You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Psalm 23:5 NIV
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17 NIV
Occasionally, battles about who is invited to the table of the Lord make such a big noise that they hit the religious news. Most of the time they don’t get wide press, they just wound and discourage people and drive them away from the only place and the only table that will ever satisfy. Arguments, proof-texting (you know that verse, don’t you? “I can do all things through a Bible verse taken out of context” (Foolishness 3:16), and elitist performance moves for deciding who is qualified to eat at the table have gone on for centuries. It is disheartening, to say the least. It goes on in denominations, individual gatherings of believers, and in personal opinions. It shows up in more than who is permitted to receive communion – it’s even more prevalent in who we believe deserves and has received the grace of God for salvation.
But here’s the thing we forget. It’s not OUR table. If you invite me to share dinner with you, I have no say over any other guests you care enough about to invite. If I find that you have invited someone else with whom I don’t want to fellowship and eat, I can’t disinvite them. It’s YOUR table, YOUR invitation. YOUR decision. My only option if I won’t willingly and happily eat with them is to excuse myself from the table.
God through Jesus Christ has made the invitation to His table abundantly clear. The whole world is invited to His table. Without exception. That was the purpose for which Jesus came into this world, not to condemn and exclude, but to welcome, invite, save, transform, and make a part of His forever family. The world includes the people who are different from me – the one I consider to be a worse sinner than I am, the poor, the immigrant, the disenfranchised, the rich, the privileged, every race and culture. Every person ever created has received a personal invitation from the King to eat at His table. And no human has been appointed the “bouncer” in the house and at the table of the Lord. He handles that, and He does it with love and grace, individually. He wants everyone there.
It's also significant that David points out that God prepares a table in the presence of our enemies. We all have people who choose to be enemies to us and want to exclude us. If that is you today, feeling disqualified and excluded by someone, remember it is HIS table. Come. He has invited you.
- It is by grace we are saved. No one is worthy, not one, except through Jesus. No one can boast or exclude (Ephesians 2:8-9). Humbly rejoice and celebrate.