Week Four - Day Three

Is there a scene more filled with love than the holiday table?

The whole family gathered around a meal lovingly prepared by one or many—it’s a picture of celebration, of satisfaction, of belonging. Of course, not all holiday tables are as perfect as that. During the pandemic when none of our five children were able to travel home to Japan for Christmas, our holiday table did not include our family. We had to dig deep to find the desire to serve others and gather around the table that year. In the end, it was a wonderful, rich time with Japanese brothers and sisters in Christ, enjoying the strangest mix of turkey and all the fixings alongside sushi, seaweed and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Psalm 23 describes another table more fraught than a nostalgic holiday scene. At this table, enemies are present, suggesting a complex situation of strife and trouble. And yet, in that place, the symbol of love and safety is the table. There’s a meal prepared by the Lord, a head anointed with oil, a cup overflowing—a picture of lavishness from the hand of the loving Father. We feel the deep sense of belonging as the psalmist writes, “Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.”

In this Advent season, may we anticipate a loving, welcoming table; not the holiday table, but the communion table Jesus came to prepare for his own.