Let's Build Bigger Banquet Tables

Today’s post is Rachel Evans contribution to the Eighth Letter project, which invites participants to compose letters to the North American church in the spirit of John’s seven letters of Revelation.  Rachel is from Birmingham originally and blogs here.

To the Church in North America:
I write to you as one of your own at a time when many in my generation have abandoned you.  As the Church in the Third World continues to grow, the Church in North America is in decline. Some are predicting our imminent demise, while others foresee a glorious rebirth.  Most seem to think that we’re in the midst of an identity crisis, one that will determine the shape and direction of the North American church for many years to come.

According to the statistics, we are a people of (relative) wealth and (relative) generosity.  We control most of the world’s wealth and we give much of it away.  Though we struggle with materialism, we value charity.

But are we people of the Kingdom?

That is the question at the heart of this crisis, and as we struggle together to answer it, I am convinced that what we don’t need is bigger buildings or fancier sound equipment, better pastors or more parishioners, newer ministries or deeper pockets.

What we need is bigger banquet tables.

Jesus loved banquets. He performed his first miracle at a wedding reception in Canaan and spent so much time feasting with tax collectors and prostitutes that the religious called him a glutton. Jesus was never too busy to stop and eat—sharing fish and bread with 5,000 fans, a traditional Jewish supper with his closest disciples, and breakfast with the friend who denied him three times.  When Jesus returns, he plans to throw a great banquet in honor of his bride, The Church. How fitting that in his absence, we remember him by eating together.

Jesus often compared his Kingdom to a great banquet that includes people from every tribe, tongue, and nation reclining at a single table (Matthew 11:11). He made it clear that this banquet table is open to all, but that the rich and powerful will likely decline his invitation because they are just too busy to stop, slow down, and feast with their neighbors. So instead, Jesus invites “the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame” so that his “house will be full” (Luke 14:16-24).

I guess this is why Jesus tells us to do the same. “When you give a luncheon or dinner,” he instructed, “do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed” (Luke 14:12-13).

I suspect that Jesus used all of this delicious imagery because he knew that there is a difference between feeding people and dining with people.

Feeding people means keeping the hungry at arm’s length.  It means sending checks now and then, making Thanksgiving baskets once a year, preaching about justice, and launching new ministries…all while sitting comfortably at the head of a tiny table, dropping scraps from our abundance to the floor.

Americans are good at feeding people.

But dining with people is an entirely different matter. Dining together means sitting next to one another and brushing arms, passing the bread basket and sharing the artichoke dip. It means double-dipping and spilling drinks, laughing together and crying together, exchanging stories, ideas, recipes, and dreams.  According to Jesus, it means leaving the seat at the head of the table ceremoniously empty so that all are guests of honor and all are hosts.  Dining together isn’t charity; it’s friendship. 

For the Church in North America to grow in a good way, we need to break down this distinction between those who serve and those who are served. The abundance must truly be shared.  At the local level, this may mean hosting literal banquets, complete with Jesus-style invitation lists. At the global level, it may mean sacrificing some of our own comforts so that when we care for our far-away neighbors we can still feel their presence beside us at the table.  In every case, it means slowing down long enough to savor both the food and the company.

So let’s build bigger banquet tables.

Let’s eat fruit that is in season and drink coffee that is fairly traded so that Latin farmers can join us at the table with their heads held high. Let’s share the reputation of Jesus and dine with those who the religious love to hate—gays and lesbians, divorcees, single moms, junkies, dreamers, and doubters. Let’s squeeze in a little tighter to make enough room for people of all political persuasions, all religious backgrounds, all ethnicities, and all denominations. Let’s eat a little less so that everyone has enough and let’s linger a little longer so that everyone gets a chance to share what’s on their mind. Let’s invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame so that our house will always be full.

Sabbath Rest

"Our activity can promise us everything and make us forget God. Therefore God commands us to rest from our work. It is not work that supports us but God alone; we live not from work, but from God alone.... The Sabbath rest is the visible sign that human beings live by the grace of God and not by works.       --Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Where Else Can I Go?

From Jon at Stuff Christians Like:

For about a year or four, my wife and I didn’t have a membership to Costco. Correction, we didn’t have an active membership to Costco. We didn’t pay the $45 to renew our card because we used to buy ridiculously large things we didn’t need. So instead, we would just walk around and pretend the food samples were really just a large, geographically scattered buffet line.

And the pizza, who can pass up that cheap, voluminous pizza Costco serves? It’s like a culinary science experiment gone right. Best of all you don’t need an active membership to eat the pizza, so we did. All in all we cobbled together a pretty nice, albeit ultimately fake, Costco membership.

If we loved a sample of pasta or cookies though, we couldn’t buy it. If our kids found a long lost Kim Possible book, the answer was “no.” If we were out of something important, like 42 rolls of toilet paper, we couldn’t get it.cWe had the membership card, but we had a façade experience. Half empty, mostly imagined, part of Costco by name but not reality.

