A Merrier World

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." Thorin says this to Bilbo Baggins in Tolkein's "The Hobbit," shortly before he dies. What is it about "food and cheer and song" that could be of more value that gold? We learn a lot about God and His "merrier world" through the metaphors and experiences of eating, culminating in this life around the table of Lord's Supper and in the life to come, around a lavish Messianic feast. This Sunday, we'll explore Jesus' feeding of the 5,000--no mere magic trick. On the contrary, he shows us not only the amazing things he can do, but the kind of person he is--and that is of more value than hoarded gold, indeed.