Eating and Drinking in Righteousness
A sermon in The Other Six Days series
Rev. Mark Schaefer
Kay Spiritual Life Center
April 26, 2009
Jeremiah 22:13-17; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 24:13-35

Jeremiah 22:13-17 Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbors work for nothing, and does not give them their wages; who says, "I will build myself a spacious house with large upper rooms," and who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar, and painting it with vermilion. Are you a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? says the LORD. But your eyes and heart are only on your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Luke 24:13-35 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
    As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

I. BEGINNING

This is a can of RC Cola. You'll find a lot of these at our fellowship events. You'll find them in our fridge downstairs outside my office. If you are ever thirsty and near Kay, it's a good place to come and look. You'll find Diet Rite, 7UP, Dr. Pepper, Schweppes Ginger Ale, Seltzer, and a bunch of other beverages.

What you will not find is a single can of Coca-Cola. And it's not because we don't like Coke. Many of us, me included, love Coke.

In April 2006, by a vote of this congregation following worship, the AU United Methodist-Protestant Community (that's both the UMSA and the Chaplaincy), voted to boycott the purchase of Coca-Cola products for use in our ministry. Individuals were free to do as they chose, but to the extent possible, neither the chaplaincy nor the UMSA would purchase Coke products.

This had already been happening for some months informally, but was now codified into a statement of our community (which you can read on our website). This was done after a series of educational opportunities and reflection on the many serious allegations about labor violations in Colombia and environmental damage in India. The community resolved to refrain from purchasing Coca-Cola products until such time as Coca-Cola allowed an independent third-party investigator to examine the allegations. After that happened, the community would accept whatever the findings were of that investigator.

Now this was something happening on a number of college campuses, most notably that year, at the University of Michigan, where the campus opted not to embrace an exclusive contract with Coke.

A number of international human rights and student organizations had been concerned about this and different communities around the country were seeking to take action. It is an effort that is underway even now on this campus, many of the leaders of which are from this community, and the reason we discuss this today.

II. A Tradition

That's part of a long tradition in our denomination. When I was a kid, I remember my mother telling me how we were not buying Nestlé's products in our household anymore. It turns out, the United Methodist Church was boycotting Nestlé because of the baby formula they were selling in countries like India that was causing all manner of health issues in the developing world. [1]

In 2004, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted to boycott Taco Bell and Mt. Olive Pickle Company because of their labor practices the fact that those from whom Taco Bell purchased their tomatoes were paying their laborers a below-poverty wage. [2] The church has long seen a responsibility to live out through its purchases the values it has as an institution.

III. Why We Do it

Now, this raises an important question: what makes the church different from any other do-gooder social organization? That is, is the church merely a Non-profit organization with better music and more food, or is there something else? We're more than a club that does nice things and has fun potlucks.

Well, obviously, the difference is God. But how? What does it mean when we say that because of our faith we do such-and-such. One might rightfully point out that nowhere in the Bible does it say that Christians should avoid doing business with companies that do not act with corporate responsibility. The passage from Jeremiah is the closest we could find:

Jeremiah 22:13-17 Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbors work for nothing, and does not give them their wages; who says, "I will build myself a spacious house with large upper rooms," and who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar, and painting it with vermilion. Are you a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? says the LORD. But your eyes and heart are only on your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.

And that passage was actually written about King Shallum of Judah, not a huge multi-national beverage corporation. I mean, we could use it as a proof-text.

We could say that the scriptures talk about honest business dealings, and that as Christians, we're concerned with honesty and justice. We could talk about Jesus' concern for the "least of these" and by extension, those laborers who have no voice in their employment. We could talk about Christian respect for the earth as God's creation, and therefore the Christian obligation to trade only with those who do likewise.

We could point to the long history of Christian action in this regard. We could talk about Wesley and the coal miners. Of the United Methodist Church's historic support for labor unions, workers' rights, women's suffrage, and so on. We could point to the traditions of our denomination and the social justice traditions of the entire Church.

We could talk about reason, and all the arguments we might come up with to understand the practicalities of an issue, of the economic incentives created by boycotts. We could talk about the need for corporations to appear to be legitimate members of society and that having "church folk" oppose you makes an effective strategy to effect social change.

We could appeal to our experience. We could run through the whole Wesleyan Quadrilateral of Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience and come up with an effective argument for our involvement in matters like this.

But does it answer the question on a deep enough level?

