Grace abounds at the dinner table
A lesson from Babette and Abraham
Over lunch this week, a friend recommended the movie Babette’s Feast as we were discussing how grace and fellowship often abound at the dinner table.
It’s a Danish movie from 1987 based on a short story published in 1958 by Karen Blixen.
Two older sisters live together in a remote part of Jutland, in a small Protestant religious community founded by their late father.
The early parts of the movie explain why the sisters chose spinsterdom, with flashbacks to the two suitors who were ultimately rebuffed in favor of continuing their father’s ministry.
Many years on, one of these former suitors sends Babette to their door. Fleeing the violence of civil war in France, which claimed her husband and son, the tumults of life wash her to the sisters’ doorstep.
The sisters don’t have the means to pay her, but Babette begs to be allowed to stay and work as their cook for free.
The sisters accept and years go by, Babette cooking and the sisters attempting to hold together the fraying ends of their father’s fading community. Babette’s only connection to France is a subscription to the national lotto that is renewed annually, presumably by the sister’s former suitor and friend of Babette.
The sisters decided to celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of their father, the founder and leader of their religious community. Around this same time, Babette wins 10,000 francs in the French lottery. Instead of returning to France as the sisters expect, Babette begs them to allow her to prepare (and pay for) a French meal for them and their community members for the celebration of their father.
Reluctantly the sisters agree, and cultural misunderstandings ensue. The Puritanical and provincial sisters are unprepared for the flood of exotic foodstuffs and wine that begins to flow into their kitchen at the direction of French Catholic Babette.
The sisters and all the guests, who are quarreling amongst themselves, all agree to eat the meal in silence, regardless of what unspeakable decadence Babette serves them.
The meal, and the movie, turn on the decision of one of the elderly women to invite her nephew, a general and member of the royal court to attend the meal. The general is a former suitor of one of the sisters and a well-traveled man. He comes to find closure for the decisions that led him away from the community and his love.
A great moment at the dinner finds the General observing in amazement that the champagne Babette is serving is truly excellent. (You can see part of the subtitles of the exchange on the preview screen of the trailer above.")
“This most certainly is Veuve Cliquot 1860!”
I couldn’t help but think of the wedding at Canna, and serving the best wine last.
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.[a] 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 1
As the meal progresses, grace abounds. The fruit of Babette’s offering is proven to be sweet to all palates.
Each course passes with increasing wonder at the quality of the food and the wine. I will leave you to watch the movie to fully enjoy the unfolding of grace that comes from the fellowship of the table.
In the end, it is revealed that Babette has spent the entirety of her 10,000 franc lotto winnings on the food and wine for the sublime meal.
I am a foody — I keep track of things like chefs, restaurant openings, and Michelin stars. I consume a lot of Food Inc. programming (celebrity chefs on social media, Food Network TV, etc).
This movie presents a stark contrast to our current celebrity chef culture and perhaps outlines what hospitality really should be.
Babette’s feast is not about a chef basking in the adulation of adoring diners. Indeed, the diners have simple palates, without a frame of reference or culinary vocabulary for a sophisticated, many-course meal in the tradition of the French classics.
Babette never speaks to the diners, indeed she never even leaves the kitchen.
She’s content to do her utmost without accolades or even acknowledgment. Her gift is her skill in the kitchen, magnified by her desire to bless those who dine by putting everything she has (literally, we find out at the end) into the meal.
Her gift, without seeking acknowledgment or accolades, creates room for grace and mercy to abound amongst those at the table, whose recent fellowship has been far from Godly.
The blessing of the fellowship of the table harkens back to the hospitality of Abraham.
And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth 3 and said, “O Lord,[b] if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, 5 while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs[c] of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.2
Abraham, like Babette, didn’t actually eat with the three youths under the tree. He sets the example of hospitality by providing food, water, and shelter to strangers.
Abraham went to his herds and took a calf “tender and good" for his guests, just as Babette spent her 10,000 francs to create a truly fine dining experience.
Babette’s guests might not have truly appreciated the meal in the way that the general did. She could have skimped on the meal, and her guests wouldn’t have known. They most likely still would have had a deeply memorable dining experience.
The meal becomes transcendent because of the spirit of Babette’s offering, her hospitality.
The meal became an opportunity for grace and mercy to abound beyond the original intentions of the chef, because of her hospitality.
I pray we will all find opportunities this week to offer hospitality like Babette, and Abraham, so that unseen blessings might abound for those around us.
John 2:1-11, English Standard Version
Genesis 18:1-8, English Standard Version
So wonderfully challenging!