Have you ever thought about how much food there is in the Bible? The story opens in a garden paradise where special attention is brought to the fruit hanging off the trees. The story ends at a wedding feast. And in between, there’s a lot of talk about food.

The Old Testament liturgical calendar had something like 90 feast days built into it every year (compared to but one fast day). Sharing a meal with the saints of God, in the holy presence of God, is something that is woven into the very fabric of godly living, both before and after the coming of Christ. The prophet Isaiah describes redemption itself in terms that would make a South Beach Dieter blush: “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined” (25.6). There’s much more that could be said on this topic as well, but just note that it’s certainly no accident that when God appeared in the flesh he came “eating and drinking,” and his enemies thought they could get away with naming him “a glutton and a drunkard” (Luke 7.34).

So it’s no wonder God’s people have a hard time calling something “fellowship” unless there’s a casserole involved somewhere along the way. Whether it’s a church picnic (pictured above), the refreshments we enjoy every Lord’s Day, the monthly Shepherding Group meetings, the bimonthly Fellowship Meals, the drinks and snacks that surround every event (be it for the men, the women, or the children), or the Lord’s Supper itself, we are always learning how to love Christ and one another better over food. This is but one more delightful way that God has designed the blessed community of the church. “I am unwilling to send them away hungry” (Jesus - Matthew 15.32). “He has filled the hungry with good things” (Mary - Luke 1.53).