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I’m Invited to the Table of the Lord: The Lord’s Table & Hospitality

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This is post #6 in a blog series entitled Come to the Table: A Blog Series About the Lord’s Table Ordinance. This blog series will be more memoir than instructional guide. I’m not a theologian. I’m a daughter of God who has learned that she is welcome at the Lord’s Table. This process of learning – and accepting – these truths is what I hope to share with all of you. This post is about how I am personally invited to the Lord’s Table.

I have this series about the Lord’s Table on my mind nearly every time I climb onto the elliptical at Planet Fitness. Aside from the elliptical being one of my few dedicated “thinking spots,” there are three songs in particular on my Christian Workout Playlist that draw me back to this topic time and time again. The first song, “The Table,” by Chris Tomlin, popped into my playlist in November of 2022. It was one of the catalysts for me finally launching the series when I did. In particular is the phrase “I’m invited to the table of the Lord.”

The timing of discovering this particular song is was a perfect example of God’s providence governing over the small things in our lives. It was the day before our fourth monthly potluck, part of our ongoing ministry of hospitality. As part of managing the guests we welcome to our home, I hand out (and sometimes even mail out) invitations. These invitations include the words, “You are cordially invited to…”

I'm Invited to the Table of the Lord: The Lord's Table & Hospitality | This understanding that I am accepted and personally invited to the Lord's Table (like I invite people to MY table) has given me such joy - such settled satisfaction - in participating in the Lord's Table ordinance.

Our ministry of hospitality (and the book that inspired said ministry) has changed the way I view my own table. Some nights my table is a source of intense conflict and pleas to stubborn children to for the love of sanity eat their vegetables. Sometimes it’s the source of spills and sticky spots from the daily consumption of Honey Nut Cheerios or Rice Krispies. Sometimes it’s cluttered.

But, if I may steal a word from Sally Clarkson, it is LIFEGIVING.

Lifegiving in that it is the source of physical sustenance for our family. But more than that, it is a place where prayers are said, conversations are had, schoolwork is (sometimes) done, art projects are completed, family games are played, and so much more. Every day it is a source of life.

Further, as we have opened our doors and our hearts and invited people in our community, we have been able to share our life with others. We have seen that the people who come to our home are not just hungry for food, but for conversation, fellowship, friendship, and – most of all – acceptance.

At our 5th potluck, our pastor was in attendance. While he and his wife have graced our table on prior occassions (such as our Moravian Lovefeast), this Christmassy brunch was one to which they were specifically invited. He remarked to me that their inclusion was fitting, as his sermon the following day would be discussing hospitality. I had already been in discussion with other staff members about giving a “Living Picture” (a short 5-minute testimony) about our potluck ministry in an upcoming service. So I forwardly asked if I could add my Living Picture to the schedule the following day. He agreed, and I was able to share our potluck experiences with our church congregation for the first time. (In the video below, it takes place at the very beginning.)

He proceeded to deliver his message, of which part was about hospitality. (The part about hospitality starts at the 25 minute mark.) This I had been expecting.

Be joyfully hospitable

Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Show hospitality without grumbling…It’s a welcoming disposition. And a welcoming disposition means that you are inclusive of other people. You’re not just living for yourself. You are inclusive of other people, particularly people who are not like you. That’s where the Biblical virtue of hospitality really shines – is when you are inclusive and welcoming of people who are not like you. . .

. . .Your home is a powerful tool to invest in others for community.

What I was not expecting was that a direct connection that would be made to the Lord’s Table. This sermon took place before I had begun posting this series (although it had been ruminating in my heart for 2 years by that point), so it’s not something our pastor was aware of. But God was.

You’ve been welcomed at the Lord’s Table. . . .When it talks about hospitality…when it talks about inviting somebody to your table…Today, in today’s world, it’s just “You’re inviting somebody to your table…okay let’s sit down and eat…have some casual conversation.” But in Peter’s day, in the ancient eastern world, when you were invited to somebody’s table, it was an incredible guesture of acceptance. You don’t just invite anybody to your table. To invite somebody to your table was tantamount to you saying to them, “I accept you.” It had that significance.

