Passing Food at the Table

Food. It plays an integral role across cultures during the advent season. Whether the lack of food that is emphasized during days of fasting or the abundance of food that is present during days of feasting, food plays an integral role. Thus, it should come to us as no surprise that what we do with food during the advent season is of utmost concern in how we worship Christ Jesus.

I am reminded during this season of the parable in Luke 12:35-48 as I reflect on how Scripture speaks to how we handle food. In the parable Jesus speaks of servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast. They do not know the time their master will return, but the servants are called to keep watch. Peter asks Jesus whether this parable is for the disciples or for all, and Jesus responds by saying, "Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time?" He then goes on to say that if that servant "begins to beat the other servants, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk" that servant will be cut into pieces and put with the unfaithful. Similarly, those servants that knew the master's will but participated in the gluttony and debauchery will receive a severe beating.

How will you pass food at the table during the advent season? Will you heap food on your plate and drink until your heart is content without first offering to others at the table with hospitality? The table of blessing is a table of hospitality, for as often as you share food and drink with one another, you proclaim Christ's death until he comes.

Read more Advent reflections from Fuller Seminary students and faculty.

A Prayer for Blessing

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;

I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for help that I might do greater things;

I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy;

I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men;

I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy my life;

I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I had hoped for. 

I am among men, most richly blessed.

- The prayer of an anonymous soldier 

(as found in Pastoral Theology by Thomas Oden)

Are we still concerned about what we are asking for, or have we stopped to reflect on the blessings we have been given? Even as I am quick to give an answer, I am forced to stop and reflect on the truth that some of God's greatest gifts I have often unabashedly considered inconveniences...

Why Art?

We have added a page devoted to art on our blog. Here is why:

"What then is art for? What purpose underlies this human universal?

One of my fundamental theses is that this question, so often posed, must be rejected rather than answered. The question assumes that there is such a thing as the purpose of art. That assumption is false. There is no purpose which art serves, nor any which it is intended to serve. Art plays and is meant to play an enormous diversity of roles in human life. Works of art are instruments by which we perform such diverse actions as praising our great men and expressing our grief, evoking emotion and communicating knowledge. Works of art are objects of such actions as contemplation for the sake of delight. Works of art are accompaniments for such actions as hoeing cotton and rocking infants. Works of art are background for such actions as eating meals and walking through airports.

Works of art equip us for action." 

- Art in Action: Toward a Christian Aesthetic by Nicholas Wolterstorff

The intersection of theology and art is one that is essential. Please browse our art page as it continues to grow with us.