Integrating Spirituality in Our Living Space
This morning… take up our series on Integrating Spirituality into our Everyday Life.
Last week…introduction…
Noted there is a false division of life… even if unclear or unconscious… that can cause us to
compartmentalize and confine our spiritual growth. The result is that…
• For 166 of the 168 hours in the week we lose our sense of God’s interest and involvement.
• Our spiritual lives become less dynamic and daily. Our lives can become safely divided….
but also strangely divided.
We sense we are living two lives.
Jesus operated out of an entirely different reality… an undivided reality…. just life and His
Father at work in it.
• Heaven and earth are co-existent… and he comes to announce and embody this reality.
• “Let your kingdom come on earth as it… ‘will be’ in heaven ??? … as IT IS in heaven.”
• We are always living before heaven… living our lives in connection to that dimension…
and in relationship to the Father of all.
The apostle Paul came to understand this and declares…
Col. 3:23
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…”
> God wants us to become “Whatever We Do People.”
(Wherever and Whatever)
The key isn’t about not dismissing some aspects of life as less spiritual but rather honoring and
heeding God’s involvement in them.
Fr. Gerald Weber
“Spiritual experiences are not a matter of finding God, nor are they a matter
of waiting till God fairly screams, "Look, here I am!" Spiritual experiences
surround us. We fall over them dozens of times a day. We can’t avoid them if
we try. A spiritual experience is simply a matter of recognizing and
acknowledging our relationship to God in whatever is going on in our lives at
the moment. God is involved in all we do and does not pop in and out of our
lives. We live surrounded by God. We live and breathe God just as we live and
breathe air. To know that either air or God is present, we need only to pause
and reflect for an instant to see that we are immersed in them.”
Ephes. 6:7-8
“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8because you know that
the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does…”
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As we venture into the various dimensions of everyday life, this series will be notably
different from the way we usually approach seeking God’s Word to us… not beginning with a
particular text… not even simply a single topic… but a particular aspect or activity in life…
with the primary desire being that of seeking how God sees spiritual significance and spiritual
growth in such a dimension of our lives.
In future weeks we’ll consider our work, recreation, rest, entertainment, and citizenship…
but it only seems natural we begin where we begin and end our day.
Here’s a little visual introduction…
[ Video collage of Living Space related images ]
As the images just portrayed… begin with where much of our days begin… and end… our
LIVING SPACE.
Do all the activities associated with our home lives really have spiritual
significance?
I recognize that we represent a diversity of contexts and circumstances…so various aspects
will relate more to some than others… but with a little patience and creative thinking… I’m
confident that each of us can find news ways sense God’s involvement in our lives.
Four particular aspects related to our living space… general areas… which overlap
1. Homemaking - Shaping Communal and Family Values
I realize that many of us don’t live in actual houses… but a home is whatever context we
create to live in… for many apartments or similar living spaces.
Homemaking as a vocation has had it’s share of bad publicity in recent years. The popular
media delight in caricaturing homemakers. Those involved in the domestic dimension of life
are often pictured as less intelligent, less glamorous, and less important.
Who is the original homemaker?
> God… When God wanted to create beings in His image… he first created the
surroundings… took care of the preparations and provisions…
Homemaking is an act of human creativity. The attitude and personality of homemakers, the spirit
with which they approach their task, shape and define the homes they make. In the original act of
creation God brought order out of chaos. Establishing a home exercises a similar kind of
creativity.
What has Jesus said he has gone to do even now?
As Jesus spoke with his disciples about his ascension, he gave an intriguing glimpse into his
occupation until they would be reunited with him for eternity.
John 14:3
“… I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you
also may be where I am.”
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The image is a profoundly moving one: Jesus, who knows us intimately and loves us
boundlessly, is preparing a home for us in which to spend eternity. An occupation so
honored by the Lord Jesus is surely one that any of his followers can be proud to pursue.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
The home is an environment … and all environments reflect values.
God created an environment that offered security, significance, relationships, and
beauty…. that reflected value for all of creation.
If you wonder if this world is really good in God’s eyes… take a good look.
Memories of parent’s working on their first home…
Most noticeable of all is often the baby’s room… the right colors… lighting…
animals, books, mobiles, crib
All our knowledge has led us to value providing the proper food, lighting, animals, schedule –
sound familiar? What does the description of God creating our physical world say?...’On the first
day… light… animals… food… all before the arrival of those in His image.
• Homemaking allows us to create and cultivate values.
For those with children… the whole nature of making a home is expanded to
cultivating an environment in which many lives are able to be shaped and grow.
Parenting itself is an enormous spiritual responsibility… to God and to the wider
community.
“The government of state or nation is of small importance when compared with
the government of the millions of homes in our country. No administration can
be so harmful as bad administration of government at home. No statesmanship
can save us when lawlessness and anarchy rule there. If its homes are right, the
nation prospers.”
More than just a responsibility… it’s an OPPORTUNITY.
• Children create many windows into spiritual perspective…and
opportunities for spiritual growth.
o Children call forth the passing along of who we are as people… and
what the world is all about.
Deut. 6:6-7
“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
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Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and
when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
As my kids ask me questions… I have to transcend the conceptual
responses… and grasp what is as concrete and basic as they are.
• Jesus – ‘to show us what God is like’… to be courageously different…
willing to stand up for the least and left out.
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o Children trust… and are naturally dependent. (,,, probably why Jesus
lifted them upon… as a model of those who would be blessed.)
• Children live in the present… and can teach us to trust and enjoy the
gift of each moment.
• Children don’t understand all the “big things” that adults strive for…
they generally enjoy and impart a more gracious sense of ambition.
• A child’s very existence calls forth a level of sacrificial living… in
which we must rise to be less self-centered givers.
On the one hand… having children divides my time from the needs of others… but
it becomes God’s greatest catalyst to breaking out of my self-centered nature.
• This week I had the flu… with 4 or 5 others
• Toys that need to get fixed… homework…
> If you don’t have children, there are plenty of opportunities to make a
commitment to the needs of others that can bring the same spiritual experience.
2. Common Chores – Becoming Caretakers with God
• Common chores are an opportunity to engage in God’s care for the world
God is active in providentially sustaining, preserving, ordering and otherwise blessing human
life. Chores are part of the way we join hands with God in this divine enterprise and are
instruments through which the world is maintained and benefited. Because of their repetitious,
mundane and sometimes demanding character, chores are undoubtedly a labor and are not always
particularly enjoyable. But they are also vehicles for the maintenance of life and the service of
others.
• Growing flowers or vegetables requires weeding.
• Having a home that is truly livable requires cleaning.
• Appointments to the DMV or IRS… are a part of being citizens of a larger community.
• Maintaining a car or paying bills.. can be a part of stewarding or resources.
We are reminded that God spends a good deal of time doing the spiritual equivalent of weeding,
cleaning, washing, preparing, in our own lives.
• Common chores can be developed into a ‘liturgical’ expression of worship.
Jesus… washing the disciples feet. It was an ordinary task when people entered a home…
usually done by the house servant… or the house owner… = practical task…but Jesus says it is
a sign and symbol of how we should live.
Out of the Celtic understanding, one man transformed the simple morning task of re-stoking
the fire back into flame from the night before….
I will kindle my fire this morning
In the presence of the holy angels of heaven.
God, kindle thou in my heart within
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A flame of love to my neighbor,
To my foe, my friend, to my kindred all . . .
From the lowliest thing that liveth
To the name that is highest of all.
In this way a simple chore becomes a sacramental activity, a parable of all activities and
relationships through the day. The extraordinary breaks through into the ordinary; the mundane is
suffused with heaven.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
• Common chores allow us to express love to others as well as ourselves…in the
purest and humblest of ways.
Chores are also a vital service to fellow lives, to the wider society and to the environment. Our
household chores are a tangible way in which we show our care for others in the family.
• They reflect the truth that “little things mean a lot.”
• Mother Teresa – “Little things done with great love change the world.”