In that light, understand this again: You have been welcomed at the Lord’s Table. Let that grip you. When you understand two things: who Jesus is and who you are. You have been welcomed at the Lord’s Table. That being true, that you have been welcomed at the Lord’s Table, welcome others to yours. It is a Christian virtue, and I believe it is a virtue that needs to be resurrected and championed in the church of Jesus Christ. If we are to be a beautiful church, we will be a hospitable church.

In those moments (and ever since), I have viewed our hospitality dinners in light of the Lord’s Table; and I have viewed the Lord’s Table in light of our hospitality dinners.

I recently took some time to review the story of the Lord’s “last supper,” as it has come to be known. This is where the ordinance of the Lord’s Table was born.

In our modern churches, I fear we have – perhaps – made the Lord’s Table ordinance too sterile, too sanitized. We have our shiny silver platters and clear glasses that we timidly pass (and try not to drop or spill – at least for the klutzes among us) while the quiet music serenades us into contemplation. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But let us not forget that the Lord’s Table was – at very first – a meal around a table.

Perhaps a good place to start is with this statement by biblical scholar and author N. T. Wright: “When Jesus wanted to explain to his followers the meaning of his death, he didn’t give them a theory; he gave them a meal.”

~The Lifegiving Table

If you have been to one of our potlucks, you will know that these events are anything but quiet. This is one of the hardest aspects of it for our family. The noise…the chaos…the buzz of conversation. The max we have had indoors at one of these things is 23 people, and that was…A LOT. But even our smallest groups (whose numbers would be similar to that of Jesus and His twelve disciples) create a bit of noise and buzz.

This meal was probably loud, a bit crowded, maybe even stuffy in an “large upper room” (Mark 14:15) without air conditioning. The men reclined around the table, as was the custom of the time. They got in each other’s personal spaces, with John even leaning “on Jesus’ breast” (John 13:25). They grieved that one among them would betray Jesus. They even contentiously argued with one another about who was the greatest (Luke 22:24). This image is far from the solemn, contemplative scene reenacted in our modern churches.

Luke 22:15 recounts that Jesus said, “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.” The Greek words used for “desire” here (epithymía) are the same words often translated as “lust” and “concupiscence.” The root word means “desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust.” This wasn’t a meal that was just thrown together at the last minute. This was planned with the strongest of desire on the part of Jesus to connect with His disciples – and future disciples (us) – before His death.

After the meal, Jesus engaged in an act of the purest of humility when He washed the feet of the disciples.

I want to tread carefully here, because in no way would I presume to equate our hosting of a potluck dinner to the immense cost of Jesus becoming man to bear our sins.

That said, hosting on a monthly basis is an endeavor. Even taking cooking out of the picture, there’s a solid day of work involved (double that if kids are coming) – on the part of all four of us. We take the day off of homeschooling to work as a family to prepare our home to be ready for our guests. Some might say I’m a bit too perfectionistic about my home. I like things to be clean, to smell nice, to look lovely and orderly. (I don’t hide that we live here though, and I don’t worry too much about dusting.)

It is a labor of love. The work plus opening my most personal spaces to people – sometimes LOTS of people – isn’t the easiest thing for me. It leaves me very, very drained – physically, emotionally, socially. But it is a satisfied exhaustion, because I know that this is benefiting not just my family but also those who come. I am so incredibly conviced that this is what Jesus has called our family to do. That makes it worth it.

Our pastor referred to this as well:

“Aprille said, ‘Hospitality’s not my thing, and I don’t enjoy cooking.’ But they did it anyway. I love that resolve. I love that sense of personal discipline. I love that sense of absorbing the cost of doing what Christ called us to do.”

I confess I feel incredibly unworthy of these words of praise. I may absorb the cost, but I don’t always absorb it well. I’ve gotten frustrated with my husband he’s invited more people than what was on my color-coded spreadsheet and I’m stressing about where we are going to put everyone. I’ve gotten annoyed when he freaks out about parking – again. I have been less-than-Christlike with my family when jobs were left undone or done incorrectly. I’ve had to put myself in timeout on potluck day to keep my anger and stress levels at bay.

I’ve had to fight my selfish irritation and disappointment when people crowded into one room and stood in the kitchen rather than spreading out and enjoying a third empty room with plenty of seating – a rooms I worked hard to clean and furnish.