IV. SACRAMENTAL Faith

I think to really understand why we should do this, we need to look at the lesson from the Gospel of Luke we read earlier. This is a familiar Easter story--the Road to Emmaus story. It is usually read on the Sunday after Easter every third year and is one of the beautiful gospel stories that are so typical of Luke's writing.

Two disciples are walking along the road to Emmaus on Easter Sunday. There they are joined by a stranger whom they tell about the reports of Jesus' death and resurrection. The stranger begins to explain to them all the prophecies concerning the messiah from the Hebrew scriptures and how the messiah had to suffer and die. They insist that he join them for dinner. Then we are told:

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

A beautiful story and compelling in the message that Christ "had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread." That is a reality that we talk about every time we celebrate communion. And the Eucharistic imagery of the story is strong: we read of Jesus taking, blessing, breaking, and giving--the four actions of the Eucharist. And when we United Methodists talk about the Eucharist, we do not talk about transubstantiation as the Catholics do, we do not talk about consubstantiation as the Lutherans do, or a memorial ordinance as the Calvinists do, we talk about mystery and will often point to this story as one that teaches us that however we understand the Eucharist, Christ is made known to us in the breaking of the bread.

But is that the only time?

In preparing this sermon I was reminded of the lyrics from Jesus Christ Superstar about the Last Supper. In that opera, Jesus says, "This is my blood you drink/ This is my body you eat/ If you would remember me when you eat and drink...." And I had always liked that "remember me when you eat and drink". And then I was reminded of something else. In 1 Corinthians, Paul lectures his Corinthian congregation on their abuses around the institution of the Lord's supper. And in so doing, Paul presents us with the oldest record of the Christian Eucharistic rite, dating back to the 50s of the first century. He writes:

[He] took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

"Do this as often as you drink it." Now, I am not going to make any suppositions about the frequency of wine consumption by the members of this congregation, but I can tell you that in the ancient world, it was a whole lot more frequent than once a month on Sunday. It was a good deal more frequent than even the daily Catholic mass. Wine was drunk a lot more regularly. Wine was practically the soda of the ancient world.

And so, what this means is that we are not simply supposed to remember Christ in our eating of this highly ritualized and stylized meal in church, but in every meal where we break bread and drink from the cup. At every meal we are to remember Christ. Every meal is the Eucharist for us.

And so, can we truly remember Christ as he asked us to if, when we eat, we eat food that comes from the exploited labor of those who are not even given a living wage themselves to eat? Can we truly remember Christ if the food we eat is the result of industrial processes that destroy arable land and defile God's creation? Can we truly remember Christ if the beverages we drink were made at the expense of workers and the depletion of ground water for the poor?

No, all of life is a sacrament. [3] As Rob Bell points out, everything is spiritual. Christian faith is not a compartmentalized faith. It is not something that happens on Sundays only. It's why we ask ourselves: "We know what you do on Sundays--what do you do on The Other Six Days?" Those other six days belong to God as well. They are days of sanctity and holiness, too. The bread which we break and the cup which we drink on a Wednesday afternoon is no less a vehicle of God's grace for us--especially when shared in fellowship--than is the bread and Welch's on a Sunday evening. Everything we do is a sacrament. And because of that, everything we do ought to be invested with the holiness and reverence we would give to a sacrament.

Our food. Our products. Our technology. Our relationships. Our studies. Our work. Our play. All of it is sacramental. All of it is of God. Our faith does not end at the chapel door. Our faith exists in the supermarket aisle. It exists in the sneaker store. It exists on the car showroom floor. It exists in the ballpark. It exists in the bars and restaurants. It exists in the libraries and the dorms and the quad. All life is a sacrament.

V. END

Christian faith takes some work. In order to ensure that we are making decisions worthy of the sacraments we find all around us, we need to educate ourselves. We need to have the information we need to inform our choices, and to hold those accountable who do not act in ways consistent with the Gospel.

We are called to witness to the Gospel with our whole lives. We are called to live lives of holiness--personal and social. We are called to act with justice. We are called to eat and drink in righteousness. To remember Christ whenever we break bread and drink the cup.

Notes
[1] See, e.g., http://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1984/04/clarkson.html
[2] http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=17&mid=4484
[3] This idea of sacramental life I most recently heard from the Rev. Dean Snyder in a sermon dated April 19, 2009 at Foundry United Methodist Church.