Friday 17 March 2023

Background

What the rest of Methodism calls a 'faith tea' (when guests bring a dish to a shared meal), most of Lancashire, calls a 'Jacob’s join'. There is a variety of explanations, too many to explain here; there may of course be other regional names. I wonder what the name for a ‘faith tea’ is where you live? The gathering together for a shared meal has been part of church life since earliest days and I hope that the faith teas of the current time are not like those in Corinth.

It is unclear what the gatherings were in Corinth. We can only surmise that the meal and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper took place at the same time. Did they celebrate first and then have their meal? This was probably the way of the celebrations in the Temple worship in Corinth at the time and so it is most likely the Christians managed their meetings in the same way.

However, the meals bring out the worst in the divisions that exist at Corinth. It is not that there is fighting, but probably the parties sit apart from each other. Worse still, some are only interested in the food and drink rather than remembering the Lord’s Supper. But, more significantly, there is little sharing going on.

Rather than it being a celebration in remembrance of the Lord’s Supper the poor are left with nothing. The care of the poor is at the heart of the gospel. In the act of celebrating the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross which unites them, the Corinthians are ignoring and humiliating the poor and even worse letting them go hungry.

The Church has not always been good to the poor in its midst. James 1:1-7 criticises the believers for treating rich people better than the poor. So, it has continued down the years. Those who came from the Caribbean to England were not made welcome in church. Thankfully today many churches are now making asylum seekers welcome. This should spread into the generosity in the celebration meals we share, whatever we call them. Perhaps when churches gather in this way there could also be a contribution to the local food bank.

To Ponder:

• How can we welcome the poor in our midst and not humiliate them?
• What are the proud divisions that you need to end?
• Are there change we should make to faith teas? What can be done differently?

 Prayer

Let us give thanks that we are forgiven, loved and free and share that generously with others.