BECOMING FAMILY
Come to the Table
4.16.23
Come to the Table
4.16.23
Why do we struggle?
- Weāre looking for the perfect fit or easy community or people just like us
- We come into the church with a consumer mindset
- We bring our American individualism into something designed to be communal
- We donāt see the church as a covenant community as much as a convenient community
- Weāve been hurt and we struggle to trust people
- We are paralyzed by the number of options we have in the church
- We donāt anticipate or feel prepared to deal with the inevitable conflict of community
We live in a time and a church culture that has normalized dysfunctional behavior in regard to commitment to the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:17-22
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have Godās approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lordās Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Donāt you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
It was no more possible for the Lordās Supper to be eaten in an atmosphere of social discrimination than it was for the same people to āpartake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.ā - F. F. Bruce
The beauty and mystery of coming to the table:
The table forms us into one body beyond our differences and divisions
That table is where the abstract, the spiritual, and the conceptual become real and tangible in our lives.
The table is a place where we meet God to receive whatever nourishment is needed in our souls.
The table gathers us into a family united in the work of Christ
The table is an invitation to know Christ and a grace that empowers us to service and mission
The table gathers us into a family united in the work of Christ
The table is an invitation to know Christ and a grace that empowers us to service and mission
The table is a commitment we choose to practice regardless of circumstances or feelings
The table is a place where we wait with one another for all things to be redeemed
The table is a place where we wait with one another for all things to be redeemed
Family comes together regularly, despite tedium, boredom, low energy, busyness, distractions, and interpersonal tensions, because they recognize that family life is as much about sharing the mundane, the distracted, etc. as it is about sharing special and joyous moments. A community sustains itself not primarily through novelty, stimulation, and high emotion, but through rhythm and routine, through simple, predictable, ritual processes. A family that tries to eat every meal as if it were a banquet soon finds that most of its members are looking for an excuse to be absent. Nobody has energy for a banquet every day. What sustains a relationship over the long term is ritual, routine, a regular rhythm that incarnates the commitment. ā Ronald Rolheiser