• Jesus – most of what he did wasn’t public or planned… as he explained if you do your good
deeds for others to see… that will be all the reward you get…. And just helping those who can
help you in return isn’t the highest virtue.
> There is something about the things we do that no one else sees.
Don’t we all sense that in the rare moments when we do something that no one else will know
about… that it’s the purest… even feels ‘sacred.’
This gives us a window into the whole realm of common chores … the routine responsibilities…
that we can easily see as meaningless.
Jesus painted a picture of a kingdom in which love and self-giving are central. His proclamations
were, and still are, radical. For Jesus, genuine power can be experienced only in the laying down
of personal ambition.
Ernest Boyer Jr. calls what we offer at the meal table “the sacrament of care.”
Care is offered most often in the routine and the ordinary activities of the day—washing
dishes, peeling vegetables, making beds and so on.
Is the one who selflessly prepares meals for a family, week in and week out, year in and year
out, conscious of it as a sacrament of care? Probably not. It is routine, instinctive, second nature
and ordinary. Yet if we take Jesus’ words seriously, then what this provider offers to the family
day after day is as significant and valued in God’s kingdom as any glorified act of service
offered by prophet, priest or king.
—Simon Holt - The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity
3. Food and Meals - Celebrating God’s provision... and fellowship
In the life of Jesus… though often on the move… and we rarely associate with any
domestic life…
• His first miracle was “preparing” extra wine for a wedding.
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• On his last evening with the disciples before his death, Jesus arranged the details and broke the
bread for the Passover meal.
• And one of his last recorded acts after the resurrection was making a simple seaside meal of
roasted fish and some bread: “Come and have breakfast,” he said to his friends, after their hard
night’s work (John 21:12).
• Preparing and partaking of meals connects us to God’s Divine provision.
It is difficult to avoid the subject of eating as one wanders through the pages of the Old Testament.
In the story of creation, God’s role as the Creator and Sustainer of life culminates in the provision
of food ..
Genesis 9:3 (NIV)
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Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green
plants, I now give you everything.
Throughout the Old Testament the imagery of eating signifies the presence, promises and
blessings of God.
As the people of Israel wandered in the desert after fleeing the Egyptians, it was God who
rained down manna from heaven every day for forty years (Exodus 16). As the people gathered
the manna each morning and ate it, their eating served as a daily reminder of God’s presence
with them.
The Promised Land itself was repetitively described as “a land flowing with milk and honey”
(Exodus 13:5; Numbers 13:27; Deut. 6:3). —Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Central to the prayer that Jesus taught his followers is the petition …
“Give us today our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11)
“As we break bread, whether in an overtly religious ritual or in the daily
routine of breakfast, we are gathered up into the mystery of God’s
providence.” – Simon Holt
Food is, indeed, the stuff of life, and the creation and sustaining of life are God’s
business.
In the so called ‘developed countries’… it can easily become detached from this reality of the
sacred.
In the United States, only 3 percent of the population is needed to produce more than 100
percent of the required agricultural products.
If food is lacking on our table, no longer do we look heavenward. A quick trip to the
supermarket solves our problem.
> It’s the vulnerability of having middle management.
How can we restore the connection?
One way may come with helping prepare the meals… in whatever way we can. When hands
take hold of the rawer materials… they get closer to seeing the source of the food.
EX – Cole making a cake for his grandmother’s birthday…
Giving thanks. It doesn’t make us dependent on God… it’s the means to live in this reality.
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• Preparing and partaking of meals is a means of establishing and sustaining
relationships.
In all societies of the world, ancient and modern, eating is a primary way of entering into and
sustaining relationships. In fact, the English word companion is derived from the French and
Latin words meaning “one who eats bread with another.” Eating plays an important, if not
central, role in almost every social and family gathering.—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
The life of Christ - Around almost every corner of the Gospel accounts, Jesus can be found
eating and drinking. He was labeled by some as a “glutton and a drunkard” (Matthew 11:19).
It was not so much the fact that he appeared to enjoy eating that riled his critics, but where and
with whom he chose to do his eating. —Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
> He proclaimed God’s kingdom open to and inclusive of all those who respond
to God’s invitation to eat with him.
Wendy Wright has written, “When we break bread together, we
symbolically enact the basic truth that we are most complete when we are
together.” A family is that group of scattered individuals who come together
at the end of the day, most commonly around the meal table. They may or
may not be related, but every time they meet there, they acknowledge their
identity as a family and reaffirm together their sense of belonging. There is
a sense in which our meal table defines the boundaries of our community.
Occasionally, or regularly, an outsider is invited to the table. In welcoming
them we communicate that, for the period of the meal at least, this person is
no longer a stranger. They belong with us.
- Simon Holt
More than any other dimension of life associated with our living spaces… this may be the
most challenging to engage and enter into.
We have created a culture that more consumed with food than meals.
We’re a culture that has nearly mastered individualism… without realizing how it relates to
isolation. Here in Southern California… we have the climate and pace…that allows this even
more.
Culture of fast food…and over consumption… of food reduced to it’s pragmatic element…
The common meal-time is disappearing or shared around the television set.
How might we restore the spiritual dimension that God has written into our
nature?
• If you are living together with family…
• If single living with roommates… what about choosing a common night (perhaps schedule on
a quarterly basis.)
• If single without roommates… join a Home Church that shares in meals… and help contribute.
... which naturally leads to..
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4. Hospitality and Neighbors - Including and extending care
We all have people who live around us…both literally and relationally… and they
represent God’s ultimate heart to bless all people. They define our calling.
The Latin root of the word hospitality is hospes, which refers to a guest, visitor, host or stranger.
In opposition we find hostis: stranger, foreigner or enemy. Our word hospital is derived from the
first term, and the word hostility from the latter. The contrast sheds a first light on what lies at the
heart of hospitality.
• Hospitality captures and conveys the nature of God.
Scripture is the testimonial of God’s relentless hospitality toward his creatures. The God who
made and sustains us wishes to welcome everyone into his household through the sacrifice of
Christ. Therefore, Christian hospitality can be defined as the reality of divine hospitality
experienced and expressed in the life of God’s children.
… a visible portrayal of the first commandment to love God and neighbor.
It is being ready and available as food, drink, comfort and welcome for people. It is stretching our
hearts and resources for the welfare of others and to the glory of God. Consequently, hospitality
goes far beyond the act of entertaining to become an all-encompassing approach to Christian life
in general and to relationships in particular.
Romans 12:13
“
Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
With the nourishment of the Bread of Eternal Life broken for us, we are called to carry on with God’s
tradition of hospitality: issue the invitation, extend the table, receive the guests, wash their feet, bring out the
spread, tell them that God has been good to us. In the mundane we celebrate the sacredness of life in Christ.
We toast in anticipation of the kingdom banquet. We affirm that hospitality is not merely a nice metaphor of
what God has offered us but a spontaneous and genuine act of worship to the God who withheld nothing to
bring us back into relationship with himself and with one another. Christians and churches that embrace
hospitality reflect God’s character and enhance God’s glory. Having been welcomed into God’s household, as
debtors to grace we reach out to friend and stranger to the praise of God’s name
—Patricia Kerr—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Closing / Communion:
The Lord’s Supper is the supreme example of God’s hospitality. It reassures us of
God’s relentless care and his unwavering goodwill toward his creatures: his own Son is the host
and the sacrifice, the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation.
Before his crucifixion Jesus hosted his farewell dinner with his disciples. That night the bread and
the wine became the symbols of the sacrificial nature of divine hospitality (Luke 22:7-19). —
Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Closing: Jesus pulls back the veil of reality and shows how God has opened his
home to us… is a community who welcomes us in. What he asks… is are we
willing to give our living spaces to Him?
Other ideas –
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1. God’s provision includes… FOOD & NOURISHMENT
Can become a bit removed from this most basic element of creation… many of us have
come to believe that food originates in Styrofoam containers and frozen food boxes. At
the very least, we being to associate supermarkets as our sources and money as our means.
