Come to the Table

July 4, 2021

“Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Yes, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,” Jesus, taking on flesh, coming to us. But the call of this Jesus is, “Come, follow me.” Discipleship is a path, not a bench. It involves us moving, not sitting still. 

Luckily, the call is not merely to individuals, lest we should be lonely and afraid on this journey. The call is not just to come to Jesus one by one, but to join the community who is following Jesus. In this way, those of us who are weak, weary, infirm, disabled, all have a shoulder to lean on, someone to help us along the way. And those of us who are not those things? We’re given the opportunity to remember that discipleship is not about “me.” There are those who need help, and God gave them us to be the helpers. One day we, too, will need help, and will be grateful for the strong who have taken our place. No one is fit enough to make the journey following Jesus on their own.

And where do any of us find the strength? Food, of course. Walking on an empty stomach is dreadful, and God is mindful of our need (having created us to have that very need). God provides manna from heaven and water from the rock. Well, it’s not actual manna, at least not on this journey. And it’s not actual water, either. It’s true bread, and true drink, the body and blood of Jesus.

Here we find another, “come to me” call—“come to me, eat my flesh, drink my blood, taste and see that the Lord is good!” 

This is why, Sunday, we will stand up together and file forward, walking the path others have walked before us, coming to the table set out by Jesus. It’s not about efficiency or food safety. It’s about practicing walking together. It’s much easier to sit in our pews and have it brought to us, but since when has discipleship been easy?

All the same, it’s not as if we have to run up and fight for our share, or do something to in some way earn it. The table is laid out for us, with more than enough for all. It has been freely given to us, to remind us that we have freely received and must in turn freely give. We didn’t lay out the table, we didn’t provide the food, we didn’t blaze the trail. All has been prepared for us, we have merely to walk up and accept the grace of God.

Our rituals should not be without meaning. It is our job to learn why we do what we do, so that we can be shaped by our rituals. Coming to the table is a recognition that we have to come to God for grace. We cannot receive it on our own terms, sitting idly by. God calls us to follow Jesus and be transformed, and that he will sustain us along the way by the body and blood of Jesus. So let us come to the table and humbly receive the gift of God.

—John Coffey