In previous professional lives I’ve been, variously a chef and a seafood salesman. As preparation for ordained ministry, I recommend both highly.

Tonight I get the privilege of cooking and serving the main course in our final session of Disciples of Christ in Community (DOCC) at the parish.  I also get to preside at the Eucharist following that meal.  I’m very blessed.

Part of what makes the preparation of a main dish for special dinner so special is choosing the ingredients.

One of my candidacy interviews ended with this question, “If God were to ask you to prepare the heavenly banquet, what would you fix?”

I thought to myself, “What a great question!” and then I realized in an instant I didn’t have the foggiest notion of what to say. My mouth opened and I heard my voice say, “I’d find the best ingredients available and prepare them as authentically as possible.”

I still think, some 9 years later it was a very good answer and that ‘flesh and blood did not reveal this’ to me. I believe it was the Holy Spirit expressing what I have come to understand as the primary goal of discipleship.

Listen for the present truth of the word and pass it along as faithfully as possible, trusting the quality of the thing itself to satisfy those who feast at the banquet of God’s grace.

As a seafood buyer and salesman, I had a similar task, though one level removed from ‘the consumer’. My work was to find the freshest, most authentic, untainted, valuable (in the sense of best quality for the best price) product I could find and match up the customer with the product so that they might satisfy those who come to them hungry.

That’s ordained ministry, to be sure, but more basically than that, it’s what all of us as disciples are called to do.

Rest assured there are more than enough quality ingredients to go around and, just as in the feeding stories, there are bound to be wondrous leftovers.

May the feast you share with the people of God be of the best quality and as authentically presented as possible.

By the way, tonight’s entree:

Pan Seared Steelhead Trout with Grapfruit & Lime Marinated Scallops and Dill-Butter accompanied by Sauteed Asparagus, Summer Squash and Cremini Mushrooms!