TURNING OVER OUR BANQUETS

Daily Reading: Matthew 2:1-17

Devotional Verses:

“He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling…He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My temple will be called a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves! The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them.”

Devotional:

In Matthew 21, after Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, he comes into the temple as a prophet doing what prophetic voices do: revealing how the kingdom of God has been exchanged for a lesser kingdom. Jesus is appalled at the tables and chairs set up in that place. These tables and chairs are not for welcoming people into a relationship with God; they are for preventing those who are needy from coming. These tables and chairs of buying and selling, commerce, and marketing all prevent Jesus from embracing the purpose of the temple. The temple was the place of healing and wholeness. It was the place of communion with God. And these racketeers were peddling goods instead of God. They had set up a banquet of their own making, one of profit, transaction, and swindling. And so we do the same. We often set up feasting tables to satisfy our desires and have our feelings assuaged. But Jesus’ table is one of prayer for healing. The banquet table he is setting up for us invites us to communion, where we are made fully alive. We are no longer prevented from seeing and walking in the kingdom of God. We can find a welcome at God’s table and embrace a life of relationship instead of cheap exchange. God’s not looking for us to pay the way to the party; he wants an open invitation to the life of his Son. This banquet is to find him feeding us the feast of life and fullness of experience with God and his kingdom. 

Reflection:

Ask yourself the question today, what tables have I erected in my relationship with God? What’s blocking me from finding healing and wholeness and access to the feast of God’s kingdom, the life we’ve always wanted? 

THE PARABLE OF THE GREAT FEAST

Daily Reading: Matthew 22.1-10

Devotional Verse:

“And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’”

Devo:

As we lean into the narrative of Holy Week, we must start with the admonitions to remove the obstacles that might keep us from God's communing banquet and be receptive to his invitation to experience the joy of his presence. Matthew 22 tells us of a parable about a king who prepares a great wedding feast for his son. When he extended his invitation, they did not receive it. Instead, the guests had good excuses for their absence from the banquet! Their excuses were for the work of the farm and of the business. But some were more irate than unreceptive, and they took violent means to kill the messengers. The invitation was then extended to all of those unlikely, good and bad alike, and they attended with great response. The tension for us in our lives is like this parable. At its telling, this parable highlights how the Jewish people rejected the invitation to the Gospel of Jesus' kingdom. And the nation's invitation to come into the kingdom of God.

As we read this parable, the challenge for us is asking ourselves what's keeping us from the banquet invite to joy and feasting with the Lord?

Is it our business, our work, our family, our "busyness," our feelings and thoughts?

Are we open to finding that he wants to enjoin us into his family to fully embrace the joy of living in the kingdom of God?

And if we aren’t, will we be upset by who embraces the feast? 

Reflection:

What has been getting in the way of my relationship with God? Am I receptive to how he might be inviting me into joy? What excuse is keeping me from his banquet?

 WHO’S SERVING AT THE BANQUET?

Daily Reading: Matthew 23.1-13

Devotional Verse: 

“And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogue…The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 

Devotional:

In this chapter, Jesus continues to reiterate the banquet idea. But this time, his point of contention is, “Who’s serving at the banquet?” Those who deem themselves spiritually significant or maybe even “okay with God” somehow take a position that places them at the head of the table. They believe they have done enough spiritually to sit nearest to the host. But there’s something so powerful about this parable: the host is closest not to the guests of honor but to who is serving the guests. Jesus’ invitation for us as we follow him smacks in the face of the prestige, prominence, and pretense of the socially and religiously powerful. Instead, his banquet is portrayed as a place where we are called to wait on others. To find humility is the true way to the banquet, instead of the head of the table. We must remember what Jesus initially desired when having the banquet: to be with others. And somehow, we too often forget others for our own sake. Humility is not an easy concept to embrace, as we too often fluctuate from false humility to no humility or vice versa. But true humility is staying in the tension of being fully present to God and each other and finding ways to engage whoever is in front of us with our attention. Serving the banquet is complete attention to the invitation of Jesus to come and commune with him and whoever else he brings in. The invite is clear; come and sit at the table. And if you have learned the beauty of the banquet, stand up and welcome another to your seat. And in doing so, you reveal the heart of the host. He is a host who always serves the one in front of him, and he invites us to be a host like him. 

Reflection:

How often do you think of yourself first in spiritual contexts? Where is my humility in being in spaces where God is inviting me? Am I seeking the best for myself first? Or is there an openness to come to the Lord not to be served but to serve? 

WHAT’S A WASTE FOR A BANQUET?

