Kerry Shook - Dinner With Jesus
Kerry Shook: Have you ever thought about what Jesus ate? Have you ever thought about what his favorite food would be? The Bible says Jesus came eating and drinking. The Son of God in human flesh, ate and enjoyed food while they walked this earth.
Chris Shook: And God in his wisdom designed us to need food on a regular basis. It's a really great idea because two or three times a day, all over the world, people stop what they're doing and they gather and eat together. He could have done it otherwise. He could have designed us to not get hungry, but he uses that to guide us and remind us every day that we're not islands. That we're dependent. That we need a source other than ourselves. Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread".
Now in America, we hardly see the need to pray for it many times. But in much of the world, "Give us this day, our daily bread," expresses the continual worry of most people. What will be on my plate? How will I feed my children? So it's very practical, a very practical everyday part of life. And we did some research on what Jesus ate, what the average diet of a Galilean in the 1st century would have been. And it'd be a lot like our modern day Mediterranean diet. It's really healthy, and Jesus would have eaten a diet consisting of dates, and pomegranates, and olives, vegetables, fish, but a staple. The thing that showed up at every meal on the table would have been bread. Jesus ate bread nearly every day. And so Kerry and I are going to make the kind of bread that Jesus ate. So let's see how this goes.
Kerry Shook: This is gonna be fun, some Jesus bread, guys. Jesus bread now, if this is Jesus bread, is are donuts the devil's bread because they tempt me all the time?
Chris Shook: So what we've got here is some wheat flour. In Jesus day, we would have needed to go collect the grain and then grind it out. He didn't have H-E-B, we do, and so we're just starting here. This is wheat flour, but you could use barley flour, and barley was the food of the poor. So often times it would have been barley. Flours, that was two cups of flour, for those of you who want to make this at home. Two cups of flour, and about a half a cup of water.
Kerry Shook: It's unleavened, unleavened bread. So it doesn't rise. It's more like pita.
Chris Shook: Teaspoon of salt and lastly.
Kerry Shook: What?
Chris Shook: Can you hold this for me?
Kerry Shook: Oh, yeah sure. Sorry. I'm sorry. That's what I do at home, nothing.
Chris Shook: I have to use my words.
Kerry Shook: I'm worthless. I'll just leave.
Chris Shook: Okay and a tablespoon of olive oil and that is it. That is all that's needed to make this.
Kerry Shook: Simple.
Chris Shook: And then you stir it up and I know it's a little hard to see this but just imagine what flour and water would look like, and you've got it pretty much. Stirring it up and once you've kind of got it all kind of somewhat together, then they would take it in their hands and form it into a ball and start kneading it. I know that some of you actually know how to make bread and you're thinking she's doing it all wrong.
Kerry Shook: Wait a minute though, this is Jesus bread.
Chris Shook: For all we know this is how they did it.
Kerry Shook: Hey, are you better than Jesus? No, so.
Chris Shook: So they get a, no, you're absolutely right if you think I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm trying. And so they made it into a ball and then they would just start kneading it and knead it for quite a while until all those ingredients are totally mixed together. I'm not gonna make you sit and watch me do that because we have, we've seen a cooking show before. We have one that's already made.
Kerry Shook: Yeah, I have a feeling that we don't have anything to do with this, but there's someone who knows what they're doing backstage.
Chris Shook: And so they take a piece of it, make it in a ball and Kerry I'm gonna have you take over this cooking part. Now that I've got...
Kerry Shook: Good, I get to do something.
Chris Shook: ...a ball for you. And they'd roll it out into a flat circle. We're gonna see if he can do something like a circle because it's not...
Kerry Shook: I'm gonna do better this service. I made all kinds of strange shapes last time.
Chris Shook: But they'd roll it out pretty thin and then cook it on a hot surface. No oil or anything on there. That's just a hot skillet. Oh, you're doing so good.
Kerry Shook: Yeah, look at that.
Chris Shook: Kinda, yeah.
