“What does a feast have to do with God’s promises?”
“On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. - Isaiah 25:6
I’ll be honest, I don’t really like banquets. I remember the first banquet I ever went to, a friend spent the entire evening explaining the many and various banquet rules. I couldn’t just eat each bite with a different fork (there were 3 to choose from!), no each fork had a special job to do: one was for salad, one for the main course, one for dessert. Now what’s the fun in that?
The thing about banquets is that it’s all about the show. Everything has a special rule and you progress through the banquet as if it’s an elaborate performance. In my experience, I was so worried about following the rules that I never really enjoyed the food, the company, and the celebration itself. To me, a banquet ruins a good thing with all its regulations.
And you know what, I don’t think that this just happens at banquets. There seems to be a natural human tendency to take something great and turn it into a burden. Financial security becomes greed, love becomes lust, marriage becomes adultery, and politicians become extremists. Again and again we take blessings and turn them into something destructive or painful. We’ve become blind to the Good News that is being offered to us day after day.
I don’t like banquets, but I do love feasts. At a feast it’s all about celebration, rejoicing in the abundance of food and community and joy.
I think God wants us to have more feasts and fewer banquets. The blessings of God are meant to be celebrated and shared, not regulated and controlled. All throughout Jesus’ ministry he was arguing with the religious leaders about these points. He healed a blind man on the Sabbath and the priests said that was against the rules. When he prevents a woman from being stoned for her sins, people argued until he said, “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.”
Jesus’s life and ministry invites us to focus more on the grace of God and less on our human urges to get everything just right.
“On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. - Isaiah 25:6
I’ll be honest, I don’t really like banquets. I remember the first banquet I ever went to, a friend spent the entire evening explaining the many and various banquet rules. I couldn’t just eat each bite with a different fork (there were 3 to choose from!), no each fork had a special job to do: one was for salad, one for the main course, one for dessert. Now what’s the fun in that?
The thing about banquets is that it’s all about the show. Everything has a special rule and you progress through the banquet as if it’s an elaborate performance. In my experience, I was so worried about following the rules that I never really enjoyed the food, the company, and the celebration itself. To me, a banquet ruins a good thing with all its regulations.
And you know what, I don’t think that this just happens at banquets. There seems to be a natural human tendency to take something great and turn it into a burden. Financial security becomes greed, love becomes lust, marriage becomes adultery, and politicians become extremists. Again and again we take blessings and turn them into something destructive or painful. We’ve become blind to the Good News that is being offered to us day after day.
I don’t like banquets, but I do love feasts. At a feast it’s all about celebration, rejoicing in the abundance of food and community and joy.
I think God wants us to have more feasts and fewer banquets. The blessings of God are meant to be celebrated and shared, not regulated and controlled. All throughout Jesus’ ministry he was arguing with the religious leaders about these points. He healed a blind man on the Sabbath and the priests said that was against the rules. When he prevents a woman from being stoned for her sins, people argued until he said, “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.”
Jesus’s life and ministry invites us to focus more on the grace of God and less on our human urges to get everything just right.
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365: Spiritual Practices You Can Do - St. Ignatius ExamenHymn Reflection - God of Love, O King of PeaceThe Book of Deuteronomy - Establishing CommunityThe Epiphany of Our LordRated PG: Thoughts on Isaiah 58The Unexpected Ways of God: Mistakes Epiphany Rising Stars - Guidance365: Spiritual Practices You Can Do - Lectio DivinaEpiphany Rising Stars - InspirationThe Book of Joshua - God Keeps the PromiseThe Baptism of Our LordRated PG: Thoughts on Jeremiah 29:7The Unexpected Ways of God: Prayer365: Spiritual Practices You Can Do - Centering PrayerThe Book of Judges - Abundant MercyRated PG: Thoughts on Matthew 5New Beginnings365: Spiritual Practices You Can Do - Prayer JournalingEpiphany Rising Stars - ChangesEpiphany Rising Stars - Knowledge of LoveEpiphany Rising Stars - SeasonsEpiphany Rising Stars - AweThe Book of Ruth - Challenging our AssumptionsStewardship SermonUnconditional LoveThe Unexpected Ways of God: Feast
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