“We Come to the Hungry Feast,” ELW 479
Devotion
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I've often gotten the title of this hymn confused in my mind and referred to it as "Welcome to the Hungry Feast." I'm not sure it doesn't mean the same thing. We live in times of hunger—for food, for connection, for peace, for meaning, for love, for forgiveness, for hope, and so on. I don’t know if we are any hungrier than those of any other time. I do know that we seem to live in very anxious times; it is easy to become overwhelmed with all the stimulation from twenty-four-hour news blitzes and the commercials of an election year.
Ray Makeever writes that we hunger for a world of peace, a world released, so that our hunger will cease. St. Augustine said, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee." The hunger for peace and release will most likely be with us to some degree until our last breath. Thankfully, Christ comes to us when we cannot come to him. When we come to the “hungry feast,” we are welcomed by the One who promises rest for our restless hearts.
Prayer
When we cannot find the strength to come to you, O Lord, we give thanks that you come to us and welcome us into your presence. Amen.