Setting Tables
To think about: Luke 15:11-32
There’s a beauty in walking into a house and seeing a table set, and smelling dinner cooking. It means someone has thought of you coming and has already planned, prepared and created a welcome for you. Sometimes, we’re not sure if we even want that welcome, but it’s there anyway. Sometimes (like my mom used to do) the host doesn’t even wait for you to get in the house–they are outside with the apron and cooking mitts on the minute you come in the driveway, trying to get everyone in because they’ve been waiting just for you.
There’s a depth of welcome in the smell of a meal prepared by someone else…whether it’s the smell of toast that your five year old has put in so you can have toast and jam, or the teenager who has made a stir-fry because they know your day has been crazy, or the well planned multigenerational family dinner where the smell of lasagna or turkey means there is going to be enough for everyone. The welcome smell is there, coming out to greet you before you even saw what was cooking and prepared for you.
Then, we see it. The table set, enough places for everyone and if we need to squeeze someone else in, there will be room for that too. Cutlery in its place, napkins folded, glasses or teacups right above the spoon and knife. In my upbringing, the more spoons and forks you saw, the more deliciousness was in store. Clear clues about the generosity to follow even before we asked what was for dinner.
God sets a table like that. Generous, kind, including everyone, already set and ready to share. God is already welcoming us to God’s table.
In following Christ, we get to help with that table and that welcome. We get to make sure people who need that welcome the most know that it’s there. Sometimes, we get to make God’s table real.
I don’t often share specific mission projects in this devotional, but this one is special–and time sensitive.
Last year, the congregation at Burlington East Presbyterian Church partnered with the Harvest Table Restaurant on Fairview St to set welcoming tables for those who needed it on Christmas Day. The smell of turkey cooking, vegetables, pies, the sight of set tables enough for everyone and some takeaway containers, colouring pages and Christmas jokes for children, the generosity of the owner of the restaurant and his family in welcoming all of us allowed us to set the table for 150 people. A welcome that was born out of the vision of two of our elders who said giving dinners wasn’t enough–people needed to sit down together.
We’re doing it again this year. If you find that Christmas dinner is going to be an economic stretch for you and your family, please come. If you are going to be alone on Christmas Day and want some great company, please come. You can register for the dinner by calling the church office at 905.637.5155. We have two sittings at 11:30 and 1:30, with 75 places at each sitting.
If you already have enough and plans for Christmas dinner, please consider helping out with the costs of the dinner for someone else. If we raise more than is needed, money is left for hot meals for people who need it throughout the year. Please call the church office if you’d like to help out. You can email donations to [email protected] with the message “Community Christmas Dinner”.
We believe, as a community, that God has set this table. We believe that anyone who needs it is invited. And we are so looking forward to welcoming you there.
May you be blessed by knowing God loves you and always has a place set and ready for you.
Peace in Christ,
Susan
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