Growing up, my three siblings and I were pretty different. Even so, there was one thing that never failed to bring us all together – the smell of my mom’s chocolate chip pancakes cooking on the griddle next to sizzling bacon on a Saturday morning. Within minutes of the first waft of bacon and buttery, chocolate pancakes, you would find each of us pulling up a chair, pouring a glass of orange juice, and fighting over the pancakes with the most chocolate chips.
It didn’t matter how we looked or what the rest of our plans were for the day, we all found ourselves at the table together. A normal day might have seen us barely crossing paths as we went about our busy days, especially as we grew older and juggled school, sports, jobs, and social calendars. But on those special Saturday mornings, at my mom’s insistence that we wait for everyone to sit down, we came together. We ate. We laughed. We shared stories, and we connected. The smell of our favorite breakfast had brought us near not only to the table but also to each other.
When I read this verse about being brought near to God, I find myself picturing something similar – being drawn towards God’s banquet table of mercy and grace.
Coming to the Table
Before Christ, I was a sinner, unfit to dine at God’s table. There was nothing I could do and no accomplishments I could perform to remove the barriers to communion with my Creator. Paul’s letter reminds me that I wasn’t just far from God and separated from Christ, but I was alienated from His special people. I was alone and without hope.
Paul is speaking very specifically to his Gentile readers in this passage, underlying the division between Jew and Gentile before Christ. That’s not to say that the Jews were able to bring themselves to God’s banquet table. They, too, were separated from God, in need of something or Someone to remove their sin and brokenness.
The only way for anyone to be brought near to God’s table is through the atoning blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Sitting at the Table
Not only are we brought to the banquet table through Christ’s atoning blood, but we are also reconciled to God and others. Because God is rich in mercy, He does not give us what we deserve, death and separation from Him, through faith in Jesus. In this great exchange, we are reconciled back into a relationship with God and are part of His family. We are brought near to our brothers and sisters in Christ who have also been brought near to God through faith.
In Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus tells the Parable of the Wedding Feast. The king’s banquet was not reserved only for those who were initially invited, those who at first glance might be more “fit” for a seat at the great banquet. In fact, many of them ignored the invitations, so the king decreed that invitations go out to “all they found” (Matthew 22:10).
From this parable, we see that no one is more fit to be at the God’s banquet than anyone else because all invitations are undeserved. An invitation is the result of a gracious King’s desire to share His blessings with His people. It is only through His invitation that we can find our seat at His table.
God has invited me to His table. He has brought this sinner near to Him, but He has also brought near to me a community of other sinners saved by the same grace. He desires that we come together, that we eat and partake of the spiritual blessings and gifts He’s given us together, that we laugh with and rejoice with and bear the burdens of those who are near to us together.
It’s in this community that we are near to God. What a beautiful, international, colorful, and vibrant meal God has invited us to partake in together.