Daily Reading: Matthew 26.1-16

Devotional Verse:

“The disciples were indignant when they saw this. ‘What a waste!’ they said. ‘It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.’” 

Devo:

As we read through the experiences of Jesus during Holy Week, we are struck at the amount of eating and drinking he feasted upon during this time. While Jesus was in Bethany, a woman approached him. She anointed his feet as he reclined and ate at a table. This action incensed the disciples as they felt like her anointing his feet with expensive oil was a significant waste when the poor could've been fed with the high price of the oil. But Jesus' response shocked them: What's a waste for the banquet of my life? The preparation for my death came from her extravagant gift. He rebukes their lack of perspective in giving rather than getting. Judas then exemplifies this mindset in his price for Jesus' betrayal. However, the difference in giving her perfumed oil was likely the cost of a year's wage. At the same time, Judas' price of betrayal was about 5 weeks' wages. What a difference in the giving versus the getting! We see that the Gospel is worth more than our living and working while our betrayals are worth far less. As Jesus' life was about to be expended and emptied fully, this woman's commitment to him revealed her great desire to give back to him everything she could. Judas' short-sightedness reveals the lack in his soul for what he was willing to see Jesus' life worth.

So what is a waste for the banquet?

Is our life not enough to give to him, or are we too willing to take our life into our own hands for quick gain? 

Reflection:

What will I give up for the Lord's honor and process? Am I more concerned with my personal gains and expenses? Is there a practical decision I must make to reveal my willingness to acknowledge the Lord in my resources? Or will I withhold what I have to maintain my status? 

THE BANQUET OF PASSOVER

Daily Reading: Matthew 26.17-29

Devotional Verse:

“My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples…”

Devotional:

Jesus instructed his disciples that it was time to eat Passover, one of the most significant feasts (think banquet) in Jewish tradition. It carries a deep commemoration of God’s deliverance from slavery into deliverance by his mighty right hand. There’s so much meaning in this banquet. The Passover in Egypt was part of God’s salvation plan against the oppressors of his people, which culminated in the loss of human life. But the Hebrews found death passed over them by the blood of a pure lamb. There’s another layer of meaning for the word “Passover” in the picturesque Hebrew language. This word also has a connection to the hovering & protecting of a mother bird over its young. The Passover becomes a beautiful reminder in their banquet feast that there is a protective love for anyone willing to stay close. Chaos is checked at the door of our lives when we have feasted with the Lord. The love of Jesus was so protective of the disciples that the Last Supper became a moment where they were insulated from all threats. Jesus’ revelation of the betrayer, Judas, revealed not his desire to expose and dishonor the unfaithful but rather his desire to protect those willing to stay at the table and be near his protective love. This is a powerful reminder to have as we receive Communion. At the Last Supper, where we model our Communion, we are not just eating and drinking the fruit of the vine and the bread but supping on persevering love. We are encircled and embraced by the love of our Lord Jesus, who was the slain lamb to protect us and deliver us not only from humankind but from any power in heaven or earth coming against us. We feast with him to remember love. The love that gives and the love that protects. 

Reflection:

As you read through this passage and devo, is there any thought or feeling rising up in you that questions the protective and delivering love of God? What would it be like to invite Jesus’ hovering love in an area of your life where freedom is elusive? Could you imagine the gentle wings of love surrounding you from all evil and preserving your life? 

Good Friday -  “The Banquet of the Cross”

Daily Reading: Matthew 27.32-54

Devotional Reading: “Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the death…The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!” 

Devo: The Cross impacts the universe in three directions. It’s pointed upwards, downwards, and horizontally. The banquet of the Cross is in three spaces. The first direction is upwards. Jesus on the Cross closes the distance between the Father and humanity. He submits his spirit, and regardless of the feelings and thoughts that might’ve dominated him, he gives everything up. He demonstrated the hospitality of the Father by giving it all. The second direction is horizontally. His crucifixion amidst the empire & revolutionary thieves reveals the magnitude of human effort. And his banquet to those who have done everything to get and grab ahold of is removed by the banquet of his life. His invitation for humanity to come into a relationship with God is seen on the bench of the Cross. The Cross is our reserved seat for the feast of the Father. Death cannot take our seats away from us, as we see many were resurrected at the moment of his death. Death is the RSVP that life is on the way. Lastly, the downward movement of the Cross was meant to bring change. An earthquake physically demonstrated that God was changing all of creation. The shifting of tectonic plates demonstrated that even creation could only be invited to the banquet of his life, death, and new life. The earth’s response to the Lord was shaking and opening. And this is the heart of the Gospel. That there is nothing that cannot be changed by the Cross. And we are welcome to take and eat this great gift of the cross’ communion. The hospitality of the Cross beckons us to come and see everything that has been given to us. We have no lack in any direction. The whole earth is a table. And Christ has set himself upon it to fulfill the entire world in every area of existence. The Cross is a bench at the banquet. 

