Before moving to Ocala and joining Joy, Paulette and I lived in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and were members of a Moravian church.  There are many similarities, and even old historical ties, between Lutherans and Moravians, but I would like to describe a Moravian service that was especially meaningful to me – the Lovefeast.  These services are usually used to celebrate special occasions such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, the anniversary of a congregation, or a special day for children.  The Lovefeast is not a sacrament of the church and should not be confused with communion.

The service primarily consists of music, both congregationally sung hymns and special music, although the minister may give a very short message; since many of the hymns have words appropriate for the occasion (e.g. Thanksgiving) even though the tunes are familiar, they are sung from an ode that is given to each person.  The service also involves the sharing of a simple meal; it is often coffee and a slightly sweetened simple bun (somewhat like a hamburger bun), but it can vary.  In the summer at a children’s Lovefeast it might be lemonade and sugar cookies.  After a few hymns the dieners (diener is the German word for servant) distribute the drink and snack, while the congregation continues to sing.  After the blessing, the congregation partakes of the food, during which there are choir anthems or other special music.  The dieners return to pick up the cups, and the congregation continues to sing from the ode.

Lovefeast Coffee, Bun and Ode

            The history of the Moravian Lovefeast goes back to 1727.  After John Huss was burned at the stake the Catholic Church was very successful in suppressing his followers, called Moravians by others, because of the region Moravia in which many of them lived.  A number of them eventually took refuge over the border in Saxony (now a region of Germany) on the estate of a Lutheran pietist Count Zinzendorf.  On August 13, 1727 they gathered for a service, and all there felt a sense of unity in Christ and many said that they felt the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Not wanting the service to end Zinzendorf sent out for food and they continued while eating the simple meal.  They quickly realized that they were following in the footsteps of the early Church; in Acts 2:46 it says they “partook of food with glad and generous hearts.”  I am not a scholar, but I’ve been told that there are three words for love in Biblical Greek:  philia meaning brotherly love, eros meaning intimate love, and agape meaning the love of God for man and man for God.  If there were a Greek Moravian church the service would be called “Agapefeast”; while the English name Lovefeast does not fully convey this, the meaning becomes clear to most who have attended a service.

When listening to members of various churches describe their congregations, I have often heard them say something like “at least we eat well.”  This is as it should be.  Partaking of food with glad and generous hearts with fellow Christians does bring us closer to each other, closer to God, and He to us.  While I’ve always been blessed by the Moravian Lovefeast, maybe a formal service isn’t needed.  Let’s eat!

Read Acts 2:42-47 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Jim

Today’s Reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202:42-47