The sun is coming up this morning and is casting a glow upon the back yard that I haven't seen in awhile. Our dog Gibbs is running from tree to tree looking for another rabbit to chase. My Door County Dublin's Delight Coffee is steaming for now. I don't think I will last too long sitting out here to write. My Sunday mornings are always special to me.
Last night after church service Rene and I went with our two Dear Friends for a burger and fellowship. We went to a local emporium to dine and it was what we called "Our kind of place and a cardiologists nightmare" simple menu, but good. We ordered our food and waited. During that time, we did like we always do and we covered every subject from food to politics. Our food came and we all bowed our heads to give thanks to the Lord. The prayer was short, from the heart and meaningful. It was over in thirty seconds. It was what I thought, appropriate and discreet.
The evening went on and a one hour meal turned into two hours of laughter and nonsense, just like old friends will do. We had a grand time. Before leaving my bladder kicked in and I had to use the restroom. I was washing my hands when another fella entered the room and struck up a conversation. He asked "Aren't you the guy who was praying with those other three at your table? Were you worried about bad food?" I replied "no we were giving thanks for the food and for being able to gather with our dear friends". He said, " We thought it was funny, we have never seen people do that in public before. That just seems odd to us". I said to him, "did we offend you ?" His reply was not what I expected. " No not at all, it we thought it was odd but very nice. It reminded me of when I was a kid and we prayed before meals. I thought that tradition had died out" I thanked him and went back to our table.
We all went home and I was thinking about my restroom encounter. First of all most men do not converse with strangers in the restroom. it's a guy thing. Secondly my thoughts turned to the millions of Christians in the world and how this guy never saw some praying before a meal in public just amazed me. My amazement wasn't derived from the fact that this guy only ever went out to eat this one time in his life, because it just seemed impossible for that to be the case. From his statement one could assume that he and his friends have been out in public dining areas before. What amazed me is this. Christians also go out to eat and there are plenty of Christians to go around. As I was driving home I started to think about the last few times we have been out and how many people I saw giving thanks besides us and the number was a fat zero. My feeble mind deducted that maybe most people pray in their cars before walking in???? I also concluded that my thought on that one was at best "lame". This actually kept me awake last night and I asked myself a few more questions to make sure I was not ready for the emporium for the insane. 1. Aren't we supposed to give thanks? The answer was yes. 2. Aren't Christians to be people of prayer? Another fat yes. Did Jesus teach us to pray? Had to answer a yes with that one too.
Deuteronomy 8:10 urges us to remember God as the provider for our food and well-being: “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.” The broader context of this passage refers to the Jews settling into the promised land over time, so this likely refers to an attitude of regular, community-wide thanksgiving, not necessarily the meal-by-meal prayer of an individual. Nonetheless, many Jews pray before and after meals because of this command. The early church continued the practice of giving thanks. It could be that many prefer the New Testament thought that all prayer should be in private.
Matthew 6:5-6New International Version (NIV)
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Jesus gave thanks and prayed over food in public. Matthew 14:13-21New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children
I concluded that there must be a lot of Christians out there who do not show thanks and pray before dinner in public. I think it is safe to say that for some it might not happen at home either. There is this big push to put prayer back in the public schools. I am all for that, but I think it should start at home and in our daily walk first. Oh I bet we Christians would squawk if our right to prayer was taken away. Or would we? I just haven't seen that many people lately enjoying giving thanks for friends and the food set before them in public. This has been a long standing debate with some and with all debates there can be one or more views. But If we are to show our love for God to others why would a man be amazed at prayer in public? It is a fine line between sincerity and hypocrisy, or legalism and spirit filled. But eyes are upon Christians and I guess in some instances we just aren't seen anymore.
Christians, where are you?
Marty
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