Bart Simpson… prayed… there may a little bit of Bart’s perceptions in all of us
Our modern shopping packages the miracle of food so that it appears almost man-made
It’s interesting that the modern city is often associated with more hindered in their
relationship to God and that those in the heartland of any country are know for a more
natural gratitude as they work the miracle of the land and animals
As the Psalmist reminds us all:
He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate –
bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil
to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart. Psalms 104:14-15
As we walk down our salad bars, we might ask “What does this say about my God’s
care for me?”
… enjoy our multigrain breads & cereals… sip our fruit beverages… what kind of God
is my God?
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE
Training of Karate Kid
In the movie Karate Kid, young Daniel asks Mister Miagi to teach him karate. Miagi
agrees under one condition: Daniel must submit totally to his instruction and never
question his methods.
Daniel shows up the next day eager to learn. To his chagrin, Mister Miagi has him
paint a fence. Miagi demonstrates the precise motion for the job: up and down, up and
down. Daniel takes days to finish the job. Next, Miagi has him scrub the deck using a
prescribed stroke. Again the job takes days. Daniel wonders, What does this have to do
with karate? but he says nothing.
Next, Miagi tells Daniel to wash and wax three weather-beaten cars and again
prescribes the motion. Finally, Daniel reaches his limit: "I thought you were going to teach
me karate, but all you have done is have me do your unwanted chores!"
Daniel has broken Miagi’s one condition, and the old man’s face pulses with anger. "I
have been teaching you karate! Defend yourself!"
Miagi thrusts his arm at Daniel, who instinctively defends himself with an arm
motion exactly like that used in one of his chores. Miagi unleashes a vicious kick, and
again Daniel averts the blow with a motion used in his chores. After Daniel successfully
defends himself from several more blows, Miagi simply walks away, leaving Daniel to
discover what the master had known all along: skill comes from repeating the correct but
seemingly mundane actions.
The same is true of godliness.
-Duke Winser
- Leadership, Fall 1995, p. 40+
How does work teach us to be better followers of Christ? Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, the
great mentor of Pope John Paul II, once wrote:
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What external work does for our interior life is shown in the fact that this work by
the sweat of our brow lays bare the image of our soul and unveils its real
expression...A perfect method of examining our conscience can be to scrutinize the
manner in which we do our duty at work. - All You Who Labor, pg. 113
Worship is now in all we do – offering our whole lives…
By Ray Bystrom
Using the religious language of the temple but applying it metaphorically to the sphere of
everyday living, Paul says, “I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies
as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans
12:1) For Christians then, spiritual worship is to offer the whole of one’s being or life to God
as a living sacrifice, dedicated and acceptable to him. In practice this means behaving in
every sphere of life in such a way that God’s will, rather than our will, determines the actions
we take. God’s standards, rather than the values of the times, becomes normative for daily
life (Romans 12:2).
Same time, same place?
So worship knows no special place or time. “Since all places and times have now become the
venue for worship,” says Banks, “Paul cannot speak of Christians assembling in church
(distinctly) for this purpose. They are already worshiping God, acceptably or unacceptably, in
whatever they are doing.”
Jesus also taught that a new day was dawning in which “place” and “time” would no longer be
significant for the ritual of worship. To the Samaritan woman Jesus said, “Believe me,
woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in
Jerusalem....A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the
Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit,
and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:21, 23-24).
A journalist once remarked to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “I wouldn’t
do what you do for a million dollars.” “Neither would I,” she replied,
“I do this to serve people and to serve God.”
THREE BRICKLAYERS SEE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF MEANING
John Stott relates the story of a man who was strolling down a country lane when he came
across a stone quarry in which a number of men were working. He asked several of them
what they were doing. The first replied irritably, “Can’t you see? I’m hewing a stone.” The
second answered without looking up, “I’m earning $100 per week.” But when the same
question was put to the third man, he stopped, put his pick down, stood up, stuck out his
chest and said, “If you want to know what I am doing, I’m building a cathedral.” “The first
man,” says Stott, “could not see beyond his pick, and the second beyond his Friday
paycheck. But the third man looked beyond his tools and his wages to the ultimate end he
was serving. He was cooperating with the architect. However small his particular contribution,
he was helping to construct a building for the worship of God. So laborare orare, ‘work is
worship’, provided that we can see how our job contributes, in however small and indirect a
way, to the forwarding of God’s purpose for mankind.”
Cooking and cleaning
Today, we need to recover the Reformers’ view of work as worship. For example, Luther
wrote: “It looks like a small thing when a maid cooks and cleans and does other housework.
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But because God’s command is there, even such a small work must be praised as a service to
God....Seemingly secular works are a worship of God and an obedience well pleasing to God.”
Calvin, too, made the glory of God the goal of work. As Leland Ryken puts it in Work and
Leisure, “Calvin’s contention was that a person’s body...is not his own, but is God’s.
Thus, any talents he has in the performing of his work came not from himself, but
from God and should therefore be used for God’s enhancement and not his own. All
should be done to the glory of God. Work, then, should be discharged in this spirit
of glorification, of duty, and of service to him through service to fellow men.”
“Spiritual experiences are not a matter of finding God, nor are they a matter of waiting till
God fairly screams, "Look, here I am!" Spiritual experiences surround us. We fall over them
dozens of times a day. We can’t avoid them if we try. A spiritual experience is simply a
matter of recognizing and acknowledging our relationship to God in whatever is going on in
our lives at the moment. God is involved in all we do and does not pop in and out of our lives.
We live surrounded by God. We live and breathe God just as we live and breathe air. To know
that either air or God is present, we need only to pause and reflect for an instant to see that
we are immersed in them.”
Fr. Gerald Weber
Home – making / Parenting & Roommates > Shaping Communal & Family Values
Chores > Caretakers with God, etc
Food / Meals > Celebrating God’s provision... and fellowship... which naturally leads to..
Hospitality / neighbors > Including and extending care
Also potential could be shopping / consumerism... but while key subject not yet fitting
somewhere else... it’s not really inherently a LIVING SPACE issue.
