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April 2-9, 2008

You are what you eat

Warm-up Question:

What are your family’s mealtime habits or routines? (Not having a routine can also be a routine of sorts.)

 

We all know the facts about eating healthy and getting enough exercise. We also know that most people -- young or old -- in the United States don't do enough of either. One factor in this unhealthy complicated equation is advertising. Makers of chips, cookies, French fries, and hamburgers do an excellent job of marketing their products, especially toward young people. So do some restaurants.

One school district in Florida has welcomed advertising from McDonald's in a new way. Read the story at http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=3971058&page=1. In this school district, elementary school students' report cards come home in an envelope which consists of an advertisement for McDonald's. In addition, the envelopes advertise a food incentive or food prize for good grades or good attendance. Students can earn free Happy Meals and other fast food items.

“It is a wonderful idea,” said [sarcastically] John Banzhaf III, a law professor at George Washington University who has sued tobacco companies and the fast food industry. “The next thing the school should offer is cigarettes and alcohol. … Why aren't schools selling Hustler or Playboy magazines out of vending machines too? Schools shouldn't be selling things that endanger children just to make a buck.”

Pizza Hut, Coca Cola, General Mills, and Pepsi have also been sources of money and incentives for schools with struggling budgets.

Some parents and child health advocates object are complaining that incentives for grades and school attendance should consist of healthier rewards and activities for young people.

 

Discussion Questions

  1. Do you think that advertising from fast food and junk food makers has an effect on the eating habits of grade school age children? What about young people your own age -- your peers? How can advertising or commercials influence the eating behaviors or attitudes of the people they are targeted at?
  2. Should schools accept this kind of advertising? What if it paid for all new computer labs in every school? What about alcohol and fast food advertising at college and professional sports events?
  3. Why is it that so much of our world, society, and culture focuses on food and eating? What is the “power” of food and eating?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 6, 2008.
(Text links are to oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at Lectionary Readings.)

Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19 (13)
1 Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection
People traveling often find themselves in conversations with strangers or fellow travelers. Sometimes it’s a friendly way of passing the time, sometimes it’s out of curiosity, and at other times it’s to swap information or to find out what someone else knows about what’s going on in the world.

In this travel story found in Luke’s Gospel, two unnamed disciples meet Jesus while walking along the road to the small town of Emmaus, but they don’t recognize who he is. The two men are busy talking to each other when Jesus joins them on the road. They tell Jesus, their mysterious traveling companion, all about what has happened in Jerusalem, including Jesus' arrest, trial, death, and the rumors that are being spread about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. All throughout this lively conversation, they have no idea who it was they are talking with.

They only come to recognize who their traveling companion is -- Jesus -- when they sit down and eat a meal together that evening. When Jesus takes the bread and blesses it, breaks it and shares it with them, their eyes and hearts are opened and they recognize who it is -- the Jesus they have believed in, told stories about, and unknowingly walked with.

Food and a meal together has the incredible power to help us see things in each other and in ourselves that we might miss or ignore when we’re busy with other things. We see each other's values, concerns, habits, and ulterior motives in the foods we choose to eat, how a meal is prepared and served, in whether we choose to share, and in the conversation we have while eating. We learn about each others families, histories, and cultures when we start to ask questions and notice each other during an uninterrupted meal together. What we eat and how we eat matters, spiritually.

Discussion Questions

  1. How is it significant that Jesus revealed himself to his disciples in the breaking of the bread -- a meal together? Do you think it matters that bread is such an every-day staple food, and that it’s still used today when we celebrate communion? What might be the significance of using wine?
  2. What do the foods you like to eat and who you like to eat with say about you and what you care about?
  3. How does your faith or your spirituality make any difference in the kinds of foods you choose to eat or who you eat with?

Activity Suggestions

  • The Food Stamp Challenge
    The average food stamp benefit from our government is $1 per meal per person. Talk together about what you could afford to buy for that much money. Can you eat a healthy meal for that much money? Consider taking the Food Stamp Challenge and live on that budget for one week. For more information on participating in the Food Stamp Challenge, see http://www.elca.org/advocacy/food_stamp_challenge/index.html.
     
  • Family Meals
    Share family stories about a favorite memorable meal experience, how your family’s cultural history has influenced your meals, or what beliefs or values are expressed in what your family eats, how it prepares meals, or how guests are fed. Are there traditions used when meals are eaten in your congregation? What are they? What traditions might be created to deepen the significance of congregational meals?
     
  • Baking Communion Bread
    Offer to make bread for communion for an upcoming worship service, or periodically throughout the year. Talk about the importance of bread, the significance of bread in various cultures, and about bread baking. Talk about what happens in and through the sacrament of communion (http://www.elca.org/worship/faq/communion.html). Here are a few places to find communion bread recipes:

Closing Prayer
Loving God, we thank you for all that you have given to us. We thank you for the food and the community that you provide. Empower us to make choices that reflect your will for life and for wholeness and health. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen
 

Contributed by Pastor Seth Moland-Kovash
All Saints Lutheran Church
Palatine, IL

Permission to reproduce for local use. Copyright © 2008 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. ELCA Youth Ministry. 1-800-638-3522, ext. 2447. To offer your comments or responses to Faith Lens, e-mail:  rod.boriack@elca.org.

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