Who Is At Your Table?

Table fellowship with family and friends creates unique bonds. Who are we willing
to invite to our table? 

Scripture:

Mark 2:13   Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. ¹⁴ As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

Mark 2:15   And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

Observation:

Stepping out to the sea is like stepping into the wilderness. Somehow this territory seems to signify a space where the powers of the enemy are at work. This time the religious leaders are not in the inner circle, but seem to be away, at a distance. Those truly eager to hear Jesus’ teaching have followed him and they become eye-witnesses to an unusual event. 

The calling of Levi, the tax-collector is interesting. We don’t know for sure if he becomes one of the inner circle of twelve, or if he simply signifies a wider circle of individuals who become disciples of Jesus Christ. What is unique is his name, which would signify his place in the tribe of the Levites. He would be a descendant of priests, destined to serve the people of God through ministry. His life, however, is radically different. As a tax collector he would be deemed “unclean” and excommunicated from the synagogue.  He was now officially an outcast of Jewish society, disqualified as a judge and could not be a witness in court. In essence, his choice of occupation was one which would have created intentional distance between himself and the Jewish community. This not only extended to the individual but to his entire family and household. In this case, his name is almost an oxymoron because you can’t get much further from being a priest, than to be a tax collector. 

The tax collectors paid an annual fee to the government for the right to rent a tax collecting booth. Therefore, they had to raise enough money to pay their annual fee, but anything above that was simply money that they could spend on themselves. Therefore, the more that they could get from the people, the wealthier they would be. In essence, they were the loan-sharks of their day. 

Levi had probably heard Jesus’ teaching but on this day, something unique happened. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and we are told that Levi “got up and followed him.” Through the calling of Jesus, Levi was restored into the original image of who God had created him to be. He could now serve as a member of God’s royal priesthood through his life in Christ.

One of the ways in which priests serve the church is through the spreading of the table, the Lord’s Supper, and the invitation to those who need the grace of Jesus to come and dine. Could it be that this next scene is a foreshadowing of the life of the church, the place where those who are restored into the original image for which God has created them, can join at the table? 

Jesus went to Levi’s house to have a meal and fellowship with Levi and his friends and family. All of those with whom Levi had been acquainted would have been on the margins of Jewish society. They were the worst of the worst — unclean and unworthy of the time and attention of the religious leaders. This meal was an extension of God’s grace, reaching out to those who were in need of a healing touch. 

Application:

Jesus’ action with Levi and his friends reveals the very character of the kingdom of God. Our own table fellowship also becomes a reflection of the kingdom. I’m not just talking about those who come to the Lord’s Supper, but those with whom we fellowship and share a table. Most of us choose to share the table with our friends and family members. Those are the people with whom we feel the most comfortable. 

But when was the last time that you intentionally shared the table with someone not like you? Most of the time we we remain in our comfort zones. It’s a bit of a challenge to have people around our table that speak a different language. Different cultures around the table can push us in new directions. These may be challenges that we find within the family of God, but what about intentionally reaching out to those whom the church has deemed “unclean?” Isn’t that where we are supposed to be? “To blame Jesus for mingling with sinners would be like blaming a physician for associating closely with sick people.” (Nazianzen, Oration 45)  

I’ve been studying the history of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. This is a very unique institution that came about by the merger of a hospital built by a group of nuns with a vision from the Lord, and the passion of the Mayo family of physicians. The innovative work that was done by these individuals is seen in the fact that the patient is the center of their focus. Their buildings are designed with the patient in mind. The labs are located with the patient in mind. The collaborative work of the physicians is done with the patient in mind. The pay structure of the physicians is done with the patient in mind. The spiritual needs are focused with the patient in mind. When the patient becomes the locus of all attention, then the capacity for healing improves dramatically. 

When those who are perishing become the locus of all that the church does, then the capacity for salvation improves dramatically. Those whom Jesus touched did not continue in their sin, but were radically changed. They repented and began to live in newness of life — in wholeness, becoming all that God had intended them to be. Levi — restored. The potential remains for all of humanity to be restored in the image of God. 

Where is the central focus of our lives? Who is at our table? If the church took on the model of the Mayo clinic, we just might find that the table filled with sinners, finding healing, and glorifying God. 

Prayer:

Lord, fill my table. Amen.