"Whew! I like the setup!" "Should we have the Elders pray?" "No way! (sic) The food will draw them with invisible cords..."
Sometimes the gathering after worship can mean a lot for baking us into one loaf. Feasts are so prominant in the way God lays out worship that it might be compared to the mortar which allows the stones to stack squarely as the Church is built upon Jesus our Cornerstone. God set this Pattern early:
Lev 23:37 "These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day,
Lev 23:38 besides the LORD's Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD.
Lev 23:39 "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.
Lev 23:40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.
Lev 23:41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
Lev 23:42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths,
Lev 23:43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God."
Lev 23:44 Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the LORD.
"Anybody seen an elder? I'm hungry after all that worship."
Could you imagine setting aside a week just to feast and worship?
But then just look how often Jesus does what he does at feasts:
Luk 5:29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.
Luk 5:30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"
Luk 5:31 And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
This feast was not a worship service, it was simply a meal, but Jesus was quite busy interacting or the Pharisees would not have grumbled. Yet, we know that Jesus goal was to eventually restore these poeple to worship. Jesus is
constantly eating with folks. Why do you
suppose this is?
"Ahh! Here's an Elder! Let the merriment begin!"
Jesus wanted folks to understand that God's kingdom is full of feasting and merriment!
Luk 14:12 He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.
Luk 14:13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
Luk 14:14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
Luk 14:15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"
Luk 14:16 But he said to him, "A man once gave a great banquet and invited many.
Luk 14:17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'
Luk 14:18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.'
Luk 14:19 And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.'
Luk 14:20 And another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'
Luk 14:21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.'
Luk 14:22 And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.'
Luk 14:23 And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.
How encouraging this can be!
There is no substiute for these times. Making room for feasting following worship is certainly part of God's plan to build us up! And yummy too! Of course, sometimes the feasting can cause drowsiness:
