This year, I'm preaching nearly every Sunday in the season of Easter. And I'm transfixed by visions of the table. 1/
In the Great 50 Days of Easter, the church recounts early testimonies of Jesus post-resurrection appearances to his friends & followers. Depending upon how you count, there are some 10 or 15 such stories in scripture. 2/
And – if you’ve never noticed – most of them share a particular detail: Jesus shows up at tables. 3/
Like tomorrow's lectionary text in Luke 24. Where a food story, of a very hungry Jesus, follows upon another food story, the friends who recognize Jesus in the breaking of bread. There’s the story of the upper room (last week) and a story about breakfast on the beach. 4/
Whatever else the resurrection is about, it is about Jesus coming to dinner. Sitting at table with his friends. Eating together. Cooking together. Indeed, near the end of his time with them, Jesus commissions his friends to “feed my sheep.” 5/
Yes, Easter is victory over the cross and grave – a victory that takes us right back to the Thursday night feast before that Cross happened – a victory that takes us back to a table. The victory restores God's table. 6/
Think about it: When Jesus rises, he doesn’t go back to Calvary. He goes back to the last room when he and his friends feasted. He returns not to the place of the death. He returns to the dining room. 7/
Easter life is a life of table grace. Of gratitude. For the gifts of creation. For the abundance that surrounds us. It is a radical grace, for it reminds us that scarcity and oppression and violence and death are not the last words. Instead, the last word is dinner. 8/
Easter is a holy season of gratitude. 9/
A table grace (by Edward Hayes):
The day is coming to a close,
and, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus,
we pause to break bread together.... 10/
The day is coming to a close,
and, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus,
we pause to break bread together.... 10/
May our eyes be opened,
and, in this act of common sharing,
may we see the risen Lord in one another.
May we see the Lord of Life in our food,
our conversation and lives shared in common.
May the blessing of God,
God's peace and love,
rest upon our table. 11/
and, in this act of common sharing,
may we see the risen Lord in one another.
May we see the Lord of Life in our food,
our conversation and lives shared in common.
May the blessing of God,
God's peace and love,
rest upon our table. 11/
