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First Parish
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Community Meal |
Linda B. Hirst
Luke 14:1,7-14
I am convinced that the Kingdom of God looks an
awful like, if not exactly like, the Community Meal that takes place each
Tuesday in York at the Methodist Church and each Thursday at the Methodist
Church in Berwick.
And if you’ve ever been there or served there
or donated food, you know what I’m talking about and if you haven’t, let me
describe it for you. I’m going to describe the one in Berwick because that’s
the one I’ve been to most with our youth group and confirmation classes.
The meal itself begins at
They’re the kind of folks you wouldn’t normally
think of inviting to dinner when planning a party - Pharisee or not.
And while the guests are seating themselves,
catching up, chatting among themselves like old friends, in the kitchen are the
cooks and dishwashers, usually women who have prepared a hearty meal for 60-80
people, and waiting to serve the guests, to bring them the meals, to pour the
drinks are the volunteers -men, women from local churches and several times a
year, a bunch of 7th & 8th graders from First Parish Church.
And then it’s meal time. And the servers
approach the serving window, take a plate or two and deliver them to the guests
- which is how a Community Meal differs from other places that serve meals to
those in need. Other places serve Soup Kitchen style - maybe you’ve to one,
served at one - we had one in Westport, CT - we would make the meal and those
receiving the meal would line up cafeteria style, and as they came to the
serving window, we’d had them a meal, they’d take it and sit down, eat it
quickly and when they were finished they’d bus their own tables and leave. All
very quick, very clean, very sterile. I served there many a time and never
learned a name, never had a conversation, never got to know any of the people I
served.
Things are different at the Community Meal.
Here the guests are served. Their meals are brought to them, they’re asked what
would you like to drink? Can I get you seconds? Would you like some dessert?
They’re treated with respect and dignity, just like they would be if they had
been invited to someone’s house for dinner.
But it doesn’t end there...those who are
serving - the volunteers - are encouraged to sit down with the guests and talk
with them, have dinner with them, get to know them. And this is the fun part -
because it’s not always easy to sit down with a stranger - especially someone
you might not normally sit with; and I love to watch our kids do it - our 7th
& 8th graders - because they’re actually quite good at it. We tell them
what’s expected of them, to sit and chat, and at first they blanche a bit, how
will they do this? What will they say, what will happen?
But they do it anyway because they’re good
kids and they do everything we ask them to do, just like at home, they sit down
with their own plate of food at the table opposite one of the guests -
they say hi, a little awkwardly at first, the guest on the other side of the
table says hi back, they sit and eat for a while in silence - looking at the
table, looking off to the side, looking for someone to help them, when maybe
the toddler sitting across from them looks up and smiles at them and helps to
break the ice, or the infant next to them throws some food, and our kids start
to laugh and loosen up and they begin to ask questions, how old is your
daughter, does she go to school? Where do you live, and before they know it,
they’re having a conversation, they’re having dinner together; they’re getting
to know them.
And when dinner is over and the plates have
been cleared and the guests leave, our kids are saying goodbye, waving to the
kids, and as they come back to our group, they start asking more
questions...where do they live? Do they have jobs? How do they get by?
And then they start making observations. That 13 year old girl - it was her
birthday today - she was celebrating here...the cup cake we brought her was her
cake - all of us singing Happy Birthday - that was her present.
And then they start to wonder about these
people - who just an hour before were strangers, people they’d never imagine
having dinner with - they start to think about what they’re lives are like day
to day, what it’s like to live as one of society’s poor or mentally challenged
or someone who’s terribly lonely. And before you know it, they’re caring -
because now the poor and the sick and the homeless and the lonely have a face
and a name and a story.
Because that’s what happens when you sit down
around a table and break bread together. Once you get to know a person. Once a
relationship begins to develop. You begin to care.
And Jesus knew that - oh he’s a tricky one -
he knew that if the Pharisees and those he was dining with would broaden their
circle - if they would include on their guest list those they wouldn’t normally
include - the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind - people different
from them, he knew that if they sat down face-to-face, spent some time talking
to each other, had a conversation, shared a meal together, they would get to
know each other.
And once you get to know someone, develop a
relationship...you begin to care. You can’t help it. It just happens. And when
you start to care, well, who knows what will happen next.
Maybe you’ve heard of Seeds of Peace, an
organization that was founded in 1993 which is dedicated to bringing teenagers
together from very different backgrounds, such as Arabs and Israelis, teens
whose nations have been caught up in war and violence for hundreds of years.
They bring these teens - bright, articulate leaders from their countries - to a
month long camp in Otisfield, Maine where they spend time getting to know one
another, sharing meals together, learning from each other so they can return to
their own countries and hopefully be part of the next generation of leaders to
lead their countries along with their neighbors in peace.
