Space at the Table
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and there’s a place for you at the table.
Aren’t those good words? Like, “Come on here, here’s your seat; we have a place for you at the table.” Doesn’t that make you feel reassured and comforted? I grew up in a family of six and when dinnertime rolled around, and when Mother would call that supper was ready, we would all run to our place at the table. We each had our own space. It wasn’t like we were assigned a place, we all just, I don’t know, we knew that Mother sat there, and Daddy, here and Kathy was over there with Jay next to her, and Linda was at the far end of the table, and I sat next to my mom. These were our places, our spaces. And everybody knew that you didn’t sit over there; you sat here, in your place. We even all had our own chairs at the table; nobody told us to use a certain chair, they were just ours. And if anyone was missing, for some reason, we didn’t shift the plates and flatware around so as to fill in the space; no, rather that space was still there, still reserved, it was still Kathy’s place at the table, even though she was late studying at the library. Even though the rest of us were there at dinner, Kathy was remembered; she was missed and her place at the table reminded us of that.
As I said, it’s reassuring to know that you are remembered with your place at the table. And it’s especially comforting to know that you have a place at the Lord’s table. You belong, that you are in the family of God, and your place at His table is something that He has prepared. Psalm 23, verse 5 says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.” Oh friend, on that great day at the wedding supper of the Lamb, you won’t have to ask where your seat is; no one will need to tell you. You’ll just “know” because you are family, and you will immediately recognize “your” place. It’s been reserved for you since the beginning of time, and when you draw near the banquet table, you are going to run for it; you will feel welcomed, comfortable, and completely at home.
This is something to think about the next time you approach the Lord’s Table to take Communion, because as a Christian, you have a place there. You belong. You should feel at home. That’s because the one sitting at the head of the table, Jesus Christ, is present. And because He is present, we are to enjoy all that it means to be part of the family, to know that we have a place at His table. John Piper says, “The purpose of the Lord’s Supper is to receive from Christ the nourishment and strength and hope and joy that come from feasting our souls on all that He purchased for us on the cross, especially His own fellowship.”
When we take the Lord’s Supper; when we draw near to His table, the very act of Communion is the Lord’s appeal to us to be all that He intends us to be. When we sit at His table; when we partake of bread and wine, we don’t look back to our past with a critical eye; we look forward to our future with hope and confidence in the Lord. At the table of the Lord, Jesus appeals from what we have been, to what we may be. He bids us come and take our place, not because we are better than we have been, but simply because He wants us to be there. To stay away from the table because our hearts are cold is like refusing to go near the fire until we are first warm. Oh no, we come to the fire, we come to the table to find our place and to be changed; to be made more like Jesus. And that’s a wonderful thing, all because you have a place at the table. Thanks for listening today on Joni and Friends.
© Joni and Friends
