SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY

Month: June 2024

  • The Table Builder

    The phrase “I want to be like Jesus” has caused many people to do great things, and also some pretty horrific things.  We all have an interpretation which leads us to act in a particular way.  Most of the time, if we are honest, we really want Jesus to be like us.  In other words, we would like to do what we want to do and feel justified in it.  We want to think and act, believing this is the way of Jesus.  It might be – or it might be an illusion we have created to make us feel better.  All too often, it creates a wall, deciding who is “in” and who is “out” – and it is interesting, in the wall we build, we are always “in”.  I am not a fan of walls and here is why:

    As I read the Scriptures, I hear a message of welcome.  Jesus was, by trade, a carpenter.  His father (Joseph) was a carpenter.  He grew up building things.  He was a master of the craft, taking lessons from generations of hand crafted builders.  I have to imagine that at some point, he built a table (or a lot of them).  I can only wonder if this informed his theology as he began to preach.  His ministry was, after all, about being a table builder.  He wanted to make room at the table for all people.  His table began as a space for God’s chosen, the Jewish community.  He didn’t kick them out.  He built bigger tables.  And this was not a welcome sight in the judgmental eyes of those around.  His table building caused anger and made people generally uncomfortable.  They didn’t want THOSE people at THEIR table.  How dare he?  

    Remember who he invited to the table?  Yes, he ate with the religious leaders.  But he never stopped there.  He didn’t even consider that was all who were welcome.  He actually didn’t want to give them the prized place at the table.  They thought more of themselves than they should anyway.  He gave the place at the table to the tax collectors – those who were despised and disgusted so many.  They were the problem children.  He gave the place to the sinners (the Bible says this and I’m wondering – wasn’t this EVERYBODY?).  Those who clearly had sins which were open for all to see were given a place.  He gave a place at the table to those who thought they should be washing feet, not partaking of a meal.  He gave a place to those who knew they needed love.  And they found love at the table.  He gave a place at the table to those who would walk away and those who would betray (remember Judas sitting at the table?).  He was the master table builder and this scared those who thought they deserved and earned a place.  He included where the religious people had excluded.  

    I am so thankful he is the master table builder because this means I have a place.  I don’t deserve to sit at the table with Jesus.  I haven’t earned it.  I’m not better or more qualified or more chosen than anyone else.  I’m mostly a mess and yet, Jesus built a table which includes me.  

    So I want to follow Jesus – I want to be a table builder.  I want to invite and sit down and dine with those who have no idea they have a place.  I want to sit with the despised and forgotten and excluded.  I want to sit with the betrayers and the sinners.  These are my people.  Come sit at the table with me.  There is always room.  Jesus built a table big enough for us all.  Welcome.

  • The Other Way

    It seems to me that we live in a world with so many angry people.  Anger fills our TVs, social media, the highways, and the streets.  It is even more pronounced when some event takes place which ignites fear.  Anger is a by-product of being fearful.  When people are scared, feel as though they are losing control, or simply don’t know what to do, they can easily find anger as an enduring friend.  Anger causes us to lash out, to stop listening to anyone who opposes us, and to ultimately drive a wedge which should have never been created.

    This, though, is not the only way.  It is the easiest and most convenient.  It will show up with no effort and is fueled by the fire of others (there are always other angry people to get something stirred).  It happens almost instantaneously and just grows like the forest fires in the dry heat of summer.  But there still is another way.  I’ll admit my first response is to cut it all off – it seems to work better for me.  I can cut off the news, I can turn the other way, I can stop looking at social media – all in an effort to cut it out.  That works for a while, but, if I’m honest, angry people show up in all areas of life (and feel the need to vent about all their anger).  

    The other way can seem soft and cheesy.  But it reality, it is the only real way.  It is love.  If we stop to consider what whole groups we may be slandering to make a point, we may pause.  If we think of those we point our fingers and yell at for their supposed stupidity or imagined immorality, we may not be so quick to point.  If we pause to get to know someone who we have demonized or considered “the other”, we may find they are more human than we initially thought.  If we choose the way of listening rather than lashing out in fear, we may find real people have real lives and real love which may look different than ours.  It may just be we could live together, even if we don’t agree (what a concept).  

    I know this can sound ideal and a bit of a utopia.  But if we don’t work towards something, anger becomes our chosen output and no progress is actually made.  We simply become a bunch of angry, hateful folks who don’t even know what we are really angry about anymore.  And I just don’t want to live in a world like that.  So, today, I’ll choose love.  Maybe you will too.  That’s how change begins.