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Is there room at your table this Easter?

Courtesy of Danielle Kemp
Courtesy of Danielle Kemp

This Easter, as we rejoice in the fulfillment of God’s promise to mankind through Jesus’ death, that destroyed our bondage to sin, and his resurrection, that brought us the promise of new life, we also want to remember Jesus’ humanity – that He came to Earth to live as one of us, to impart certain traits and qualities, and to show us the Kingdom of God is revealed by how we interact with one another and the world.

Did you ever notice that the stories about Jesus in the Gospels usually revolve around a meal? Tim Chester, the author of A Meal with Jesus, writes that “Jesus was either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal.”

Interestingly enough, it seems that by doing this, Jesus was moving the center of God’s activity away from the Temple and to the table. The Temple in Jesus’ day was a pretty exclusive place, and of course the closer you got to the Holy of Holies, the more exclusive it became. Gentiles could only visit the Outer Courts, Jewish women could only visit the Inner Court, Jewish laymen could only visit the Inner Court of the Israelites, only priests could visit the more central “Holy,” and finally, only the High Priest could visit the very inner Holy of Holies for 1 day a year.

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Contrast that with the table – especially the tables where Jesus dined. They were inclusive, egalitarian, didn’t require any purification rituals before grabbing a chair and sitting anywhere. Jesus revealed the Kingdom of God by welcoming to his table men, women, the “unclean,” the sinners – those who have been formally excluded from the life of the synagogue. He sat beside the poor, the blind, the enslaved, the oppressed and the marginalized – the different and the “other.” Jesus came to show us how to be human much more than how to get into Heaven.

In a culture that was committed to power, status and religious exclusion, Jesus practiced radical inclusion – that’s the power of the table. And of course, these days, I mean table metaphorically. It can be a meeting on Zoom or a small, socially-distanced circle – however we might choose to or be able to gather. “Table” just means creating space where people feel accepted, and where they are not judged, no matter what they believe, who they are or where they come from.

Jesus invited those on the margins to the table, allowing interruptions at elite parties, empowering women to learn and lead, stopping church services to heal the sick, allowing himself to be touched by the unclean in the crowd, sitting down amongst the common people and sharing God’s heart for the poor and the mourning. By doing this, he not only put himself and others (the Pharisees and the disciples, for example) in proximity to those in need, I can imagine that he did this in hopes that they would see how he treated those who were marginalized – how he loved them, how he gave worth and dignity to all – so that they (and we) might follow his example.

When you create an environment where there’s always room at the table, people feel comfortable to come just as they are. They can know they are free to process their thoughts, beliefs, experiences or pains in a non-judgmental, non- “ulterior motive” environment. It’s a place where someone feels truly listened to and loved. It is at this table or in this space that people can meet Jesus, encounter the Holy Spirit and be transformed by the love of God.

I’ve noticed when we create an inclusive table that it can become both diverse and unified. The diversity at the table helps create understanding and unifies us around our differences, which leads to a loving environment and then to a more just one.  A compassionate and empathetic table and has us acting in ways that compel us to want to relieve the suffering of the other.

By creating an opportunity for conversations and listening, speaking our fears, sharing our vulnerabilities, and truly hearing each other, we discover a genesis of hope. We come to understand we are enriched by people who are different from us — not threatened by them. And when we understand, we cannot help but love!

It seems everyone I talk to and in everything I read, we are trying to make sense of the last year. I think God is giving us an opportunity to approach life and ministry very differently than we have before. To start to truly see people the way Jesus saw people. And that with intention, we really can love one another, not just love, but accept each other as our brothers and sisters.

I am looking forward to celebrating that this Easter as we find new and creative ways to include more people at our tables.

At Alpha, we do this in both a small group setting and virtually, where we invite people in to enjoy a meal together and then engage in open, welcoming conversation, exploring questions about life and meaning.

What better time than Easter to begin this kind of dialogue and invitation. There was always room at Jesus’ table – how about yours?

Danielle Kemp serves on the Alpha USA Lead Team as National Director of Strategic Church Partnerships. She lives in Mission Viejo, Calif., with her husband Randy and their 2 sons. 

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