Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. – 1 Corinthians 10:17

Today's Scripture Reading (February 17, 2021): 1 Corinthians 10

My preferences in food are fairly, well, simple. If we are going to go out for a meal, McDonald's or Boston Pizza works great for me. Or, on special occasions, maybe a visit to Montana's Steak House. I have visited fancy restaurants and spent a lot of money on a meal, but often I have found that all I really wanted was to leave the meal on my plate and head for a fast-food joint on the way home. Maybe it is in part a function of my food allergies, or perhaps these are simply the foods to which I have grown accustomed. I can still hear the voice of my grandmother complaining about my food choices. As a kid, she would ask me what I wanted to eat, and my answer would invariably be "cheese dreams" (open-face cheese sandwiches grilled with strips of bacon) or "hamburgers." Grandma was a world-class cook, and with any food available to me, these were my consistent choices. I can still hear her voice decrying that all I wanted was simple "cheese dreams and humbugs."

Sometimes our class division is most apparent in something as simple as the food that we eat. Fancy restaurants serve different types of food than the cheaper fast-food places that dot our communities. And different cultures have very different dishes. Indian cuisine features locally available spices and herbs and is also influenced by Hinduism and the area's cultural expectations. And Indian Cuisine is very different from Italian cuisine, which features recipes and foods that developed across the Italian Peninsula.  Italian cuisine is dominated by simple foods, many with only two to four main ingredients. This simple cuisine quickly spread throughout the world with the coming of the Italian diaspora.

Paul is making the argument that the church is one body. We might originate from different cultures, think differently about the world, and perhaps even eat different foods, but we are united into one body. And he offers the communion table as an example. The communion table does not feature many different loaves, reflecting the people's various cultures and tastes. When we partake together of the Lord's Supper, we all eat from one loaf. At the Table, everything that separates us should fall away. We come together, eat the bread, and drink the wine, and we recognize the body of Christ in the community who is eating this meal with us.

In 2013, Andrew Wilson and Rob Bell debated the idea of Christian homosexuality and the Bible. I know, it is a loaded debate. Bell argued on behalf of his LGBTQ+ brothers and sister, and Wilson made the argument against the concept of Christian homosexuality. And regardless of what you might think about either participant in the debate, the moment that hit me was when Rob Bell made this comment.

Well, Andrew's my brother. Like, if we got out the bread and wine, we'd both take it, so I don't… I understand it one way, I read it one way, and he reads it another way. Is that it, then? Do we just part ways? Or do you take the bread and the wine, and does Christ hold us together? Is there something that trumps whatever differences we have? Like that's the question (Rob Bell).

 I believe that Paul would argue that there is something that holds us together. Despite all of our differences, we meet at the Table of the Lord; we partake from one loaf and one cup. And at that moment, all that separates us falls away, and we truly become one body. At the Table, we become the "Body of Christ."

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 11