Shauna Niequist, an American author once remarked: “We don't come to the table to fight or to defend. We don't come to prove or to conquer, to draw lines in the sand or to stir up trouble. We come to the table because our hunger brings us there. We come with a need, with fragility, with an admission of our humanity. The table is the great equalizer, the level playing field many of us have been looking everywhere for. The table is the place where the doing stops, the trying stops, the masks are removed, and we allow ourselves to be nourished, like children. We allow someone else to meet our need. In a world that prides people on not having needs, on going longer and faster, on going without, on powering through, the table is a place of safety and rest and humanity, where we are allowed to be as fragile as we feel.” Isaiah 25:6 reminds us: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.”
A table is defined as a piece of furniture with one or more legs, which provides a flat surface, often utilized for eating, writing or working. However, the table of life, in scriptural terminology, could be seen to represent the symbol of God’s provision for us to obtain nourishment and fulfillment in our spiritual needs. We have an open invitation to join Him at this table whenever we feel the desire.
Spiritual nourishment is essential in any quest to lead a Godly life. It is obtained by listening, hearing, reading and absorbing information given in the Bible and other reliable Christian theological resources. Just as we are fulfilled and sustained by the intake of food and drink, so the same applies in our learning aspirations. God’s table could be considered as a huge banquet given in our honor. As we sit down in our assigned places, at the possibly ornately embellished grand table, we can expect not only sustenance, but good conversation and company. There may be a variety of courses to our meal with the welcome addition of the fruits of the vine.
However, there may be elements of doubt, despondency or uncertainty when we can’t see the elegant custom place cards that display our individual names amongst the many that may be on show. These may be written with such elaborate calligraphy that we look at them with awe and admiration. Circumstances like this can cause consternation and hesitation as to whether we have come to the correct table in life, but have no fear, our name card is situated somewhere. No one is denied a seat at God’s table if we have the appetite to listen and learn. God will never invite, then turn away. When we eventually find our individual place card, a great sense of pride may immediately overwhelm us, we have been selected by God to join Him for a special meal. The personal satisfaction exudes that we have at last arrived for this special banquet and our name card is visible for all to see. Romans 15:4 confirms: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” God’s table is a symbol of family unity, community spirit and the assurance of His continued presence at its head. 1 Corinthians 10:31 reminds us: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
For those who decide, for whatever reason, to reject the invitation to dine, and only provide lame excuses for their absence, they are effectively rejecting God and all He has to offer.
Luke 14:15-24 reminds us: When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”
No one is excluded from God’s table whatever religion or belief they may be or, whatever reason they have for attending. It is a valuable experience and an opportunity to learn. The Last Supper was held around a table with Christ and His disciples in attendance. Judas Iscariot was also present at that table. Although he was a former loyal disciple of Christ, his charge in life was to betray Him. Matthew 26:17-24 reminds us: Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.
When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”
On an entirely different note, Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States once remarked: “Sometimes when I'm faced with an atheist, I am tempted to invite him to the greatest gourmet dinner that one could ever serve, and when we have finished eating that magnificent dinner, to ask him if he believes there's a cook.”
Whether we presently believe in God or not is a matter of choice. However, the opportunity to sit at the table of life still remains. Revelation 22:1-2 reminds us: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
Amen.
