Jon C. Swanson's Blog, page 300
December 14, 2014
The inconvenient dinner guest
I’m guessing that you know the feeling. You walk into a party, into the dinner, into the gathering. You know that everyone is watching you.
I’m not talking about insecurity or shyness. I mean that everyone actually is watching you. It’s a job interview. It’s the first time together with family after a death or disturbance. It’s a visit to your competitor’s headquarters.
Common sense says that you are politically correct, that you find common ground, that you smile. Common sense says...
December 13, 2014
Third Sunday of Advent: Love
She wasn’t even invited to the party. She slipped in, like a servant. She moved behind the guests, like a servant. She knelt by Jesus’ feet, like a servant.
The first indication that she wasn’t one of the regular servants must have been the smell. The aroma, actually, since expensive perfume doesn’t smell. But before the perfume permeated the room, before anyone noticed her, she stood invisible, weeping.Jesus was reclining next to the low table, feet behind him.
The woman was so int...
December 11, 2014
Setting down appearances.
Some of you know that I don’t like Christmas. I went through a phase of detesting it, but I’m mostly up to simply not liking it.
When I unpack it, the problem is expectations.
When I was a kid, we had a family tradition of Christmas Eve photos. My dad’s camera had a timer, so we were took selfies before they were cool. We sat around the table, my parents and sisters and I. Dad set the timer and took one photo of us smiling. Then he set the timer and took one of us praying. We bowed our heads ov...
December 10, 2014
Feeding the crowd of Twelve.
We couldn’t talk about eating with Jesus (our Advent theme) without the story known as “the feeding of the 5000.” But did you know that it could just as easily be called, “the feeding of the Twelve?”
All that food, enough to feed 15,000 people with 12 baskets left over, is part of a story that starts this way:
The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat,...
December 9, 2014
Parties.
In the comments on yesterday’s post, Lenore said “What was there about Jesus that inspiredMatthew and friends to want to eat with him?” I searched for the phrase “with sinners.” Which took me to Luke 15.
It’s a chapter I’ve read often, with three parables I’ve taught about. But I never traced the food through them.
The story starts with tax collectors and sinners gathering around to hear Jesus and the Pharisees complaining that Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them. Jesus then tells three s...
December 8, 2014
Dinner with sinners.
Social outcasts still have friends. The rest of the social outcasts. There are always more outsiders than insiders. There are always people at the margins, going about their business, expecting to not be noticed. At least not positively.
When a social outcast is seen, valued, embraced, they–we–want to share the news with friends. “This is the person who notices people like us,” is how the introduction happens.
Matthew was a tax collector, a social outcast. It wasn’t that he was poor. It wasn’t...
December 7, 2014
Daily. Bread.
“Our Father, who art in heaven”
It’s the start of a really famous prayer.
It’s full of grand things: hallowedness. trespassing. kingdoms. glory. They are the kind of images that fit well with the majestic songs of Christmas.
Buried in the middle of the prayer is a simple daily request. “Give us this day our daily bread.”
It doesn’t feel like a demand. I hear it as a request, actually. There is a poignancy to it. At a time when day laborers depended on receiving their wages daily so they could buy...
December 6, 2014
Second Sunday of Advent: Peace
They ate in Bethany that day, Jesus and the disciples. I am sure of it. They all ate a meal prepared by Martha. Perhaps it was the best meal she ever fixed. Certainly it was the most peace-filled meal.
You may know the first part of the story. Jesus and the disciples come to Bethany, where Mary lives with Martha. Martha invites them in for a meal. Jesus says, “Peace to this house.” Mary sits down to listen to Jesus. Martha was distracted from what he was saying because she was b...
December 4, 2014
A feast for the wrong reasons
Deception is never the best place to start, when you want something good to happen.
She wanted something goodso badly that she would do whatever it took. The prospect of a huge family rift was not enough to stop her. (Maybe she wanted it so muchthat she didn’t even think of that.)
Rebekah knew that her son Jacob was second. He wouldn’t get the inheritance his older brother was due, unless she fooled her husband. So she convinced Jacob to let her cook a delicious feast, after which her old nearl...
December 3, 2014
Having Jesus over for supper.
My parents invited people over for dinner after church. They invited missionaries to spend the night. I think they wanted to help others. They wanted us to understand hospitality. Maybe, there was a little hope that we would learn something, that our lives would be changed a little.
The same thing happens at conferences I’ve attended. People want to meet the speaker, to share a meal. I think they want to give something back to the speaker. I think that they – we – want to share som...
