There is a seat, it waits at the table. Tall, carved-wood back. A long, elegant table; spread with sights, smells, delectable dishes for as far as the eye can see.
The chair waits. Empty.
The others laugh and partake. They are at ease, sharing, at peace…as they frolic around the table.
Yet, that one seats waits, remains. Who is it that needs to be there?
I read an account of the Apostle Paul. He talks about His end as he gets ready to pour His life out as a drink offering.
In our world, we can think the ones who sit, are those who’ve strived and worked, labored and earned their spot at the table.
Mistakenly, even in the church.
We can think the loud and proud, those who sit forward, in front, boast the most notices; are the ones chosen, solely annointed.
While the humble, those quietly streaming into the building mean nothing to God. They have no assemblence of beauty.
But that is wrong.
One seat waits. Who will get it.
The chair. It sits empty.
Paul goes on, “I have fought the good (worthy, honorable and noble) fight.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8) “I have kept hold the faith”.
Paul speaks with a fearless faith, unapologentic power, uncompromising assurance that what lies beyond this life is richer that what we see or experience.
“There is a crown for all those who loved”, Paul tells us in verse 8. Not only those who loved, but welcome Jesus.
Paul doesn’t command just to love those who love us back. “If you love those that love you, what credit is it to you?” Jesus challenges us in Luke 6:32-36. “Even sinners do that.”
Instead, “love your enemies, do good to them”, Jesus exhorts us. (Luke 6:35)
“Love your enemies” Jesus echos in Matthew 5:44, as well as “Pray for those who persecute you.”
And yet, we live in a culture that talks about love all day long. We read dozens of times on posts and messages, “Love that photo”, “love that outfit” etc. etc.
But the love that flows from the Father is real, enduring, everlasting, uncompromising, unwavering love. His love never ends. His love never fails us.
And yet, a chair at the banqueting table waits. Who will fill it?
Luke 14 talks of a Banqueting Table.
A servant is sent to gather people to sit at the table and enjoy the feast. One by one, people keep on making excuses as to why they cannot come.
But then Jesus shares in the parable, “‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.”
The servant replies, “What you have asked has been done, but there is still room.”
And I wonder, what if the places, the space at the table was made for you? What if a chair waits, for the one we are struggling most to love?
What if the loud and proud aren’t just the ones Jesus came for…
But the humble and desperate, the broken, the needy?
And what if the test of the crown of glory, as Paul puts it…isn’t just that we have known Jesus…but the measure in which we love. (2 Timothy 4:8)
So, who of your enemies is God calling you to love? Who are the ones most difficult to reach out to and invite to the table?
I know in the past, God has convicted me to love the addict, abusers, convicts and homeless. He has asked me to reach to the single moms, those who have taken people’s lives and I have known it.
Oh, I squirmed sometimes for years. But His truth of love isn’t conditional.
Who says we get to choose who WE think we have the right or are capable of loving?
Love is a blanket of truth, a gift not to fear. Love opens the gateway to the door that leads to His banqueting table waiting for all of us.
“Love casts out all fear. There is no fear in love.” (1 John 4:18)
So, who sees that chair and is in need of an invitation?
Who is God asking you to bring into the Kingdom, eternity’s banqueting table?
“On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine–the best of meats and the finest of wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people
from all the earth.” (Isaiah 25:6-8)
Who will you choose to love?
The chair waits. Empty.
Who will you invite?
2 Comments
This hit very close to the bone, dear Jen.
Much love, and as always… thanks for the prompt to think deeply about who God is calling me to love, unconditionally.
It really challenges our assumptions, doesn’t it? It isn’t easy, and I know there are people I can only love when I rely on God to work through me. Thank you for this powerful word today!