“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”
Who you are allowed to eat with says a lot about you; who you are; what kind of people you hang out with; and who cares about you. The table you are allowed to eat at says a lot.
I had a lot of experience with this in school. My parents moved a lot, and I had to find a new place to sit each time I wandered into a new school cafeteria.
Who am I allowed to sit with I wonder? The well dressed give me a cold glare. I continue with my tray. The football guys thrash around dangerously, paying no attention. I continue with my tray, and look around desperately trying to find a seat. A group of girls, apparently friends because they all wear those matching fake gold friendship necklaces, giggle at me as I keep turning around, scanning for a place to sit. I am not sure that I find the humor in it. I don’t care if I eat with anyone…as long as I can find a place to sit. Maybe, I will forgo eating today. Maybe, I will just throw the food away and leave. “God, please prepare a table for me.”
When caught in such a situation, we pray simply for a lonely table to be prepared for us off in a corner somewhere, where we can just gulp down our food and go. Of course, a table with people who would take an interest in us and care would be glorious, but you do get to a point where simply any table would do. It is often hard to find a place to sit.
Can the newly divorced find a place to sit at the family table, or are they now excluded?
Can the newly widowed find a person to eat with at all, or are they simply forgotten and alone?
Can the loud mouthed destroyer of the community find a place to sit after all have turned against him or her?
Can the town drunk find a place to sit after it is known that he destroyed his family?
Can the person riddled by a hidden guilt and pain find a place to sit where they do not have to pretend to be “doing great.”
Where do these people find a place to sit?
Most often, we find ourselves sitting at the tables of those we know and like. Of course this sort of selective table company never happens within the church. "Nope, never," sarcasm dripping from these words. Careful of the puddle.
Unfortunately, it is so much a part of human nature that it happens everywhere. Because of that, it still shocks us that Jesus ate each day with those who would betray him and abandon him in the end. We would tell our children to forget those backstabbing idiots and move on to someone better, but Jesus did not move on. He prepared a table for them.
If that is true, and it is, then he even prepares a table for you…no matter what sort of darkness your past holds.
Never forget, along with those who would betray and abandon him, Jesus ate meals with the drunks of the town, with the prostitutes, with the losers, with the socially challenged, with the loud children who were supposed to be at the kids table, with those who would rob others, with the irritatingly judgmental, and with the obviously hungry and physically deformed (those people who are easily overlooked because their mere existence is too uncomfortable). Jesus chose to eat with them all.
I have to admit, though I would provide a table for many of these people, I would still protect the sanctity of my table from at least some in this list of losers. How do you fare?
But, Jesus prepared a table for them. In the presence of their enemies, in the presence of those who would judge and condemn them, Jesus prepared a table for them. Heck, Jesus went to the cross for them.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”
“You can come sit with us,” says an enormous guy dressed in a football jersey.
“No, he can sit with us, you guys just sit back down, we got this one…he’s ours,” says an equally huge guy dressed in the same jersey.
This is the response newcomers to the cafeteria will find when they stumble across one amazing high school football team who has been taught to live by the words, “you prepare a table before me.”
This team has been challenged by the Christian coaches to play better off the field than on the field. The team has been challenged to live the words of God. The team has learned to share the truth of God through one simple statement, “you can come eat with us.” In other words, “there is a table prepared for you.”
Of course, there is a catch, the team is given an incentive to do so, because if anyone is ever seen eating alone in the cafeteria by the coaches (who just happen to be the cafeteria monitors), the football players who are sitting at the nearest table will not be allowed to play in the next game. It does not matter if you are the star quarterback, you will not play…no exceptions.
So, it is not all together altruistic. Despite that, imagine being the one with the tray who prays to God that someone…anyone might prepare a table for you. Imagine only having to have that feeling for a split second before you realize that you are not alone; that you are not excluded. There is something about sharing a table that is so very powerful and holy.
As the Psalm indicates, the Lord leads us through dark places and brings us life by sitting at a table.
Have you ever considered that you have one of the most holy places on the planet right in your own home?
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher (the spot where Jesus died and was buried) does not even come close to the holy place that you have in your home. That church is a dead relic of history.
Your dinner table is living space where Jesus does wonders.
Do not have a dinner table? Heck, even a table at McDonald’s is holy, as long as it is shared with someone else who could use a place prepared for them. I bet you did not know that even a 1980s aluminum, trailer house dinner table could be holy. But, it is.
Christ’s table is your table. And, your table is Christ’s table. There is no easier way to allow someone to meet the grace of God than to invite them to your holy table. Every meal is an opportunity to have a holy conversation. Want to be a part of God’s kingdom? All you have to say is: “You can come eat with us.”
