What’s your comfort food or beverage? Me, coffee and a slice of cheesecake are my maximum stress relievers. Of course, there are others; pizza, roast beef sandwich with the just right amount of Kraft Miracle Whip, pancakes for supper, and of course fresh hot buttered home-made bread. Yet topping the list for me is cheesecake, washed down with a hot black cup of coffee. That combo just sets my whole world at ease. Unlike most people, as the coffee warms me, I can feel my blood pressure lower 10 points.
Believe it or not there are people that don’t like cheesecake, and more it seems don’t like coffee.
I know I must eat other food to remain healthy, there are vegetables that we should eat. There are countless warnings from doctors encouraging us avoid too much sugar, carbs, or caffeine. Everywhere I turn there are messages about how I should eat better. So I cannot eat cheesecake for every meal. But no other food, no matter how healthy, doesn’t cure some of life’s depressions or remove clouds of sadness. There are days where i understand President Bush (Sr) quote “…. I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.” The leader of the free world with all his concerns would need comfort food everyday.
This last Sunday I once again didn’t listen, wasn’t that studious congregant hanging on each word of our pastor. He has been guiding us through the book of Acts exploring the early Church and its mission. I do hope I am accurate in my description of the last several weeks or I’ll be confessing to multiple Sundays where I didn’t listen close enough.
This Sunday it was Paul and his preaching to the Epicureans in Athens. What was Paul’s message? That was the thought where I got distracted. In Acts 17:27 Paul says to them “…. he is not far from any of us” it was those words that I could not set aside, causing me to miss much of the sermon (until Nathan actually called out my name) In Acts 17:31 Paul is also quoted as saying to them “…. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead”. Two points, two short sentences. There is a whole lot of comfort in those words, regardless of where you are in your walk of faith.
I found it interesting that like my cheesecake and coffee not everyone was a fan of Paul’s message… “when they heard about resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said we want to hear you again…”
There is more to a Christian life than the message of Paul that day in Athens, and many will say your theology is incomplete if I spend too much time on this one sermon of Paul’s. There is a reason we have so much scripture as a guide to Christian living. I’ll call them the eat your vegetables messages… examples of mature behavior, warnings against sin and idleness. Along with a host of behaviors we should address. You know, those sermons we hear that are reminders of how we should live, likely the healthy diet served up most Sunday mornings. There are days I don’t want those, days where that kind of message creates depressingly more weight on my tired soul… there are days I need my comfort food.
Paul’s two-point sermon to the Epicureans are the comfort food of the Gospel. When life is burdensome, when the politics of this world deny you peace, when health concerns weigh you down, when life is not as you thought it would be, when your crypto investment does not yield sudden wealth, (that’s for using my name Nathan), pour some coffee, get a slice of cheesecake, and enjoy two simple truths… God is near and in him there is life eternal
“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. “ Psalms 34:8
David