My Heart, Christ’s Home Series
http://intergalactic-webs.com/khbc/20060508.htm
EATING
Contents:
Eating from a Cultural Perspective
Eating from a Biblical Perspective
Eating as a Christian
References and Resources
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
“Tell me what thou eatest, and I will tell thee what thou art.” It was French gastronomer Jean
Authelme Brillatt-Savarin who penned these words a century and a half ago. His argument is that
what and how we eat say much more about us than our constant need of physical sustenance. But
today eating is an activity so taken for granted that to seek after any deeper significance, especially
from a spiritual perspective, would seem to most an odd pursuit.—Complete Book of Everyday
Christianity, The
Eating and Relationships. In all societies of the world, ancient and modern, eating is a primary
way of entering into and sustaining relationships. In fact, the English word companion is derived
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from the French and Latin words meaning “one who eats bread with another.” Eating plays an
important, if not central, role in almost every social and family gathering.—Complete Book of
Everyday Christianity, The
Eating in Time. While those of us who live in technological or informational societies can be
drastically out of touch with the agricultural rhythms of the earth, the majority of people in the
world are controlled by the foods that they produce and eat. The crops that they cultivate and the
livestock that they nurture set the rhythm of their lives. Thus the farmer does not set the pace of
life. Rather, he or she works to the pace set by the growth and harvest of the crops. Our habits of
eating also give form and rhythm to our days and weeks. Breakfast, lunch and dinner set the
pattern for each day that goes by. Each household marks the passing of certain days of the week
with the eating of particular foods and the rhythms of formality and informality that surround the
sequence of meals. In fact, our meals structure our year. As we move from January to December
we pass through seasons, feasts and celebrations that dictate the foods we eat and enjoy.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
> example – our Monday ice cream
Eating in the Old Testament. It is difficult to avoid the subject of eating as one wanders
through the pages of the Old Testament. In the story of creation, God’s role as the Creator
and Sustainer of life culminates in the provision of food for “everything that has the breath
of life in it” (Genesis 1:30). —Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Throughout the Old Testament the imagery of eating signifies the presence, promises and
blessings of God. As the people of Israel wandered in the desert after fleeing the Egyptians, it was
God who rained down manna from heaven every day for forty years (Exodus 16). As the people
gathered the manna each morning and ate it, their eating served as a daily reminder of God’s
presence with them. The Promised Land itself was repetitively described as “a land flowing with
milk and honey” (Exodus 13:5; Numbers 13:27; Deut. 6:3). —Complete Book of Everyday
Christianity, The
Eating in the New Testament. Around almost every corner of the Gospel accounts, Jesus can
be found eating and drinking. He was labeled by some as a “glutton and a drunkard”
(Matthew 11:19). It was not so much the fact that he appeared to enjoy eating that riled his
critics, but where and with whom he chose to do his eating. —Complete Book of Everyday
Christianity, The
> Leads to hospitality
Eating and Providence. Central to the prayer that Jesus taught his followers is the petition
“Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). As we break bread, whether in an overtly
religious ritual or in the daily routine of breakfast, we are gathered up into the mystery of God’s
providence. Food is, indeed, the stuff of life, and the creation and sustaining of life are God’s
business. But dependence on God as our Provider is not altogether obvious for the majority of
people in the developed world. In the United States, only 3 percent of the population is needed to
produce more than 100 percent of the required agricultural products. If food is lacking on our
table, no longer do we look heavenward. A quick trip to the supermarket solves our problem. And
yet, for those who still plough the earth, await the rains, milk the cows, cast nets into the ocean
and nurture the grapevines, their dependence on a power outside of themselves is a daily
experience. But whether we are aware of it or not, every time we eat we express our complete
dependence on a power outside ourselves. As we spoon more potatoes on our plate, butter the
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bread and pour the water, we handle the grace of God. For those who bow to pray before eating,
dependence is articulated; those who do not so pray are still unavoidably dependent.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Eating and Community. It has been said that to be human is to belong. The need to belong is a
need that has been central to our humanity from the beginning. As we have already discovered,
Jesus extended the boundaries of belonging to the community of God’s people. He proclaimed
God’s kingdom open to and inclusive of all those who respond to God’s invitation to eat with him.
Wendy Wright has written, “When we break bread together, we symbolically enact the
basic truth that we are most complete when we are together.” A family is that group of
scattered individuals who come together at the end of the day, most commonly around the
meal table. They may or may not be related, but every time they meet there, they
acknowledge their identity as a family and reaffirm together their sense of belonging. There
is a sense in which our meal table defines the boundaries of our community. Occasionally, or
regularly, an outsider is invited to the table. In welcoming them we communicate that, for
the period of the meal at least, this person is no longer a stranger. They belong with us.
In a society that increasingly values individualism, where families are sacrificing their
common identity in pursuit of individual interests, the common meal-time is disappearing or
shared around the television set. Our task is to reinvent the household mealtime as a time to value
relationships, listen to each other, extend welcome to the outsider and reaffirm our need for
community. Guarding the sanctity of the shared mealtime is crucial. Finding ways to make meal
preparation a communal event will only deepen the experience.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
EX – Cole helping Leah make cake for Grandmother
Home groups sharing meals
Eating and Service. Through his words and actions, Jesus painted a picture of a kingdom
in which love and self-giving are central. His proclamations were, and still are, radical. For
Jesus, genuine power can be experienced only in the laying down of personal ambition. It is
in the kingdom distinctive of service that we discover the greatness for which we were
created. Jesus’ example shows that there are few places where this can be so demonstrated
as at the meal table. Whether a ministry of compassion or of simple hospitality, it is clearly a
ministry of service that is offered at the table.
Ernest Boyer Jr. calls what we offer at the meal table “the sacrament of care.” Care is
offered most often in the routine and the ordinary activities of the day—washing dishes,
peeling vegetables, making beds and so on. Is the one who selflessly prepares meals for a
family, week in and week out, year in and year out, conscious of it as a sacrament of care?
Probably not. It is routine, instinctive, second nature and ordinary. Yet if we take Jesus’
words seriously, then what this provider offers to the family day after day is as significant
and valued in God’s kingdom as any glorified act of service offered by prophet, priest or
king.
—Simon Holt —Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
MEAL PREPARATION
Contents:
The Meaning of the Mundane
The Ministry of Hospitality
References and Resources
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Meal preparation can be a delight; but for most of us, most of the time, it is more like drudgery.
This conflict between drudgery and delight lies at the heart of the Mary-Martha story (Luke 10:38-
42). Martha’s preparations for Jesus’ visit weren’t the real problem—a look at the wording is
revealing: “Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made” (emphasis added).
It is clear that Martha opened her home to Jesus with the strength of frenetic, hard work—but not
with her heart, soul and mind as did her sister, Mary, who listened. Thus her necessary
preparations were all drudgery and no delight.
The Meaning of the Mundane
In the busyness of preparing our meals, we need to see the meaning in the mundane, the delight
beyond the drudgery. We do not merely prepare feedings (as if for animals). The simplest meal,
even when we are alone, can be a communion with God through his creation—which is why we
say grace before we eat. To gather foods from garden or orchard is to be reminded of the richness
and diversity of creation; God said, “Everything that lives and moves will be food for you”
(Genesis 9:3). Likewise the peeling, chopping and slicing of vegetables, the testing and tasting of
sauces, the kneading and shaping of breads are both labor and a means of loving. Meals can
sustain both body and soul, and can with care be celebrations of all that it means to be a human
being made in the image of God. This transformation, through loving preparation, of “feeding”
into a meal becomes a way to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Jesus himself not only affirmed the meaning of meals but was concerned with their
preparation. His first miracle was “preparing” extra wine for a wedding. One time he broke bread
and fish for four thousand people—another time for five thousand (and he saved the leftovers too).
On his last evening with the disciples before his death, Jesus arranged the details and broke the
bread for the Passover meal. And one of his last recorded acts after the resurrection was making a
simple seaside meal of roasted fish and some bread: “Come and have breakfast,” he said to his
friends, after their hard night’s work (John 21:12). Thus our meal preparations are hallowed by
Jesus’ example.
The Ministry of Hospitality
But in North America, according to recent studies, we increasingly avoid the whole bother of meal
preparation by “eating out.” More and more we rely on restaurants for “special” meals not only for
ourselves but also for a relief from the pressure of home hospitality. Sometimes this substitute is a
necessary means of coping with a busy schedule. But we should look with critical eyes at the
busyness in our lives that keeps us from preparing meals for family and friends. We would do well
to remember Jesus’ example and the biblical maxim to “practice hospitality” (Romans 12:13).
Preparing meals is part of a larger pattern of opening our home life to others. Giving up meal
preparation can be a danger signal of Martha-living versus Mary-listening.
Part of the problem may be that we’ve so increased our expectations of how the house ought to
look and what we ought to serve and how very perfect everything—including ourselves—should
be that we’ve lost sight of the whole point of preparing a meal. A way back is to remember the
beautiful phrase from Psalm 23: “You prepare a table before me.” God creates a place for us
always—no matter what is going on or who is around (“in the presence of my enemies”).
We can learn much about this ability to “prepare a table” from other traditions. A young
German woman, when asked if she doesn’t feel tired and left out when she spends long hours in
the kitchen preparing a traditional German Christmas dinner, replies, “I’ve been taught that
preparing a beautiful meal for friends is a way of loving them; I think about them and their joy in
my meal while I cook.” A Jewish mother as a matter of tradition prays for the members of her
family, kneading love into the loaves as she makes her sabbath challah bread. The Mennonite
cookbook Extending the Table abounds with stories of meals from all over the world—meal
preparations that begin automatically, whenever a guest arrives. Such preparations ring with the
thoroughness of celebration over the prodigal son in Jesus’ story. Whether strangers or strayed
15
sons, all who come to our home should be welcomed with some token of the fatted calf—
exuberance with which that father welcomed his son.
