one was perfect—that no one could do all God required. Then when Jesus lived on earth, He once again declared that any food could be eaten without fear of breaking God’s rules. Sadly, instead of uniting all people in appreciation for and dependence upon God, our beliefs about food often divide us. Ultimately I figure that we should be concerned with people more so than what they eat. Still there is a spiritual side to what we buy and what eat that is connected to our faith that cannot be sidestepped. As a culture sometimes we have had habits that make us sick. We have separated food choices from our faith. But what we choose to eat and how it was produced makes a difference. There are moral, ethical and health issues related to the food we eat. And for the food to be truly nourishing it needs to fire on all point. If we are choosing food that is connected to the abuse of the environment, that price must ultimately be paid. What we choose to eat is more nutritious in a way if it is ethically sourced. But be careful for it is not such a simple effort until it is manifested in our own choices. We are to care for creation but it is a balancing act. There have been unintended consequences on the journey and so efforts of social justice are difficult. When choosing food these days we must navigate the competing claims of the industrial system and the contemporary food movement and the choices are seemingly endless. But friends, what is undeniable is that there are moral, spiritual, and religious implications to our food choices. And it is difficult to make sense of the frequently contradictory, sometimes overwhelming, and often bewildering, set of messages coming from the food industry and the contemporary food movement. In Immokalee we are no strangers to these very issues. Still we need to continually recognize the importance of nutritious diets, moderation in consumption, the humane treatment of animals, and the ethics of food choices. We need guidance as we seek to make food choices that are consistent with our Christian values – the choices that are best for our bodies, our fellow creatures, our communities, the environment, and all of creation as the world continues to change. Perhaps more important than we realize on this journey is to remember and associate God with our food.
Pray we not disable ourselves by eating the wrong things. Pray we realize the connection between the roles God gave us of being stewards of the land and our faith. Pray we are concerned about the larger picture. Pray we not oversimplify the problem nor overcomplicate it. Pray we dive into the discussion of how to be more ethical in our choices. Pray we are holistic in our practices. Pray we edit food out of our diet that does not glorify God. Pray we sow for a great awakening. Pray we have respect for creation, and a profound awareness of our obligation to act as stewards of God’s natural gifts believing God will take care of the supernatural ones. Pray we not willfully abuse creation. Pray we do not separate God from our actions in what we eat as a kind of practical atheism. Pray we realize that we are not at liberty to use what God has put in our hands without being accountable to God for our use of them. Pray we consider what we are committing to our memory for it may affect our behavior more than we realize.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 