Love, Pray Eat

Date: July 25, 2010
Scripture Lesson: James 2:14-17
Sermon: Love Pray Eat
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

Some months ago we watched the movie “Food, Inc.” Well, by the time the movie was over, it seemed to me that I would just never eat again. To be deeply be ethical and environmental, etc. there’s nowhere near by to get food that fits the bill. The only option seemed to be back to the farm which is not practical for most of us, either!
There are so many moral, ethical, political, health and environmental issues related to food!
There are food issues around genetic engineering. I don’t think you can get a tomato that is not genetically modified, unless you grow it yourself with seeds that you have saved for decades or have gotten from another country.
And while we’re talking about tomatoes, there are the labor issues around the farmworkers who are working in the fields to see that we have produce in the grocery store.
Then there are the issues around pesticides. This relates to the safety of the workers and also to the consumption of the food. Eating organic is an option, but there are limited choices, limited places to buy, and it is often more expensive.
And there are transportation issues. Buying food grown around the world is linked to usage of energy and fossil fuels, as is driving a distance to get food that is more ethically grown and produced. So there are issues around transportation and energy. There are issues around the environmental effects of farming, relating to pesticides, fertilizer, waste, and land use. That is another dimension to be taken into consideration when deciding what to eat.
There are ethical issues around corporate farming and the take over of the family farm. Families who have farmed for generations basically being driven off the land due to economic pressures from multinational food corporations.
There are issues around the ethical treatment of animals in food production – the pigs, cows, chickens, and other animals that are used for food.
There are environmental issues around meat production – the deforestation to create grazing land, top soil erosion, and the waste and methane produced in the meat industry. It is said that you can do more for the environment by giving up meat than by giving up your car.
There are issues around the packaging of food and the plastic and styrofoam and the trash being created by the packaging. So there are land fill issues, and energy issues around packaging.
With seafood, which I have never liked, there are issues around fish populations as well as chemicals such as mercury in the seafood. There are issues around seabed damage from certain types of fishing and drag net fishing and the way it is effecting populations of other sea life like turtles.
There are issues around the chemical, preservatives, hormones, and pesticides used in food production and their safety for human consumption. Remember Red dye number 4? So for health reasons, we need to be concerned not only about fat and salt and calories, but also what other substances we are ingesting and the health issues that are involved.
And there are food issues around world hunger. The grain used to feed the animals that are used for meat could feed many more people than the meat will feed. So world hunger could be significantly diminished by using grain for people, not animals, if we had the will to produce and distribute the grain accordingly.
Are you loosing your appetite? Do you think about these things when you stand in front of the produce display? I do when I am buying, preparing and eating food. It has gotten quite complicated.
Our nephew has a masters degree in food science. He is working for a company developing new food products. A company wants to add so many grams of protein to each serving of cereal without increasing calories or effecting taste. He comes up with the new formula. I asked him about all of the ethical issues and political issues that are related to what he does – he said he has nothing to do with that. He doesn’t think about it and doesn’t involve himself with that side of food production. He ignores it. Yes, I think that is a cop out, but I can also see that it could be simply overwhelming to take all of these things into consideration. We add this ingredient to get the desired result. What if that ingredient happens to be- genetically modified, picked by under paid workers in dangerous working conditions, involve significant transportation costs, etc. You could be paralyzed by the implications of each project.
When it comes to food, food politics, food guidelines, the Bible has a lot to say. What you can and can’t eat. When you can and can’t eat it. What you need to leave for the poor. What you have to offer as sacrifices. Who can eat those sacrifices and when. How they need to be prepared. The ethical obligation to leave food in the fields for the poor. The need to see that the hungry are fed. There are many, many food instructions in the Bible.
There are countless instructions about what is clean and unclean, what combinations of foods can be eaten, and not eaten. These laws involved ethics – seeing that everyone was fed. They involved respect for the land. They involved ritual purity to keep people of one religion separate from people of other religions. They also were a way of keeping life focused on God as the giver of all food. And there were health issues related to the food laws. Here’s one example from Leviticus chapter 11:
Our God spoke to Moses and Aaron, and said to tell the Israelites these things: These are the living creatures you may eat: Among all the domesticated animals on the earth, you may eat any that has cloven hooves and chews its cud. However, these animals which only have cloven hooves or only chew the cud you must not eat: camels, which chew the cud but don’t have cloven hooves; rock badgers, which chew the cud but don’t have cloven hooves; hares, which chew the cud but don’t have cloven hooves; and pigs, which don’t chew the cud but do have cloven hooves. You are not to eat their flesh or touch their dead bodies. They are ritually unclean for you.
Of all the creatures that live in water, you may eat anything with fins and scales, whether it lives in seas or streams. But anything in the seas or streams, fresh water or salt, that does not have fins or scales, small creatures or large, you are to treat as detestable. And because they are detestable to you, you are not to eat their flesh or touch their dead bodies. Every creature in the water that has neither fins nor scales is detestable to
you.
You get the idea and the chapter goes on from there about flying animals and crawling animals and insects, and so forth.
It’s interesting, even biblical literalists don’t seem to be taking the eating instructions in the Bible literally. The first instruction about eating in the Bible tells us that we were given plants as the source of our food. Not animals. Only plants. Genesis 1:29-30 tells us: “God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant or food.’ And it was so.”
So, biblical literalists should all be vegetarians. Vegans, even. And some Christians, are vegetarian in response to biblical teaching.