Despite these principles of hospitality—which we would all affirm—sometimes it’s hard to
rationalize the time it takes to make meals over and over, day in, day out. At such times we might
find it helpful to take a slightly different approach to help us recover the joy of preparing and
serving meals in the midst of all the work. Here are a few suggestions:
Make food from scratch. It’s usually better that way, and has more of your own love in it. But
a good meal from basic ingredients need not be a complicated, multicourse extravagance. Soup
and warm bread or biscuits can be deeply satisfying and mean only two preparations, a simple
place setting and a minimum of up-and-down from the table after serving. Such a meal focuses
attention on the daily bread of sustenance and on the enjoyment of the meal together.
Cook from ingredients obtained directly from their source. The plants and animals which
produce our food are God’s creations, not just raw material. Whether the ingredients be from our
own garden or a farmer’s market, knowing where our food comes from helps us to appreciate both
those other creations and the kind of husbandry that brings them to our table. Our urban culture
often traps us as unknowing participants in patterns of agriculture that we would deplore if we
knew about them. Checking out the sources of our food and buying from farmers who care about
the creatures they grow for us can shift us, and our whole society, toward patterns of life that are
more responsible to creation and Creator.
Serve with creativity. Any meal—even toast and tea—gains elegance and a great deal of
spiritual and emotional flavor from the way it is served. A tablecloth and folded cloth napkins,
wood or pottery serving bowls (or even shells for jam or a sauce), candles—any one of these can
transform a simple meal into a statement: “We love you; we care for you; we want this meal to be
a special time for you.”
Prepare a meal with friends. If the prospect of making a complicated meal seems
overwhelming, one wonderful solution is to cook it together with our guests. When we work
alongside friends to accomplish a goal—such as making a casserole or a pie—often the getting-to-
know-each-other part of the meal is made easy. When our hands and bodies are busy, our souls
can relax from the social pressure to say the right bright thing.
Celebrate the Lord’s Supper in the context of a real meal. All meals have been hallowed by
the meal of bread and wine that Jesus gave to his disciples as a pattern of remembering for all
believers. Usually our Communion meal is a pale wafer-and-sip substitute for the richly
meaningful complete meal, the Seder supper, that is the ancient Hebrew origin of the Christian
Eucharist. Placing Communion in the midst of that meal—or any meal—is a way of restoring
community to Christian Communion.
In 2 Kings, a war was averted when the king of Israel, at Elisha’s command, prepared a great
feast and served it to the raiding bands from Aran. Our meals may not stop wars, but they may be
one of the best ways to bring family members, friends and churches together.
» See also: EATING
» See also: HOMEMAKING
» See also: HOSPITALITY
References and Resources
R. F. Capon, Supper of the Lamb (New York: Harvest Books/Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1969);
A. Schmemann, For the Life of the World (Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press,
1982); J. Handrich Schlabach, Extending the Table (Scottdale, Penn.: Herald Press, 1991); M.
Zimmerman, Celebrate the Feasts (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1981).
—Mary Ruth Wilkinson
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Family Goals
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A family without a sense of direction wavers to and fro as external circumstances determine its
future. A proactive family, in contrast, will make long- and short-term goals to turn their dreams
into reality.—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
In addition, they will find ways to incorporate devotional rituals within family life, to celebrate
the traditions of their faith and to make special efforts to discuss current events in the context of
their religious beliefs. Although these activities may not be written down anywhere as specific
family goals, these behaviors emerge out of clearly formed values in the hearts of the parents. But
most families need more than a heart desire to convert their values into action. In fact, unless these
values are specified in terms of goals and subgoals, they will most likely be left by the wayside.
A purposeful goal not only helps family members identify what is important but also helps
them implement concrete ways of attaining their values. Good intentions are never enough! A
family needs to agree on specific objectives that will help accomplish what its members hold dear.
Family researchers (Delores Curran, Nick Stinnet) have discovered that families who work
together toward common goals have a sense of meaning that enriches their common life.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
An essential part of goal setting is for family members to make a commitment to keep part of
the bargain. When the goal and subgoals have been evaluated together, it is relatively easy for
individuals to cooperate. Clear, written objectives help everyone know exactly what is expected of
them. Now it is time to clinch the deal.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
> EXAMPLE – Hochberger family
FAMILY PROBLEMS
Contents:
Loving That Is Conditional
Shaming One Another
Using Power to Control Others
Keeping Emotional Distance
Finding Solutions
References and Resources
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Four common problems that lead to internal family disharmony are conditional love, shame,
control and distance. If a family is to function effectively, members must first recognize and then
learn to change these disruptive patterns.—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Once problems are recognized, the family has a great opportunity to deal effectively with them.
The goal is to find a solution that can dissipate the negative energy that has piled up through past
hurtful patterns of interaction. If your family is operating under the four disruptive relationship
patterns, it is necessary to reverse these patterns. The family must do something different to break
the old, hurting patterns and add something new in order to put the healing relationship principles
in place.—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
The motto becomes: Keep doing those things that heal and quit doing the things that hurt!
Choosing to empower rather than to control, or deciding to accept rather than to shame,
automatically reverses the negative trends. Eliminating unrealistic expectations means a person is
free to discover what he or she can do well and to learn what’s appropriate for their particular age
and situation. Being vulnerable in relationships invites others to come toward us rather than
pushes them away. Honest expression keeps one from hiding behind masks.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
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HOMEMAKING
Contents:
What Is Homemaking?
Christian Homemaking
Homemakers’ Contribution
What Homemakers Need
The Example of Jesus
References and Resources
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Homemaking as a vocation has had very bad publicity in recent years. The popular media delight
in caricaturing homemakers. She—such a person is usually, but certainly not always, female—is
pictured as having no intellectual awareness; she makes no contribution to the family income; she
has no glamour, status or productivity.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
The Example of Jesus
We must not overlook the best biblical role model—Jesus. At first glance this may seem either
absurd (he did not even have a home) or obvious (all Christians are called to walk in his footsteps
and live as he lived). Looking closely at Jesus’ interaction with various people, we see a man with
a homemaker’s heart. He too worked at physical tasks that were important but also imbued with
spiritual significance. He had neither a home nor a nuclear family, yet he was the quintessential
homemaker.
Jesus was concerned about the physical well-being of those he met. He healed people because
he cared about them, not just to demonstrate his miraculous power or to authenticate his claims.
He urged his disciples to feed the hungry crowds. Commentators have discussed the feeding of the
multitude in terms of Jesus’ challenge to his disciples: he wanted to stretch their faith, to
encourage them to trust him even as they took on a greater leadership role. Yet it is equally true to
say that he wanted to feed them because they were hungry; he felt compassion for both their
spiritual (Mark 6:34) and physical (Matthew 15:32) need.
A similar incident occurred on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias after Jesus’ resurrection (John
21). When the disciples returned to the shore after a night of fishing, they found Jesus barbecuing
fish for their breakfast. Maybe, as some have suggested, he wanted to prove by eating that his
resurrected body was a real one, not a ghostly apparition. Yet he also must have known how
hungry they would have been after a night of fishing. By preparing their breakfast, he was
reminding them of his deep abiding love. He wanted them to experience the warmth of the fire in
the chill of the morning. The reality of his presence must have brought all the joy of a
homecoming. On that shore he made a home for them where the meeting of their physical needs
coincided with the meeting of their emotional and spiritual needs. He did it because he loved them.
Here is the essence of homemaking.
