They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity – all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. (Acts 2:46-47)We had a potluck dinner Sunday. That is one of the most interesting parts of Christianity and being part of a group.
It is a curious thing that you go to a dinner that has absolutely no plan, no rhyme or reason, just a whole bunch of food laid out on a table, in varying degrees of hot (if a hot dish) or cold (if a cold dish).
Some of the dishes were prepared a couple of hours ahead of time, some were baked right before served.
But the table literally groans with the sheer amount of food. and what is funny is that people are standing there in line just vibrating with anticipation.
You get your plate and begin the line. The mixture of foods is truly strange. There is lasagna, potato salad, a salad made with some kind of broccoli, another potato dish with chips on top, sandwiches (carefully labeled bologna, cheese and Miracle Whip),two or three corn dishes, two or three baked bean dishes, another lasagna, some kind of rice with cheese, a seven layer dip with tortilla chips – you could go on for a while labeling what is there.
But the common denominator of it all is that it was prepared at home and brought to this dinner in love. It was brought to feed others. It was brought with the hope that there wouldn’t be much to take home.
There are some dishes that people look forward to each month. Sister so and so’s beans, brother whatever’s meatloaf. There are things that people really look forward to. There are things they do not and tend to shun. There are things that come back again and again with the hope that this time someone will eat them.
It was all made, though, again with the common desire to feed others. The interesting thing is that unless it is a small church or you paid attention to who put it out there, you don’t know who brought it.
You fill your plate with a little of as many things as you can. Your dinner is a literal potpourri of different flavors and different textures, different taste and ingredients, different skills of cooking.
But it all comes with the single binding agent of having been made with love and put out on a table with 40 other dishes.
What a dinner. And then dessert.
What a way to be a Christian.
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