Reflection: What is a need you can bring to the Cross? What do you see at the Cross? Do you see the invitation to enter into the fullness of life with God? Do you find it inviting? What does the model of the Cross do for how you see the Gospel being active in the world? 

THE BANNER OF THE BANQUET

Daily Reading: Song of Songs 2.4 & 8.6-7 

Devotional Reading:

“He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love…For love is as strong as death…”

Devo: Today is what church tradition has called “silent Saturday” as an indication that Christ was no longer speaking as he was dead in the tomb. But also, this day gives us the speechlessness of the disciplines who had thought all was lost and nothing was as they thought it would be. Our Rabbi, our Lord, our Friend are dead. What shall we then do? And they didn’t remember anything he had said in their grief and shock. It is always an invitation for us to sit in the uncomfortable moment of silence where everything feels off and wrong. And today is the day of all days to do it. The dissonance of death has come, and resolve seems beyond reach. And so today, our reading is not from Matthew’s gospel. This passage hearkens to words from centuries before that were often sung during Passover. As we sit at the banquet that seemingly has only left us with death, the harrowing emptiness is unsettling, much like death’s hovering during Passover in Egypt. But there in Egypt, the feast of the slain lamb, which prevented their death, also spoke something over them in the silence of that night. The blood of that lamb was smeared over the doorposts of their home as a sign that death could not have its way there. And so today, we recall a deeper song sung over us on a day of great silence.

The old praise song “He brought me to his banqueting table, His banner of men is love” rings true in our silence. We might not be able to hear his words daily the way we wish. Still, if we look, a banner furling above our universe tells us that the whole world is his banqueting table, and love remains. In the silence, death, and hollowness, love will not be conquered. Spilled blood is spelling words that don’t need to be spoken but are waving wildly over our lives. He wants to bring us to the banquet. The purpose of his banquet is for love. And for love’s sake, the invitation will never go away. It is always there. Until we see the fullness of his love, we look again to see the promise and invitation of him being present at the table, lying there enshrouded with grave clothes. Can we sit at the bench of his death until we see the banner saying the banquet is not over; it’s hardly begun? 

Reflection:

What is something that you need to sit with in silence before the death of Christ? Would you surrender whatever you are feeling and thinking to see the love is there? What banner is hanging over your life that needs to be removed to see his love? 

THE BANQUET IS PRESENT

Daily Reading: Matthew 28.1-20 

Devotional Reading:

“‘The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.’... ‘And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”

Devo:

He is risen. He is risen indeed. The banquet table has now been emptied from the tomb. The disciples run around trying to figure out what they are feeling and experiencing. There’s joy, there’s apprehension, there’s fervor. But the questions I know are raging? Where is he? What’s he doing now? Where can we find him? And these are the questions of those of us who have sat on the bench of his life, death, and resurrection. And our eagerness is rightly placed in our chests. Where will he set up his banquet next? And as they went, he met them and greeted them. This greeting of peace would’ve been customary of the host. Jesus, the banquet host, has brought the banquet to them. They are the table. They are where he wants to welcome others to know him and his father. It’s striking that their response is one of great elation in the text. It’s worship. The song of love sung over them has resulted in their worship sung back to him. It reeks of the women’s alabaster jar giving everything. They have now joined the joyous outpouring of the banquet invite. And the response is exuberance fully embodied. And when we are fully present with him in our worship, he is with us. And the banquet continues. In our worshipful life, we make him the feast for others. And we take everything he has said and done and given and are now giving it away. The banquet is now his life through our lives. The bench of the banquet is our humble life serving others. And giving them what he’s taught us, how he showed us to live, and initiating them into the banquet. Our interactions are now the invitations to commune with him and each other. Christ, our great banquet, is with us until the end of the age. The banquet is always available. Love is always waving over us. Everyone has been invited and is here and ready to experience the presence of God with them here and now. We can commune with him; he’s our ever-present great feast. 

Reflection:

Have you found Christ to be present with you in your life? If not, have you invited Christ to be present in all areas? Have you been able to engage in worship where you have joyfully celebrated him even if you haven’t felt him yet? Have you shared the joy of his presence with others? Why not start right now?