Common Grace

What is it that turns a simple meal from something that fills a stomach to something that fills a soul?  

Why is it that sometimes after I eat, I feel like I can exist another few hours, and other times, after I eat, I feel like I can change the world?  

What’s the variable that changes a meal from something that makes me feel full to something that makes me feel loved? 

I think it’s community.  It’s relationships.  It’s others. 

You and I share the same basic need: we need calories.  You and I share the same basic solution: food.

I think this is fascinating: you and I can individually address our same needs with the same solutions and have one kind of experience. 

Or we can collectively address our same needs with the same solutions together and have a completely different kind of experience. 

You can say, man I’m hungry.  I’m gonna eat a burger. 

And I can say, man I’m hungry.  I’m gonna eat a burger. 

And we can go to different burger joints and in 30 minutes we’ll both be full.

Or you can say, man I’m hungry.  And I can say, man I’m hungry.  And we can say, Let’s go get burgers together.  And in 30 minutes something more than just the taking-in of fuel has happened.  Community has happened. 

And because of community we’ve at least opened up the opportunity for something more:

Instead of just existing, we’ve had a chance to make a difference.

Instead of feeling full, perhaps now we feel loved.

Instead of just feeding our stomachs, maybe we’ve also fed our souls.

The Bible is just full of food.  But it’s not really about the food. 

I suggest it’s about Christian community: people of different races, different backgrounds, different experiences, all gathering together with a common condition, with a common need, a common hunger, a common longing… all coming to the same place hoping to be filled – not just physically, but emotionally, spiritually, holistically: body, mind, soul. 

Here’s the point:

People gather as a Christian community for something none of us can get by ourselves.  We come together for something we can only get from another.  We gather for grace.