These Windows Can Speak Part 5: Food! Glorious Food!

The hard prairie sod did not give away easily to the farmer’s plough. The blade was new and sharp, and the strong horse pulled hard against the harness. But the virgin soil of the Missouri Ridge would not offer up its fertile potential without a fight. Its short, sturdy grass had fed buffalo for centuries. And perhaps that is what the Creator had intended for that land all along. But there were seven mouths to feed on that hard scrabble farm, so one way or another a crop had to be coaxed out of this soil.

All morning he cut the furrows. And when the sun had reached the height of its journey across the vast sky, the farmer went inside the humble sod house for dinner. There he was joined by the older girls, who had been tending the chickens and starting a vegetable garden. And the youngest daughter and her two little brothers who’d been playing hard. And there on the table was the glorious spread that the mother had been preparing all morning. There was fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Green beans that had been canned the previous fall. Biscuits and gravy. A huge pitcher of water pumped out of the pristine abundance of the Ogallala aquifer. Coffee brewing on the stove. And a freshly baked apple pie sitting in the oven.

One of life’s greatest blessings is sitting down to a nice meal. And that blessing is enhanced when the meal follows a morning of hard work, or a long day’s drive, or some kind of challenge that has ended well but left us drained.
Food is a blessing! Those who prepare food are a blessing. Those who produce food, and market food, are a blessing. And with all of these blessings around food, it’s appropriate that we have a window in this Sanctuary which celebrates food and marketing and those who are graced with the gift of hospitality.

The Elliott family has roots deep in the soil of Agincourt. Residents of this area well before there even was a village called Agincourt, they are among the founding members of this congregation. They must’ve been farmers originally. But as a community grows and non-farming residents move in, you need a store to sell food to people who aren’t producing their own. So the Elliott family opened a general store over here on the south side of Sheppard just east of the CPR tracks, in the days when those tracks crossed the road at grade. They sold food and coal and building supplies. But I suspect they also offered hospitality. General stores aren’t just about the goods that are sold there. They’re also about the wood stove, and the folks sitting around the stove, getting caught-up on the local news. They’re about offering a welcome to someone who needs to come in from the hot sun and rest for a bit. They provide care for the community in so many ways.

Hospitality is what Knox United Church has been about throughout its history. From the day that we opened our doors in 1848 and provided a place of welcome for Scottish immigrants, to our current ministry of welcome to our brothers and sisters as they arrive from China, we have offered hospitality to strangers and sojourners in the name of Jesus the Christ.

And with hospitality comes food. For decades the Knox Cooks had a ministry of offering food as they catered wedding receptions, family events, funerals and the plethora of church suppers that happen around this place. And while the Knox Cooks have officially retired, their spirit lives on as we welcome our neighbours for lunch on summer Tuesdays, and we welcome the homeless for supper and breakfast and a warm place to spend the night on winter Fridays. The spirit of the Knox Cooks lives on, and some of their retired members are still helping to provide the food on the many occasions when hospitality is offered in this place.

Jesus and his disciples knew something about the blessings of food, rest and hospitality. Today’s story, in which Jesus takes five loaves of bread and two fish and somehow manages to feed 5,000 people – clearly he learned a thing or two from the food-serving miracles workers in the U.C.W. – that story occurs when the disciples have just arrived back from their mission of teaching and healing throughout the villages of Galilee (see Mark 6:1-13). They’d never done anything like that before. And I’m sure that they were both exhilarated and bone tired. They needed a rest. They needed food. So did the others who were gathered on that Galilean shore; hard-working farmers and peasants all. Jesus offered them hospitality.

Elijah was wiped after his contest with the priests of Ba’al. He was so exhausted that he wanted to die. But an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” She offered him hospitality.

There must’ve been days during the Great Depression when neighbours came to the Elliott store in need of food but without the funds to pay for it. Perhaps Marion was behind the counter and she had to consult with her father as to what they should do. I suspect that those customers were allowed to buy food on credit. And perhaps some of those debts were never repaid. But no one went hungry, and the store didn’t go broke. Those neighbours were offered hospitality.

And we are offered hospitality when we come to this Table. Jesus offers it to us when he invites us to come and have supper with him. And we offer hospitality to others by opening the Table to all who wish to share a meal with the Lord. As such, the Lord’s Table provides for us a model by which we are called to live our lives. The Christian life is about caring and sharing with others; especially with the most vulnerable and marginalized among us. That includes the homeless, the unemployed and the working poor. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). “Come to me, all who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you food.” It’s all about caring, sharing and hospitality. That’s our heritage: as Christians, as the people of Agincourt, as the members of a special place called Knox. Amen.

Reflections on Caring and Sharing
In Memory of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Elliott
And Marion Elliott White
and in Honour of the Knox Cooks
Text: Mark 6:42-43
Preached by Bruce D. Ervin
9 August 2009