My poor wife! Up till recently when Rylee came along she has been dealing with a problem that cave woman for centuries have had to deal with. The table etiquette of the cavemen she lives with. She has four of them at her table each evening and has taken on the task of trying to instill (to cavemen that means beat with a club) some sense of etiquette, or table manners in the brains of the men at her table. She is trying to teach them (us) that it’s not okay to grunt and grab and stuff things in their mouths. If she had any hopes that adding dainty little Rylee to the mix might help, those dreams have been dashed by the fact that Rylee has a propensity to throw food and make things even less orderly.
It has often been noted that in the book of Luke we always find Jesus coming to a meal, at a meal or leaving a meal. This fall we will be looking at Jesus in Luke, and often we will be sitting around a table with him. In Luke 14 we see Jesus with a group of Pharisees and religious scholars at a table, and we see him commenting on their manners. He notices they put a great deal of effort into the jostling and positioning of getting the best seat at the table, so he takes the opportunity to tell them a parable about how to choose a seat and whom to invite to their tables.
The meal mentioned in Luke 14, if understood in the context of the culture of the time, would have been not just an occasion to eat, but an occasion to build reputations and connections. The invitation to such an event would have come with an expectation for a similar invitation in return. Jesus gives them a whole new set of table manners. He teaches them and us, that when we come to Christ’s table, everyone is welcome. It does not matter if you can pay him in return, in fact, he invites those who know they cannot repay him. At Christ’s table it does not matter if you are rich or poor, black or white, young or old; you come elbow to elbow with people from all walks of life.
Mark
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