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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion Thursday, June 26, 2003 "The Most Important Spiritual Crisis" |
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Frontline Devotion for Thursday, June 26, 2003 By Fritz Foltz
When I used to ask first to fifth graders preparing for First Communion, “What do you do at dinner?” I usually got a surprising answer. About 90% of the time, the kids replied, “Talk”. I naturally expected they would say, “Eat”.
That constant response over maybe 10 years led me to appreciate why many thoughtful people believe the most critical spiritual problem of our time is that families seldom eat together anymore. It is at the dinner table that people share not only food but also what they have been doing and what they hope they do. It is there where a great deal of teaching takes place, where we all learn the meaning of life. In fact, if you want to know who I am, watch me at dinner. You can discover who I really am by observing where I eat, with whom I eat, what I eat, and what I say at the dinner table.
Think of how often we find Jesus at dinner in the Gospels and how often we learn exactly who he is at the table. Over and over good citizens criticize him for eating with the wrong people, sinners. Over and over, we hear good citizens deriding him, because he does not behave himself. Some scholars believe that table fellowship is the critical issue in his rejection.
Jesus still eats with us sinners each week. Each Sunday we gather to break bread with him at Church. And many still make all kinds of excuses why they cannot make it to that meal. They are too busy buying horses and fields and marrying, too busy with their own economic and sexual matters.
In one sense, the parable warns us that making excuses can become a habit. If we find all sorts of reasons why we cannot gather as families to eat together, and all sorts of excuses why we cannot gather at Church for that family dinner, then we might end up excusing ourselves from the Great Banquet when the Kingdom comes.
But never fear, the party will take place. God is ready. If those he prepared are not ready, then he will find others to fill the table. Although that message might scare some, it fills others with joy. Most of us worry that we are not worthy to share the table with Jesus. The parable makes clear none of us is worthy. We are there, because he wants us there.
Let us pray. Thank you, Father, for always welcoming us to your table. Clear our minds that we recognize you at the meals in our homes and in our churches. Clear our hearts that we are ready when you call us to the Great Banquet. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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