Last month\u2019s contribution, namely offering the suggestion that we forego Lenten soup suppers for Bible study, produced some interesting comments and a few interesting discussions. While some were supportive of the idea, others took offense. Frankly, I was surprised that anyone voiced any support for the idea at all.<\/p>\n
The phrase \u201cin the soup\u201d is sometimes used by pilots to describe flying in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). This does not pertain to taking a trumpet or clarinet into an airplane to toot at the passing clouds. Rather, it refers to flying through weather conditions where one does not have outside visual references, i.e. one flies by navigational instruments and radio aids in the cockpit, as well as help from air traffic control, in order to fly through fog, mist, clouds, and so forth. Commercial airliners routinely fly on instrument flight plans regardless of the weather conditions. In short, when one is \u201cin the soup\u201d one needs additional and outside aids to arrive at one\u2019s destination safely. The food service, often curtailed or discontinued by the airlines, has nothing to do with arriving at one\u2019s destination in a safe or timely manner.<\/p>\n
Apart from my suggestion of substituting Bible study for soup suppers, the Bible itself is full of ideas and comments from God also challenging our assumptions, perceptions, and decisions, not to mention our \u201cthoughts, words, and deeds,\u201d as we often confess. In addition to verses like, \u201cMan shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God\u201d (Matt. 4:4 ESV), one also finds passages as follows, \u201cAnd the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, \u2018Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger\u2019\u201d (Exod. 16:2-3).<\/p>\n
To this, Jesus might reply, \u201cBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied\u201d (Matt 5:6). To those whom Jesus did feed, he said, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal\u201d (John 6:26-27).<\/p>\n
Fortunately, or not, human beings are not made of tummies alone. We have hearts, minds, and souls with which we are commanded to love God with all our strength. That means that we have much more to loose than a few calories once a week for the six weeks of Lent. Jesus says, \u201cSo everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven\u201d (Matt. 10:32-33). Likewise, \u201cIf anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me\u201d (Matt. 16:24). Alas, however, \u201cAfter saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, \u2018Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. … It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.\u2019 So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after Judas had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him\u201d (John 13:21, 26-27).<\/p>\n
A pilot in the soup has no outside visual references. Nearly 90% of the time, when accidently flying from visual meteorological conditions (VMC) into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) untrained pilots find the ground at a fatal velocity. A trained instrument-rated pilot, however, is guided through the soup not by somatic sensations but by reading the instruments and by listening to air traffic controllers. Likewise, as St. Paul reminds, Christians \u201cwalk by faith, not by sight\u201d (II Cor. 5:7), and as Jesus said, \u201cBlessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed\u201d (John 20:29).<\/p>\n
So, what do we make of soup suppers? Scripture says, \u201cFood is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,\u201d and God will destroy both one and the other\u201d (I Cor. 6:13) and also, \u201c\u2018All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.\u2019 And this word is the good news that was preached to you\u201d (I Pet. 1:24-25). It is not clear how many people are for or against the notion of replacing soup suppers with Bible study. What is clear, however, is that restaurants are in business to serve food, and churches are in business to serve the good news, meaning both to serve it as the word of God and to serve it as the word of God to others.<\/p>\n
Whether in the cockpit or in church, being \u201cin the soup\u201d is neither here nor there for those listening to the guidance communicated by navigational instruments, necessary charts, and air traffic controllers, or scripture and God respectively. Listening to that voice of guidance in both instances is a matter of life and death.<\/p>\n
How often each day do we procure, prepare, and partake of food? In comparison, how often each day do we partake of the word of God? As the old saying goes, \u201cOne is what one eats\u201d (Man ist, was man isst<\/em>). So, to whom shall we listen – the grumbling of our tummies, the grumbling of the congregation, or the gift of the one who says, \u201cMan shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God\u201d (Matt. 4:4 ESV)? More pointedly and more graciously, which of these offers himself through the cross and resurrection to you in the supper at his table?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"