Fellowship flows from this table. But man often wants the locus of fellowship to be placed elsewhere. He wants the deep joy that’s found in companionship, but wants to place the hinge on flimsy alternatives: knitting clubs, sports teams, political movements, MCU Stans. Notice that as our nation has drifted from faithfulness to the Word, we’ve accumulated a great host “sub-cultures”. For all the mantra about inclusion, we’ve never been more isolated.
While this symptom is quite evident in our culture, it has also infected many in the church. The thinking goes that fellowship will grow out of the soil of church programs, para-church ministries, Christian conferences and concerts. Those things of course aren’t innately bad, but they must be downstream from this table.
New folks to this community, you might imagine that there are hubs of fellowship and companionship that you are somehow missing out on. You imagine you need to learn some password before getting “in”. Those who’ve been here awhile might feel the ache of drifting from friends they were once closer to. But the solution to the ache for fellowship begins here. When longing for fellowship the question to ask is, “Do you have a table?” If you do, imitate Your Father and send the invitations far and wide, spread your table as abundantly as you’re able, and beam with joy over those who come. The reality is that this table, and the fellowship we enjoy here with God Most High and with each other, fuels the fellowship around our own dining tables.
As the Apostle John’s epistle teaches, fellowship with the brethren is downstream from fellowship with God. What’s more, it’s only by fellowship with God, found through the Incarnate Word, that fellowship with the brethren is even made possible. You receive here at this table, that you might give there at your own table.
So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…
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