Kerry Shook: Kind of. Almost got a compliment and that's awesome. Look at that, I'm making it into a heart. I didn't mean to do that, but it's just my love for you. Just, it just comes out. Thank you. I don't know why you're clapping over that, but anyway.
Chris Shook: Yeah, and then they just put it on there and it cooks for three or four minutes, and you flip it over somewhere in there and there you have it. And sometimes they put in, add some spices, or olives, or dates, or nuts, something. Sometimes, or maybe just put a piece of fish in it. You never know. And when it's finished it's supposed to look, we'll see, something like this. And it's just a flat piece of bread. It is kind of like pita bread, except for it is not as bendable.
Kerry Shook: Yeah. You know, it's amazing how so much of the Gospels talk about dinner. It's really amazing how many of the stories about Jesus revolve around dinners, and why do you think that is?
Chris Shook: Well, I think it's because dinner, meals are just an everyday part of life. And Jesus wants us to follow his example, and he was showing us how to do it. When you read the book of Luke, which is where our passage is from today, honestly, you start reading through it and Jesus eats his way through Luke. He is always, nearly always coming from a meal, or at a meal or going to a meal.
Kerry Shook: So I'm more like Jesus than I thought.
Chris Shook: Congratulations. But it's just meals are an everyday part of life. And we tend to start thinking that our spiritual life is one thing and then there's the rest of real life. And the way Jesus did life around a table shows me that being spiritual doesn't mean being mystical or having a lot of viable knowledge. Growing spiritually just means letting God be the central part of your everyday life. In Romans chapter 12, verse 1, it says, "So here's what I want you to do. God helping you: Take your ordinary everyday, ordinary life, and you're shopping, you're cooking, you're going to work, you're walking around life, and I want you to place it before God as an offering. Give all that to God as an offering".
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. So God is saying, I just want your everyday ordinary life, all of it. Some people think of life as a loaf of bread with a lot of slices, and you have a work slice, and then you have your family slice, you have hobby slice, you have your me time slice, you have your God slice. That's when we go to church. And God does not describe our lives that way. As Christ followers, the truth is, God said, it's all mine. All of it. A whole loaf of bread. All of it is mine. Being a Christ follower means acknowledging that all of my time, and all of my words, all of my decisions are to be willingly surrendered to be used however he sees fit. It's a day by day choice that we make, to give up our self-centered ways and follow him.
Kerry Shook: Today, we're gonna look at a passage of scripture where Jesus goes to a family dinner. He goes to the village of Bethany to the home of two sisters, Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus. And he goes there with his disciples. So would you stand in honor of God's Word? And just follow along with me in Luke chapter 10, beginning with verse 38, "Now, as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary, who was also seated at the Lord's feet, and was listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to him and said, 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do the serving by myself. Then tell her to help me.' But the Lord answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.'"
Chris Shook: So let's dig into this passage and see what we can learn. Let's look at verse 38, "He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him". I wanna stop right here and point out what Martha got right? Because I feel like she's gotten a bad rap all throughout history. And here she did something right? Really right. Jesus and some of his followers came to her village and seeing that they were tired and dusty from their journey, Martha welcomed them into her home and she sprang into action to make a meal for them.
Now, this is a great picture of being available to be used. Martha saw a very practical need and she stepped in to fill it, and that's what we're to do every day is keep our eyes open to practical needs and when we're able to go ahead and fill them. So what would it look like for you to invite Jesus into your daily life? What would that look like? What would it look like if we invited him into our homes? Things might change. What if we invited him into our businesses, into our schools? I think in our homes would be a lot more aware of each other, each other's needs. Maybe what we listen to what we watch. We invited him into our businesses.
