8/2/2026 - “Greater Things at the Table” - Rev. Anthony Spearhart

So this summer we've been talking about different plays that we use as the family and the kingdom of God.

And today we come, though we've talked about it at this very same time last month, we come to the table.

We talked about last month widening the table and why we do that.

So today we come to why we do what we do at the table.

And the many ways that we arrive at the table, the many ways that the table builds us and lifts us, brings us together as the family of God.

So some of you know that my first career, I was a chef.

And there's something special being a chef, and those who even just cook at home, I'm sure, understand this of the labor that goes into preparing a meal.

The heart that goes into preparing a meal.

And then the joy that comes when that meal is finally served, garnished with steam, garnished with love.

So I'm not sure some of you also know that I'm also a gardener.

And what joy comes with that as well.

Now, uh many have asked, do I garden flowers?

Do I garden vegetables?

The answer is yes.

All of the above.

I take special care with my vegetable garden, with my herb garden, because there's going to be something special that happens with the fruit of that garden afterwards.

It's going to be prepared with love.

It's going to go on a plate to bless those that are gathering around the table.

So those who also garden and grow understand again that joy and that satisfaction of the labor that's been done and the fruit that we see from it afterwards.

So I'm sure we all have very similar memories like this of being little kids and being out at play and just giving all your energy into that play.

And then getting that call to come back in the house.

And inside the house, around the table, is a beautiful meal that's been prepared, whether it's a six-course meal or whether it's a pizza.

And that joy and satisfaction that comes with that nourishment after having released so much energy in play.

So one of those things that I always look forward to coming to after that play that I would always hope that would be on the table would be my grandmother's macaroni and cheese.

It was something she created herself.

This wasn't just box macaroni and cheese kind of recipe.

This was a recipe where she created the sauce herself.

And it was always baked with love.

It was never a recipe that was written down.

It was one that had to be learned.

And it was one that I took that time to sit down and learn.

And I will say, once I was finally, you know, felt like I was finally chef, I did finally write the recipe down.

After multiple painstaking efforts of sitting and watching her prepare this macaroni and cheese.

But that meal can bring remembrance.

It can bring nostalgia, it can bring wonderful memories of what had happened around that plate of macaroni and cheese in times past.

So our scriptures today, we see the progression of coming around the table throughout time.

We see in our first reading, we see a promise of a beautiful meal, a full, elaborate meal where all are welcomed in a time where people had seen such exile that this was just almost too good to be true.

It was a promise that that meal would come.

Our second scripture we see today is a meal after heavy hearts.

They had seen Christ crucified, and they had gone back to their previous work with their hearts heavy.

They had spent an evening, an entire night unsuccessful in that work of fishing, not fishing for men, but fishing for fish.

And we see such joy that happens when they see a fire on the shore.

Now, you know, we don't we don't hear the details of in those split seconds of what happened.

But all of a sudden there were fish that were caught.

So heavy that it very well could have broken the nets.

But it said that it didn't break the nets.

And I love that they mentioned that because it tells us what could have happened, how many fish there were in those nets.

So as we can see from these multiple different stories, that the table has many uses, has many places.

The table has many things that happen when we come around it.

The table is welcome.

Where all can be welcome, where we can widen the table, where we can put that extra leaf in to put more chairs around the table.

The table can be respite, where we've released all or what feels like all of our energy, that we can gather once again around the table, to bring sustenance, to be filled physically, spiritually, mentally, where we find nourishment, where we can be filled once again with the Spirit to regain the energy to go back out and continue that work.

The table can be remembrance.

Every time we gather around the table, we talk about what we remember as we gather around it.

It can be community, a place where those who know each other or those who don't know each other can come together and begin to know each other.

And it can also be protest.

As we widen our table, as we say, yes, absolutely you are welcome, absolutely you are loved here, absolutely you can find nourishment, community, sustenance, respite here.

When the world out there is saying, no, that that may not be the case, we can come and protest here, saying, Yes, you are absolutely welcome here.

And let us show the world by us gathering around this table that the God that we stand for loves, welcomes, values all.

So I had had a completely other sermon prepared for today.

Until life happens, until just being happens.

So I changed what I had planned on doing today.

And why we talked about the many reasons why we come to this table.

So today I want to do just one other thing.

I'd like us to pray together in a way that is not words, but is just motion.

There are many ways of prayer, there are many ways of worship, there are many ways of coming together as God's people.

And this is just one other way.

So we'll do that, and then we'll come to the table.

Now, as I said earlier, when we come around the table, there's always words that are spoken about what we remember.

And we remember what Christ did before he was given up.

He gathered his beloved around that table, shared the bread, shared the cup, and said, Here's what I'm doing.

Do every time you eat, do this in remembrance of me.

But I'm not going to use those words today as we come to the table because there are many uses for the table.

And that's what I want to celebrate as we gather around the table today.

So whether it's welcome, whether it's respite, whether it's sustenance, whether it's nourishment, whether it's remembrance, whether it's community or whether it's protests, let you come to the table today for whatever reasons you need to come to the table for.

And we do that and hold that together, knowing that the reason I come may be the different reason than you come.

And that is okay, and that is why we gather as God's family together around this table.

So may you find what you need today around the table.

May you find what you need today in this community.

May you find what you need in the power and the presence of God.

So we're going to do what's called a body prayer.

And you can do this, you're welcome to stand, you're welcome to stay seated, whatever is most comfortable for you to remain in that power and presence of God.

So there are four portions of this body prayer.

The first one is a wait.

And that your hands are just down at your side, on your knees, just being relaxed, awaiting what is to come.

The next one is allow.

And this one is a full reach up.

Allowing the power and presence to God to welcome us here at the table together in whatever reasons that we come.

The next one is accept.

That we might accept the power and presence of God together as we gather at the table.

And the last one is attend.

Open harm, open arms, open welcome.

As we attend here at the table, but not just here at the table, as we attend, as we go out into our days, into our lives amongst all those that we come in contact from with day to day.

So let's go through that again.

Await.

On that power and presence of the still speaking God that welcomes us with a free lap, open arms, ears to listen.

A smile to celebrate in our joy and a hug to celebrate in the difficult times.

Allow.

May together we allow not our will, not our plans, but allow the love of the still speaking God to come into our presence, to work in our lives, to bless the work that we do.

Accept.

May this heart accept the grace, the love, the welcome, the forgiveness, the peace, the comfort that our loving, still speaking God has to offer.

And attend.

May we take this time now to attend to our hearts, our minds, our spirits at this table.

And let that nourishment fill us so that we may attend to being the light of the kingdom of God in our world.

One more time through, just silently.

Oh, wait.

And amen.

So beloved, now that we have come, for whatever reason we have come, go and live for whatever reason you leave with.

Go with peace, go with power, go with love, go with grace until we come together.