The Church - Part 3 "The Table"

We're in this uh short season uh series called Being the Church.

And what my hope is is each year to just have us focus on what is Jesus' what is his intent on the church and and who are we to be together uh as we follow Jesus.

So a couple weeks ago we talked about that the church gathers around Jesus, King Jesus, with him at the center.

And then last week we talked about the reputation of the church of being very generous, revealing the generous heart of God.

And so today I want to focus on one of my favorite topics uh the church that gathers around the table.

Um I sat around uh a couple of tables this week.

Uh I sat uh with Jake and I had uh wings and got our fingers all messy with wings, uh chicken wing sauce.

Uh I had uh um Linda Maylor made tomato soup because she still has tomatoes, um, and uh had that earlier this week.

Um had hot dogs and watermelon with many of you uh at uh our picnic on Wednesday night.

Um I had a date night with Dawn, um Salvadorian food, uh which is some of our favorite.

What's a uh what is a meal that you could think of that was has been really significant in your life?

Uh maybe as you s as you had this memory, who is sitting at the table with you?

Like who are the other people there?

And maybe it's something that's recent like this last week, or maybe it's something that's happened years ago, and it just has stuck in your memory over time.

I uh we we had a meal uh recently with a young family, and we're sitting around the table, and at one point the the little one climbs out of out of her uh um out of her high chair and makes her way around the table and then stands by me, and it's almost like this invitation to pick her up and hold her.

So she let me do that, and we continued the meal with her uh sitting with me.

And then there were conversations around Legos and around Star Wars and around chickens and good books, and this was like all the best conversation uh with the other little kids that are at the table.

Um and and then we get to dessert, which is my favorite.

I think we should always have dessert first.

Um uh we had dessert and um the parents and us, we were talking, had a conversation around really good art and around hunting.

Um then it kind of moved into uh suffering and struggle and conversation around wondering what God is inviting them into in this season.

So Don and I were leaving, and I thought, uh, oh, we are leaving knowing this family more than when we got there.

And our hope is that they know us more than when we arrived.

Um the table is a beautiful place.

Uh one of uh in her novel The Goldfinch, Donna Tart asked this great question Isn't the whole point of things, like beautiful things, that they connect you to some larger beauty?

If we slow down a bit, I think we could notice that the table is a beautiful thing.

It's a place where we experience intimacy, it's a place where we can embrace commonality, it's a place where we can have some memory, we can reflect on memory, whether it's a child reflecting on their day or telling a story that they're all reading in the classroom, right, Anthony's like that kind of memory, or a memory that goes back a few years and just recalling some family memories or good friend memories.

A meal at the table can also point us to a larger beauty.

So, Rebecca, well done on all those big words.

I gave her a warning, like, oh my goodness, these are huge words.

Uh King Saul, uh, he became king and he was loved at the beginning.

And then he had this, like he began to have this unstable kind of way of ruling, and and you didn't know who you were gonna get.

And and he got onto this power trip, and he was uns uh uh he was threatened, like most uh of those who are in leadership and have this great power, can feel threatened by other people.

And he felt threatened by a young man named David.

And so he many times tried to kill David because he felt so threatened by him.

And David felt such in danger, so he goes out into a wilderness and is in exile, and Saul is chasing him all over the wilderness.

It kind of gives a deeper meaning when we read one of David's poems, uh, Psalm 23, when he says something like, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

Saul considered David his enemy.

Saul ends up dying.

David is then placed on the throne.

And what happens in stories like this, where there are dynasties, what happens is uh other family members of the previous king uh would either flee because they were going to be killed, or they're killed because they could be a threat to the new king.

And so Saul's only uh one of his only uh descendants is a grandson, and he's five years old.

And the nanny realizes the threat, and so the nanny grabs this five-year-old and flees the city, and in her fleeing, she drops him, and it ends up messing up his legs for the rest of his life.

The Bible calls him being lame in his feet for the rest of his life, and they go into hiding.

And I'm I can imagine that it would have been a life of poverty at that point, and a life of fear, like, will the king ever come after him?

And then we get to the part of the story where Rebecca read.

King David asks, are there any other descendants?

And they discover there is one named Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson.

And instead of killing him, David says, Let's invite him to our house, let's give him a place to live.

And then he says this in verse 7 he says it to Mephibosheth, you will always eat at my table.

And the grandson could have, this grandson could have been expecting death in the presence of a king, and instead he's given a new life and a and a seat at the table.

This beautiful table that King David sets for this man points to a much larger beauty.

It points to a gracious, redemptive, forgiving God who welcomes us to the table.

Jesus eventually shows that, but we'll talk about that table in a moment.

