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Mark 2:13-17

BY TIMOTHY WEST

The second chapter of Mark, beginning with verse 13 and concluding with verse 17, displays the totality of the Savior's love for all people.

Jesus dined with those society deemed outcasts. They were children of God and so he broke bread with them.

You can picture them eating and drinking at a table, but what are they eating and drinking? The outside crowd seems to be most concerned with who is at the table, but not concerned about what is being served.

Maybe the author's intent is not for the reader to be concerned about a menu, of 'what's for dinner,' but maybe 'who is dinner?'

Growing up in our house, as in so many families, we celebrated many occasions where the ultimate setting was a meal. Traditional holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas were days celebrated around the dinner table. I recall not only those holidays, but many gatherings where the main attraction was the meal. It never failed on such occasions ? everything one could want would be on the table.
 
Growing up as an obese child, food was my obsession. I can remember dieting before these big holiday meals ? even going so far as fasting ? anticipating the dinner, making room for a buffet that was a greedy man's dream.
 
These feast days would always begin with the aroma of sweet and savory. The smell of desserts as well as saut?ed onions would cascade directly to my nostrils. Around 2 p.m., the guests would gather because the meal was always at
3 p.m.

It always felt like 3 p.m. would never arrive. And when the traditional call came, 'Dinner is ready,' it was my intention to be the first in line.

I must confess I was a smart eater. I never displayed my greed or hunger by piling up the first plate, because I knew there would be enough for seconds, thirds and the traditional take-home plate.

Yet when the opportunity came for seconds, I was always too full to eat another bite. My plate was small, my stomach was empty, but on those days I ate the least. What I learned later in life was that I was not hungry for what was for dinner, but instead I was hungry for the fruit of God's presence at the dinner.
 
Our family, our best friends and our soon-to-be family or friends filled my hunger. Being loved satisfied the emptiness of my belly. I submit to you today that Jesus was the meal and the drink at the table feeding the sinner's emptiness with the Gospel of his love.

As a minister of that same Gospel and a recipient of the same meal, I believe that all Christians should somehow have the sense of call to sit at the table where the hungry gather and fill their emptiness with the fruit of God's great love through Jesus Christ.

The table and the hungry are easy to find. If we just look out from where we live, work, play and worship we will always find a hungry soul seeking the fruit of salvation. 

The Rev. Timothy West is pastor Westphalia UMC in Upper Marlboro.