As Jesus spoke with his disciples about his ascension, he gave an intriguing glimpse into
his occupation until they would be reunited with him for eternity. “I go and prepare a place
for you,” he told them, “that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3 RSV). The image is a
profoundly moving one: Jesus, who knows us intimately and loves us boundlessly, is
preparing a home for us in which to spend eternity. An occupation so honored by the Lord
Jesus is surely one that any of his followers can be proud to pursue.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Homemaking, if practiced lovingly and conscientiously, ranges far beyond the physical tasks
that make up the day-to-day routine. It can be defined as that which develops and nurtures the
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family at its central core—its traditions, beliefs, values and strengths and the unique character of
the family. Homemakers care for the physical surroundings and physical needs, not as ends in
themselves, but as part of the overall fostering of the family’s well-being (see Adornment; Eating;
Sleeping; Walking).
In Jesus’ ministry we see how physical acts can have both practical application and spiritual
significance. He washed his disciples’ feet because they were hot and dirty, thus making his
companions feel welcome and comfortable (John 13:5). Yet it was also an opportunity for him to
describe the cleansing of forgiveness. Creating and caring for a physical environment bring into
being an atmosphere in which people are loved, cherished and nurtured in their whole being.
Homemaking is an act of human creativity. The attitude and personality of homemakers,
the spirit with which they approach their task, shape and define the homes they make. In the
original act of creation God brought order out of chaos. Establishing a home exercises a
similar kind of creativity. Homemaking is also an expression of providence. It maintains and
enhances order within and around the family, much as God maintains and orders the universe. An
obvious point of difference, as any homemaker would be quick to acknowledge, is that God’s
cosmic order has lasted rather longer than the order created in a home! The finished product—the
home, which is much more than a house—is as unique as are the creatures that God made.
Christian Homemaking
While every home is a personal piece of art, homes that are fashioned by Christians will share
certain characteristics because of their common striving to be obedient to God. Just as an artist’s
work, however individual, may still be representative of a particular school or style, so the
Christian’s home will show evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit. It will be marked by the
presence of (or the seeking after) the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). The homemaker,
because of the nature of her work at the very heart of the home, is able to influence those in her
care and affect the atmosphere in the home.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
The best homemakers manage to create a place where people matter more than material things.
This often marks the difference between a housekeeper and a homemaker, as shown in the story of
Martha and Mary. Martha was “worried and upset about things” (Luke 10:41). Her concentration
was primarily on the pots and pans and food; she seemed to see them as an end in themselves.
Mary chose to sit near Jesus and listen to him. In so doing she demonstrated her priority: her
friendship with Jesus. Mary may have seen the things that Martha did as one way to express love
and hospitality. But the way Mary chose, the homemaking rather than the housekeeping way, was
clearly acceptable to Jesus.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
HOSPITALITY
Contents:
A Definition of Christian Hospitality
Hospitality in the Old Testament
Hospitality in the New Testament
Hospitality Today
Hospitality as an Act of Worship
References and Resources
Hospitality is “the act or practice of being hospitable; the reception and entertainment of guests,
visitors, or strangers with liberality and good will” (New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary). The
Latin root of the word hospitality is hospes, which refers to a guest, visitor, host or stranger. In
opposition we find hostis: stranger, foreigner or enemy. Our word hospital is derived from the first
19
term, and the word hostility from the latter. The contrast sheds a first light on what lies at the heart
of hospitality.
Hospitality is often confused with entertaining. Although we also speak of entertaining a guest,
this word is more descriptive of the act of diverting or of amusing. Entertainment could represent a
superficial hospitality, but it is possible to entertain without being hospitable.
A Definition of Christian Hospitality
Scripture is the testimonial of God’s relentless hospitality toward his creatures. The Old Testament
and New Testament contain abundant evidence of the importance of hospitality as a social and
religious expectation. The God who made and sustains us wishes to welcome everyone into his
household through Jesus Christ. Therefore, Christian hospitality can be defined as the reality of
divine hospitality experienced and expressed in the life of God’s children. In other words,
Christian hospitality is the reflection of God’s character in the life of each Christian and of the
church. It is a lifestyle, a visible portrayal of the first commandment to love God and neighbor. It
is being ready and available as food, drink, comfort and welcome for people. It is stretching our
hearts and resources for the welfare of others and to the glory of God. Consequently, hospitality
goes far beyond the act of entertaining to become an all-encompassing approach to Christian life
in general and to relationships in particular. When we practice hospitality, this realization should
make us all the more dependent on the Holy Spirit.
Hospitality in the Old Testament
As we read through the Old Testament, we find that ancient Israelite hospitality was more than
mere entertainment. In an age when there were no inns or hostels, it was a necessity of life.
Hospitality was a matter of survival for the traveler, the merchant, the itinerant prophet, the
landless Levite, the relative on his way to visit kin, the needy and the foreigner.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Even a religious act such as fasting lost its value when separated from concrete expressions of
social righteousness such as hospitality (Isaiah 58:6-7, 10). In the wisdom literature Wisdom is
presented as extending her hospitality to any person lacking understanding (Proverbs 9:1-6, 13-
18). And in the book of Job Eliphaz interprets Job’s misfortune as God’s judgment on the latter
due to his absence of hospitality (Job 22:6-11).—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Before his crucifixion Jesus hosted his farewell dinner with his disciples. That night the bread
and the wine became the symbols of the sacrificial nature of divine hospitality (Luke 22:7-19).
After the resurrection he walked to Emmaus with two distraught disciples, who only recognized
him when he broke bread and offered it to them at the dinner table (Luke 24:13-35). Around that
time he also prepared breakfast on the beach for some disciples returning from a miraculous catch
of fish in the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-14).
As a guest Jesus would often teach his table companions and even confront his adversaries, so
carrying on his Father’s business over a meal (Luke 14:1-14; Luke 19:11-26). He repeatedly
enjoyed the hospitality of his friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany and on one occasion
told his overwhelmed hostess that spending time with the divine guest was more important than
flawless entertaining (Luke 10:39-42). While in Jericho, much to the displeasure of his detractors,
he invited himself into a tax collector’s home (Luke 19:1-10).
Two of Christ’s most powerful teachings on hospitality appear in Luke 14:12-14 and Matthew
25:31-46. The first upholds the unconditional openhandedness with which we are to treat the
economically dependent and the outcasts. The second tacitly assumes hospitality in the actions of
feeding, giving a drink, providing lodging, providing clothing, caring for the sick and visiting
those in prison. These became the common practices of the early church, the visible witnesses of
kingdom come.
20
The place of hospitality is also reinforced in Christ’s parables that involve food and drink,
meals or banquets (Luke 14:15-24; Luke 15:22-31; Luke 16:19-21; Luke 17:7-10). These stories
gain in richness and relevance as we see them through the eyes of hospitality. Furthermore, they
challenge the audience to look at the spiritual implications of commonplace situations: a kind
foreigner, a neighbor’s midnight request for bread, a beggar at the rich man’s door.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Hospitality Today
We live in a society saturated with messages. There is music in shopping centers, ads at bus stops
and railway stations and inside and outside buses and trains. Many cars have stereos, people carry
Walkmans, and in most homes television sets function several hours a day. Hospitality can
provide us with a haven. A simple, thoughtful meal is a sanctuary that must not be desecrated. It is
an intimate time not to be sacrificed to the vociferous media gods that seem to have taken over our
society. As Christ “eagerly desired” to share the last supper with his disciples (Luke 22:15), so we
must convey the same message to family, friends and friends-to-be. A healthy homemade dinner,
candles, flowers in a vase and a fresh tablecloth are ways of sacramentalizing the ordinary. These
touches say, “I care. I treasure our time together.” Hospitality guards intimacy, which lies not in
closed doors but in dismissing the pervasive intermissions and distractions that rob us from
togetherness. Hospitality offers a way to reach out to a society suffering the effects of
disintegrated families, loneliness and alienation.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
With the nourishment of the Bread of Eternal Life broken for us, we are called to carry on
with God’s tradition of hospitality: issue the invitation, extend the table, receive the guests,
wash their feet, bring out the spread, tell them that God has been good to us. In the mundane
we celebrate the sacredness of life in Christ. We toast in anticipation of the kingdom
banquet. We affirm that hospitality is not merely a nice metaphor of what God has offered
us but a spontaneous and genuine act of worship to the God who withheld nothing to bring
us back into relationship with himself and with one another. Christians and churches that
embrace hospitality reflect God’s character and enhance God’s glory. Having been
welcomed into God’s household, as debtors to grace we reach out to friend and stranger to
the praise of God’s name
—Patricia Kerr—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
CHORES
Contents:
Chores as Burden and Education
Chores as a Privilege and Service
Toward a Spirituality of Chores
References and Resources
—Robert Banks—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The—Complete Book of Everyday
Christianity, The
Chores as a Privilege and Service
We should view our chores as opportunities to cooperate with God in the divine work of caring for
the world. God is active in providentially sustaining, preserving, ordering and otherwise blessing
human life. Chores are part of the way we join hands with God in this divine enterprise and are
instruments through which the world is maintained and benefited. Because of their repetitious,
mundane and sometimes demanding character, chores are undoubtedly a labor and are not always
21
particularly enjoyable. But they are also vehicles for the maintenance of life and the service of
others.