All throughout, if you're paying attention to the biblical story, there's this narrative, and over and over this table shows up uh in each of the stories.

So there are times where people are eating with angels at a table, there are times where they're eating with friends, they're eating with family members, they're eating with uh enemies even.

And this story, this table represents grace and provision, it represents reconciliation and commonality.

A place that can remind us of God's heart.

I mean, right at right at the right off the stop, uh right at the at the start, uh in the garden.

What does God do after he forms this first man and first woman?

He invites them to eat.

Like right from the beginning.

You're free to eat from any tree in the garden.

Now he also puts on there, except for one, and like most of us children, we turn to the one we're not allowed to.

Uh, but he says, look at this buffet.

I would I grew up in Vegas.

Vegas is the land of buffets, and uh, and uh, and um, I know uh Danny, you just had a huge buffet of uh blue crab, which is incredible.

Um I don't know if blue crab would have been in the garden at that time.

Uh but but here they are, like they have this buffet before him.

God invites them to this table, he's super welcoming.

And we see this all throughout the Bible story, throughout the ancient Hebrew texts.

Queen Esther bravely prepares a meal to save the nation of Israel from genocide.

There's a feast in the Exodus story, right before they all get away from the Egyptians and in slavery, they have a Passover meal, and today, several thousand years later, they are still celebrating the Passover meal of what God has done and hoping for what God will do.

The prophets speak of a great feast, like in Isaiah 25.

Uh if you see words in yellow, would you read them?

On this mountain, the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine, the best of meats and the finest of wines.

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations.

He will swallow up death forever.

The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces.

He will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth.

Doesn't this sound like a table of grace and restoration?

Jesus lived out this feast kind of life.

Tim Chester in his book, A Meal with Jesus, said.

As Jesus announced the feast of the kingdom, he also brought it into reality through his own feasting.

Jesus did not go around merely just talking about eating and drinking, he went around eating and drinking a lot.

And there was one particular meal that he had with his disciples, and this meal was one that they were all supposed to continue to remember.

That every time a piece of bread was broken, they would think back on that meal.

It's amazing how a meal can spark a memory.

I mean, how uh uh you taste a certain thing and it takes you back.

Have you ever had that?

So uh Disney is a they they are great, there are great storytellers in Disney.

And of course, they tell a story of a rat who can cook.

And they put the rat in the kitchen, and that makes you kind of feel like this tension there.

Uh and this rat, this rat goes back, and of course, he makes ratatouille in a French restaurant because that's a great pun.

Uh, and and he makes this like home-cooked meal, and he does it on the night that the food critic was gonna come and judge this fine restaurant.

And the food critic comes in and he's very scary and ominous looking, and he sits down and he he has he's waiting for the meal, and right before him comes this humble meal ratatouille.

And he kind of has this like, what?

And so did others in the room.

And then he takes the bite, and we go to this montage memory of him falling off of his bike, skinning his knee, and his mom is the first to respond and bring him in and set him at the table and makes this great meal in his reitude.

All right.

What's a great meal that you remember?

So uh I finally went to Bonobos, the uh the bakery out in Waynesboro.

Oh, I see some.

Yes, you know it.

Yes.

So Don's been talking about it like for a good year, maybe.

Uh, and uh I'm like, oh, I need to try it.

And so I finally go um and I grab uh cinnabons uh um right before all right, grab them, pick them up, take them home, and I take a bite, and I remember, I I remember my mom used to roll out cinnamon rolls, like would roll them out, and then she would cut off the ends, and I would always get the small ends to just eat like the raw dough with the cinnamon.

It was the best thing, and that's what I remembered.

Uh having I encourage you, uh, they are actually healthy.

Um, so uh go get them, bonobos.

Uh am I saying that right?

Bonobos, okay.

Tell me, what's a meal that you remember?

You could just say the the food, you don't have to tell the whole story around it.

You could if you want.

Chicken Kiev.

Who said that?

Bonnie?

Uh, chicken kib.

Ooh, yeah.

Anyone else?

Oh, a couple of them.

Okay.

Uh who said somebody said over here?

Yes.

Oh, we already got a memory of Linda's tomato sandwich.

Yes.

Any others?

Who makes it?

Anyone else?

Chicken soup.

Potato soup.

Did you put bacon nits in it or no?

Okay.

Which has a like even greater memory around it, doesn't it?

Like that nurture oh man.

Listen, Jesus knows this about us.

Of course he does.

He he created us.

He knows that our senses spark memory, and therefore, what he's going to do is he's going to take something that we most commonly do, gather around a table and eat, and he's going to make that the centerpiece, the reminder of what he has done for us.

