The table
Those who have ever been to our house in Lake Land Or would know that Amy and I aren’t real fancy people. Practical seems to fit our current lifestyle so much better. My mom at her house in Delhi NY has a formal living room that looks very nice. It is fancy and pretty, but seldom do we or they ever go in there. I was thinking about that this week as I was folding laundry that was strewn across our dining room/kitchen table. I think we got our table from IKEA, where we got most of our furniture. Our table has a leaf you can add to the center to expand it when guests come. Or, you can just leave that leaf in all the time like we do, because that way you can pile more laundry, mail and stuff on it. We’ve had that table for a number of years now. We use our table for a whole lot of things. Lydia will sit down and do her homework there. Amy grades papers there if I’m watching a ballgame on TV in the other room. It is at that table that Amy and Sharon and Stephanie sit and have coffee on Thursday evening when the Jr. High girls gather for Bible study at our home. Any number of school projects have been crafted at that table, as have a few sermons over the years late on a Saturday night. Occasionally we even sit down at that table and share a meal together as a family. We each have our spot at the table where we tend to sit. We hold hands and sing a blessing before our meal (a blessing Sophia learned in pre-school 16 years ago and still remembers). It is around that table that we over the years have shared our laughter and our blessings. Around that table we’ve supported each other, at times gotten frustrated with each other, made life plans and forged new goals for our life together. That table has in some ways been at the very center of our lives. It has seen the good and the bad of our lives, the tears of laughter and the tears of sorrow. It has been decorated fancy with table cloths and silver and it has also seen its share of spills and the clutter of our lives
This coming week is Holy Week for Christians. It is the week we remember the events during the last week of Jesus life. Sometimes we might miss this in all activity of the week, but at the center of this week is another table, a table we often call The Lord’s Table. So much of Jesus ministry and the controversy of his life took place around a table. It’s obvious when we read scripture that Jesus certainly enjoyed sitting and eating and drinking at a table with his friends. This week we’ll remember how Jesus gathered with his disciples around a table as they shared the Passover Meal together. The Passover meal was and still is meant to remind Jews of God’s saving grace in their lives. The Passover meal is served gathered around a table that is meant to remind Jews of the special relationship God has with his children.
When Jesus shared this meal at the table with his disciples, Jesus said, I want this bread and this wine to remind you and all who follow me, of God’s saving grace in your life. When you eat the bread and when you drink from the cup, remember the special relationship that God desires to have with you, his chosen and beloved children. And so for 2000 years Christians have gathered around The Lord’s Table to eat and drink so as to remember these words and the promises of Jesus.
At Wright’s Chapel it is really nothing fancy. It is a practical table more than anything, but it is also table that has been at the center of so much of our life. For over 200 years at Wright’s Chapel, The Lord’s Table has experienced our tears of laughter and our tears of sorrow. It is around this table where we have supported and held each other in our pain, at times gotten frustrated with other. We’ve made life’s plans and forged new church goals together. At this table we’ve made holy covenants and promises to each others and to God as to how we will live together. The Lord’s Table has been at the very center of our communal life together in this church. It has at times been decorated fancy and this table has also seen its share of spills and the clutter of our lives. But year after year, season after season, day after day, Jesus who is faithful and full of grace invites us to come to his table. I look forward to gathering with you this week at the Lord’s table. It’s a table, but it’s also much more than just a table.