In looking at the verses in my previous post, I commented that the fellowship offerings were a community meal. That was probably obvious to most people, but I was a Christian for over 30 years before I knew that. I thought that most of the meat was burned on the altar and that maybe the one making the offering got some. Wrong! The Law states that the meat must be eaten within a short period of time, which varies according to the sacrifice. With hundreds of pounds of meat to be eaten in a day or two, by necessity this offering would be a community event.
In Argentina, they are famous for their asados. In traditional meals, they calculate 700 grams of meat per person; that’s about a pound and a half, for those metrically challenged. When the family wants to celebrate, when the church wants to fellowship, when friends gather after a time apart, they share an asado. It took me a while to realize that many sacrifices in the Old Testament were community asados. All I had in mind was the altar, the time when the animal was killed.
By making the offering something that included the whole community, the individual’s worship was far from individualistic. His motive of thanksgiving or the vow that he made or his desire to praise God, all of it became known and shared. Everyone knew that God was being worshiped. Everyone participated in that act of worship. That’s why participating in pagan sacrifice meals was such a big deal in the New Testament. You can’t knowingly participate in the meal without participating in the sacrifice as well.
In John Mark Hicks’ book on the Lord’s Supper, he emphasizes the difference between the altar and the table. It’s an important difference. Paul calls the Lord’s Supper “the table of the Lord,” not the altar of the Lord. The sacrifice has already been made. We are sharing in a remembrance of that sacrifice by eating together at the table.