On that cross, he sacrificed himself to reveal the heart of God.

And what he's going to just take it like this everyday thing that sparks memories, and he's going to say, This is how you will remember.

Look at Mark.

Uh, this is what uh the three read this morning uh out of Mark.

Mark chapter 14.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

And didn't Jesse do a great job?

Well done, Jesse.

Yeah, ooh yeah.

Um the he says to them, Hey, this is my bread.

Or sorry, takes the bread, and and the gospel of Mark tells them, tells us that he breaks it.

Read this with me.

Take it, and this is my body.

And he takes the cup and he gives thanks and has them drink from it and says, This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many, he says to them.

The table points to a greater beauty.

The love of God for us.

So in Acts chapter 2, when it describes this church devoting themselves to breaking bread, this is what they're thinking about.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

They're looking back and seeing that they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread.

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.

They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.

So in the first centuries, this began to be called agape feasts, which agape is a Greek word for love.

So it became known as love feasts.

It got a bad reputation sometimes, and you can think of why.

But it was a love like agape feast.

So what they did is they would gather and remember what Jesus had done for them.

And this love feast had two purposes, and this could this is recorded for several centuries that this took place.

They gathered in their homes often and they had these love feasts.

And so they did it for two reasons.

One was to rem to make sure everybody was eating, that no one in the congregation went without meals.

That was one of their purposes.

And the second one is that of this moment where Jesus breaks the bread, and they remember what he did and what he has yet to do.

And so we call that the Lord's Supper or communion or Eucharist, depending on your upbringing.

And so they gathered over and over and they would point to Jesus and they would try to push out all of this like status symbol and trying to honor one person over the other as we studied in James.

Like we are all coming in and we are we are all in common.

We are all brothers and sisters.

There's no one, anyone greater than the other, and we're gonna do that, we're gonna remind that often.

And Paul would say that a couple of times, Galatians 3.

He said, There's neither Jew nor Gentile when it comes to Christianity.

There's neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you all are one in Christ Jesus, he said in Colossians 3.

Here there's no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

There is neither Democrat or Republican or anything in the middle.

When we get to the table, Jesus is our central figure that keeps us together.

Christ is the reason we gather together.

All the other identities kind of kind of fade out into the distance.

The table is meant to remind us of that.

So what did they expect at this meal?

Well, they wanted to notice Jesus, to be reminded that he was here, he is here, and he will come again.

Like all of that kind of like let's focus on knowing Jesus more.

So when we have a story like two disciples walking with Jesus along the road and they get to a table and they eat, and they don't recognize it's Jesus at first until he breaks the bread.

And then their eyes are open and they revo it.

It's a great passage.

Read it in Luke 24.

That's one of the reasons they gather at the table.

Jesus was made known to them as he breaks the bread.

When Jesus shares meals with people, they encounter the heart of God and they know God more.

With the story of the five loaves and two fishes, we witness Jesus as being Jesus' generosity and provision.

In the story of Zacchaeus, we see his grace and open invitation.

In the wedding at Canaan, we see his hospitality and celebration.

At the meal when the whim woman washes Jesus' feet, we see his forgiveness and restoration.

In the Last Supper, we see his love and reconciliation.

And in this story with the two disciples at Emmaeus, we see a hope of the resurrection.

All right, first Baptist.

We celebrate this meal together.

Every week.

And we do that on purpose.

And and part of it is because that's been the reputation of the church for thousands of years to celebrate the table together.

When we come, and I've heard stories from you that how how uh encouraging it is to come to the table and be reminded as you go into a new week of what Jesus has done.

But also it's a time where we look back at the last week and offer some confessions so that we are reminded of God's forgiveness.

Like it does that together in one space.

And then it's this culmination of worship together.

So we don't, I don't, I don't want the culmination of worship to be on my last words.

I want it to be on Jesus' last words.

So I don't want the culmination of our worship as we gather to be my message, but the message of the table of what Jesus has done for us.

And so that's why we are worshiping all the way to this point of being reminded of what Christ has done and be reminded that He is still on the throne and He's coming back again.

That's the purpose of the table.

And the reason why we come forward, and I know I share some of this on each Sunday morning, but I wanted to take advantage of this morning.

We come forward because we want to show that the Christian faith, the discipleship, is an active experience where we worship actively.

And it's I hear your stories over and over like it seems like when we all get up and gather, it's like, oh, there are a lot of people in this room, and oh, we're doing this together.

It's not this individual experience.

And we're coming and there's this commonality.

We're reminded that we are just brothers and sisters coming together to worship in this way.

So there's that meal.

But as you know, if you've been around First Baptist anytime, we also like to gather around other tables.

