We have quite a few baptisms in our church, and families celebrate the occasion in different ways. I’ve been to a few of these gatherings, and I’ve been very impressed at the way some families make it a real occasion. Some extend an invitation to the church at large and ask everyone to bring something, potluck style, to a park or auditorium. Others send out invitations to a few friends and family and have it at (or in)Â their home.
Just a couple of weeks ago we were invited to a celebration held on a Sunday evening instead of right after the service. The parents have southern roots, so they fixed a low country boil for all the guests. This was arranged outside with a camp stove, and after the boil was ready, it was dumped into a big laundry basket and from there onto a big platter. If you’ve never had a low country boil, I should tell you what’s in it: corn on the cob, Continue reading ‘Baptismal Feasts’
Believe me, some days when the Sabbath is approaching, you may feel like it is an impossible task to prepare a Sabbath dinner. I have certainly felt that way before. But the thing that encourages me is thinking that if this truly is an important, potent celebration, I should expect to get resistance. Anything to get me to give up! Remember you will get resistance too. You may feel tired, out of good meal ideas, bored of cooking, or it may be too hot to cook. Whatever the reason, remember that when you overcome your duddiness to prepare a feast for the family, God will not only bless you for it, He will meet you in it and give you the strength to overcome the obstacles. You’ve heard it said that anything worth doing will be difficult at times. I agree. Some of those Sabbath dinners when I felt fresh out of steam or ideas ended up being the sweetest. So do what you need to do to perk yourself up. Read some cookbooks, have a double-shot iced mocha, try a new recipe, eat outside, invite some friends to potluck with you, go to a park. And if you really can’t pull it off, well then, order pizza, open the wine, and light the candles. We have done things like that before, especially if we’ve just gotten home from a trip or if we’ve had a wedding in the afternoon. Recently after a late afternoon wedding, we picked up some things at the deli and used paper plates. That’s all we could muster! After we prayed, we put the kids at the table and the adults sat in the living room. It was very pleasant. Tomorrow I expect we will sit outside and enjoy the warm weather. Fire up the grill and take it easy. Don’t give up, and God will bless it!
When we first started celebrating the arrival of the Sabbath with a feast, our daughter Bekah was engaged to Ben Merkle. We had a new house, a new table, and Ben made our numbers swell to six. But soon we had a couple of college girls living with us, and that made eight, and Knox was born, but he didn’t take up much room. So for the ten years that Ben and Bekah have been married, they have been coming to our house every Saturday night for the festivities, and Knox now has four younger siblings and six cousins joining him around our table.
This past fall the Merkles moved to Oxford for Ben to pursue graduate studies. They have a great little place to stay that has been both a blessing and a challenge for continuing the Sabbath tradition. Their cottage has a small kitchen, no separate dining room, a living room that is smaller than my bedroom, but a very expansive yard for the kids to run in when the weather is nice. Since they had so much on their plate adjusting to new quarters, a new country, and home schooling the kids for the first time (since Logos is too far away for a commute), I encouraged Bekah not to feel like she had to keep up the same Sabbath traditions that we had. The last thing she needed was pressure from Mom in the form of, “So what did you do for Sabbath dinner this week?” But it wasn’t but a few weeks before she had tackled it anyway. Once you’ve gotten into the Continue reading ‘Sabbath at Oxford’
Sabbath dinner presents challenges and blessings if it is done weekly. And though most church families do eat together, feasting is setting the bar higher. So here are a few thoughts about how we can overcome some of the obstacles while we learn to apply the principle of eating our bread with joy (Eccl. 9:7).
Â
1. The table is central to our worship and to our lives in our homes. Sabbath feasting is a victory celebration. Christ has won! We win! Celebrate!
           Application: Do it now.      Â
           Challenge:  The temptation is to put it off until another year. Don’t be afraid, don’t compare it to others, just do it by faith. Yes, it will be a lot of work. But it is good work.
Â
2. It is not enough to just be eating. There must be joy, rejoicing. Better a meal of vegetables where there is peace than feasting with strife. Our Sabbath celebration is an overflow of joy, not a burden under the law of another rule.   Â
           Application: Create an atmosphere conducive to feasting.
           Challenges: Forsake the Martha attitude.We are rejoicing in the Lord. It’s a party!
 Continue reading ‘More on Sabbath Feasting’
I’m going to start writing a regular bit about the Sabbath dinner because I believe it is such an important part of Sabbath living that we need to recover. So this will be the first of a few articles.
           Ten years ago our family made a principled decision to start feasting on the Lord’s Day and it was one of the best things we ever did. We had no idea at the time what it would grow to mean to us and to everyone around our table. And we had not an inkling of what a delight it would be to have the grandchildren gather around with us. Continue reading ‘Sabbath Celebration’
Recent Comments