A couple years ago I took a religious studies class at NYU about the new testament and one of our readings was about this radical thing called "open commensality" that Jesus practiced. Basically this means that Jesus ate with all sorts of different people, many of whom weren't considered "clean" according to 1st century Jewish laws of ritual purity. While eating together is definitely important in our society, it meant even more back then that Jesus was willing to eat with these people, (tax collectors, prostitutes, beggars) because nobody who was anybody ate with these people. I've always been super fascinated by this, partially because I love eating with people and partially because it is yet another example of how freaking cool (BA I might even say?) Jesus was!
This weekend we decided to practice this for ourselves on Beekman. After spending the day apple picking in NJ with navs, we decided to have a bunch of our friends, from NYU and the BX over for Chili and Apple Crisp. Folks it was one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had. A lot of our friends got to see the house for the first time, the food was amazing, and we even got to invite our favorite security guard Mike over! He came all decked out for a bit and teased all our school friends just like he teases us. The kids from next door also came over and ate, even more importantly though they got played with! Our friends were so wonderful at embracing them and entertaining them, a huge blessing since with 7 of them they don't get a lot of individual attention from adults. Huge shout outs to Allie and Matt for chasing them around the house, they have never been so tired before and they definitely need to get their energy out like this more often!
Then the beauty begins... We moved up to the roof and of course Denny busted out the guitar and we started singin some worship songs. The kids all settled down and picked a lap to sit in, getting to be held for a while and having their eyes opened to the beauty of God's kingdom. I had little Kiwi in my lap and he was confused about what was going on so I had a little conversation with him that went like this...
Me "Have you ever been to church before?"
Kiwi "no"
Me "Do you know who Jesus is?"
Kiwi"No, but I know who God is, he's up there (points to sky)"
Me "Yea that's right, and He is the one who created everything, even you and me"
Kiwi "Even the killers?"
Me "Yes, even the killers and He loves them but not what they do, but He especially loves little kids like you Kiwi and right now we are just singing songs to Him"
It was such a wonderful experience and hopefully a great time of planting seeds and loving these kids, the next afternoon they were over before we went to church and one of the girls told me she liked the part where we were singing! Pray for us as we have some of our adult neighbors over for dinner this week that those relationships would deepen and we could serve them.
I'm finally attaching some pictures of us and the kids over the last few weeks!
7 comments:
Wow,
You guys are really doing amazing things. And what cute kiddos!
Wonderful post. Thank you for your "open commensality." It's really a blessing to read about what's happening there at Beekman. We in Maypearl are praying for you daily.
Wonderful post. Thank you for your "open commensality." It's really a blessing to read about what's happening there at Beekman. We in Maypearl are praying for you daily.
Praise God for people who welcome little children (and all sorts of neighbors!) in His name. I'm so proud of you, and so excited about the way you are demonstrating the love of Jesus that many just talk about. Praying for more to catch the vision..in your town and mine!
Jan Meyer
This is awesome. Keep the Faith. I'll be prayin for ya'll.
Hey there! I'm pretty sure I met you a while back at Penn State, and I found out through my good friend Katie that you guys were blogging about your experience in the South Bronx. I've lived in NY for most of my life (just north of the city), and I think it's awesome that you've allowed God to use you in this new environment. I spent this past summer in NYC and became discouraged with it at times, so it's very cool to see you both persevering. I'll be praying for you guys, and look forward to reading about the adventures!
Thanks for the prayers and encouragement CJ! Next time you're in the city let us know, we'd love to have you over for dinner!
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