Coffee Obsessions

Coffee Obsessions

Consider, if you will, the humble coffee bean.  Or, at least, our obsession with coffee and all things coffee.  It's four o'clock in the afternoon and my coffee cup is full.  This, however, is not the reason for my coffee musings.  My office was just cleared of the last of 15 kilos of roasted coffee beans I brought back from Ethiopia ( I actually brought 18 kilos back, but three kilos remain in my possession like gold cleaved to Midas' breast).  The aroma still permeates the room.  as a matter of fact, my companions and I brought back 40 kilos in six suitcases, so three airliners and a U.S. Customs station in the Minneapolis airport probably still stir the senses.  To answer the curious, yes we can bring back coffee.  We actually could have brought back about 150 kilos between the three of us, but that would have required at least three more suitcases at $200.00 apiece.  I'm also obsessed right now because the buna (Ethiopian for coffee) spoiled me as I have never been spoiled before.  The rather popular national brand our congregation buys lost its appeal after two weeks of my taste buds feasting on some mighty fine Ethiopian beans.  So, yesterday's normally acceptable roast during Bible study kept my heart from being completely thankful to God.

In keeping with my coffee obsession, I thought I would share some Biblical insights regarding coffee.  I can see you furiously turning to your concordance or topical bible in an effort to find coffee mentioned in the Bible.  Let me stop you before you look.  The earliest reliable accounts of coffee in history don't occur until 600 years ago.  Which, as it just now occurs to me, is the basis for the first Biblical observation.  This proves just how much God loves us.  Not only did Jesus come in a time of rampant cholera, yellow fever, no refrigeration, open sewers in the streets, no cable TV and not even a Hilton Hotel in which to bear the burden of wrinkled sheets.  Jesus loved us so much, He chose to appear in an era without coffee!

Seriously though, there are some parallels to our life in Christ - the way it is supposed to work - that we can find in coffee.  Just imagine that the world is a coffee plantation, and think of God as the owner.  As He walks through the stand of trees observing the growth and maturity, He begins to pick the green berries from the trees.  This illustrates how God chooses us for the Kingdom (Eph. 1:4, for example).  Some fruit may come forth, but only that worthy of the harvest gets plucked for God's purposes.  Any farmer will tell you that this is the hard economics of the harvest.  Pain is felt on the part of the farmer because any culled product is wasted revenue - for God the pain is anguish, for culled fruit is a lost child, but the harvest must go on.  God must choose the fruit for the harvest.

Drying and Sorting Coffee Berries

Next, the green coffee berries are washed and dried.  This, I think, is a beautiful illustration of baptism and the beginning of our marriage relationship with the King.  Driven home by the imagery of Ephesians 5, Jesus washes His bride, the Church, and prepares her and cleanses her.  Baptism is not magical, nor even mysterious, it is just what Scripture claims it to be - a preparation for what comes next.

Roasting the Beans

After the berries are washed, sorted, and dried, they are then roasted.  In Ethiopian culture, this is often done over an open fire.  Charcoal is lit, the berries are placed on an iron pan reminiscent of a flattened wok and they quickly change from green berries into the dark brown and black beans we are used to seeing.  The aroma is fantastic.  In an Ethiopian buna ceremony, part of the tradition includes passing the roasted beans around to the guests.  Still smoking, the guests politely wave their hands through the smoke and push the smoke toward their face.  If you love coffee, this is done not just to be polite.  The aroma is fantastic.  Again, there is a parallel in Scripture.  Both Paul and Peter refer to Christians being refined by fire.  In 1 Peter1:1-9, Peter describes the process and purpose of the refinement.  The testing of our faith is a good thing.  We are made better by it.  In the same way a green coffee berry would not be palatable to any coffee lover, so too, are we not palatable to God unless we demonstrate a refinement by fire.  God too, sits and takes pleasure in the aroma.  In 2 Corinthians 2:15, we are described as a pleasant aroma to God.  Imagine, if you will, God on His throne, and Jesus scooping the latest harvest of Christians into a presentation to his Father.  God waves His hand toward His face and deeply inhales the pleasing aroma of those newly committed to His purpose.

Roasted Coffee Beans

The beans have been picked, washed, and roasted.  But God is not done yet.  Though many of us think that the end all and be all of the Christian life is nothing more than believing in Christ and being forgiven of our sins, the real issue is that God is not after numbers.  God desires a kingdom.  God wants to be God, and for us to be His people (Rev. 21:1-4).  God is not after numbers, He is after hearts, souls, minds and a people committed to His purposes.  

The roasted beans must now be broken down.  The hostess gets out her mortar and pestle, and begins to grind the beans,  The precious oils and essence of the bean is brought forth in this process.  In Jeremiah 23:29, God declares that His word is a refining fire and is like a hammer with the power to break rock into pieces.  We must be broken down in order for God to get to the essence of what He wants in our lives.  That which must be crushed is the basis of sin - ego, and our desire to rule our lives.  The essence that must come from this process is the essential of faith - trusting, instead, that God be the ruler of our lives.  Unbroken, there are over 6 billion little gods, each trying to control their own life and trying to have mastery over others.  This is the bedlam of confusion sin has produced.  The alternative are those who bow to God's word and who come away broken.  In their case, there is one Lord, one Faith,one baptism and one God who is ruler over all, and in all.  God's word ought to be the mortar and pestle of our lives.  We ought to be in awe of its power.  fearful of its reach, but confident that God's wisdom is sufficient to winnow away Adam in our lives to produce the image of Christ in our essence.

Ethiopian Jabala Pot

Next, the coffee is brewed.  The seemingly interminable period of preparation is further prolonged as we smell the coffee brewing.  Anticipation builds, and our taste buds await that final reward.  This is life in Christ.  Compared to infinity, our lives are mere hiccups in the span of time.  The brewing of what God is preparing only seems to take forever.  However, we are an impatient people.  We want to hurry things up.  Consider how we pay extra for the coffee brewers which produce a cup of coffee in a matter of moments.  Consider the irony of how we still pay extra to have a barista do it right.  God is the barista of our lives.  It took us the years that we have lived in order to get to be the messes we are.  Why do we delude ourselves in thinking that all problems are to be solved in microseconds?  God's brewing process is most likely to take a lifetime.  We are willing to accept that hard reality for ourselves, but we lack the grace to allow it in others.  We cannot hurry it up, but we can ease the process by allowing the Great Barista to take control of the brewing process.

Ah finally!  Now comes the finished product.  Everything from tree to roasting to brewing to pouring

has taken place.  It is now time to savor the finished product.  For those with a true coffee obsession, this often means avoiding all distractions in order to truly focus the job at hand.  Here too is a Biblical parallel.  Paul writes to Timothy in the final chapter of his life.  The second epistle to Timothy is somber in its reality, but sublime in its content.  In chapter four he writes:

^"6For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  ⁸Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing."

The real obsession belongs to God.  Your life is prepared for Him.  From planting to harvesting to roasting to brewing and finally to savoring, your name is written all over it.  The truth is, even though it is your life, it is all about Him.  He gets to savor the cup.  You get to watch His joy. 

The Obsession