One of the gifts of summer is often being able to spend more time with people.
There’s something about the sunshine and long days that lends itself to gathering and eating.
This summer, Varsity Bible Church in Calgary, AB has intentionally made space for time together as a church family.
Twice a month over the summer, they have Wednesday Dinners.
Chicken shawarma bowls.
Smoked brisket
The classic burgers and hotdogs.
It’s a simple agenda.
Eating and talking.
It’s a chance for people to get together and either get caught up with each other, introduce themselves to new people, and invite new friends.
Stories are shared and people are known and get to know each other more.
There is something about eating together, isn’t there?
It’s somehow a sacred experience.
It’s incarnational hospitality, an embodied spiritual practice that we sometimes dismiss.
We imitate Jesus by leaving our comfort zones and reaching out to those around us.
And there’s something countercultural in our Western world about sitting down, taking some time, and lingering over a meal and engaging in conversation.
It’s not efficient or even obviously productive sometimes.
Jesus spent so much time with people around a table.
It’s no wonder.
Jesus offers us such generous hospitality so how can we not go and do likewise?
Is this what preaching the gospel looks like?
Photo creds: Rita Daisy (Unsplash)