Why “Dinner Conversation”?

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if anyone hear my voice, and open the door, I will come to them, and will sup with them, and they with me.”

Revelation 3:20

This passage has always confused me. Why does Jesus have to say that they will eat with him after he already said that HE will eat with THEM? Isn’t that redundant? Not really. I can eat “with” someone while they watch or eat something else. When this happens, we aren’t really eating with each other, we’re sort of eating “at” each other; we maintain distance in our individuality, our independence. This is the beauty, and deception, of restaurants. We can go out to dinner “together” and pretend to have unity but really, it’s a way of maintaining separateness while appearing to be in communion. It’s great to have choices, don’t get me wrong! I love trying different plates from different people at the table of a great restaurant, but we don’t really have that same “family dining” experience as when we all consume the same food. Now the trend is “family style” plates. I love it.

And when someone comments on how great their meal or their glass of wine is, I am distanced from them because I can only wonder what they mean, unless they offer to share. Incidentally, this always, ALWAYS, happens with my husband because for some reason, he makes better, more creative choices than I do from the menu! Never fails. I’m beginning to try to second guess him and order what I think he’d order just to beat him to the punch. But if I’m out with other people, and no bites or sips are shared, just “mmmm” as they chew, I don’t feel the same unity with them, even if the conversation is rich in other ways. I still feel alienated because, darn it, they may have made a better decision than I did and I don’t know what they experienced. We may even have very different opinions about the restaurant in the end.

On the contrary, when we go to someone’s house, or invite people into our home for dinner, we serve the same meal for all our guests. We consume together, open one bottle of wine for all, and often, all those around the table will comment on one or more aspects of it. When this occurs, everyone at the table participates in the conversation because we all know what they’re talking about, even if our opinions differ. This is true union at the community table and this is what Jesus is talking about, I think. He wants to come in to our hearts and share about the banquet he lays before us, namely his body and blood; his whole being, that he so boldly told us to “eat”.

“I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”

Jesus, as quoted by John in Chapter 6:51 and 53

YIKES! What a thing to say to disciples, namely Jews, who are told specifically not to eat the blood because “the life is in the blood”! (Leviticus 17:1) But indeed, HIS LIFE IS IN HIS BLOOD (and his body) and he is calling us to participate in His Life, His eternal (EAT-ernal!) Life! And what a gracious Guest and Host He is simultaneously because He wants to hear what we are experiencing as we consume Him and tell us what He experiences as well. This is “consume”-ation. Mutual consuming of each other’s goodness and beauty and deliciousness of heart and soul.

So the following pages under “Dinner Conversation” are thoughts that have come from sharing His table, as I consume Him, His Word, with Him, asking how he “created it”, why it is soooo delicious, and what the nutritional value is. He is faithful to answer and a great conversationalist. And I pray you will be blessed by, and join me here in Dinner Conversation from time to time, as we continue to work on the Letters and show you what they look like in our body on the other pages on this site. Thanks for sharing this moment at The Table.

Shalom