Over the course of the next several weeks, we will gather around various tables. People will pull up a chair to the table that we know and that we are meeting for the first time. Tables will be adorned at parties, homes, and church. We will celebrate, eat, and fellowship with others!
Fellowship is engrained in the wood of tables. Tables have not only gathered people together, but also connected them to one another. Stories are shared, bonds are created, and community is formed. It is the gift of table fellowship!
When we glance down at our calendars for December, we see all of the tables around which we will sit. We will give thanks around the table of communion in worship. We will celebrate Christmas at a party with our Sunday School class. We will welcome family around our tables at home. We will share a meal and also our lives!
The table of communion defines our table fellowship, reminding us that we are bound to each other by God’s mercy and calling. When Jesus struggled to explain the character of the kingdom of God and the qualities of God’s steadfast love, Jesus used a meal–the bread of life and the cup of salvation. Our meals are marked by the grace of God, which is experienced in table fellowship.
Around these tables, we receive support for our loneliness, belonging for our brokenness, and peace for our chaos. When we gather around a table, let us connect with those around us. Let us also remember those who need a seat at the table, who do not have one.
Table fellowship sends us out to embrace others, offering the same love we find in the meal we share with each other.
-Tripp