The Table

THE TABLE

March 27, 2022, 11:15AM

ED YOUNG

How many of you have ever been to the flea market at Canton, Texas before? Let me see the hands. All right. Yeah, I've been there a couple of times. One time I went with my lovely wife, Lisa, and it was pretty unique watching mostly women moving at NASCAR type pace, pushing these carts shopping for all the jibbledy junk that Canton, Texas flea market has to offer. After doing this for a couple of hours, we got hungry and we found a food court, which basically was a bunch of picnic tables strategically located in the shade. We found a little chicken restaurant, chicken sandwiches, and we ordered some chicken sandwiches, and we were munching on the chicken sandwiches in the shade while hunks of humanity filed by. People watching was unbelievable. While we were eating the chicken sandwiches, something unique happened. A woman who worked at the chicken restaurant began to walk up to our table. She had a tray with samples of the sandwiches. We were already eating, and she began to serve us samples of the food we were eating.

We were like, "No, thank you. We're, we're eating the chicken sandwiches from your restaurant." So, she went to another table and another table. Lisa goes, "Honey, all the girl has to do is walk 20 feet out of the shade, into the heat. I mean, yeah, it's hot. It's triple degree heat, but she just needs to leave the shade to get out in the sun and she can pass out samples to all the people who obviously haven't eaten a thing yet." "Yeah, you're right," I said. And then Lisa goes, "A lot of Christians are that way. Aren't they?" I go, "Yeah. I think a lot of churches are that way. We're feeding the already fed in the shade, moving around with the picnic people as opposed to get out into the elements, the hellements, the sunlight, and passing out samples of the Savior, the bread of life, to hungry hunks of humanity who were filing by." As we talk more and more about it, I was like, "The church is the table where people come to get fed."

The table, it's mentioned 72 times in the Bible. The table, the Old Testament, you had the table of shewbread, which was in the temple. There was bread on it, representing God fulfilling our spiritual hunger. Then you have in Psalm 23:5 David saying, "God will set a table for me in the presence of my enemies." Then you go to the New Testament. I'm sure Jesus, as a carpenter-built tables, and then you have the disciples reclining at the table. And then, Jimmy and I talked about this in our last message series "When The Levee Breaks". We will have a forever feast in heaven at the table with the Lord Jesus himself. So, the church is a table where people come to get fed.

Here's another statement. The nourishment from the food gives us the ability to push away from the table and to do what God has called us to do. So, the church is a table where people come to get fed. The food nourishes us and gives us the calories to do what God wants us to do.

And then another statement, the third statement about the table is, the table has chairs around it. A functioning church should have movement in the chairs because the church should be a place where we're comfortably uncomfortable. We're comforted by Christ, but we're uncomfortable for him. Comfortably uncomfortable.

Jesus said a radical statement. He said many, but this is something that is just so powerful. He said about carbohydrates in John 6:35. "I am the bread of life." We hate carbs in today's culture. Don't we? Oh, I'm stay away from carbs. If I just walk by carbs, which just, I don't even have to eat them. You know? Well, Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." And he said, "If you eat the bread, then you're going to live forever." It satisfies us eternally. I can believe that's bread all day long. Oh, I believe it's bread. I believe these are carbs. I believe it. I believe it. I believe it. Factually, yeah, but I've not really done anything with the bread until I eat the bread and digest it. That's what it means. When you see the word believe in the New Testament. Believe in Jesus. It's not just like intellectually going, "Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I believe that. I believe this is a table and chairs and that's bread." No, it's more than that. It is a total commitment. It's taking Jesus inside of your life.

The church is a table where people come to get fed the calories, give us the ability to push away and serve others. And the table has chairs around it. In this first chair, you've got the lead communicator, the dude with the food, the pastor, and I'm serving the bread of life, again John 6:35, hopefully and prayerfully in a creative and compelling way. The bread of life does not deserve a half baked presentation. Does it? I mean the bread of life, half baked presentation, you got to be kidding me. We should put forth our best energy and our best effort to serve the food in an innovative way.