Just as weeding is necessary for growing flowers or vegetables, cleaning house is essential for
maintaining a healthy environment and exercising hospitality, and washing clothes is required for
dressing presentably and interacting with others, so chores in general are integral to a range of
central functions in life.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
Chores are often a more acceptable service to God than other tasks that appear more spiritual
and onerous. According to Martin Luther, “it looks like a small thing when a maid cooks and
cleans and does other housework. But because God’s command is there, even such a small work
must be praised as a service of God far surpassing the holiness and asceticism of all monks and
nuns.” According to William Tyndale this is even true of the most important tasks connected with
the work of the kingdom: “If thou compare deed and deed, there is a difference betwixt washing of
dishes and preaching of the Word of God: but as touching to please God, none at all.”
Chores are also a vital service to one’s fellow Christians, to the wider society and to the
environment. Our household chores are a tangible way in which we show our care for others in the
family. They are concrete expressions of our love for them and of our commitment to a common
life. In this area, as the saying goes, “little things mean a lot.” They are far more the touchstone of
our devotion and concern than the larger, often easier, expressions of love and commitment that
we make in conjunction with anniversaries and birthdays.
As we offer our chores to God, view them as part of our service of Christ and undertake them
in the Spirit, they become a school or spiritual discipline through which we are further shaped into
the image of Christ. In other words, they are one of the key ways in which spiritual formation
takes place. We do well to remember that Jesus was one who waited upon his disciples as a
servant, so modeling to them the way they should be willing to perform even menial services for
one another (John 13:1-17). As we do our chores, from time to time God will speak through them
to us, so turning them into a parable of some aspect of the priorities, values and dynamics of the
kingdom. This was why Jesus was able to illustrate his teaching with such menial and routine
tasks as sweeping the floor, putting lamps on a stand or getting up in the middle of the night to
deal with a caller in order to illuminate God’s ways of operating in the world
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
we are reminded that God spends a good deal of time doing the spiritual equivalent of weeding,
cleaning, washing, preparing, in our own lives and in the church so that the divine purposes may
bloom and bear fruit in the world.
The Celtic tradition of spirituality likewise has much to offer. Consider the attitude to the
routine but essential household chore of stirring to life the fire banked down the night before.
Through the crooning of a simple prayer and the familiar gestures that accompany it, this everyday
action is transfigured into a deeper significance.
I will kindle my fire this morning
In the presence of the holy angels of heaven.
God, kindle thou in my heart within
A flame of love to my neighbor,
To my foe, my friend, to my kindred all . . .
From the lowliest thing that liveth
To the name that is highest of all.
In this way a simple chore becomes a sacramental activity, a parable of all activities and
relationships through the day. The extraordinary breaks through into the ordinary; the mundane is
suffused with heaven.
22
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
PARENTING
Contents:
Parenting as Vocation
Parenting as Stewardship
Parenting as Ministering the Gospel
Parenting as Priesthood
Parenting as Discipling
Parenting as Ministers of the Covenant
References and Resources
—R. Paul Stevens—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The—Complete Book of Everyday
Christianity, The
parenting is a vocation because it is divinely constituted (Genesis 1:27-28), is accomplished in
partnership with God, invites a life of faith and stewardship and is implicitly spiritual—a Godlike
thing. Parenting is a path to God, not a diversion from spiritual life. It is not merely a setting in
which spiritual disciplines take place—around the family meal, for example—it is a spiritual
discipline itself.
Parenting is something we accomplish with God, even if we are unaware of the divine partner
in the process. When we procreate we are creating “before” (pro) God and cooperating with God,
without whom the creation of a new person would be impossible (Genesis 4:1).
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
FOOD –
It has always fascinated me that of all the things the risen Christ could do before his ascension into
glory, he chose to cook his friends breakfast. It so down to earth, so normal, so ordinary, and yet
such a beautiful picture. Bread and fish. A lonely stretch of beach. Friends gathered around an
open fire. The boat and fishing nets only metres away. We know that the conversation that
follows is deeply formative for Peter: Jesus’ questions about Peter’s love and then his
reinstatement of Peter in ministry. But this profound act or ordination happened over breakfast.
Mistakenly, we often assume that our formation as disciples arises most profoundly out of the
extraordinary moments and encounters of life.
Perhaps the fish was overcooked, the bread a bit stale, the ground where they sat rocky and
uncomfortable. But it was real all the same.
Cooking’s a bit like that. With all the trendy cooking shows, the glamorous recipe books and the
dazzling kitchens, one is left thinking that this business of cooking is mysterious and out of reach
to commoners like us. But it’s not. It’s as much about burnt pots and stodgy rice, rushed
breakfasts and rowdy dinner times as it is about beauty, perfection, and candle light.
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So too with spiritual formation. While it is a mystery indeed that we should be made in the
image of God and through the work of the Spirit, formed in the likeness of Christ, how and where
this mysterious business unfolds is much more immediate and everyday that we might expect. It’s
within you, around you, behind you and before you. It’s yesterday, today and tomorrow. It’s
fishing and cooking, laughing and praying, working and resting, studying and having dinner with
friends. It’s now.
Simon Carey Holt, May 2006
HOME –
The earthly home should be a foretaste of the heavenly. The first church on earth was a
home, and the home is the main pillar of the church. The home is a loving place; and if
love is not there, it is unfit to be a living place.
"Home for those consigned to toil, whether in office, shop, or field, is where affection
gives the welcome kiss, where the home circle opens wide its arms and throws around
you its golden bands of love, and hushes every sigh with words of welcome, and offers
rest to the tired of body, brain, and heart. Oh, how I wish we had more homes, for then
we would have a better, brighter, happier world!"
Where we love is home -
Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts; The chain may lengthen, but it never parts.
Holmes.
HOME DEFINED
A British periodical offered a prize for the best definition of home. More than five
thousand answers were received, among them the following:
"A world of strife shut out; a world of love shut in."
"The golden setting in which the brightest jewel is mother."
"Home is the blossom of which heaven is the fruit."
"The place where the great are sometimes small, and the small sometimes great.
"The father’s kingdom, the children’s paradise, the mother’s world."
"Where you are treated best and grumble most."
Margaret Sangster says:
"A home in which father and mother unite in training their children, is the one retreat on
earth that gathers to itself the light of heaven." "The ocean voyager has often seen an
island lying sweet and calm, a harbor safe and serene, where storm and tempest have no
power to harm. That harbor, that island, may be likened to the Christian home. Not that
there are no troubles, no sorrows, otherwise we should be in heaven, to which we have
no symbol which so nearly approaches the perfection of that fair land as the model
home."
If things are right at home, to its inmates they are right everywhere; if things are wrong
there, to them the whole world is wrong. The home life overtops and undergirds the
whole of other life, whether public or private. Dr. Talmage wrote: "The highest house of
Congress is the domestic circle: the rocking-chair in the nursery is higher than a throne.
George Washington commanded the forces of the United States, but Mary Washington
commanded George."