In spite of the lectures we have given to our boys that THE MOST IMPORTANT THING about potluck is that our GUESTS have a good time, I’ve had to spend time in bedrooms with boys melting down and treating our guests unkindly.

And while I have accepted others into my space, I have been afraid that they might not accept us. 

_____

As we prepare for potluck #9 (in which I am down one 12-year-old helper with a broken arm and a husband working overtime all week), I find myself thinking more about Jesus and the Lord’s Table as I labor. I am meditating on His gracious acceptance of his oft-confused disciples who still didn’t understand fully who he was, and His acceptance of the one who would betray Him. Further, I am meditating on His gracious acceptance of ALL who surrender to Him in faith.

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Philippians 2:6-8

When we partake of the Lord’s Table, let us look beyond the silver platters and clear cups. Let us not just remember Christ on the cross, but the Christ who sat at table with His disciples. Let us remember the Christ who knelt down and washed dirty, smelly feet.

_____

Coming back to Chris Tomlin’s song, “The Table,” I see a thread. I am not sure that this song is meant to be about the ordinance of the Lord’s Table. Rather, I think it is meant to be about the future “Marriage Supper of the Lamb,” when the Bride of Christ (the church) is presented to Christ, adorned in Christ’s righteousness, and celebrated with a feast. The thread runs from the first Passover (which foreshadowed Christ’s death), to the Last Supper (a Passover feast), and ends at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

When we partake of the Lord’s Table, we look back to the Passover. We look back to the Last Supper. “And in the Lord’s Supper, we experience a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.”

When I lead our church’s celebration of the Lord’s Supper. . .I read aloud Jesus’ final words in Matthew’s account of the Lord’s Supper: “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matt. 26:29). . .that moment brings the future banquet closest to the present. In that moment, hope is not just something I fight for or feel, but something I taste.

In the Lord’s Supper, we remember and proclaim Jesus’ death (1 Cor. 11:25–26). In the Lord’s Supper, we share together by faith the saving benefits of Christ’s sacrifice for us (1 Cor. 10:16–17). And in the Lord’s Supper, we experience a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. The Lord’s Supper is an appetizer for the feast that will commence on the day when Christ reunites heaven and earth.

~The Lord’s Supper: A Foretaste of the Heavenly Banquet by Bobby Jamieson

“The Table” Chris Tomlin:

I will feast at the table of the Lord
I will feast at the table of the Lord
I won’t hunger anymore
At His table

There is peace at the table of the Lord
There is peace at the table of the Lord
I won’t worry anymore
At His table

There is healing at the table of the Lord
There is healing at the table of the Lord
I won’t suffer anymore
At His table

Come all you weary; come and find
His yoke is easy; His burden light
He is able; He will restore
At the table of the Lord

I know He has a place for me
Oh, what joy will fill my heart
With the saints around the mercy seat of God

Come all you weary; come and find
His yoke is easy; his burden light
He is able; He will restore
At the table of the Lord

I’m invited to the table of the Lord
I’m invited to the table of the Lord
He says, “Come just as you are”
To His table

This song hits on all of it. It reiterates the phrase that our pastor spoke in his message on hospitality:

“You have been welcomed at the Lord’s Table. . .it was an incredible guesture of acceptance. . .Let that grip you.”

It also speaks to the basis for my acceptance – not because I’ve examined myself hard enough, or confessed enough sin to be worthy to partake, but rather because of Christ’s righteousness:

“I know He has a place for me
Oh, what joy will fill my heart
With the saints around the mercy seat of God”

I searched the Scriptures, and I could not find a specific reference that indicated that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb takes place around the Mercy Seat. But I love the inclusion of the phrase nonetheless, because it brings my thoughts back to one of the seven words I mentioned in a previous post, propitiation:

Under the Mosaic law, the ark of the covenant sat in the holy place behind the veil in the temple. The top of the ark was made of gold; inside the ark there were meaningful reminders of God’s covenant with his people. The lid of the ark is called the mercy seat (Exodus 37:9). In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the word for mercy seat was translated hilastērion, which is the same Greek word Paul used in Romans 3:25 for propitiation. . .God instructed that once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest go in behind the veil and sprinkle the mercy seat with blood (see Leviticus 16). God said of the mercy seat: “There I will meet with you.”

