Everyone is Invited

We had planned to watch a movie on the television. It did not eventuate. Sitting around the dining room table chatting after dinner with my Dad and older Sister led into my Dad sharing on some escapades of his life as a boy. So much that I did not know, or stories not heard of before. It was such a delight to laugh at some of the stories and  to be astonished at others.

I learnt so much more about my Father and my Grandparents lives that also explained a lot about choices they had made and the way they had lived. It was such a joy-filled night. Especially good to relieve the tension of my Mum being unwell in hospital. Many a story then my sister shared and I myself interrupted with my perspective of what had happened as a child.

I have often felt that the Family dinner table is so important to gather around. When the children were little, every night was pretty much “Family Night” but we designated Friday night as the night when no cooking would occur. We would get a take-out meal and either watch a movie together or play some board games or card games as a Family Unit.

Bruce and I had an important “rule” as the children got older and were studying or working full-time that we would all try to be home for one night of the week as a Family to eat together. More importantly to share together. So, after finding out when they had lectures on at university or their work hours etc., we designated one night of the week to be Family Night. To sit around the Family Dinner table and share life.

Looking at the life of Jesus, He spent a lot of time around the dinner table with His disciples, friends and even sinners. Many of his frequently quoted messages happened while sharing a meal with others. Even now Jesus invites everyone to sit at table with Him in the Eucharistic Meal at Mass.

The company around the table with Jesus were so diverse. The outcast, the self-righteous, the unclean, the poor, the wealthy, the lost and the found. No one was left out from an invitation. Jesus crossed racial boundaries to the shock of many. He invited all to the table. When asked why He did so, this is His reply…

“… For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

John 18:37 NRSV

No one was inclusive like Jesus. He asks us to be the same. The religious do-gooders whispered behind His back. They called Him a friend of sinners to insult Him, but Jesus wore it proudly.

Jesus was a friend to all. He tells his disciples:

You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.

John 15:14-15 NRSV

The relationship with Jesus has advanced and should advance eventually to Friend. Friends share their lives.

Jesus invites us around His dinner table to share with us. He gives us His life and wants us to give Him ours.

To laugh, to cry, to remember, to plan, to join with Him around The Family Table.

You will go away joy-filled while knowing that you and everyone is welcome at the Table of the Lord’s anytime.

May these jottings from my journal inspire you to believe in and fall in love with Christ- the hope of the world, as stated in Jeremiah 17:7, ‘Blessed is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord!’

Love

Rosemary

Every week groups of ladies meet together to chat about the things I raise in my weekly blog post and to chat about life in general. We call these ‘Heart Connect’ groups.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Do you spend time at Jesus’ table sharing your life with Him? How could you increase your time spent sharing with Jesus?

Ask yourself whether you are welcoming to everyone you meet. How could you become more like Jesus in inviting everyone to your Table?