At the Table with Jesus
A Thanksgiving Table
We’re just a few days away from Thanksgiving Day.
Who’s excited?
Chances are you may gather around a table this week with family or friends and someone will ask the question, “What are you grateful for?” If you’re like me, there are many things you could say. So many things that you might just echo the words of Charlie Brown and say…
“What if today we were just grateful for everything.” – Charlie Brown
Communion is something we do every week when we gather to worship. Some people call it the Lord’s Supper. Some might even call it the Eucharist. That word is a greek word that literally means, “thanksgiving.”
There’s a sense in which when we gather at the table every week for Communion we’re gathering around a thanksgiving table where Jesus is the host and we get to be grateful for everything!
We’re grateful for Jesus, we’re grateful for the cross, we’re grateful for the church, we’re grateful for each other, we’re grateful for everything.
One Table
I remember several years ago when our family was living in Dallas there was one thanksgiving when we were not able to travel home to see our families for Thanksgiving.
That’s typically our tradition. In fact, we’ll leave this week to make the road trip over to Alabama and Mississippi to see my side of the family and Alisha’s side of the family. We’re blessed to be able to do that and we look forward to it every year.
But there was one year when we were not going to be able to make the trip. And so we had to figure out, what do we do on Thanksgiving day?
Alisha already knew. She had an idea in her mind that we probably weren’t the only ones who were going to be away from family and friends for Thanksgiving. So she started looking for people who needed a place to come for Thanksgiving.
Before long, she had several people from church she had invited, there was a neighbor across the street who lived alone and needed someone to celebrate Thanksgiving with, and what could have been a long and depressing day for our family turned into a special day gathering with different people, some we barely even knew, to share a meal and give thanks.
Different people, different situations, around one table, giving thanks.
It’s always nice when we can gather around one table and share a thanksgiving meal. But I can already tell you what’s going to happen later this week when we go home for thanksgiving. And something similar may happen with your family as well.
The Thanksgiving table is going to be all set, you may even circle up and pray together before you make your plates, and then… it happens.
Someone has probably already done the math and realized there was going to be a problem. And you know what the problem is, there are too many people to gather around the same table. So we do what we always do, we set up more than one table.
One Table Divided
There’s the adult table and then there’s the kid’s table. And inevitably someone is going to get stuck at the kid’s table that doesn’t want to be at the kid’s table! Personally, I like the kid’s table. They don’t talk about politics at the kid’s table. So it’s generally more fun!
But this is what happens when we think we can’t fit everyone around the same table, we look for ways to separate. Instead of everyone being around one table, our family becomes divided.
And listen, if you set up a kid’s table at Thanksgiving, it’s all good. We’re probably going to do that this week, too.
But what I want you to think about today is how we, as God’s family, have allowed things to come between us and separate us so that we no longer gather at the table with people who are different than us.
But what we see Jesus doing when He came from Heaven to earth… what we see Jesus doing is welcoming all kinds of different people together to sit at the table with Him.
And I wonder, what if we were able to see Jesus do that again today?
What if we could be grateful for every thing AND every ONE?
Jesus and the Table
When you read the story of Jesus according to Luke, this is exactly what we see happening. In fact, many scholars call it the table ministry of Jesus.
Ten different times you see Jesus eating with different people, gathering with people around a table. And no matter where He is, who’s house He’s at, when Jesus is at the table Jesus is the host! It becomes His table. And I want you to see in Luke’s gospel who is at the table with Jesus.
We’re going to do a quick drive by of different scenes in Luke where we see Jesus at a table or eating a meal with different kinds of people. And then we’ll land on one and lean in to see what we can learn from Jesus today.
Let’s start in Luke 5.27-32.
27 Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. 28 So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.
29 Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them. 30 But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?”
31 Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. 32 I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”
Right off the bat in Luke’s gospel you see where the lines are drawn. You see who gets to sit at the adult table and who’s at the kid’s table.
Jesus calls a tax collector named Levi, you may know him better as Matthew, to be his disciple. He then goes to his house for a banquet, to sit at a table and eat with him and his other tax collecting friends. These guys were the worst of sinners. The Pharisees called them the scum of the earth.
But Jesus is eating with them at a table. Why? Because, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do…”
At the table Jesus calls sinners to repentance.
You might think Jesus is just going to hang out with sinners the whole time, but then you turn the page to Luke 7.36-50. Check this out….
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
The story continues but the scene is set. This time, Jesus is in the home of a Pharisee named Simon sitting at his table enjoying a meal with him. It’s as if Luke has flipped the script. Two chapters earlier, he’s in the home of a chief tax collector. Two chapters later, he’s in the home of a renowned Pharisee.
But then, the unexpected happens. An immoral woman enters the room washing his feet with her tears and wiping them clean with her hair, then anointing His feet with expensive perfume. Jesus forgives her sin and teaches Simon the Pharisee an important lesson about the love of God, forgiveness, and repentance.
At the table we find forgiveness and reconciliation.
Then we turn the page again and find Jesus in Luke 9.12-17 doing something that’s never been done before.
Jesus has been teaching the masses and healing the sick. It’s getting to be supper time. And then this happens…
12 Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.”
13 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”
“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” 14 For there were about 5,000 men there.
You probably know the rest of the story. Jesus feeds the masses with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. Luke tells us there were 5000 men present, that doesn’t count women and children. We don’t know exactly who was there, but suffice it to say there were old people, young people, children, men, and women. We know there were sick people, many of whom Jesus healed.
In Luke 5 Jesus had a clear purpose at the table to call sinners to repentance.
In Luke 7 He used the table as a place of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Here, in Luke 9…
Jesus uses a metaphorical table out on the countryside to be a place of mission and service.