Taking food and issues around eating seriously from a religious standpoint and an ethical standpoint and a devotional standpoint is not new. In fact, it is ancient. We have gotten away from this, we modern, industrial people who no longer grow our own food, but now in this information age, we are being driven back to considering food issues in relationship to our faith commitment.
So what does our faith say to us about how to think about food issues and respond in a way that is in keeping with our mission, vision, and values as Christians? We have an overarching framework for this discussion. James is a book advising Christians about how to put their faith into practice in concrete ways. The writer tells us, “be doers of the word and not hearers only.” [James 1:22] The writer gives a concrete example in the verses we heard this morning: “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has not works, is dead.” [James 2:15-17]
Given the myriad issues that surround what we eat, we are compelled to put our faith into practice around food concerns. If we say we care for the earth as God’s creation and ignore the environmental effects of food production, what good is that? If we say God loves everyone and ignore the human cost of food production than what good is that? If we say that we are to feed the hungry, but continue with a diet that diverts resources away from food for people, what good is that? If we say we are stewards of creation and all forms of life, but continue habitat destruction for meat production, what good is that? If we say that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit but ignore the implications of what we put into our bodies, than what good is that? That is faith without works. And it applies to our choices around food.
Frankly, as responsible human beings and as Christians, we cannot just take the easy way out like my nephew and put our heads in the sand and ignore the ethical and moral implications of food production and consumption. And it is also not practical to follow my first impulse after watching “Food, Inc.” and just not eat. A path, as you can see, that I have not followed. So how can we put our faith into practice around food issues in a realistic, meaningful way? How can we make our eating devotional? An expression of faith?
For one thing, we want to note that Jesus put his faith into practice around food and eating. The issues were different, but his faith extended to food. He ate with those who were unclean, defying the laws of his religion. We are told that he defied the dictates of his religion by picking grain on the sabbath, a day that no work is to be done. But a day, like every day, when people need to eat. He also was known for making sure that the hungry were fed. So he did not just offer spiritual consolation, but met the physical needs of people as well. The stories about Jesus eating and drinking emphasize his corporeal humanity. It is a witness to love embodied in human flesh; his and ours. Jesus lived his values through food.
So recognizing the importance of eating and food as an area of life in which to practice our faith as Jesus did, let’s look at some ideas about how to do this.
Here, we borrow from the title of Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Eat Pray Love When it comes to a Christian approach to food, I would like to suggest, Love. Pray. Eat.
Let’s start with love. Christianity is about love: Our capacity as human beings to manifest divine love. We talk about love for God. Love for the earth. Cherishing creation. Love for life. Love for all of God’s children. Love your neighbor. Love yourself. Love your enemy. Love is the heart of our faith tradition. Our spiritual path. Indeed, scripture reminds us, God is love. So we are all about love.
How do we express love? With care. Compassion. Respect and consideration. With generosity. So a Christian approach to food and eating can start with love. Love for the land. Love for the workers. Love for all life forms. Love for the poor and hungry. Love of beauty. Love for generations to come and preserving the earth for them. Love for our bodies as manifestations of divine love. So, a Christian approach to food and eating can start with the pre-eminent characteristic of the way of Jesus – Love.
Now, how do we manifest love? How do we convey love as it relates to food and eating? Here I suggest prayer, reflection, contemplation. Mindfulness. Assess information. Consider consequences. Examine your heart. Give thanks. That old grace for meals invites us to consider the food production process. Maybe you know it: “Back of the bread, the flour. Back of the flour, the mill. Back of the mill, the sun and rain, the earth and the Father’s will.” Prayer invites us to consider deeply where our food comes from, who is involved in seeing that we have it, what processes and resources are used, and who does and doesn’t have access to it. Through prayer we examine what effect our food choices have on ourselves, on others, and on the environment, which is necessary to produce food to sustain us.
So when we think about putting our faith into practice around food and eating, let’s love. Then pray.
Then, let’s eat! The need for food unites us with all living things. Food is a source of beauty and creativity. Food is a delight. Eating with others is a joy and an opportunity for connection and community. Food invites us to relish the gifts of the earth. Rejoice in the circle of life.
Jesus tells many stories about the reign of God being like a banquet. Our faith invites us to feast! We have stories of Jesus feeding the multitudes and turning water into wine. It’s a party! Our faith invites us to eat, and drink, and enjoy the company of others around food. A celebration of God’s abundance and love. A central sacrament of our faith involves eating and drinking for just this reason. Food and eating are a celebration of our oneness with creation, with God and with one another.
The joy is all the greater when we are intentional and thoughtful about what we are eating so that eating and food become an expression of our faith, and not an abandonment of our moral and ethical commitments.
Some years ago, I followed our daughter’s lead and became a vegetarian. People say that it must be so hard. First of all, if I found it hard, I probably wouldn’t be doing it. No self-righteousness here. Being vegetarian is actually very easy for me. And every day as I eat and make the choice not to eat meat, I feel that I am celebrating life and cherishing the environment. It makes me feel good. It is a wonderful sacramental reminder each and every day of the gift of this amazing earth, and of life, and of the opportunity to love it.
So when it comes to food and faith, follow Jesus: Love, pray, and then eat! Put your faith to work. Make the choices that seem right for you. Make it a feast. Celebrate the goodness and abundance of God and the earth! Amen.
A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.