Intenti onal Eating\Meeting T onight is Family Tea Night in the Forwood household. Once a month, Mother and I host the tribe to tea. They each come at other times but this is different in that we are all together at the same time for the same reason, more or less. This was Sue¶s idea when we moved because we were moving into two houses and she was worried that we might drift when the kids starte d to fill up their social calendar. So she suggested that the first Thursday of the month we set it aside for a family meal to be missed only ³if you are in hospital´ . It has been given that level ofintentionality to the extent that Sue has missed band p ractice for the following Sunday and the kids have forgone other activities to be there. We know µhumanly speaking´ that this is a limited season of intentionality. That it will only be a limited time before the k ids find other halves and grow into a new style ofrelationship but for the time being, until that happens, we plan to keep this time special. Other halves we extend the invitation to as ³members of the family´ and are sure that when the number of kids becomes six instead of three that we will be able to accommodate them. Sue even has an eye on an eight seat table setting , just forthe eventuality . The reason for this family fact is that it occurred to me this might be a valid analogy for our faith families. We each have the capacity to become i ntentional in sharing life with brothers and sisters in the faith to build each other up, to support someone in their hour of need, even to simply enjoy the company of one who has similarinterests. The post-Pentecost church was famed for its interconnectedness in fact it said that they ³held everything in common´, something that they to the extent that ifone person had a ne ed and another had abundance then the latter sold to supply the formers need. This was an intentional arrangement. The reason for th is is the tale of Ananias, with Sapphira in Acts 5. The sold a plot of land and He brought some of the money to put into the common wealth . They had agreed to withhold some of the money , so when asked about the money, he suggested that it was the sale price. Ananias died afterhaving been told there was no need for the deceit. Later his wife came in and verified her husband¶s version when asked and she also dropped dead. It was an arrangement of intent that was voluntary and what they did wrong was not wi thhold the money but that they ³practised to deceive´ and not j ust fellow believers but Holy Spirit. God doesn¶t work by compulsion. It always was, and will be, up to us to get involved or not. For us to decide to get intentional or just go with the flow. Much as we expect our kids to arrive for Family Tea. if they decide to give it a miss then it will be ourloss, so it is with Father. He has things for our good that we w ill benefit from but ultimately it will be our decision to take these up, or not. It wil l also be to ourdetriment if we chose not to.
