He Came Eating and Drinking “The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.” Matthew 11:9

Enfleshing ourselves into the world isn’t as theological as we think it is. Incarnational life is about how we come to people. If I were Jesus, or a pastor, or someone who thought they were representing God, I suppose one could think of all sorts of serious ways to ‘witness’ to the world. But Jesus just came ‘eating and drinking.’ There is nothing more simple or more powerful that this. Jesus came and sat across the table, rested his elbows, crossed his legs, unfolded the napkin, and tipped a cup, sipped his wine, dipped the bread into olive oil, chewed his food, and enjoyed great conversation.

Then he did it again the next day. Each time, a person sat across from him, they felt accepted, warmed, and knew that someone close to God was focused on them. This is the simple, yet profound work of incarnational living.

According to this scripture, it is as if wisdom sits down and finally makes sense to the world. In other words, you will know what things work by what is produced. Sometimes we work really hard to plan a church service, pull off a small group, or hold a prayer meeting. The fruit is obvious and sometimes doesn’t show much wisdom.

But take an evening to spend with new friends, invite someone out to lunch, or take a hike up a mountain, and an hour or two of conversation will almost always show its worth and its wisdom. It’s God calling to us from the heavens. “Don’t be religious, be normal”