My Table is Full

The first snow of the winter has already fallen.   For many this a painful and difficult time. It is getting darker sooner and the days are shorter. The sun struggles to break through the dark, gray clouds of winter time. The cold winds that are blowing across the land,  remind us that winter has arrived.  It is that time of year when our spirits are challenged by the blustery winds of the north lands.  It is no accident that  the Christian Church remembers the birth of Jesus in this season. It is at the darkest, coldest time of year when baby Jesus is born and the angels proclaim to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11. 

As I reread this beautiful portion of the Christmas story, I am reminded of Luke’s particular theological perspective. It is as though God wanted the poorest, the marginal, and the most oppressed people to be the first witnesses to the birth of Jesus.  The shepherds were not the educated class of people nor were they considered skilled laborers.  Many of the shepherds in this time were  women and children. In this culture the women and children were considered marginal and avoided by the male population. However, there is a freshness about Luke's report. It would be the marginal, the rejected and the avoided who would be first to see the Messiah and it would not the privileged, the brightest, or the best who would be the ones  to receive the news of Jesus’ birth. God has a way of turning our world and our expectations upside down.

My table must be full

 In the Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:15-24) we can see clearly,  Luke's preference for the marginal  and the rejected. Recently, several of us were studying this amazing parable when I saw how God continues to work through each of us in ways that really do make a difference in the world. The parable reminds us that God's table must be full before the banquet can begin. When friends and family turned down the invitation, the host sent his servants into the community to invite the town's people to come to the dinner. Many did come, but the host's table was still not full. The host sent his servants out again, telling them to invite the crippled, the rejected, the ill, and the blind to come to the great feast. The host wanted his table full. 

More than food,  an excuse to bring people together, or a close analysis of who was or who wasn't on the guest list, this parable seems to be another affirmation of God's continuing quest to invite more people into God's heavenly realm.  As our group concluded, we agreed that God is more interested in bringing people to the table than pushing them away. This is God's way and this parable reminds us that all are welcome at the table.

We made our way back to the church and along the way and I witnessed the deeper meaning of this parable. On our way home we encountered a homeless man who was bedding down for the night.  As we passed his place of refuge, one in our group offered her leftover dinner to the homeless man.  Without missing a beat, a second member reached into her back pack and pulled out a woolen scarf that she had just completed that day and asked if a  scarf would be helpful on this cold and windy night. He accepted both with humility and grace. As we walked by I said to my fellow sojourners that on this night, God’s table was full. 

 “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11. This is the Christmas message – this is light in the wilderness where one day, nothing will separate us from one another. Come and rejoice with me on a cold, dark night and feel God's warmth.