I imagine we might be more aware of the people we're dealing with instead of just the bottom line. And if you're a student and you go to school, it might look like if you invited Jesus into your school. It might look like being aware of his presence, and when you get to the cafeteria and you're about to sit down with your group of friends at lunch, and notice that there's this kid off sitting by himself, that's by himself every day. Maybe you'd get up and walk over there and sit down and just say, hey, is this seat taken? You know, you mind if I eat with you? And strike up a conversation. It would change our daily lives, as Jesus always does, if we invited him in to what is going on. If we welcomed him into our ordinary life.
So Martha welcomes Jesus, but look what happens next. In verse 40, "But Martha was distracted by all her preparations". So she did good. She welcomed Jesus into her home, but she did it on her own terms. She wanted to do it the way she wanted to do it. Let me say, I totally get Martha. I understand what she feels like. And maybe some of you can identify with her too, because I know what it's like to have a family where most of the people think that, you know, pot roast and clean socks just fall into their outstretched hands. It just happens magically somehow.
And I know what it feels like to think that you want everybody to have a great time, around a perfect dinner, and if someone doesn't, you kind of take it on yourself and feel like, oh, if I just could have been done this better or that better. We think that it's all our fault, everything rests on us. Can any of you relate? Martha gets so caught up in preparing the meal, that she got distracted from the whole purpose of the dinner. Not to be distracted. You have to be distracted from something by something. Martha is distracted from listening to Jesus by her cooking. She was so busy with her meal plan, that she forgot the main course. So the first thing that we want you to see is that the main course is connection.
The main course is always connection. Jesus told Martha in verse 42, only one thing is essential and Mary has chosen it. It's the main course and it won't be taken from her. You and I were created for connection, for a relationship with God and a relationship with others. But just like Martha, we get distracted with so many things in life. We think we're just way too busy, and we miss the main course. The main thing that life is all about. Our real hungry is for connection. We think it's for food, but our real hunger is for connection. And in John 6, verse 35, "Jesus replied, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again.'"
Have you ever gone all out and made a big meal? You spent hours planning the menu, and then you went grocery shopping and you got every last special ingredient. Then you came home and you started slicing, and dicing, and chopping, and broiling, and you want to make everything perfect. The table looks like a Pinterest centerpiece that you could, you know, you could put that out anywhere and be proud of it. And everyone comes and sits at the table, and then about 18 minutes later, it's over. The meal has been eaten. Suddenly everybody dives in, they eat the meal and they're like, oh, great. And they push their chair back and leave. And you're left thinking, wait a minute, this was the big event. I did so much. What's going on?
And to add insult to injury, a few hours later, everybody's hungry again. They just keep getting hungry over and over. Well, here's what I love. I love that Jesus knows us. He knows us so well, he understands us. He understands when we get frustrated. He understands what we go through. And Jesus knew that Martha was rushing around and feeling like a martyr. He knows our every thought. And I have a feeling that the other people seated at Jesus feet with Mary, I think they probably sensed Martha's frustration too because I have a feeling that at this point, Martha was puffing and puffing, and banging on that stew pot lid, and making sure everybody knew that she was working really hard, hoping somebody would take notice. And she's peeling her vegetables right there in the sidelines of those people sitting at Jesus feet.
And finally, you know, she's getting more and more angry and nobody's helping me. And here I am, I'm working so hard. She can't hold it in anymore. And the Bible says this is what happened, "she stepped in, interrupting them. 'Master, don't you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand.'" Well, let me tell you something. I didn't grow up knowing the Bible. I didn't grow up going to church, and coming late to this Bible, and the stories in the Bible, a great thing is that, it's always very surprising to me. It's interesting. I cannot wait to see what happens next. And still, after all these years of being a believer, I still get surprised at what I find in digging into this passage.
First of all, what hits me is Martha steps in interrupting them. Martha interrupted Jesus Christ. She interrupted him. So I read this and think, the audacity. Martha, what are you thinking? This is Jesus. And then God reminds me that I have done the same thing. The next thing she does is say, "Master, don't you care that my sister has abandoned me? Master don't you care"? She accuses Jesus of not caring about her. Jesus who's going to the cross to die for her sins, she's accusing him to his face and saying you don't care about me. Don't you care? If you cared, you'd clearly do something and you're not.