Their mission statement goes like this:
Treaties are negotiated by governments. Peace
is made by people Seeds of peace is doing what no government can. It is sowing
the seeds of peace among the next generation of leaders. It is educating them
to develop empathy, respect and confidence. It is equipping them with
communication and negotiation skills. It is enabling them to see the human face
of their enemies. By empowering them to emerge as tomorrow’s leaders, Seeds of
Peace is working to forge the personal relations so critical to peacemaking and
reconciliation.
When you sit face-to-face with someone. When
you have a conversation with someone, when you get to know someone, you start
to care. And when you start to care, who knows what will happen next. Even
peace is possible.
There’s a story known throughout Europe about
the 1914 Christmas Truce - it happened during WWI in an area called No Man’s
Land a strip of land between France and Germany, it was the first time during
WWI that a truce broke out between the two sides - it was started by the
soldiers in the trenches themselves - and it was never repeated again during
the duration of the war and as WWI progressed, the story of what happened at
the front became something of a legend. And one of my favorite musicians, John
McCutcheon wrote a song about it - it’s called Christmas in the Trenches and I
talked Wendell and Tim McConnell into singing it for us.
My name is Francis Tolliver, I come from
Two years ago the war was waiting for me
after school.
To
I fought for King and country I love dear.
'Twas Christmas in the trenches where the
frost so bitter hung,
The frozen fields of
Our families back in
Their brave and glorious lads so far away.
I was lying with my messmate on the cold
and rocky ground
When across the lines of battle came a
most peculiar sound
Says I, "Now listen up, me
boys!" each soldier strained to hear
As one young German voice sang out so clear.
"He's singing bloody well, you
know!" my partner says to me
Soon one by one each German voice joined
in in harmony
The cannons rested silent, the gas clouds
rolled no more
As Christmas brought us respite from the
war.
As soon as they were finished and a
reverent pause was spent
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
struck up some lads from
The next they sang was "Stille
Nacht," "Tis 'Silent Night'," says I
And in two tongues one song filled up that
sky.
"There's someone coming towards
us!" the front line sentry cried
All sights were fixed on one lone figure
coming from their side
His truce flag, like a Christmas star,
shone on that plain so bright
As he bravely strode unarmed into the
night.
Soon one by one on either side walked into
No Man's land
With neither gun nor bayonet we met there
hand to hand
We shared some secret brandy and we wished
each other well
And in a flare-lit soccer game we gave 'em
hell.
We traded chocolates, cigarettes, and
photographs from home
These sons and fathers far away from families
of their own
Young Sanders played his squeeze box and
they had a violin
This curious and unlikely band of men.
Soon daylight stole upon us and
With sad farewells we each began to settle
back to war
But the question haunted every heart that
lived that wondrous night
"Whose family have I fixed within my
sights?"
'Twas Christmas in the trenches, where the
frost so bitter hung
The frozen fields of
For the walls they'd kept between us to
exact the work of war
Had been crumbled and were gone for
evermore.
My name is Francis Tolliver, in
Each Christmas come since World War I I've
learned its lessons well
That the ones who call the shots won't be
among the dead and lame
And on each end of the rifle we're the
same.
On each end of the rifle we’re the
same....when you get to know someone, everything changes.
I’ve been a part of mission trips - going on
them, organizing them, promoting them ever since I went on my first one in 1980
- 24 years - and this is why. The second mission trip we went on was to Clay
County, KY, Brad and I were chaperones at our church in Fairfield, CT, one of
the youth on that trip was a high school girl named Florence Reed. We had a
great week, a great trip, lots of people were helped, porches were built,
houses were painted, trailers were roofed, relationships developed, sounds a
lot like any other mission trip you’ve ever heard about.
We came home, things went back to normal,
years went by, we watched the kids in youth group grow up, go away to college,
Brad and I went away to school, we moved around, eventually came to Maine and
as happens sometimes, we lost touch with most of the kids from those youth
group days.
Then four years ago Brad was at a meeting at
Toms of Maine, to hear a presentation about Sustainable Harvest International,
an organization based in
She and Brad got to catch up and it turns out
And in just six years, Sustainable Harvest
has succeeded in helping more than 630 farmers and 50 schools in 71 communities
in
And part of me, just a small part of me,
likes to believe that this all came about because Flo went on a mission trip
when she was in high school and met someone very different from herself, and
they had a conversation, maybe they had lunch together, got to know each other,
shared their stories and she found herself caring...and a career to help make
the world a better place for everyone was born. That’s what I like to think, anyway.
Over the past 7 years, approximately 300 kids
from our church have been on mission trips - which ones of them will wind up
working to make this world a better place because of it?
Which ones will decide that creating a world,
or a little part in their own world that looks like the Community Meal - where
everyone is invited to the banquet, including the poor, the crippled, the lame,
the blind and anyone else who’s a little different, a place where everyone gets
to break bread together, everyone is treated equally, where people truly care
about one another - which ones will decide that this is what God wants them to
do.
Because that’s what Jesus is looking for...
from the Pharisees, from the host of the dinner party, from you and from me.
And when we do that, then we all will be
blessed.
I’m convinced the