Table-Top Conversations

Luke 14:1-24

One of the highlight moments of my week happened on Sunday night when I was eating supper later than usual just before bedtime and by myself then my son came in and sat down beside me at the table.  He asked me how things were going and shared some experiences from his day which led to real joy and laughter for me but more importantly getting to spend time with my dear son, man to man.  When I was a senior in High School, I wrote an essay about table-top conversations in my home growing up and how those moments had impacted my life in very good ways.  Sometimes my parents would remind me of that essay and that they were proud.  Of course, they would be proud that their grown children would value sharing those moments at their gracious dining room table.  Not much has changed still today as I am seeking the same with my adult children by God’s grace!

In our text this week, we see Jesus sharing deep spiritual truths with others as He sits with them at a dinner table.  In response to one man’s statement about feasting in the kingdom of God, Jesus tells a parable about a great banquet that some are invited to attend but they make excuse and decline the invitation.  As a result, these miss out completely on tasting of the banquet.  Through His parable, Jesus is reminding people that they should not reject the invitation God is giving through Him or they will miss out completely.  In humility, we must come to see our desperate need for Jesus to bring us to God.  But in doing that, we are welcomed as dear children into God’s presence to share in the feast of His Kingdom!  There is another table that Jesus invites us to so we can know that God’s wrath on sin that each of us deserve was satisfied through His broken body and shed blood.  Jesus continues the conversation with people over a Supper table. 

May we be a people that are humbled by the truth of the gospel and receptive to the invitation of God to trust in Jesus as the one and only way.  May the Master of the church by His gracious Spirit now come and recline at the table of our hearts in a way that brings joy while we look forward to greater eternal fellowship with Him in His Kingdom.  Let us be a church that represents now to the world a glimpse of what it looks like in Heaven as we share His grace with others as it has been bestowed upon us as dear children to the praise of His glory!

Grateful and hopeful in Christ, 

Jon