Do you remember where your family
ate meals when you were a child? For most of us it was a table. I think some
modern families are missing out if they do not eat together, or when they do
eat together it is in front of a television set on a couch. My family always
ate around our kitchen table. With six children it was quite snug. We had no
dining room, so breakfast, lunch and supper (we never called it dinner – that
was reserved for what we ate on Sunday afternoons) were consumed where they
were prepared. My parents worked hard to provide plenty to eat and my mom was a
good cook. That kitchen table was the center of life in our home for many years
– a place to eat, do homework, play games, build things, have company, and just
about anything else you can think of.
Tables bring people together. Seated
around a table, we are all at the same level. Tables are places that we share
things with one another. We do not typically sit and watch others eat. We all
eat. We share the food. We also talk… and learn to listen, sharing the
conversation. We learn manners and how to relate to others with politeness. Our
tables typically have more than one chair around them. They are made for
community. When I was in college there were times when I had to be late to the
cafeteria for a meal. If I didn’t find anyone I knew, I would sometimes sit
alone in a sea of tables and chairs. I don’t mind sitting alone, but when I did
I would wonder if anyone was looking at me and thinking me strange, anti-social,
lonely, or something else I might not want thought of me. Eating is very much a
social thing.
I’m thankful for the family I grew
up in… the family I married into… and the family of our own that Joanne and I
have been blessed with. In each one there has always been a table. The tables have been
places we could share our greatest joys, deepest sorrows, and most troubling
fears and frustrations. The table and the food on it warmed us up to each
other. When, as a stranger I came into Joanne’s family, the table was the place
we got to know each other. If I was accepted there I could make it anywhere. In
our marriage, table fellowship has been enjoyed by the four of us and beyond.
We’ve had guests of all kinds, sizes and shapes: family, friends, church folks,
strangers, old folks, kids, and their friends. There is nothing unusual about
this. I’m sure it has been the experience of many reading these words.
Let us not take our tables for
granted. They are one of the places Jesus sits among us as the honored guest,
privy to every conversation. Our tables are places where we may extend love and
grace. We can build one another up in the Lord and experience His joy. At them
we can offer hospitality and kindness. Jesus does all these things for us when
we gather around His table to share the Lord’s Supper. When we do, we experience
union with Christ as we worship Him in the eating of bread and drinking of the
cup: His body broken and blood shed for us. We also experience communion with
each other in Christ. Around His table we are all in the same place: guests
of/by grace, none of us better than the other: all of us sinners for whom
Christ died.
As we, during the month of March,
invite one another to spend time around a table – at home, in a restaurant, or
at the church building – may the Lord deepen our love for Him and for one
another. May we become better acquainted and learn how to better pray for one
another. May our fellowship strengthen our spirits like the food strengthens
our bodies. And may the good things that happen around tables be multiplied
many times over in our church body. AMEN!
Psalm 128:2-4 (NIV) - 2 You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings
and prosperity will be yours. 3 Your wife will be like
a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots
around your table. 4 Yes, this will be the
blessing for the man who fears the Lord.
Psalm 128:2-4 (NIV) - 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and
when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples,
saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he
took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them,
saying,“Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my
blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not
drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it
new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Romans 12:13 (NIV) - Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Hebrews 13:2 (NIV) - Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers,
for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels
without knowing it.
1 Peter 4:9 (NIV) - Offer hospitality to one another without
grumbling.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for our tables and all they
represent. May they be places for encouragement, fellowship, grace, and truth
where we may build one another up, experience new depths of fellowship, and
welcome and worship you. In Christ’s name, AMEN.”
Jesus
Christ is Lord!
Scott
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