I had the card in my wallet, but it didn’t mean much. And to tell you the truth, for a long time, I could have carried a “Christian” card too. I “grew up in the church,” I’d been baptized, I’d been part of more small groups than I could count. But it didn’t define my day. It didn’t really impact my decisions. I was a Christian by name but not heart.

That changed in 2005. I made some horrible mistakes. As I’ve said before, I did the kind of things that when a character in a movie does them you hope that character gets hit by a car later in the film. I eventually came to a place where I couldn’t fix me, with me anymore.

But something was in my way. There was a wall that I couldn’t scale, a gap I couldn’t fix and it’s actually kind of simple.

I didn’t want Jesus to be my last resort.

He was, make no mistake, my last resort. I was completely out of other options. But for some reason, I was ashamed that I was coming back to him only after every other opportunity had expired.

I wanted to return home with at least my hands clean. I knew there was grime on me that was beyond me. I knew coming back complete wasn’t possible, but I wanted to do everything I could to get cleaned up before.

Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever used the “waiting period” approach to God? Like waiting for the purchase of handgun to clear regulations, you think there’s a waiting period before you can come to him. Maybe if you stack enough days between now and that thing you did, he’ll welcome you with open arms.

That’s where I was. That’s what the summer was about. That’s something I still struggle with some days. Until I read a Bible verse that challenged my belief that God hated me coming to him as the last option.

In John 6, Jesus has just dropped a really difficult message on the crowd. It was about eating his body and blood and folks were freaked out. They all started to take off and you get the sense that while Jesus watched their backs he talked to the disciples without even looking at them. In John 6:67 Jesus says, “You do not want to leave too, do you?”

In my head, I imagine the disciples telling him, “Us leave you? Never. You’re our number one. You are Christ. We are down for the long haul.”

But Simon Peter doesn’t.
That’s not what he says.
Know how he replies?

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

I love that. We are out of options. That thing, that love you’ve got, that hope, nobody else has that. We don’t have anywhere else to go. You are not our first or our last option. You are our only option.
I think God wants to be our first option. I think his heart breaks when he watches other options break us. I think he longs for first, but above that, I think he longs for you.

He doesn’t keep score. He doesn’t count your other blown options. He doesn’t tally your mistakes.
Why?

Because you should never underestimate the love of a God who sent his son to the cross for you.

Your wildest, “what if this was true?,” craziest, most imaginative vision of his love is a thimble of salt water next to the ocean.

I hope you’ll stop worrying about what option you’re on. I hope if you’re dirty you won’t waste time scrubbing your hands before you turn home. I hope you’ll embrace repentance and grace.

I hope you won’t be satisfied with being a card carrying Christian.

Which Rich Person am I?

From What is so Amazing about Grace Blog

Rich Man 1 - Luke 18

Respected official
with great morals
openly speaks to Jesus
When challenged chooses His money over Jesus

Rich man 2 - Luke 19

Zacchaeus
despised tax collector
cheat & crook
Too scared to talk to Jesus so watches from afar.
Freely offers his money without even being asked.

Which one am I?

Recently I have read some scary statistics that suggest that much of the western church has become the first rich man. I've read of good churches where 50 percent of people never give anything and the percentage of people who tithe is in the teens!

What I do know is that in our consumeristic western society if God has not got your wallet he has not got your heart!

People Get Ready

Choose Your Own Debt - It's still debt

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace....  (Ephesians 1:7 ESV)

In sermons at Redeemer Presbyterian in NYC, Timothy Keller is great at addressing the arguments against God made by non-Christians. 

In a sermon called "The Story of the Lamb," he addresses concerns over the fact that God gets to make the rules on what is permissible and what is sin.  He addresses the argument that there are no transcendent moral truths.  He talks about people who think it unfair that God sets the rules on sin and then required such a sacrifice as an innocent man dying for that sin. 

His response was to imagine that you could change the rules on what was sin. 

"Imagine around your neck is an invisible tape recorder that only picks up the things you say that others ought to do.  Only picks up the the standards you call people to ascribe to.  In essence, only picks up your moral standards and not God's.  At the end of your life, that would be the test.  Not God's law.  Not the Ten Commandments.  Not the Golden Rule.  Just judge your life according to the standards you set.  No person who has ever lived could even pass their own moral standards."  

Even if God allowed us to make our own rules, we would fail and there would be a debt owed for that sin.  Thank God he provided the payment for that debt:

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.  (Colossians 2:13-14 ESV)

His sermons are available for free on iTunes.   Click here.   I highly recommend this sermon and the Prodigal Sons sermon.  All are great.  

What if God Answered Every Prayer?