But He’s not done yet.
When we get to Luke 10.38-42, something else is happening at the table. Here’s the story…
38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Now this is where the plot thickens if you’re living in the first century, especially if you’re a Jew reading this story in Luke’s gospel. Because, to sit at the feet of a Rabbi meant you were a disciple. That’s something that was reserved for men. But Luke says something astonishing. He writes,
“Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught.”
Luke pictures Mary as a disciple sitting at the feet of Rabbi Jesus. Martha is preparing dinner. And Jesus says that Mary has chosen what is most important at this moment. Discipleship.
Jesus came to make disciples. His primary concern is your heart. His invitation TO ALL is to sit at His feet and become His disciple.
At the table we are called to be His disciples.
Then we turn the page again and get to Luke 11.37-54 and find another table.
37 As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. 38 His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. 39 Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.
This time, Jesus is once again eating at a table with Pharisees. Pharisees were hyper focused on appearances. On external things. They dressed a certain way. They preformed certain rituals at certain times so people could see how religious they were. But Jesus wants them to know He sees right through these external facades and He calls them to examine their inner lives.
At the table we are called to examine our inner lives.
You would think the Pharisees would stop inviting Jesus over for dinner to eat at their table, but when you turn the page to Luke 14.1-24, Jesus is at it again.
1 One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and the people were watching him closely. 2 There was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?” 4 When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away.
Jesus again finds himself at the home of a Pharisee surrounded by other Pharisees, and they are all trying to sit in the seats of honor right next to Jesus. So you can imagine how uncomfortable the room became when a man walked up to Jesus with arms and legs that were swollen.
But Jesus does the unthinkable, he welcomes him and heals him. And then Jesus says this to the Pharisee who was hosting the dinner…
12 Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. 13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”
In other words…
The invitation to God’s table is open to ALL!
And then Jesus presses this point at the next story about the next table. You probably know this story by heart found in Luke 19.1-10.
1 Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
Jesus went to his house, ate at his table, and the people complained yet again. But Jesus responded to their complaint with these words:
9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
The invitation for salvation is open to all who are lost!
That’s why Jesus came. To seek and save the lost!
And that’s the last story before we get to this story. You probably know this story by heart as well. You’ve probably seen this picture by Divinci. I’ve shared it before, you’ve seen it before.
Jesus at the table with His disciples. Here’s what happens in Luke 22.7-38…
7 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”
14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
17 Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”
19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.
21 “But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray me. 22 For it has been determined that the Son of Man must die.
First, I want you to remember who is sitting at this table.
These guys could not be any different. You’ve got fishermen. You’ve got a tax collector. You’ve got a political revolutionary. There’s the beloved disciple along with two others who were a part of Jesus’ inner circle. There’s several guys that we don’t know what they did before they met Jesus. And then you’ve got Judas Iscariot who we know is going to betray Jesus.
Quick Question…
Who would YOU be at this table?
Where would YOU be sitting?
Right next to Jesus? At the end? Or do you think you would find yourself on the outside, looking in, just wishing you would be at the table with Jesus?
I’ve got good news for you. Guess what, they are all welcome at the table with Jesus where Jesus is the host. And YOU are, too!
And do you notice what Jesus does at this table before he drinks the cup and breaks the bread? He gives thanks!
This Passover Table, which in this moment is being transformed into the Lord’s Table, the Lord’s Supper, is literally a Thanksgiving Table.
A Seat at the Table
A few weeks ago Alisha and I were at a wedding and after the wedding, there was a dinner.
You know how this works. The room is set up with tables and chairs and as a guest at the wedding, you have to find the name card with your name on it to know which table to sit at and which seat is yours. You know you’re probably not seated at the table with the bride and groom. But you’re hoping you’re sitting with people you know and like.
Here’s the Good News for YOU for today, you’ve been invited to sit at the table with Jesus. There’s a seat at his table with your name on it!
But that’s not just Good News for you, it’s Good News for those around you, too. For those who are like you and for those who are different from you.
All are invited and welcome to sit with Jesus at His table. It’s an invitation to salvation for ALL. There is no kids table. There’s only one table. And Jesus is the host.
There’s room for the DOUBTERS, the DENIERS, and the BETRAYERS. There’s room for those who are AFRAID, and UNCERTAIN, and those who don’t know what to do. AND there’s ROOM for YOU TOO at the TABLE with JESUS!
And when you sit at this table, His table, His table is a place where we are grateful.
For every thing. And every one.
Jesus transforms every table into a thanksgiving table.
A table where we can fellowship with each other and enjoy our fellowship with Him. And… give thanks.
This week, whatever table you find yourself sitting at, whoever you find yourself at the table with, I pray that you see Jesus at the table, too. Maybe leave one chair open just as a reminder that Jesus is present, He is with you, and this table is His table. And… Give Thanks!
At the Table with Jesus
By the way, Luke wasn’t done telling table stories about Jesus.
If you keep reading, there are two more stories where Jesus eats with people.
He shared a meal with two disciples in a place called Emmaus. (Luke 24.13-35). In fact, it was when Jesus broke the bread and gave it to them that their eyes were opened and they saw Jesus.
And then, before His ascension, He shares supper with His disciples and calls them to be His witnesses. (Luke 24.36-53). In other words, go sit around tables just like we’ve been sitting around tables over the past three years, and tell people about me. Tell them what you’ve seen and heard. And give thanks.
And that’s what I want us to do this week. Whatever table you find yourself sitting at, turn it into the Lord’s table, a Communion table of sorts, a Thanksgiving table. Remember that Jesus is there. He is the host. Everyone is welcome at His table. And that’s something to be thankful for.
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