Hungry?

Last night my wife and I sat down to a dinner together of what could very rightly be called hot mush. It was a combination of rice, soy, carrots, rice, celery, rice, red peppers, rice and some vitamin and mineral fortification. Oh yeah, and there was rice. It tasted a whole lot like a can of campbell's chicken soup that someone had made using 3x the recommended amount of water.

Weak chicken gruel is not our normal dinner.

We knew that going in, but we did it anyway. It was an exercise in empathy. We were trying to get a tiny glimpse of what the people who are fed by Northwest Haiti Christian Mission are actually fed. All things considered, its not too bad. We cooked up a bag which contains 4-6 meals and wound up eating over half for dinner.

We expected to be hungry afterward and really we weren't. We expected it to taste bad and really it didn't. The worst part about the experience was thinking about eating that twice a day and nothing else. I couldn't imagine eating this and only this for weeks, months or years at a time. But, then again I've never really been hungry. And chances are you haven't been either.

We're partnering with Kids Against Hunger in Cincinnati to package thousands of these meals to help fight hunger in Haiti. KAH will provide the rice, soy, veggies and bags and we'll supply the funds and the manpower to put them all together. It gives a concrete way to give more this Christmas while spending less. You can donate by sending a check to Parkside with KAH in the memo or even better, you can come and pack some bags with us. Sunday 12/6 at Family Christmas from 5:30 - 7:30 or for our Tailgate with a Purpose on 12/13 both at our Salem Road campus.

Why?

Because its that time between Thanksgiving and Christmas and we are completely surrounded by food. We ate a ton while away for Thanksgiving and things show no signs of slowing.

Because I've never really been hungry.

Because I'm a disciple of Jesus, and that's what he would do.

Because everyone deserves a little satisfaction and laughter.

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

Luke 14 - On Food and Guests

Jesus goes into several discourses about food, banquets and guests. First, he talks about where you should sit if you are invited - humble yourself or you will be humbled by someone else. Second, he talks about who you should invite - those who can't pay you back. (And here I am, just after sending out my wedding invitations that included instructions on how people can pay us back. Don't forget the Ikea gift card option!) Third, he says the people who were invited won't show up anyway, so the people who get to enjoy the feast in the end are the crippled, blind and lame.

My question is, how strongly is the banquet metaphor tied to the Kingdom of God?

It seems very nice to simply equate the banquet invitation with the sharing of the gospel. Then, I'm perfectly okay inviting only friends and relatives to my wedding, as long as I'm sharing the gospel with those who can't pay me back. Sharing the gospel doesn't financially cost me anything, but inviting strangers to my wedding does.

The same rings true for choosing where to sit. If I'm talking about the kingdom and I'm going to be in the presence of Moses and Elijah and David of course I'm going to take the crappy seat in the corner - that's obviously where I belong. But, if that means day-to-day life I've got some thinking to do. We don't often fight over the best seats at dinner (at least not in my house), so what are the modern equivalents? The people we hang out with? The people we share with? The things we buy? The things we piously refrain from buying and let everyone know we refrained from buying? The people we help? The people we tell about the people we help?

All of these?