And we do like to eat, don't we?

Come on.

We're kicking off on Wednesday nights.

We'll kick that off again on October 21st to gather around the table.

And I want to encourage you, we'll do that on the third Wednesday of the month throughout this uh fall and winter and spring.

Encourage you, like make a commitment if you are able to.

Even if you can't show up till 6.25, uh, even 6.30, I think, is a you know you could show up still and grab some food.

Uh and I invite you to do that just because we need to be reminded at the table why we are gathering and to see each other and to love each other more.

So that's not just Wednesday nights.

WMU does some great uh meals throughout the year.

We do potlucks around the out throughout the year, we have picnics twice in the summer, and it's all to just continue to come around the table to practice what the first church practiced.

So this fall, I want us to practice a passage of scripture more intently.

So looking back at verse 46.

They broke breadware in their homes and they ate it together with glad and sincere hearts.

Here's what I want to invite you into.

Would you consider one time in October and one time in November to gather two or three other people?

And if you're super extroverted, gather more, to the table around you.

And I want to encourage you to that one of those people should be somebody you barely know.

Whether that's a neighbor or someone that gathers in this room or someone that you meet on the street, that you would include them into the gathering.

And that you would gather to enjoy a good meal or uh to to enjoy uh a simple meal.

It doesn't have to be extravagant.

And and you don't have to think, oh, if I do this one time, then I'm committed the rest of my life to this meal.

Like, and these people, listen, I know that not all of us click and we get a you know, that our personalities don't all mix.

So there are times where you don't want to invite another the person back to the table again.

Uh you still need to love them.

Um but but it just let's consider okay, one time in October, maybe one time in November.

And you spend some time with around a good meal, and uh and maybe you partner with somebody else to help you host that meal.

So here's some ground rules around what that meal could look like.

Number one, turn off your phones.

So when you walk into the room, the rule is to turn off the phones.

Um number two, it's supposed to be around joy.

So foster conversations of joy.

Did you see that when they talk, when they ate together, they they begin to praise God and rejoice together and that kind of stuff.

So so consider now it doesn't always have to be around joy.

I know there are other reasons why we gather on tables, but for this particular one, have it around joy.

So here's some questions you could ask.

What can we celebrate with you?

So if you're wondering what do we talk about, you could just ask this question.

What can we celebrate with you?

And that you would invite this joyful conversation.

Question two, what are you thankful for?

How could we be thankful with you?

And the third question, what stories do you want to tell us tonight?

Uh and and uh and just begin to like focus on, okay, God, we are so grateful.

And here's the third thing that we are the reason why we're together is to call attention to God.

Like, God, thank you for this joy.

And you don't have to be awkward about it, but it could be like, hey, we believe God is present with us.

And and we just want to say thank you to God for the work that He's been doing.

I know that's a big ask, especially for us introverts.

So make sure you grab an extrovert and come alongside of you to help you with it.

Um, but I want us to consider throughout October, November, begin to plan now.

Two or three people, maybe more, uh, to come and sit at the table with you.

All right.

In closing, Jesus not only ate literally, but he talked about the kingdom of God as a feast.

He told stories uh about the kingdom of God, and one of his parables was a great feast.

It was a story about a man who wanted to invite everybody to a great banquet.

And uh and so he does.

He sends out this big invitation, he just kind of casts it out there to anybody who wants to come.

And the servant replies, hey, everybody's too busy.

That feels familiar.

And and so the the man who has the banquet all set up, he's like, ah, and so he's like, Okay, then this is what I want you to do.

Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town, and I want you to actually bring in the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.

Servant goes out, brings in a bunch of people.

They're all sitting around the table.

And he says, I've done what you've asked, and there's still room at the table, which is the abundant heart of God.

Verse 23, then the master tells his servant, Will now go out to the roads in the country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house may be what?

Full.

This is the gracious, redemptive, forgiving heart of God.

That he would keep expanding the table.

His desire is that all humanity would respond to the invitation.

And he invites us to be a part of that invitation.

The invitation that's made possible through Jesus.

And what's beautiful is our individual tables in our homes, no matter how humble they are or grand they are, they could reflect this great invitation by how we invite people to our tables.

And that we would we would have this welcome uh attitude towards other people uh joining us, and that we would point to the heart of God over and over again and reflect on what he's done and what he has yet to do.

Would you pray with me?

Jesus, thank you for reminding us of your grace that you would invite us to the table without us having to do any work on our end, uh, other than responding to the invitation.

Thank you for that grace.

Jesus, thank you for the sacrifice that you've made for us, that we would have life.

Help us every day to live this out.

Thank you for the beautiful symbol of a table that points to you in the kingdom.