Friday, October 25, 2024

Leaning In

How do you come to the Table?

The tables of our lives have changed so much even in my lifetime, in the past 30-40 years. It used to be that we'd come to the table to share some space with those we loved. To linger for awhile. To take a break from the rest of the world. There was no television anywhere near the table, nothing to do but to be with one another. 

Now, we have laptops and tablets and smartphones that bring the world to our table. That bring the distractions to our table. We don't come together any more; the table has become a utilitarian space - convenient for setting a plate on so we can use our hands for something else between bites, but no longer really a gathering place. It's rare that we spend much time around it at all, unless we're working, and even rarer that we spend time around it together

The same is true of the way the Table has changed. 

We have seen the portraits of "The Last Supper," this weird sort of rendition where there's one very long table and Jesus and the twelve disciples are all standing on the same side of it, with food laid out in front of them like a smorgasbord. And from this image, we've gotten sort of a buffet mentality about Communion. 

The table is all laid out; we just walk down the side of it, pick up our portion, and keep moving. We take the tray, pull our cracker, and pass it on to the next person. It's all very automated. Very efficient. Very modern (in terms of technological/philosophical eras). It is a well-oiled machine, this Communion we participate in as part of our congregations. 

But have you read the Gospels?

The Gospels say that John was reclining against Jesus's chest. There's not another single place in all the Gospels where we see something so intimate like this. 

That's the way they did tables back then. 

Tables were meant for reclining. For resting. For connecting with one another. For being in a shared space. For coming together. There was no buffet in the Upper Room. A smorgasbord, maybe, but no buffet. There was no line, no procession through the plates for grabbing food. 

The table was for sharing space, for having a common pot, not for resting your plate while you freed your hands to do something else. It was not for looking down; it was for looking across, looking around. It was not for utility; it was for community. 

Where else can you lay your head against Jesus's chest? 

Come to the Table. 

And not just to eat. 

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