“Apart from prayers impossible to answer – those that involve a logical contradiction such as opposing sides praying for victory, or farmers and athletes praying for conflicting weather patterns – what would happen if God answered every prayer? By answering every possible prayer, God would  in effect abdicate, turning the world over to us to  run. History shows how we have handled the  limited power granted us: we have fought wars, committed genocide, fouled the air and water, destroyed forests, established unjust political  systems, concentrated pockets of superfluous wealth and grinding poverty. What if God gave us  automatic access to supernatural power? What  further havoc might we wreak?
 
                   Philip Yancey:  Prayer: Does it Make a Difference?

A Prayer About the Pure Joy of Trials

Another great prayer from Heavenward by Scotty Smith.  I can't seem to get enough of his written prayers.  Read them slowly a couple of times.  Even out loud.  I am very impressed with this blog.  

     Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-3

Dear Jesus, apart from the gospel of your grace, this admonition would appear to be the work of a madman. What sane person would ever associate pure joy with many trials? In fact, many of us have been schooled to believe that faith is the very means by which we can escape trials and hardships. And yet Jesus, it was because of the joy set before you that you persevered and endured the greatest trial of all for us… the cross (Hebrews 12:1-3).

Grant us your joy, Jesus… grant us your perspective… grant us your love for the glory of God above
comfort… and grant us a greater love for your cross.

It’s only because of your cross, Jesus, that we can be certain that trials don’t come to us as punishment for our sins, but for the purification of our faith. We praise you for exhausting God’s judgment against our sins. We praise you that your cross was our Judgment Day. The perfect love of the cross drives away all fear of judgment and punishment (1 John 4:18). What peace this give us… what hope… what freedom!

Jesus, what dross would you burn from our faith through trials? What needs to be purified? Since faith is both the content of what we believe and the act of believing…  please free us from all false gospels and from a lack of trust. Burn away everything we believe about you that contradicts the truth of the gospel, Jesus. What bad teachings have robbed us from the riches of the gospel? What bad teachings have made it easy for us to distort and misapply the gospel? Burn up these impurities, Jesus. We want the pure gold of the gospel to shine forth.
   
And burn away our double-mindedness and our lack of love for you, Jesus. We’re predestined to be like you. None of us likes to see our immaturity, and yet since maturity is Christlikeness, Jesus, reveal our immaturity… our incompleteness… our lack. In what ways do our attitudes and actions contradict your beauty?  You’ll never condemn us, because you took the condemnation we deserve. But you will convict us. Grant us pure joy and godly sorrow which lead to repentance, salvation and no regrets (2 Corinthians 7:10). So very Amen, we pray, in your most loving and patient name.

Abide

Paul Miller, from his excellent book - The Praying Life:

Abiding is a perfect way to describe a praying life. For example, many Christians who are thinking of buying a vacation home might even pray, asking God practical questions, such as "Can we afford it?" "Will it be too much work?" "Should we make an offer on this house?" These are good questions. But we seldom ask God heart questions such as "Will a second home elevate us above people?" "Will it isolate us?" In the first set of questions, God is your financial adviser. In the second set, he has become your Lord. You are abiding.

HT: Jared at Gospel-Driven Church 

He’s Obviously Been with Jesus

Another good prayer by Scotty Smith.  

This prayer reminds me of the question we often ask: "Are you living a life that demands an explanation?"

Are you living in a way that the only answer to "why" or "how" is "Jesus"?

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.  Acts 4:13

Lord Jesus, this simple story is simply what I need this morning. Peter and John, two unschooled, ordinary fishermen were radically changed and wondrously engaged in life because “these men had been with Jesus”—with you, the same Lord who lives in my heart and rules all things from heaven. Today, right now… more than anything else I need to connect with you, Jesus.

It’d be nice to hear others say, “He’s obviously been with Jesus. What else could explain his merciful heart for the broken… his outrage in the face of injustice… his calm in the midst of all kinds of provocations. What other motivation and reason would he have for loving so boldly, forgiving so deeply and giving so generously? Yeah, he’s been with Jesus, alright, because that’s surely not the guy we remember from a while back.”Jesus, as “nice” as that would be, that’s NOT AT ALL what I’m thinking about and longing for this morning.

 I don’t really care what people think or don’t think about me right now… what they say or don’t say about me. I crave fresh fellowship with you in the core of my being. Union with you by faith is one thing, but vital heart engaged communion with you is quite another, Jesus.

Doing things for you is not the same thing as spending life-giving time with you. Thinking great thoughts about you is not the same thing as connecting intimately with you. Helping others understand the gospel is not the same thing as crying out from my unfettered refreshed heart… 

Who do I have I in heaven but you, Jesus? And being with you, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but you, Jesus, are the strength of my heart and my portion forever… It is good, and it is enough, for me to be near you… my sovereign savior and my loving refuge.

Come, Holy Spirit, come. Ignite within my heart renewed affections and life-changing communion with Jesus. That’s what I need and want more than anything else. So very Amen, I pray in his most gracious name.