Here is how all of this is woven together. God, in his infinite love and holiness, necessarily had to deal with sin. If God did not deal with sin, he would not be good, and he would not be God. He could not just overlook sin. In his goodness, he was unwilling to leave a destructive force unchecked. There was no remedy in mankind; the only remedy was in himself. So, he gave himself – he demonstrated his grace. God came to us in the person of his Son who lived a perfect human life. Upon his death on the cross, he took the massive strike of God’s holy, necessary wrath – that is propitiation.

Let’s re-examine the imagery and reality of propitiation. In the Old Testament sacrificial system, the mercy seat and the sprinkled blood represented the forfeiture of life. When Jesus died on the cross, the forfeiture of his life was not just a physical death. He also experienced propitiatory death when he was relationally separated from his Father. As stated previously, the lid of the ark is called the mercy seat, and the Greek translation of mercy seat is the same word used in the New Testament for propitiation. Propitiation means that God poured out his wrath on what separates us from him – our sin. He removed our sin by providing satisfaction (appeasement) for the broken law. At the moment Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34), Jesus took the punishment that we deserve and absorbed the wrath of God in himself. . . .God can only meet with us based on the forfeiture of Christ’s life and the fact that the Father turned his back on the Son, taking the full measure of God’s wrath that you and I deserve.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin….” He was qualified to do this because he was perfect and without sin. Why did he do this? “…so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” When Jesus was on the cross, one of his last words was tetelestai – translated “It is finished!” The Greek word tetelestai means paid in full! When Jesus uttered that declaration, the righteous demand of God’s holiness was fully met because Jesus Christ experienced God’s necessary wrath in our place. He took it for us so that we could live.

Then God says, “There I will meet with you.”

Powell, Rich. 7 WORDS that can CHANGE YOUR LIFE: Realize the Purpose for Which You Were Designed (p. 31-33, portions). Xulon Press. Kindle Edition.

*Bolded emphasis mine*

Unlike myself (who may “absorb the cost” of hosting a monthly potluck in my home quite imperfectly), Christ absorbed the cost of my sin perfectly, completely, and for all time. It is that absorbtion of the cost that allows me to be invited, welcomed, and accepted at the Lord’s Table.

I’m invited to the table of the Lord
I’m invited to the table of the Lord
He says, “Come just as you are”
To His table

I'm Invited to the Table of the Lord: The Lord's Table & Hospitality | This understanding that I am accepted and personally invited to the Lord's Table (like I invite people to MY table) has given me such joy - such settled satisfaction - in participating in the Lord's Table ordinance.

This understanding that I am accepted and personally invited to the Lord’s Table (like I have invited people to MY table) has given me such joy – such settled satisfaction – in participating in the Lord’s Table ordinance. It’s an opportunity for me to feel the acceptance and love of my Savior, to remember how He absorbed the cost for me. Not as something that hangs over my head that I have to feel bad enough about or repay in some way. But something for me to accept with love, peace, gratitude, and satisfaction.

I would like to conclude with another song from my playlist, called “Come to the Table” by Sidewalk Prophets. Hear your invitation:

“You have been welcomed at the Lord’s Table. Let that grip you.”

We all start on the outside
The outside looking in
This is where grace begins
We were hungry we were thirsty
With nothing left to give
Oh the shape that we were in

Just when all hope seemed lost
Love opened the door for us

He said come to the table
Come join the sinners who have been redeemed
Take your place beside the Savior
Sit down and be set free
Come to the table

Come meet this motley crew of misfits
These liars and these thieves
There’s no one unwelcome here
That sin and shame that you brought with you
You can leave it at the door
And let mercy draw you near

So, come to the table
Come join the sinners who have been redeemed
Take your place beside the Savior
Sit down and be set free
Come to the table

To the thief and to the doubter
To the hero and the coward
To the prisoner and the soldier
To the young and to the older
All who hunger, all who thirst
All the last and all the first
All the paupers and the princes
All who fail you’ve been forgiven
All who dream and all who suffer
All who loved and lost another
All the chained and all the free
All who follow, all who lead
Anyone who’s been let down
All the lost you have been found
All who have been labeled right or wrong
To everyone who hears this song

Come to the table
Come join the sinners you have been redeemed
Take your place beside the Savior
Sit down and be set free
Come to the table


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