He welcomes me to his banqueting table

Jane Denniston March 30, 2022 0 1

Playlists

Add to Favourites

Save for later

Listen to this daily worship

Luke 15: 1-2 (NRSVA)

1 Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

Food matters. I am sure you are familiar with the story of the massacre of Glencoe. The Campbells were given hospitality by the MacDonalds, and then went on to murder their hosts. It was a warlike era, but the scandal in this instance lies in the fact that the two clans had shared a meal. This sense of the importance of sharing food, the bonds this creates, transcends cultures and eras.

With this in mind it’s not difficult to imagine a sense of outrage, of scandal, from the Pharisees and Scribes. A rabbi, eating with tax-collectors, eating with prostitutes, eating with sinners! It’s one thing to talk to them (convince them of the error of their ways) but eat with them?

But then, what is a sinner? We all have our own ideas of what sin is but Jesus’ attitude to those that the religious people of his day considered beyond the pale is a warning to us not to sit in judgement. I once heard it said, ‘Never forget, there might be someone not in church this morning because you are!’

PRAYER:

Loving heavenly Father,

thank you that you welcome us to your table.

Help us to welcome others in your name.

Not to stand in judgement

or turn anyone away,

for everyone is your child,

and has a place at your table, Amen