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Calvin Coolidge, Vice President of the United States, declares:
"The destiny, the greatness, of America lies around the hearthstone. If thrift and industry
are taught there and the example of self-sacrifice oft appears; if honor abide there, and
high ideals; if there the building of fortune be subordinate to the building of character,
America will live in security, rejoicing in abundant prosperity and good government at
home, and in peace, respect, and confidence abroad. If these virtues be absent, there is
no power that can supply these blessings. Look well, then, to the hearthstone. Therein all
hope for America lies."...
LOVE IN THE HOME
Naught but loving hearts can make a true home. There may be wealth, honor of men,
costly furnishings, plenty of things; but these never make a happy home. Nothing but love
for the Father above and love for one another can bring true peace and joy to the home
circle.
Sometimes there is in the heart love which remains unexpressed. This is like a world
which has a sun, but dark clouds prevent its warmth and comfort shining through. If
illness comes, if death divides, then love finds words and expresses itself in deeds; but it
may be too late then to satisfy the hungry heart of husband, wife, or child.
“The government of state or nation is of small importance when compared with the
government of the millions of homes in our country. No administration can be so
harmful as bad administration of government at home. No statesmanship can save
us when lawlessness and anarchy rule there. If its homes are right, the nation
prospers.”
PARENTING –
the beginning of the psalm is devoted to a challenge to each generation to pass on
the knowledge of God to each succeeding generation,
For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He
commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their children; that the
generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may
arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God,
and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, and not be like
their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not
prepare its heart, and whose spirit was not faithful to God. Psalm 78:5-8
This challenge echoes God’s words before the exodus and at Mount Sinai in which
God commands His people to remember His deeds to their children (Exodus 12:26,
Deuteronomy 11:18-19).
It is not a coincidence that the Last Supper was a celebration of the Passover. The
deliverance of the nation of Israel from slavery in Egypt was the central salvation
event of the Old Testament. The Gospel, the story of God’s deliverance of His
people from sin through Jesus Christ, is the corresponding event in the New
Testament. Both ceremonies, Passover and Holy Communion, commemorate
God’s salvation by action, but have a strong commemorative component as well. In
other words, the re-telling of the salvation event is inseparable from the
celebration of the ceremony. In each case the purpose is not only to remember the
event, not only to experience God’s blessing by participating in the ceremony, but
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also to continue remembrance of the event by communicating the history to the
next generation.
In Ephesians, Paul exhorts fathers to raise their children "in the discipline and
instruction of the Lord" (6:4). Neither the need to bring people into the church by
evangelism nor the discipleship ministry of the church should not blind us to the
fact that the family presents the best discipleship opportunity the church ever has.
Timothy, who received two letters from Paul preserved in the New Testament, was
instructed in the Scriptures from the time of his childhood by his grandmother Lois
and his mother Eunice, and as an adult became a leader in the early church (II
Timothy 1:5, 3:14-17).
you’ll find some religious inspiration in these articles!
• Roy J. Horner’s: Home Clearly Within Mary’s Protective Mantle of Prayer
• Rev. T. G. Morrow’s: Perfecting the Four Temperament
• Rev. T. G. Morrow’s: A Radical Proposal for Courtship
• Roy J. Horner’s: Kids Can Evangelize, Too
• Father Jack’s: The Domestic Church—Your Family!
• Jody Horner’s: Family Spirituality - take 2
• Barbara Bolger’s: Family Spirituality
• John Schubring’s: The Penitential Life within the Marriage Covenant
• Mary Zaepfel’s: Busy moms, when it comes to praying: are you Martha or Mary?
• Stephanie Rubling’s: That They Might Have Life
• Father Jack’s: Sexuality and Spirituality
• Father Jack’s: Family Spirituality
• Father Jack’s: Marriage and Holiness
• Alexander House’s: Helping Make Marriages Work
Marked by the presence of (or the seeking after) the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Manage to create a place where people matter more than material things.
Mistakenly, we often assume that our formation as disciples arises most profoundly out of the
extraordinary moments and encounters of life.
Perhaps the fish was overcooked, the bread a bit stale, the ground where they sat rocky and
uncomfortable. But it was real all the same.
Cooking’s a bit like that. With all the trendy cooking shows, the glamorous recipe books and the
dazzling kitchens, one is left thinking that this business of cooking is mysterious and out of reach
to commoners like us. But it’s not. It’s as much about burnt pots and stodgy rice, rushed
breakfasts and rowdy dinner times as it is about beauty, perfection, and candle light.
So too with spiritual formation. While it is a mystery indeed that we should be made in the
image of God and through the work of the Spirit, formed in the likeness of Christ, how and where
this mysterious business unfolds is much more immediate and everyday that we might expect. It’s
within you, around you, behind you and before you. It’s yesterday, today and tomorrow. It’s
26
fishing and cooking, laughing and praying, working and resting, studying and having dinner with
friends. It’s now.
Simon Carey Holt, May 2006
Helps shape the structure and rhythms of our days… weeks… and season
Our habits of eating also give form and rhythm to our days and weeks. Breakfast, lunch and
dinner set the pattern for each day that goes by. Each household marks the passing of certain days
of the week with the eating of particular foods and the rhythms of formality and informality that
surround the sequence of meals. In fact, our meals structure our year. As we move from January to
December we pass through seasons, feasts and celebrations that dictate the foods we eat and enjoy.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
> example – our Monday ice cream
Hospitality is often confused with entertaining. Although we also speak of entertaining a guest,
this word is more descriptive of the act of diverting or of amusing. Entertainment could represent a
superficial hospitality, but it is possible to entertain without being hospitable.
When we practice hospitality, this realization should make us all the more dependent on the Holy
Spirit.
Hospitality in the Old Testament
As we read through the Old Testament, we find that ancient Israelite hospitality was more than
mere entertainment. In an age when there were no inns or hostels, it was a necessity of life.
Hospitality was a matter of survival for the traveler, the merchant, the itinerant prophet, the
landless Levite, the relative on his way to visit kin, the needy and the foreigner.
So central to the heart of God… and the help of people… it becomes a central calling which
God confronts His people with
Even a religious act such as fasting lost its value when separated from concrete expressions of
social righteousness such as hospitality (Isaiah 58:6-7, 10).
Isaiah 58:6-7 (NIV)
6
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: …
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Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when
you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
One of Christ’s most challenging….
Luke 14:12-14 (NIV)
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Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends,
your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you
will be repaid.
13
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
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and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection
of the righteous."
Hospitality Today
In North America, according to recent studies, we increasingly avoid the whole bother of meal
preparation by “eating out.” More and more we rely on restaurants for “special” meals not only for
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ourselves but also for a relief from the pressure of home hospitality. Sometimes this substitute is a
necessary means of coping with a busy schedule. But we should look with critical eyes at the
busyness in our lives that keeps us from preparing meals for family and friends. We would do well
to remember Jesus’ example and the biblical maxim to “practice hospitality” (Romans 12:13).
Preparing meals is part of a larger pattern of opening our home life to others.
We live in a society saturated with messages. There is music in shopping centers, ads at bus stops
and railway stations and inside and outside buses and trains. Many cars have stereos, people carry
Walkmans, and in most homes television sets function several hours a day. Hospitality can
provide us with a haven. A simple, thoughtful meal is a sanctuary that must not be desecrated. It is
an intimate time not to be sacrificed to the vociferous media gods that seem to have taken over our
society. As Christ “eagerly desired” to share the last supper with his disciples (Luke 22:15), so we
must convey the same message to family, friends and friends-to-be. A healthy homemade dinner,
candles, flowers in a vase and a fresh tablecloth are ways of sacramentalizing the ordinary. These
touches say, “I care. I treasure our time together.” Hospitality guards intimacy, which lies not in
closed doors but in dismissing the pervasive intermissions and distractions that rob us from
togetherness. Hospitality offers a way to reach out to a society suffering the effects of
disintegrated families, loneliness and alienation.
—Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
