Sabbath Devotional: Around an Open Table

I am sure I have shared this quote or one similar to it before, but it has been on my mind again so I thought it would be worth sharing again. It’s from the book “Searching for Sunday” by Rachel Held Evans. She wrote from the perspective of her Evangelical tradition, but I think many of her words hold true for our shared faith as well.

“On a given Sunday morning I might spot six or seven people who have wronged or hurt me, people whose politics, theology, or personalities drive me crazy. The church is positively crawling with people who don’t deserve to be here . . . starting with me.”

“But the table can transform even our enemies into companions. The table reminds us that, as brothers and sisters adopted into God’s family and invited to God’s banquet, we’re stuck with each other; we’re family. We might as well make peace. The table teaches us that faith isn’t about being right or good or in agreement. Faith is about feeding and being fed.”

I love her analogy of the church as an “open table” — it feels true, and our chapels’ own “Visitors welcome” message echoes that sentiment. Too, the scriptures are full of Christ’s teachings about drinking deeply: “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst” (John 4:14); and eating: “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). We each have need of spiritual nourishment.

In their book “All Things New,” Fiona and Terryl Givens write about grace and God’s love for us. They recount a beautiful illustration of these principles found “in a dream vision that Truman Madsen described.” (Truman Madsen was a religion professor at BYU and director of the BYU Jerusalem Center for a period of time.)

Madsen describes:

“We had just come from a parched visit to Egypt and the Sinai desert. There, even the native Bedouin can survive in the sweltering heat no more than three hours without water. We had reminded our students of one of the few self-regarding cries of the Savior from the cross: “I thirst,” to which the response was a sponge of vinegar. That night I had a dream. I was beaten down on my hands and knees and was conscious of a burning thirst. As I lifted to my lips a small cup of liquid, an unearthly liquid — cool, radiant, delicious — I felt a pair of compassionate hands behind me but not touching. Their very presence near my head and neck created a comfortable, blessed feeling. And then the miracle. As I drank in exquisite relief, the cup filled continually to the top. The more I sought to quench my whole-souled thirst, the more it filled and flowed. A wave of gratitude to Christ (for in the dream the Comforter was Christ) consumed me, and the impulse was to stop drinking and turn around to thank him. But by his subtle power the sweet assurance came that my drinking was his thanks; it was what he most wanted; it was his reward, even his glory. It was like the gracious hostess who takes great delight in seeing her family and guests eat heartily. I knew, and I knew he knew. So I drank and drank until I was full. Only then was he gone.”

The Givens write: “Grace describes every aspect of our relationship and interaction with the Healing One because that relationship is not transactional. His love precedes and transcends any action, merit, or fault of ours. . . [and] is a love that is wholly uncontaminated by preconditions, or by expectations.”

This is the same grace afforded to each of us. And it is also given to us as we strive in the work of building Zion and the beloved community here on earth, in our homes, neighborhoods, wards, and communities.

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photo credit: via Unsplash.com

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Elizabeth VanDerwerken is the proactive root director at Mormon Women for Ethical Government.