The Table

The holidays are winding down and a new year is dawning. In full transparency I’m going to be open with you about a consistent issue I have in my home. If there is a flat surface available it quickly gets covered up. That being said, my dining table is often inaccessible for the use of eating meals. However, with Thanksgiving and Christmas, my family and I have had to be conscientious about our effort to establish our dining table for its designed purpose, and I really do love when we come around the table together. It fills my heart to see everyone’s faces as they share in conversation, food, and laughter.

There is an intentionality in setting a table for use. Whether it’s a dining table, a conference table, or a ping pong table, it is meant for interacting with those who have gathered there. It’s a piece of furniture that plays a small, but vital, role for providing opportunities. There are many stories in scripture where a table establishes the scene and the connections of people. We even see in Psalm 23, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” (verse 11 CSB) As I presented before, preparing a table for an event has intentionality to the task. This is magnified when there are place settings with name cards, because you have thought about that person specifically and how they will interact with the whole party. What if we reimagined Psalm 23 to say Lord, your table has a place setting for me where my name card marks that You have prearranged where I will sit with You, and it’s for all to see. Jesus illustrates this in Luke 12:37, “Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them.”(CSB) Our being alert to God’s will puts us at the table of the family of God. Who do you prepare a place for around your table? Whether it’s the table you gather around for the holidays, or a table at the coffee shop where you are connecting. Give those interactions to God and He will be with you.

Those we sit with in community around the table can build ties as close as family, maybe stronger. We had a Friendsgiving in November and I referenced the scene described in Mark 3. “His[Jesus] mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him and told him, ‘Look, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside asking for you.’ He replied to them, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ Looking at those sitting in a circle around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers!'”(verses 31-34 CSB) Now, it doesn’t say this circle they were sitting in was around a table, but I’d like to set one in the middle of them for my head cannon. It shows that Jesus viewed those believers around him, his church body if you will, were the same as his earthly family.

In 2 Samuel Chapter 9 we see that David was missing his dearest friend Jonathan. In verse 1 he asks, “Is there anyone remaining from the family of Saul I can show kindness to for Jonathan’s sake?”(CSB) The people of the court track down a servant of the previous king[Saul] and David learns from this man, “There is still Jonathan’s son who was injured in both feet.”(verse 3 CSB) I can just imagine David’s joy at learning this information. Not only was it one of Saul’s descendants as he had intended to find, but it was Jonathan’s own son! Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth had lived a life in secret, fearing that he would be put to death for being Saul’s heir and a potential rival to David’s throne. Furthermore, after being injured as a child in the mad escape from Jerusalem, living as an invalid during this time in history would have made him a lesser citizen. When he is brought before David, Mephibosheth no doubt felt fear for his life and shame at his infirmity. You could imagine someone in his position could have thought at least this life of misery will be over. “‘Don’t be afraid,’ David said to him, ‘since I intend to show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all your grandfather Saul’s fields, and you will always eat meals at my table.'”(verse 7) Later in verse 11 it establishes, “So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table just like one of the king’s sons.” He became grafted in to the family of King David just as we get grafted in to the family of God. It said he was like a son, but his gratitude for David likely ran deeper than his own children because of the life he had before. David was intentional with Mephibosheth when others would not have given him a second thought, and it changed his life. You and I do not have the resources of kings, but our actions can have great impacts in people’s lives. Maybe someone who doesn’t feel they are worthy can be uplifted by an invitation to your table, or to coffee, or a church event.

When you plan to show intentionality towards others it’s not easy to know if they are people who will find their name cards at the Lord’s table. Will your table be the closest they’ll find themselves to that community? To be in relationship with people around your table is not always easy. Sometimes there are people who no matter what work you put into the preparation, or what you serve to them, they rarely offer you a word of appreciation. Do they enrich your party or are they a Judas whose own intentions are not for your benefit? The only control you have over these situations is what you “bring to the table,” and your Father in Heaven sees that. Maybe someone sits at your table now that, like Judas, is waiting for an opportunity to profit from your downfall. Do such people need to have a place at your table, or are they a pawn for the dark forces and occupying a spot the Lord wants you to make available for someone else? You may have heard of Louie Giglio’s book “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat At Your Table,” it speaks of the battle in your own mind, but it is just as true for the evil that takes root in others that have influence in your life. Maybe there is some rearranging of place settings that needs to be done at the table of people in your sphere.

I want to be sensitive, as I know this time of year can be hard for those who are grieving an empty seat at their table. I myself just lost my father on December 4th and my Christmas joy has been tempered with sorrow. A ray of hope shines for the potential of growth through this difficult time, and the comfort of the Lord is there when I need to lean into it. Like John leaning against Jesus as they reclined around the table, he is near to those he loves. I pray this new year holds wondrous things to unfold and that you are blessed.