Come to the Table-all are welcome

This morning I heard a song by Sidewalk Prophets for the 2nd time, "Come to the Table".  I was just pulling in to the parking lot of one of the two churches I serve where I have offices.  I sat there listening to the song, touched by the words.

I posted the song with these words on social media:

"Come to the table. All are welcome. There is NO ONE not accepted. May it be so. I heard this song for the 2nd time as I pulled into the parking lot today. May we come to the table and be set free."

When I got home this evening, I saw Our Daily Bread opened up to today's message entitled "Available to All".

The focus verse, Mark 10:45, reminds us that Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve.  The devotion reminds us that Jesus was available to all.

Here are the lyrics to "Come to the Table" by Sidewalk Prophets:

We all start on the outside
The outside looking in
This is where grace begins
We were hungry, we were thirsty
With nothing left to give
Oh the shape that we were in
Just when all hope seemed lost
Love opened the door for us

He said come to the table
Come join the sinners who have been redeemed
Take your place beside the Savior
Sit down and be set free
Come to the table

Come meet this motley crew of misfits
These liars and these thieves
There's no one unwelcome here
So that sin and shame that you brought with you
You can leave it at the door
Let mercy draw you near

Come to the table
Come join the sinners who have been redeemed
Take your place beside the Savior
Sit down and be set free
Come to the table
Come to the table

To the thief and to the doubter
To the hero and the coward
To the prisoner and the soldier
To the young and to the older
All who hunger, all who thirst
All the last and all the first
All the paupers and the princes
All who fail you've been forgiven
All who dream and all who suffer
All who loved and lost another
All the chained and all the free
All who follow, all who lead
Anyone who's been let down
All the lost you have been found
All who have been labeled right or wrong
To everyone who hears this song

Ooh
Come to the table
Come join the sinners you have been redeemed
Take your place beside the Savior
Sit down and be set free
Oooh
Sit down and be set free
Come to the table
Come to the table
Just sit down and rest a while
Just sit down and rest a while
Come to the table
-------------

The banquet table is prepared and set for all.  As a dear friend posted on my post today:  "We should never assume that we are in charge of the guest list at the table of Jesus."

I probably should have asked more about that great quote, but I didn't.  It has been a busy day.

But, tonight I searched that quote and found something close to it by Magrey R. DeVega:

"The good news is meant for the hungry, for those who would drop everything for an invitation to the banquet.  When we lose sight of the radical grace of invitation, we have forgotten who we are. [...] we should never impose our quality-control standards on anyone else the king wants to invite to the banquet." (A Preacher's Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series: Thematic Plans for Years A, B, and C, Westminster John Knox Press, p. 70)

Whether you need to know that you are welcome at the table or you need to make room at the table for others, know that there is room.  It's all about God's grace.  God's grace opens up space for you, for me, for all at the table.  Hear these words for you and share them with others who need to hear: "Come to the table". 

Blessings on your journey, 

Debra

Here I Am

On Monday morning I had my 3 three month endocrinology check up.  In an ideal world, I would be at a 6 month check up visit, but my A1C was up a little last time, from 6.2 to 6.8, so the leash got shorter.  I probably need to switch to a once-a-week non-insulin shot or maybe even a daily shot rather than a twice a day shot because that evening shot gets left out often if I end up out and about, in meetings, etc.  The doc and I discussed those options this Monday morning, even after the happily surprising reveal that the A1C was exactly the same as the last time.  Considering all the transitions going on, all the extra work, meetings, and stress, I was pleased.  But, I don't want to stay there.  The goal is to be 6.5 or below.  I think we can achieve it.  Yet, here I am.

I left the office encouraged and headed down to Starbucks for a cup of coffee before heading in to the office.  Monday is one of the Rossville office days.  I got my coffee and as I was heading out, I felt a nudge to go to the hospital chapel to pray.  Here I am.

I walk into the chapel all ready for my personal quiet time with God.  This hospital chapel has recently been redone and is beautiful.  The moment I walked in, I recognized that I had walked in on a situation.  I stood still as I observed a family in the room crying, talking, and filling out prayer requests.  As I stood there, for a moment I contemplated leaving them in their space.  Yet, that nudge came again and prompted me to let them know who I was.  The nudge was like 'tell them you're a pastor and you will pray with them if they'd like'.  I still stood there with my coffee and my pack over my shoulder with my medical records, bag of medicine, etc.  I probably had a 'deer in headlights' look and what seemed to me an eternity was probably no more than a moment.  I finally said, "I'm a pastor.  Would you like me to pray with you?"  Here I am.

Most pastors don't wear blue and white tie-dyed shirts with grommets on them, so I pulled out my clergy hospital ID that I had in my bag and a business card for proof, after setting down the coffee and taking another sip.

As I listened to the family's story and got the introductions of the people in the room, I realized that the nudge for me to go the chapel to pray wasn't really about me.  It was about being available for others.  Here I am.

We prayed together and then they gave me permission to go up to the room and pray with the patient.  Oh, what an honor and blessing that was.  I asked which elevator and floor because it had been a while since I had been there and I wanted to go straight there.  They told me.  When I got there and picked up the phone to get in, it was odd to say that I was there to visit someone whose family I had just met, but that is the case.  I was there sent by the family to pray.  As I write this, I remember another time where I read about a situation from some friends and I told them I was local here in Chattanooga and I went to see the family and that family also invited me to go in and pray with their family member.  Being available.  Here I am.

I went in and prayed.  I spoke to the family member and I spoke to the few staff I saw as I was coming and going, to encourage them in their work.

I haven't heard an update yet, but I plan to check back in.  One of the hardest things for me was that the situation touched the edges of my borders and took me back to 1993.  It wasn't the same situation that put my brother in his journey, but it was still that journey.  To walk that journey, even a little bit of it, with others is a privilege.

Here I am.

I don't always hear/feel the nudges.  When I do, I don't always trust them or obey them.  Sometimes I don't want to hear or feel them.  At other times I'm too busy.    There is that moment of truth, like on Monday, where I knew I was in a place, in a moment, 'for such a time as this'.  My choice was to not live into my being, my calling or live into it.  My choice and my response was: here I am.

Are you wondering why I hesitated in the room?  I'll tell you.  Sometimes I still don't feel like I'm a pastor.  I'm in my 3rd year of my first appointment.  I've been a pastor to pastors and others long before this appointment, but sometimes it still doesn't "feel" right.   I had the same feeling with teaching and I taught for 24 years.  I was once on an elevator at a conference with colleagues and they looked at me and asked if I was a graduate assistant somewhere.  At that point I had been teaching for about 5 years.  Living into who I am and whose I am has always been one of my battles, but the Creator, the GREAT I AM continues to draw me near and remind who and whose I am.  Therefore, as I take the time to listen to the One Voice, I am able to say 'here I am'.   Each time I respond, I am reminded, encouraged, and affirmed of my calling.  I AM a pastor.  Here I am.

Where are you on your journey?

How are you being encouraged  to live into what you are called to be and do?

Or what do you need to encourage you?

Take a moment to listen to this song:

Blessings on your journey,

Debra