And again, my knee-jerk reaction is, Martha, close your mouth. Martha stop talking. Are you crazy? You're telling Jesus that he doesn't care? And then I remember, I remember all the times that I have blamed God for things not going the way that I planned them, or not having things work out in a way that made things easier for me. Ok, so Martha, I get you. But what comes out of Martha's mouth next, honestly, it's just too much, because the next thing she says is, "Tell her to lend me a hand". She commands Jesus and tells him what to do. She tells Jesus this is what you need to do, tell her this. And again, guilty is charged because there have been plenty of times when I've had some great ideas for God about how he could deal with people.
Like, really great ideas about how he could deal with other people. But how does Jesus respond to this? Once Martha interrupts him, accuses him of being uncaring, and then tells him what to do, bosses him around, what does Jesus do? Well, and this is important. See this because this is a great lesson that we can all learn. He responds not to her words but to her heart. He doesn't even address the things. He doesn't say, you know, why did you interrupt me? And are you kidding? Of course, I care about you. He in effect says Martha, dear Martha, I love you.
Says her name twice. I know you feel anxious and troubled about so many things. But what's missing here? It isn't having one more plate of food on the table. What's missing is your understanding of what really matters. Your sister is eating right now because I am providing the meal. I am the bread of life. Your sister is eating it and I won't allow you to take that from her. You see like Martha, sometimes we get more concerned about making things perfect, than being present for the people that we're with. Being more concerned with being perfect, with scoring ourselves highly, than being present for the other people in the room.
Kerry Shook: Yeah, I want you to look at Luke 10:39, it says, "And she had a sister called Mary, who was also seated at the Lord's feet, and was listening to His word". So while Martha was running around frantically trying to make a great dinner in honor of Jesus, her sister Mary was just sitting at Jesus feet, spending time listening to and learning from Jesus. And so the first point is, the main course is connection, but the second point we want you to get, is real connection revolves around Jesus. Martha missed connection because she missed Jesus. Martha focused on the meal, Mary focused on Jesus. Now I want you to look at this next passage.
Luke chapter 10, verse 41, "But the Lord answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you're worried and distracted by many things; but only one thing is necessary.'" So we want you to see the main course is connection, real connection revolves around Jesus, and the one thing is relationships. It's connection, fellowship, it's loving and being loved at the deepest level. And there are a lot of things I can spend my time on, but there's only one thing that's going to last and that's relationships. That vertical relationship with my creator and those horizontal relationships with the people around me.
Twenty-two years ago, this week, on September 11 at 8:45 a.m. on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center, people were going about their business as usual. Some were pouring coffee, others were checking their emails from the day before. Some were checking on appointments they had later in the day. Others were talking to their colleagues, but one minute later, none of that mattered anymore. What do you do when you know you have about ten minutes to live? What do you do when you know you have ten minutes to live?
For those who could find phones, they didn't call their stockbroker to find out what the latest ticker was saying. They didn't call their bankers to find out what was in their savings account. No, they called spouses to say, I love you one last time. They called parents to say, thank you one last time. They called children to say, I'm proud of you one last time. They called best friends and loved ones to say, I love you one last time. Imminent death has the power to clarify our values to help us see the way things truly are. And we all know at the end of our lives, we're going to look back and say, why didn't I see it earlier? I see it so clearly now, why didn't I see it earlier? A lot of those things that I did in my life, I spent my life on things that weren't important at all. And now I see it.
Chris Shook: Let's look back at the end of this passage one last time. Jesus said, "One thing only is essential, and Mary chose it, it's the main course, and won't be taken away from her". Mary made a choice and that's really important to see because choosing one thing usually means turning away from another. Not making hard choices and just going with the flow, that's a choice too. We can choose to follow culture around us and just be too busy to make relationships, that's a pretty common choice. But we challenge you to make relationship choices, make those decisions.