“So David received of
her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to
thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.”
1 Samuel 25:35
Never underestimate the power of a good meal. When we eat, we congregate, share stories,
learn, engage, and bond around mealtime.
How many a child have turned into adolescents over a birthday
dinner? How many sermons discussed over
Sunday afternoon fried chicken? The
table and the food that is furnished is grafted into the fabric of our daily
lives. There is such profit found in
simply gathering around the kitchen table.
Stripping away all the distractions of life, to simply stop and
fellowship.
In the 25th chapter of Samuel, the would-be
king David crosses pass with a foolish man (quite literally) named Nabal. Nabal disrespects David in a big way. Nabal was foolish by all accounts, but
thankfully his wife Abigail was not. She
recognized the authority that David held, not simply because he was David the
warrior, but rather because he was David the anointed King. In faith she saw the Lords anointed reigning
on the throne and knew that to cross him was to cross God. Knowing that David was hungry and needed
food, her immediate response was to gather up a big feast for him and his men
and run to meet them. Meet them before
he came to seek vengeance on all that was in her house. What she brought to the table and the way she
brought it pleased David, stopped him in his tracks and he heard her counsel. This caused David to refrain himself from
doing something that he might regret later.
Who’s to say that the same would have transpired if she had brought
nothing, but the reality is, a good meal granted her audience with the future
king, and gave opportunity for counsel, guidance, and a moment to
minister. There is no virtue in food,
like all things in this world, it is temporal. However, as with many things in this world, it
can be used as a resource for ministry. Growing
up, we ate home cooked meals almost every night. Day after day I watched my mother prepare,
cook, and serve us. It took work,
sacrifice, and dedication. When the
table was set, we would all stop what we were doing to gather around the
table. Then, we said the blessing. Day after day, week after week, year after
year; we thanked God as a family for what we had. We discussed what had been, what was, and
prepared for what was to come; as a family.
I can still remember saying my Sunday school verse on Sunday afternoon
at the kitchen table, I can remember discussing the Sunday sermon, I can
remember watching my Dad ignore phone calls from work. As a child, dinner time was just dinner time. Now looking back, I realize that dinner time
was so much. It is a class room, a
sanctuary, and a pillar of my childhood.
The opportunity to minister. The
battle for America is not in the White House, it is in your house. We can gain the audience of those we want to
reach, and we have the tools to do it with.
However, how often is this opportunity squandered? Our time gradually eroded with frivolous
things. Is Monday night football really
that important? That notification pinging
through on your iPhone; can’t it wait?
Do you have to check Facebook, now? It is foolish to live in an affront to God,
and do we not offend Him when we give so much of this precious time that he has
lent to us, to something in this world that means so little? Dinnertime taught us the value of fellowship. It afforded us time to gather and hear counsel.
The world can only have as much influence in
our homes as we allow. You can invite a multitude
of distractions and diversions into your home.
Or you can encourage a culture of togetherness centered on Jesus. You may not be a cook, but you can take the
time to fellowship, and hear counsel. In
the end, that is what makes a good meal.
