His Table

 

The Lord’s Table could be in a  lunch room. The first church we had  a part in starting (in New Jersey) began in a school lunch room.  The Lord’s Table is not only the one found in the center of the circle or in the front of the room.  The Lord’s Table is spiritual. It is not always a scheduled meeting, and it’s certainly not a piece of furniture.  It is not a ritual, it’s a remembrance.  Jesus said, “remember Me.”  Just as pastor-worship often robs God of the praise and glory He deserves (as in “let me tell you about our pastor”), church-worship can also border on idolatry. 

 There is a “popular” table in every High School lunch room.  In some schools, a seat at that table might require breaking all Ten Commandments, if not at least the last.  It is a coveted place.  It’s the place where  the “elite,” the “special,” and the “exclusives” gather.   Religion has it’s tables too.  I am not speaking of what most call the  Lord’s Table, but rather of one like the one in the lunchroom.  The Lord’s Table will never be the popular table.  His Table attracts who God draws. The only requirement is that one is born-again. 

If we happened upon a group of students gathered around a table talking fondly of a dear friend, would we be driven away if we drew near to listen?  Would we be told to come back after we did this or that?  Would we be sent to the corner while they spoke lovingly of their friend?   I think not.  Even if we never knew the one they were speaking of, would we not be impressed with their love and respect for their friend?  If we knew their friend, would they not gladly listen as we shared  what he has meant to us?   Perhaps they would all smile as we said “did not my heart burn within me as He spoke to me along the way.”  If someone never met him they would have nothing to contribute, but would they be told to go away?  Would they not be allowed to listen?

 If a group of youths were at another table talking fondly of our absent friend, would we try to stop them?  Would we ridicule, frown, or scoff at them?  I hope not.  Would we proclaim “we know Him better, or we knew Him more,”  with a competitive spirit? 

In the classroom students learn academics.  The lunchroom they are learning about  life.  Watch how young people try to find themselves and find their way.  Watch them with their lunch tray in hand looking for their place. There is the popular table, but there are tables which will be defined by race, gender, age, and attitudes.  There is one for the “Jocks,” and one where the “geeks” gather.  This is not unlike the state of the church today or the little tables within the church today.

Sitting at the wrong table in the High School lunch room could have disastrous consequences.  What Do they talk about at the “popular” table anyway?  I have no idea.  My knowledge of human nature and imagination must fill in the blanks.  You can be sure they are not talking about Him.  The Bible says that those of the world speak of the things of the world. Perhaps it is sports, or clothes, or trends, what is “in” and what is “not.”  Perhaps it is some worldly pleasure or about some  foolish “new kid” who tried to take a seat at their table by mistake.  They will make him pay for that error for the rest of the school year.  I don’t really know what they talk about at the popular table.  I do know what they talk about at the Lord’s Table.  They don’t talk about themselves, their church, it’s form of government, or it’s exclusive superiority over others. They don’t look over their shoulder to see who is sitting at the other tables; they are too preoccupied with HIM.   It is not stiff, not formal, not shrouded in a blanket  of blank stares and awkward silence.  It is a group of happy people who find joy in fondly remembering   the Friend of sinners and, how He saved their lives, and ransomed them.      -id